A Miniaturization with Molly McGee

by birby6

When something goes awry, a thirteen year old with a ghost would never be on someone's emergency list. After an incident at school with a girl named Molly McGee, a younger girl named Nancy suddenly falls into one of the most drastic perspective changes of her life. Now at the size of a bug, only Molly and Scratch could potentially find a way to undo it...with situations to boot!

3. Chapter 3: Vanilla Nice

Nancy feared for her life as her legs hit the pavement and her heart heart practically hit triple digits. Anything to possibly evade such a monster became the holy grail to survive the sick and twisted mind that brought her all of the misfortunes on the planet. From street lamp to street lamp, she only saw each one for a split second as she raced by without any further thoughts. She never thought of herself as a marathoner until she sweated buckets across the cement, and even then she still considered such practices unfit for someone like her. None of it mattered though, as only one particular goal set in her mind and she couldn't let the beast have the head start she created a large distance away. All of reality wanted her as the lowest of the low, and it desired her blood as a trophy over the fireplace.

She rounded another corner as the deep impacts behind her made sure to keep her pace up. Any slight misstep and she would easily get herself caught, and that became the last thing she wanted out of everything else at the moment. Her eyes raced across every particular building in the area, and once she noticed a door slightly ajar she ran for it. She didn't care what the place housed, as any potential hiding spot became a blessing in disguise for the young girl. As she flipped the door wide open she slammed it behind her and noticed her surroundings. Nothing too out of place at first, as it seemed like any normal kitchen area, but once an open space under the sink hit her sights it stood out as the best spot. She dived under the common kitchenware and held herself close as the large booms rang throughout her head. Her teeth clamped shut while she shuddered uncontrollably as the sounds wandered closer and closer to her squishy body, but after a large one that came up from the other side of the wall they suddenly ceased. Such deafening silence worried the young girl to no end, and she refused to move an inch from her spot. Survival stood out as the most valuable trait at the moment.

Her almost had the urge to scream as the massive digits burst above her and took up the whole room. They prodded over every inch and destroyed anything that came into contact with them. Nancy's hiding spot withered away but surprisingly remained intact as she witnessed destruction over every angle of the room other than where she stayed curled up, and at certain points they barely missed her. She even managed to look down an extremely huge fingernail as it sailed past her face and wrecked a cupboard near her, and the sight alone built up burst of shrieks that she held back beyond all reason. If she gave away her current position it pretty much became a death sentence, and it wouldn't surprise her if the monster secretly wanted her dead than anything else. Even dozens of glass shards understood the memo as Nancy witnessed them when they collapsed into a series of letters, in rapid rows no less, until they formed the deadly phrase "U R DEAD" like reality had it out against her. The beast had no idea how much it stacked fear under her terrified eyes, and the destruction only escalated such emotions to new heights.

Throughout all of the loose wood, concrete, and glass, Nancy didn't known how much of the room remained intact other than the decimated wall on the opposite side from where she sat. The whole process proceeded for around half a minute until it stopped, but soon after a looming shadow stretched across the premises. Despite the lack of a full picture, she knew the beast created a gaping hole above her, and as a certain shade of black hit the remains of the back wall she already had her guesses.

The beast peered through the open hole as Nancy felt more damaging booms, and its pupils nearly took up the entire space.

"Come on Nancy, you can completely trust me! I'll keep you safe, and in the process we can become FRIENDS! Stop hiding and let me PROTECT you!"

She heard no anger or malice from the familiar voice, and yet the innocence and kindness served as a sock to the teeth as her reality clashed with the monster's. It had no ill wills toward her, and yet its actions told the contrary. If it ever had some kind of humanity in there the chase wouldn't have happened, and yet she unwarily kept her mind set. Such actions kept Nancy on a deadly timer the longer she kept at it, and yet if it ever ran out she would definitely get it. The beast's nature brought misery to the young girl despite its intentions, and yet the games continued.

Once Nancy witnessed the shadows fall to the wayside, she took her chance. After once desperate stride forward, Nancy made a break for it. She kept her eyes straight and refused to even sneak a peek behind her so her current heart attack wouldn't spontaneously force her to perish, and the adrenaline coursed through her veins. The fog from all of her tears made it somewhat difficult to see ahead, but she determined enough to understand where to go next. From the rubble of the destroyed house to the vast streets around her, Nancy wanted nothing more but a safe haven away from disaster.

The creature's booming steps became louder and louder behind her as Nancy ran for the hills. Her fear knew no bounds when it came to the monster, and the sooner she got away from it the better. Unfortunately for her, the marathon run through came to an abrupt halt when her face bashed against a wall right in front of her. She rebounded back and landed on her behind without too much damage, and after she shook it off for a second her eyes opened to figure out any further details. Her chest staggered as the pink and yellow streamed across her eyesight, and the particular patterns only hammered the facts into her cranium. She barely reached the flat yellow bottoms from height alone, and it only took one glance upward to fully witness the monster in full.

She couldn't ignore the facade of a friendly face from the one who instigated all of her troubles in the first place, even as she reached the stratosphere.

The giant stature of the one known as Molly McGee hounded her down the moment Nancy found herself in the desolate town. She eclipsed every known building as her body reached for the skies above, and yet her trademark smile and friendly eyes gave off impressions of the harmless variety, even though Nancy knew it as the total opposite. Her hands could grasp entire societies of buildings and crush them under her strength while her shoes served as the largest bulldozers in history as they could decimate anything under them. Her entire body rivaled deities that shaped worlds around them, and yet she desired no such world domination tendencies. A black hole laid dormant behind her deceptive expression, as anything that disappeared behind her teeth would never see the light of day and live to tell about it. If she ever became hungry anything set before her stood out as the dinner table to feast on, and yet she wanted none at the moment. In fact, only one thing became her focus as she stared directly at her with her planetary eyes.

…and Nancy wanted no part of it.

"There you are! You can't wander around without me, you know! Let's be friends together!"

Nancy's pupils nearly vanished as she watched the astronomical sized Molly reach down to grab her with a hand the size of an entire city. The tiny girl's legs acted on their own and immediately stood her up before she bolted from the scene. One of the giant girl's skyscraper fingers barely grazed Nancy's back as they made contact with the pavement below, which fell apart like sand in an instant. They dug into the spot and destroyed entire acres, along with a couple of houses, in the process as if they never existed for Molly. Her fingernails caught entire piles of dirt from underneath the streets as the pipes burst and sprayed water everywhere, and yet the giant girl's expression never changed. As she withdrew her hand from the ground, she ended up with tons of loose building materials in her grasp, which to her basically stood out as dust, but not Nancy. The fact that she destroyed an entire portion of Brighton without a sweat exemplified the points as to why the younger girl wanted to stay away from the titan as possible, much to the obliviousness of the girl that stood larger than life. Molly only brought destruction to the town as long as she remained large and in charge.

"Come back Nancy! Friends always stick together!"

Molly's voice hit Nancy's hearing like two million freight trains, and it put her mortality on the line. She couldn't look back while her legs ran on their last amount of horsepower, but she knew what came next as the deadly booms shook her to her core. The titanic girl already trailed behind the speck like nothing. Molly shattered and decimated everything her pink and yellow shoes ever made contact with, from buildings, streetlamps, and even cars on occasion as if whoever made them decided on cardboard for materials. She could imagine every single structure collapse under the immense weight, and yet Molly still wore her joyous smile and eager eyes like badges of honor. Over half of Brighton fell to the giant girl and she lacked the awareness of such deadly actions. Various chunks of brick, stone, pavement, and dozens of other materials sailed over Nancy's head as her steps brought an end to everything unfortunate enough to have a place under them, and some nearly hit Nancy in the head like guided missiles. The loud booms from behind served as the cherry on top of the terrible fates Nancy found herself in. Molly wanted Nancy more than anything, and Nancy took the punishments as the giant girl stepped on and destroyed everything below her.

While Nancy understood that she couldn't run forever, all of it came to an abrupt halt after one final large impact from one of Molly's massive shoes. It completely decimated and flattened a building close by under the yellow bottoms, and from the shrapnel one sharp brick shot out from the wreckage and bashed against the back of Nancy's head. The girl shrieked and fell to the ground as she felt blood gush out, which eventually lead her to hit the streets pretty hard. It left her as a bloodied, ruined mess with bruises all over, and she swore she lost a couple of teeth in the process. As she tried to get back up, a looming shadow cast over her. It paralyzed her with fear as she had no choice but to glance upward only to see Molly's happy expression across her planetary face toward the tiny speck by her feet.

"Let's stay friends FOREVER AND EVER!"

Her legs refused to work and buckled up as Molly raised one of her shoes in the air and kept it over Nancy's helpless self. No matter how hard she attempted to pick herself up, the damages from earlier bound her on the spot. Small streams of gravel and dirt fell from the bottoms of Molly's shoes and landed on spots around her, and the angle completely covered the visuals other than the yellow bottoms. Her efforts remained fruitless as the yellow ceiling moved further and further downward like a slow moving guillotine, and Molly didn't intend to use the dull side. At that point, Nancy screamed and shrieked while all efforts to move her legs ended in failure, yet the massive girl heard nothing. Nothing mattered other than the injustice brought across Nancy and her current fate.

"FrIeNdS fOrEvEr!"

The minuscule dot on the street disappeared under Molly's shoe completely.

---

"…and after she saw something from the sky out of the corner of her eye, her eyes fluttered open. Yeesh, it drips misery all over…and I love it."

The ghost couldn't help but smirk at what he wrote down between the lines. After the conjuring of thoughts that clashed inside Nancy's mind last night, he already heard his daily misery to perk him up into his usual self. As much as he disliked the fact that she remained with him and Molly while her size continued to stay at proportions akin to bug food, he had to admit that the amount of misery that poured from her ever since personally put a smile on his face. For once he congratulated himself for thinking ahead as he secretly kept certain piles of pages to himself. While the average person would have probably thought about having a dream journal to catalog the various realms their minds wandered off to as they counted sheep, for Scratch he felt more comfortable with a "nightmare journal" over the normal. While he never kept a list of his own, once Nancy came into the picture he found his morning dose of misery straight from the shelf. Usually she woke up in a rush, and once Molly went over to check on her she always spilled the beans. Even though Nancy only stayed with Molly for a couple of days at that point, Scratch already gotten used to writing behind his back while she blabbered on about her terrible thoughts, which Molly currently didn't catch on about, and from such vivid details he even considered a copy for the ghost council. It would provide satisfaction and his "Scare for the Day" as they called it, and for them any level of deep fear in an area kept them off his back at least until the next day. Libby didn't lie when she noticed the utter unhappiness that built up in the shrunken girl even since the accident, and Scratch took full advantage of it while no one else had a clue to his actions.

"Hey Scratch, I didn't know you fancied yourself as someone into author work."

Scratch brought his eyes back up and turned to his right to see Molly's younger brother as he glanced at him. The ghost became so enamored in his notes that he almost forgot what happened around him, so he took a moment to catch up with the times while he remained in his usual unimpressed self. As the thoughts raced back to him, he quickly remembered about how he sat down to relax in the living room since Molly wanted some time to "happy up" Nancy, despite the tiny one going against it, which actually left him to his own agenda for once in his afterlife. However, it just so happened to come during a day when a major football game was scheduled on the big screen, which Mr. McGee and Darryl didn't want to miss, so it left him occupied with the two while they set up during the commercials. Mrs. McGee would have also made an appearance if the Gig-Pig never went off with a job that paid an above average amount, and once she noticed the particular payout she raced out the door instantly. She left the details to herself and didn't share them, but from her actions alone everyone already had their assumptions. Just another day in the household that he once owned, much to his dismay with the occupants.

He couldn't just leave Darryl without an answer though.

"Oh, well, you kind of have to when it comes to scare reports. I don't fancy myself that much in the writing department, but at least I'm not those fancy shmancy ones that only use cursive."

Darryl scooted over to the ghost for a second and took a moment to glance over his work. Scratch would have hid it away if he didn't act too quickly, but soon enough the kid had his eyes over all of the words.

"Whoa, I see you love colorful vocabularies though. Those details sound…rancid and horrific."

"Oh, well, uhhhh… Thanks." Scratch answered after he calmed down a bit. "The better the details, the more brownie points I get from the council. They don't just hand their appreciations on a silver platter."

He got his response when Darryl suddenly shoved a plateful of the delicious treats right in front of him. The ghost immediately eyed them and couldn't take his eyes off while the young boy grinned in a smug manner.

"Want a free sample there, Scratch?"

The instant Darryl finished Scratch wasted no time as he devoured each one in in one fell swoop. He plastered his entire face over the plate and swallowed all of them whole like an easy going glutton before he withdrew and licked his chops.

"You know me too well." Scratch said while he licked his fingers vigorously.

Darryl shrugged his shoulders in a guilty manner.

"Hey, I needed to find some way to get rid of those. We couldn't stand the smell after dad put the temperatures up a bit too high."

Scratch's eyes immediately went wide before he found his taste buds act up. After he stuck his tongue out and found it coated in pitch black, he instantly zipped off to the nearest bathroom where he uttered some…disturbing sounds as the water ran. Darryl couldn't help but chuckle before he mischievously shook his head and took hold of Scratch's journal for himself. As he more thoroughly inspected each individual word, he understood the overall picture much better and got what the ghost aimed for. Once Scratch came out all drenched in a frown, which didn't last long as he wrung himself out in a comical manner, he disappointingly floated back over to the couch and slumped back down. He remained out of it for the moment and temporarily forgot about the current happenings, but by the time the realizations hit Darryl already finished up with everything the ghost wrote down for the day.

"Not gonna lie here, but you really seemed to have gotten into this entry in a pretty messed up fashion. In fact, it almost seems a bit…TOO terrifying."

"Heyheyhey, I like to keep these private, thank you very much!" Scratch swiftly replied before he snatched the journal back. "My eyes only!"

"Okay! Okay! Sheesh…" Darryl responded. "…although I saw the fact you have some interest in that accident a few days ago. Can't say I blame you, especially after it brought up riotous fits of laughter throughout the whole school."

Scratch paused for a moment before he answered back.

"I mean, everything aligned perfect for such a momentous occasion. Even I, someone that desires the unfortunate and miserable, couldn't help but crack up in full…and I kind of can't get it out of my head."

"I'm pretty sure it'll last for a VERY long time after what I heard about the uneventful nature in Brighton's school." Darryl said with a grin. "My big sis sure made a name for herself…in all of the wrong places. Speaking of which…"

The boy took the moment to reach into his pocket for a second before he brought out his own phone. Scratch cocked an eyebrow while Darryl booted it up and went along the touch screen until he settled on one certain part. A few extra strokes later he perked up and motioned for Scratch to follow. As the ghost hovered over the kid's shoulder, Darryl pressed a certain icon on the screen which started up a definite moment he wished to see again and again.

While only a couple of seconds long, he burst into laughter all over again once it finished.

Scratch fell over to the side and hit the couch before he pounded the cushions a few times throughout his massive fit of pure enjoyment. Darryl even backed up to give Scratch some space before even he laughed it up a few times, but not to the same level as the ghost. Scratch rolled around and even hit his head a couple of times, but he couldn't help it from the video. At one point, he speedily floated back over to Darryl's phone again right as the whole thing repeated, which only set off another instant laughing fit. The tears that flew out as the cacophony of the ghost's laughs hit the whole room exemplified how entertained he understood from only a brief period, and while it rubbed off on Darryl he kept it mostly under control so he wouldn't delve into Scratch's mindset. Suffice to say, Darryl didn't disappoint in what he had to show the cursed ghost.

It took around a minute for Scratch to recover, and he still had a couple of laughs built up in her, but he had enough to float back over and ask Darryl something.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh…that never gets old. Everything lined up perfectly, hahahah! I didn't think anyone would have recorded such…hilarity! Where did you find it?"

"Oh, I have my contacts…" Darryl answered while the smugness in his voice and face left Scratch guessing. The ghost felt some slight chills across his back, but ignored it for the most part.

"You better have that backed up ten fold because moments like that only happen once in a blue moon! Besides, I need some form of hilarity in my afterlife."

"You definitely won't see it gone anytime soon if the internet has anything to say about it." Darryl replied.

The final tidbit made Scratch more attentive than usual, and before long he rushed over to the phone once more. His jaw almost dropped once he noticed the space around the video, from the ratio at the bottom and the enormous numbers close by. They seemed to fluctuate higher and higher as the page refreshed, and it only astonished Scratch ever further to see such popularity throughout the web. He didn't just witness a one off incident that shook a community, he saw a viral phenomenon right before him.

"I can't believe it…I REALLY can't believe what I'm seeing!" Scratch exclaimed.

"Yup, she really started something back there." Darryl replied. "I never thought Molly would make it big throughout social media, and yet I'm not too surprised. You have no idea how much art of the 'Cake Crasher' I've seen since this whole thing blew up."

"I can imagine." Scratch said pretty flatly.

"You clearly took it as the inspiration behind your report then, huh?"

Darryl jogged the ghost back to the other pressing issue since it temporarily slipped his mind from the laughing fit. Scratch swooped back over to his journal and flipped through the pages a bit until he reached the newly written piece. He saw Molly's younger sibling stare at him as he fumbled a bit for an answer.

"Well, uhhhh, I've…kind of taken a bit from that, yes." Scratch said before he lanced at some of the bigger words written. "For the most part though, I've put most of it down as a common nightmare. The kid probably wet the bed in the process, which gives it more credibility in my eyes."

Darryl's eyes expanded a bit more than usual.

"Really? I mean, wow. I know Molly always has her head in the clouds, but to see her kindness turned against her like that… That's dark, like, REALLY dark."

"And yet the ghost council will have a field day with it." Scratch answered. "It'll get them off my back for a while, and I want to keep my ectoplasm in check, thank you very much!"

"I…can kind of get behind that." Darryl responded. He couldn't deny the effects of a well drawn out nightmare for some kind of a misery report. Anything that could possibly go against someone's likes and hates while they remained helpless for the show became such a damaging concept that it worried him to an extent. He should know after countless times he took the brunt behind such concoctions of thoughts, especially a particular one that left him as a nervous wreck for days. From then he maintained certain superstitions and he always had them on standby just in case. Such powers could sent a person to ruin after all.

"Always wear pants in bed. Always wear pants in bed. Anything to possibly keep that ONE night away from me…and maybe a couple of shower curtains. Eeep!"

Darryl shuddered from the mere thoughts that surfaced deep down. However, he luckily didn't get too much time to dwell on them as he noticed his father eagerly stride into the room with bags of munchies. The sounds of rustling chips and crackers automatically had Scratch's full attention, and soon enough her already had his sights on the tasty goodies. From barbecue flavored to sour cream, Mr. McGee covered all of the bases for a stunning football game on the big screen, including a large bowl of cheese dip he makes just for the momentous occasions. The instant Scratch took notice of the bowl he heard small cherubs sing their high praises as the gates to the divine opened specifically for him. Various clouds and doves flew over his head while the chorus sang for his good graces, and already he pictured himself under a cheese fountain as he guzzled down bucket loads to amazed onlookers near him. The preparations for the game seemed to appease everyone in the room, and they didn't even dig into them yet.

Mr. McGee set everything down on the small foot table in front of the couch, where Scratch instantly popped up next to, before he sat on the cushions himself. Scratch immediately sniffed everything down in a pretty loud manner before he felt the stars in his eyes.

"The perfect brands, texture, AND dips?! It's like I've obtained the one admission to the kingdom of the perfect delicacies ALL to MYSELF!"

He reached over to open one of the bags when Mr. McGee suddenly interjected.

"Hey, hey, the game hasn't started yet. I'm eager too, but I'm pretty sure we don't want everything gone before-"

He never got to finish before the ghost instantly shoved the large bag of barbecue chips straight into his mouth like nothing. He didn't even bother to open the top, so he ingested the entirety of the chips plus the plastic bag and never broke a sweat. Mr. McGee and Darryl could only stare at such a sight while Scratch rubbed his belly and licked loose crumbs off of his face.

"You really know how to please me, I'll tell you that!" Scratch replied before he settled back down on the couch, satisfied with his snack.

The other two held their mouths agape for a second before Mr. McGee mildly frowned.

"At least we still have a majority still left…" he muttered to himself while he opened up another bag on the table.

At that point the three of them turned their attentions to the TV. The game didn't quite begin yet as the multiple advertisements and commercials littered the screen in droves. The boys couldn't blame the companies for shoehorning in their products, especially during an important football game, but when they went on for longer than usual the anticipation began to settle in. At times it felt like they just came into a second Super Bowl from the duration of some of the commercials, especially when it came to food products. While Scratch may have had his eyes out on everything delectable, even he had to admit they dragged on for longer that they normally went for. He had to give it to Andrea though, as the advertisement for Davenports remained straight and to the point, and the kid knew how to put on a smile for the cameras like an upcoming superstar. At that point, they wished they would have watched a recording instead of live after all of the waiting.

"Ugh, come on! How long until this marathon stops?" Darryl said as he leaned over and put his head in his hand.

"Patience is a virtue Darryl, just…keep your mind active with something." Mr. McGee answered. "You don't want to end up like our one relative who-"

"Oh right, THAT incident." Darryl interjected. "Heheheh, I always felt like Guacamole Face seemed like the perfect name for him."

"The less we remind ourselves, the better!" Mr. McGee responded. The two nodded to each other before they put their attention back to the TV. For Scratch, he lacked a single piece of care in the world at that moment, especially after he snacked heavily on an entire bag of chips. His mind wandered off a couple of times while he kept himself awake, both figuratively and literally, and after his brain rolled around a couple of times even that bored him, so he put it back inside his head like nothing happened. Couch potato seemed like a worthy title for him, and even then that probably remained at the surface level.

"Motimoti! Motimoti!"

He knew that infamous catchphrase from anywhere, and to suddenly hear it flipped his eyes wide open before he could fall asleep. He thought he heard some glass break as he mustered himself awake, but it only lasted for a moment before he gazed ahead and saw where he heard the voice came from. Thought surged through his mind as the image unraveled straight across the millions of pixels on the screen before him, and it caught his full attention. If it involved a concept behind a certain character, he always placed all of his chips in the center for the sweet nectar of such a voice.

His smile knew no bounds once the familiar gray blob with the flabby mouth and cartoon eyebrows took center stage while an announcer spoke through rushing images.

"Yes, it's that time of year folks! The next Ultimate Cook Off with Motichan remains only a few days away in celebration of the franchise's next big movie! Who will take home the fabulous piece of memorable Motichan merchandise this year? Well, fans can duke it out when the ultimate cook off comes to a town near you! For this year, the theme is…sweet pastries! If you think you have what it takes to win big, the next stop for this year be…"

Scratch never acted so focused in one single moment until the famous blob made its appearance on the television screen. Already he had his face glued to it like flypaper as he instantly appeared straight across the screen, and he never cared about his eyesight in the first place. Both Mr. McGee and Darryl tilted their heads at such a display, but because they didn't care about advertisements in the slightest at the moment, they let the ghost have his moment. One fact became certain though: Scratch was a fan and wanted the information fed to him.

He held his fists up to his face while he muttered continuously.

"Come, on, come on, come on, come on, come on-"

He couldn't contain himself. He needed to hear the next tidbit now or the anticipation would kill him…for a second time. His teeth clenched as the announcer provided the next bit of info.

"…the little town of Brighton!"

Scratch's eyes went dead while his smile remained still, but that didn't stop the top of his head as it opened up and let loose a miniature explosion. He wanted to celebrate further, as he couldn't help himself to such a blessing bestowed upon his miserable afterlife ever since he cursed himself to Molly, but right before his mood could escalate further, he heard…the bombs go off.

"Yes, our next stop in the Ultimate Cook Off with Motichan will set into Brighton this year! Make sure to get those spatulas turning and the ovens heating, because the prize this time remains a franchise exclusive you can't find in stores! That's right, we'll award the winning pastry this exuberant product!"

If Scratch had a body he probably would have felt his heart and body immediately cease as the next image appeared. His pupils dilated to take up his entire eye while everything else in his ectoplasm went limp to the almighty piece of perfection he deepest desires pushed for, and he couldn't take his eyes off of it. He saw everything flash before his eyes as if destiny granted him the wish beyond normal comprehensions. Everything about his very existence got pushed to the forefront for the very image beyond the pearly gates. He constantly pushed at the screen like a curious puppy while he saw…everything. Nothing but the purest of his desires, and he wanted ALL of it.

"That's right! The winner will receive the exclusive straight from Motichan itself! Nothing beats a fine relaxing day of eating than a deluxe Motichan beanbag chair! Amaze your friends as they wallow their days on regular chairs while you sit back and enjoy the luxuries straight to your own home! What are you waiting for? Sign up for the Ultimate Cook Off with Motichan today, for your dishes…might become Motichan's favorites!"

It broke him. The whole thing fully shattered him.

Before he even knew it, a slight fuse appeared behind his head that steadily fizzled lower and lower as the announcement progressed, and when it finally ended he spontaneously combusted which propelled him upward toward the ceiling. Some dark smoke residue got left behind in his wake as the ghost phased through the top of the room, and it didn't take a genius to figure out where he headed off to next…especially after his shouts echoed throughout the house.

"MOLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

His sudden actions left both Mr. McGee and Darryl baffled out of their minds at what they just witnessed, but it didn't last long because, as if destiny finally granted their wishes, the football game they waited for finally came up next on the TV. The two cheered in massive relief once they saw the players out on the field, but Darryl had one final thing to show his dad. As he expressed his usual mischievous smile, she slowly started up the one video again and slowly inched it right before his father's eyes. As much as he didn't want to laugh, he couldn't help it once the cake batter nearly splattered across the camera. Molly clearly started something from the incident, and the masses on the internet knew it too.

"Hahahahah! Okay, I have to admit, the circumstances couldn't have been any more perfect for that setup!"

---

It took a couple of moments to completely boot up, but once the red dot showed up in the corner it became ready to use. As the camera lit up soon after, the screen suddenly came to life at a steady pace, although some static appeared once she started to move it. At first it displayed the outer window and the sky behind it, but after a few button presses it went black for a split second before it suddenly switched perspectives. The angle remained slightly off at first since it focused on her shoes, but once she turned it upward, which blew through the sound from the sudden movement, soon enough she happily saw her face across the screen while her cute drawings made up parts of the background. A portion of Scratch's small house appeared near the bottom right, but other she found the perfect setup to begin the whole thing. She should have thought about such an idea sooner, even if she primed herself for other ventures, as she could always look back and see the progress made since the start which already made her giddy inside.

The image the camera picked picked up slightly shook in a few places, but to Molly it didn't matter once she hit the button and noticed "REC" next to the red dot.

"Hello there everyone! It's nice to finally start this whole log business, even if I'm not particularly professional at it, and I'm really eager to start this entire new experience here in Brighton! I'm Molly McGee, a young girl that desires to bring happiness to the world around her, and after all of our travels throughout multiple states my family finally decided to settle here!"

The image went black again before it shifted over to the front window again. The sound picked up rushing air again before the display settled down near the bottom, and soon enough the outside appeared in full view. A few birds flew by while the sun shined overhead to the world below, which helped show off the streets and cars below, which included the family van in the driveway. Unfortunately for one bird, the sun's rays blinded it for a second, which caused it to veer off course into a nearby tree. It smacked the bark and fell to the ground before its spiritual essence phased out of its body, which it didn't seem to mind as the ghostly apparition got back to flying shortly after.

The camera currently didn't have Molly in its display, but it picked up her voice close by.

"Yup, the shining loving town of Brighton! Despite all of my experiences on the road, I'm fully welcomed here from the community. I couldn't have asked for anything better… Okay, maybe a flying unicorn with rainbows and an entire enclosure filled with puppies and kittens, but I really feel like part of the community! A girl like me can really get behind such a unique place!"

The image stuttered a few more times, which also put rushing wind into the sound, before it shifted again and changed to pitch black again. Quickly after, it changed back to Molly and her room behind her while her infamous happy expression covered the camera.

"I've come up with SO many ideas to liven up the town and I've already done a couple, but I'll leave that to my next log because I want to talk about MORE amazing things that happened since we moved in! Ooh, so much to say in SO LITTLE TIME! I've delayed long enough, LET ME SHOW YOU THE MOST AMAZING THING TO HAVE HAPPENED TO ME IN MY LIFE!"

Once again the image angled a bit further downward soon after as Molly brought the camera down a bit further, but it didn't last long until she pointed the lens right onto the small house that laid dormant near one of the walls. She showed a portion of her face in the shot while she tried to keep the focus on both her and the object, which she didn't completely perfect as the image still shook every now and then from her hold.

It never dampened her spirits in the slightest though.

"Guess what? The house we just so happened to move into was already occupied with my NEW BEST FRIEND EVER! Not only that, but he exists on another plane of existence altogether! You won't believe this, but we have a GHOST living with us under the same roof, and I absolutely LOVE him all over! He goes by the name Scratch, and even though I can call him up at any point, and I really mean at ANY point, after a romp last night through town involving a bathtub, tires, and millions of duct tape I gave him some time to himself for a bit. Can't have my favorite bestie tuckered out from something like that!"

She then angled a camera a bit closer to the small house.

"While he still feels a bit bummed that we usurped his living space, after we gave him this he seems rather satisfied to share with us. I've only seen brief glimpses inside, but I don't want to intrude too much into his own private time, even if I completely can, although I find it very cute to see him all miniaturized like I'm the biggest girl in existence. Yup, he can't go anywhere without me after that misfired curse, and I only need to call him up whenever I need him. Supernatural friends, heheh, who knew? BEST FRIENDS FOR ETERNITY!"

Molly paused for a moment before she switched topics pretty quickly. The screen went black for a quick moment before her face took up nearly the entire frame.

"Ooh, I have one more special part to show for this first log, and it adds something never seen before to the whole Brighton pie of new experiences and friends! I mean it, this sort of occurrence never happened before and I'm near the center of it! Eeeeeeeee, I can't contain my excitement! I HAVE TO SHOW IT RIGHT NOW!"

Her mood near the end seemed to affect the steadiness of the camera as the image shook more than usual, but then the image completely shifted all over the place as Molly appeared on the move again. The image went black again before it shifted forward, and then more rushing air blew through the sound, either from Molly or the oxygen around her, as the girl swiveled the camera around like she operated a toy instead of a high tech device. Eventually, she settled down her movements until the image set on her bed in the corner. At first nothing seemed too out of the ordinary, even when Molly always kept her sheets nice and clean, but once the display shook around some more as she moved in closer, something barely got picked up by the camera. While one could assume it as nothing more than a dot of sand or grain of rice, as the camera picked up the sounds of rushing air while Molly moved in closer the details very subtly surfaced. From her long brown hair that reached her shoulders to her dazzling hazel eyes, those that didn't understand at first wouldn't get the message immediately. The miniature speck on Molly's bed took a distinct shape of a young girl as the display immediately plopped on the bed nearby, which sent the girl into the air for a brief moment and made her yelp before she landed back down. Various details of her figure still remained under the guise of her small stature, so Molly moved the camera up a bit further toward the tiny girl while it picked up the sounds of the Molly's breathing. Finally, after a couple of close pushes forward, the image settled on as much as it could pick up from the tiny one, which took Molly a few extra efforts so she wouldn't accidentally mow the other down. After a couple of blurry effects, the image switched over and put the tiny girl straight into focus. Eventually, it appeared as if the display set on the same level like she stood at the same height as Molly, even if that clearly wasn't the case. Molly's efforts as she fiddled with the camera paid off, as she finally found the perfect angle to show the girl to her audience.

…even if the Nancy didn't particularly like the spotlight.

Her legs shook from all over while she covered herself in her arms and clamped her mouth shut.

"Go on, introduce yourself!"

The camera perfectly picked up Molly's whisper while Nancy struggled to speak at first. She shuffled her feet into the blanket's fabric for some kind of relief, but it actually didn't do much.

"…mrrrph…munimum…grnmmmum…"

Nancy's words became a mumbling mess as the lens kept her front and center.

"Come on, go for it! Please?"

Nancy's fingers twiddled while she put her head down like a nervous wreck. Molly's encouragement on the sidelines didn't do much, even if they pushed against the doors to unlock the girl underneath all of the conflicting thoughts. If she didn't speed things up Molly would never let it go, and yet she insisted that Nancy go through with it. From one place to another, the tiny girl still refused to let out everything beyond the walls, even to someone as friendly as Molly.

She let certain parts slither out just to get the experience over with though.

"Errr, ummm, well…I'm…I'm Nancy…"

"Yes, yes, just like that!"

The image picked up the sight of Nancy as she faintly glanced off to the side, probably to Molly, before she continued on.

"Well, I…I'm…I'm not normally like this. I used to have…have…"

She forcibly closed her mouth one she felt the tears fall from her face. She held herself hold as her arms wrapped around her chest and stayed there in a constricted fashion. Her shuddering also continued throughout the whole process, and soon enough she closed her eyes and turned away from the display.

"You're doing great! Keep going!"

Nancy silently shook her head as she continued to break apart. She couldn't afford to see anything when the harsh punishments clouded her mind beyond any forms of positivity.

"No, don't break down now! Uhhhh, just, ummmm, hold it in for a bit longer, okay? Please, for me?"

Nancy refused to move a muscle from the stiffness brought by the injustice smitten on her. While Molly remained off screen for the most part, as the tiny girl wept silently to herself the camera picked up the sight of one of Molly's massive fingers when it showed up behind her. Using one of her large fingernails, Molly carefully tapped Nancy across the back for some kind of light comfort like a friendly pat. Her action calmed Nancy down somewhat and got her to open her eyes to the camera again, although she still had a couple of empty tears across her cheeks.

"There there, just keep it together. At least explain what happened with you, okay?"

Nancy rubbed the sides of her head and took a couple of deep breaths to try and settle down. Her head shook a few times while she closed her eyes a few times in the process. Her body then shuddered for a second before she muster just enough to finally speak up again. It became a temporary patch job, but also enough to stir her into a semi average state. The poor girl still had her desires out of reach, much to the inner demons that plagued her.

"Ummmm, again…I'm Nancy… I…I don't usually stand at this size, but…after an incident with Molly…and lots of…frosting…I've lost all of it…"

She took a moment to pause to herself before she added more.

"Since then, I've basically stayed…with Molly…and her ghost friend Scratch…"

Right as Nancy finished those last few words, a couple of winds picked up in the camera's sound before Molly's humongous face zipped in right behind the tiny girl. The scale between the two basically went on a completely different level in size alone, as Molly even had to angle the camera in such a way that it picked up both of them in full detail. It almost seemed like Molly took up the entire skies above while Nancy stood under them, which displayed the split contrary to where both of them stood on the height scale. The bigger one's blissful and infectious smile plastered all behind Nancy like a sprawling mountain range, and it would take an eternity for Nancy to reach any of the peaks even if she had a hobby as a mountaineer. The brief moment across the camera provided such a sheer contrast between the two that it served as a reminder to just how much reduction Nancy took compared to the eager and supportive Molly behind her.

"Exactly! I've taken it upon myself to fix everything!"

Molly speedily made her way back out of the shot before she let Nancy have the attention again. It shook Nancy up a little, but not enough to completely force her down.

"Yes, ummmm, she made that promise…and we just started with this…whole thing. I don't know what the future holds for me…but I want out of this more than anything…even if she started the problem in the-"

"Okay, okay, we don't need to get into the gritty details there Nancy! I'll, uhhh, leave that for my next log, heheheh…"

Molly's voice quivered all over the place from the last statement, which already painted a thorough picture as to how she felt behind the camera. Before long, the image shook again a few times as it picked up the sight of Molly's fingers while they reached forward toward Nancy, but quickly after it shifted around to various angles, which blew through the sound, until the screen went black. It only lasted a brief moment, and once it showed up again the image pointed over to Molly and her friendly demeanor front and center. She brought the position back a bit further before she raised her other hand and showed the tiny Nancy standing in the center of her palm.

"Yup, we also have this tiny girl to look after she mysteriously shrunk thanks to some…unprecedented developments. We have no idea how it happened and what possibly caused such a change in perspective, but I made it my solemn duty to figure it out ever since we came into contact with each other. I'm only providing the footnotes version for now, because ever since new events began to show up and I couldn't any more have more excitement built up than right now! Who knows what might come from this unknown phenomenon, and I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE ALL OF THEM! Got anything extra to say, Nancy?"

The camera zoomed in closer to Molly's palm where Nancy stood in a somewhat worried manner. She then shuddered once the camera got a good look at her.

"Ummmm, I'll, uhhhhhh, handle the best I can. As worried and scared as I feel about staying with someone as massive as Molly…she understands me for the most part and wants to reverse this more than anything right now…"

"I couldn't have said that better myself, lil' Nancy!"

The image pulled back to show Molly again while she continued to hold Nancy.

"Well, I don't really have any else to add to this, but I'll keep these updated when new information surfaces from something completely stunning. I'm holding back on SO MUCH JOY with this and can't wait for what this new future has in store for all of us! From ghosts to sudden shrinking, well, I think we always have something to look forward to here. Until my next log, SEE ALL OF YOU LITTLE PEOPLE LATER!"

After a few extra moments of Molly's overjoyed smile, the screen went black one final time and the "REC" word disappeared from the corner. A few more seconds in and she turned off the camera completely. She set it neatly on her bed before she turned her attention over to the tiny Nancy in her hand, and she couldn't take her eyes off of her shrunken status. She knew the recording went through fully anyway, which left the two girls alone once again. Molly's fascination and care toward Nancy knew no bounds, despite their short lived time together since they first met, while the other couldn't express herself nearly in the same way. They clearly stood on opposite ends of the personality ladder, which complicated things to an extent as to what actions to go for next.

Molly still maintained her trademark smile while she conversed with the tiny girl.

"Well, we took another few steps into this whole dilemma just like close friends! Come on, you feel closer to me after that, right?"

Nancy kept her glance downward for a few moments before she mumbled something to herself and finally glanced back toward Molly's planet sized eyes.

"I don't know… I just… I don't know…"

Molly's smile went slightly down.

"I'm sure you'll understand at some point. No need to rush things, take as much time as you want to get used to me. I know we made some progress these last couple of days, and the sooner you warm up the better!"

"Yeah… Hopefully…" Nancy replied while she shuddered for a second. "I really want to get this over…and done with."

"Trust me, I've pretty much learned that day one." Molly answered. "We'll fix you back up in no time, and out of everything we can possibly go for at the moment…you definitely need a positive outlook for one thing."

"You…you have a point there…" Nancy responded. As much as the tiny girl didn't want to admit it, Molly spoke the truth. While she remained rather timid around others for the most part, ever since she found herself near the yellow bottoms of Molly's shoes she found herself stuck in intense worry twenty four seven. She never thought of a single moment since her shrinkage when she genuinely felt any positivity, much to the complete contrary to Molly, and she couldn't blame herself. Because so many things could outright end her on the spot any amount of trust flew out of the window, even if they insisted that they supported her through and through. She had no idea how any amount of the negatives would leave her, but there stood a chance with the giant girl and her supportive nature. If anyone could possibly have the slightest chance to wring the darkness out, Molly easily stood out as her best chance.

Molly couldn't help it as she slightly hopped up and down in place which shook Nancy up a bit.

"Of course I'm right! Happiness always leads to a better life if I have anything to say about it! I'll try to figure something out to shake up your worried noggin like any friend would, and soon you might have an attitude like mine!"

Nancy chuckled a bit under her breath.

"Yeah, heheh, a personality like yours…"

"Hey, I'm serious!" Molly answered in a playful manner. "I'll shape you into me in a snap! I guarantee it for the sake of your social status! I SHALL SUCCEED!"

Molly immediately stuck a fist high in the air, using the one not holding Nancy, while her large smile spread across her face in her typical Molly fashion. A couple of shining lights illuminated behind her that astounded Nancy and made her eyes sparkle in awe. It almost seemed staggering from such sheer dedication that extruded from the girl's pores, and while Nancy didn't have much of it built in her the fact that she might get sharpened up in attitude caught her interest more than other topics. If Molly meant it in full, the potential to clear the muddy waters that surrounded the tiny one's personality. She wanted the utter intimidation from the drastic perspective changes to take a hike, and while it won't solve her normal timid nature her hindered size wouldn't subdue her into a nervous and wrecked submission.

Before the two could speak further though, their ears picked up a very distinct voice that slowly increased in volume over time. It only lasted for a few seconds though which left no time for deductions, but it became rather obvious who cranked his speakers up. Their expectations proved correct once a certain spectral being phased straight through the floor in a massive rush, but he didn't settle instantly. His speed into the room hit the high numbers, which left him no time to react until he accidentally went through the ceiling. Thankfully for the McGees he left behind no remaining holes in his wake, but he soon found himself in the confines of a flock of birds that flew overhead. They immediately sped through and left him in a state that one could easily mistake for Swiss cheese. He yelped upon their contacts before he suddenly fell back downwards into the room he meant to land in. Molly took a few steps back as he splat against the ground, which left him as a puddle for a split second, before he got up and shook himself back to normal. As if by clockwork, Scratch's daily dose of misfortune arrived and left as quick as a flash.

Molly seemed to have gotten taken by surprise for a moment as her eyelids raised a bit higher than usual, which mirrored over to Nancy.

"Whoa there Scratch! As much as I don't care about knocking before entering, you really made an example to support that notion! What's gotten into you lately?"

Scratch gasped for air a couple of times before his exhaustion took the better of him. He gazed at Molly while he spouted out incoherent nonsense and flailed his arms around like his mouth went numb or something similar. He even deformed his body a few times that struck Molly fancy and got her to interesting smile before she placed Nancy on her shoulder and zipped off for a split second. When she got back Nancy's hair became a frazzled mess, which she didn't mind, and Molly had on a pair of purple glasses with lenses in the shape of dazzling stars. In her hands she brought out a common notepad and pencil and stared down at it for a couple of seconds before she got back to Scratch. Her smile went from interest to lightly comical in one quick motion, and she had one thing on her mind. Suffice to say, the mood in the room shifted in an instant.

She continued to watch Scratch babble on about something while Nancy sat on one of the tween's shoulders silently.

"Uh huuuuuuh. Interesting. How exactly does that make you feel?" Molly said as professionally and concise as a tween could act.

She proceeded to put her pencil to work while Scratch frowned and spread his arms out before her. His nonsense and crazy actions continued while Molly listened and watched all of it in a more down to earth approach.

"Ahhh, okay. Of course. I'll keep that in mind. How about relatives? Got any best friends you want to speak about?"

Scratch's frown went further down before he smacked his forehead. Soon after, his scattered speech became more separated which caused Molly to put the tip of the eraser between her teeth before she got back to the notepad. It went on for a couple more minutes with Scratch's crazy talk and actions while Molly pretended to act as the professional with the pencil and notes. One glance down at her "notes" though revealed that she never wrote anything down at all. In fact, she actually drew a series of flowers with large smiling faces under a grinning sun, which would be another usual series of images Molly would have on her mind, and nothing related to Scratch's situation at all. She continued on with her unrelated questions and nonsensical "notes" while her ghost friend acted as if he spoke another language in a demented and disturbed manner.

The whole display summarized the relationship between Molly and Scratch in a nutshell.

Scratch left his arms to the sides like two dead fish while Molly perked up quickly after. She nodded a couple of times before she put a few more lines on her pictures then immediately replied to her ghost friend.

"So…you want me to take part in a competition to help you win something you've cherished for so long but never found the chance to obtain for yourself?"

Nancy stared in utter bewilderment at the giant girl's face before Scratch threw his arms up and lightly screamed. Immediately after, he plopped face first onto the floorboards and mumbled something under his breath that the two couldn't determine for themselves. Despite all of his strange actions, Nancy's mind drew blank at how his and Molly's actions all added up to one concise conclusion. All amounts of sense flew out of the window as it seemed like she may have the last amounts of sanity the two lost from their actions. If she missed something in the process, she most likely needed a new pair of eyes as soon as possible.

The girls watched as Scratch wriggled a bit on the floor while Molly put her accessories away to the side. The ghost ghost deeply sighed for a second before he peeled himself off the floor and glanced up at the two. He spoke pretty sluggishly at first with an exhaustive expression.

"Errrgh…yes. Exactly that. How did you figure that out?"

Molly helped pull Scratch back into the air while her typical smile rubbed a bit onto Nancy.

"Because we've stayed together for a while now, I've pretty much learned most of the ins and outs that you display on a daily basis! As besties, we deserve to know EVERYTHING about each other!"

Scratch glanced at her in a lightly puzzled fashion.

"Uhhhhh, really? You went through all of the trouble to-"

"Yes Scratch. I've learned A LOT about you behind closed doors." Molly interjected in a slow and low voice.

At that point Molly's large smile and happy face took on another meaning. A mere stare at them rubbed the ghost the wrong way as he pictured a dreamy type of darkness behind her. Molly's face never flinched or changed, but even then he could hear the screams and shrieks behind her bulbous eyeballs. In certain ways she expressed herself like she just threatened him and had only one digit left on the keypad before she sent him to the Flow of Failed Phantoms, which gave Scratch chills as he thought about it. The pains erupted from the depths while the deathly laughter and cackling below indicated the worst of the worst, all while pillars of fire broke from the center of the planet. He swore he also heard a divine chorus at some point, but in the end it didn't matter too much. Even though she never intended to act in a fiery fashion, the scenery and sounds that went through his head didn't put up the warning signs for nothing.

He immediately warded off the visuals and sounds before he responded soon after.

"Okay, okay, you got me there. Guess I don't need to explain things then. So, will you do it or not?"

"I'll do anything to help out my ghostly buddy! You already have my approval!" Molly giddily stated before went for something else. "So…what exactly do I have to do?"

Scratch's eyes went flat.

"I thought you said that you knew everything."

"Not everything, but most of the important stuff." Molly answered. "So what task shall you put me through for our everlasting friendship?"

"Cooking a delicious pastry."

Even though she only had access to Molly's shoulder, from where she sat Nancy could tell Molly's muscles tightened up pretty instantly once Scratch finished. Her smile shifted to a slight frown while her pupils contracted a bit, which further indicated what the giant girl thought about the situation. From an all happy go-getter to someone who came across a disgusting piece of roadkill, Molly sure knew how to act on the spot. Nancy didn't tend to swap emotions that quickly, but in the end she never found the need to. Clearly something rubbed the giant girl's hairs the wrong way, and already the vibes left Nancy guessing on the spot.

She felt Molly shudder all over for a split second before she heard her answer.

"You almost poked a heavily armed alligator with that Scratch. If you ever asked my mom that…"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Already had my mouth chewed off from that remark." Scratch replied while he remained rather tame unlike Molly.

Molly emptily shook her head for a moment while she seemed to stare off into space.

"I saw her as she stared down a pot and pan once like a rabid animal. The next day they disappeared, and when we asked her about them she stated that the dog ate them…"

Scratch tilted his head confusingly.

"Wait, you don't have a dog."

He got taken a bit by surprise when Molly zipped up and grabbed him by the sides. The vivid blankness in her eyes didn't seem to faze him much, but her grip over him provided a strong pressure across his shoulders. Even Nancy backed up a little at Molly's choice of actions.

"She used the baguettes. SHE WENT FOR THE BAGUETTES, SCRATCH. YOU BAGUETTE OR YOU BURY IT, AND SHE…DID BOTH."

She released her grip on him before she backed up and fell into the beanbag chair in the corner. Nancy shivered all over while she watched Molly rub her forehead for comfort, while Scratch didn't stir an inch.

"Luckily I'm not asking your mom for help, only you." Scratch replied. "I'm not stupid enough for that. Just take part in this cooking thing so I can win that beanbag chair in the end."

"…oh sweet baby corn…" Molly muttered under her breath before she brought her mood back up to her usual. "Okay, okay, I'll help out. Even so, you know we already have this comfy cushy chair over here, right?"

"But that's YOUR beanbag chair Mol!" Scratch answered. "I need my OWN individual chair that only I can claim as MINE! I hardly have anything to call my own ever since you moved in, so I need at least SOMETHING to myself! Besides…it's a Motichan one."

It actually surprised Nancy a little to hear the ghost's intentions behind such a request. It took a moment for her to realize it as she recollected nothing he said about such an interest previously, but once she reminded herself of the craziness behind the one school day it came back to her. After his scare to present him with her own special beanbag chair, which resulted in nothing, once she heard that Scratch wanted his own it came to her that she probably should have understood sooner. The company didn't make those exclusive chairs often and usually put them out as promotional items to celebrate major releases after all, and Nancy won hers in a raffle of all things in a promotion that involved another major Motichan movie release. As such, the comfy nature behind one of the beanbag chairs carried mythical descriptions such as "cloud calming" and "cushy marshmallow" to ones that actually sat in their centers. No wonder Scratch wanted to go all out to try and win the most perfect seating option in relaxation, even if it involved the girl he disliked being chained to at all times.

It seemed as though Molly got the idea pretty quickly as well, as she perked up and gazed at him like an inspiration hit. She soon put on a mischievous grin.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh, I get it now. You REALLY want the perfect relaxation option, don't you? After that one trip to Nancy's room, you can't get that image out of your head?"

"Hey, they didn't lie when they described it as a luxury!" Scratch answered. "I just need you to win it for me. So, uhhhhhh, if I may ask…"

"Go on Scratchy, say the magic word…" Molly said before she rushed up to her buddy and plastered the side of her impish expression across the side of him. Nancy held on for her life from the giant girl's shoulder as she constantly moved all over seemingly without any regard toward her tiny passenger.

Scratch didn't fall to the same standards as Molly and remained flat as he provided his answer.

"The magic word."

Molly instantly frowned before she pulled back.

"Seriously Scratch?"

"Hey, I already gave it my all back with that spider so I deserve a bit of recharge time if you know what I mean." Scratch responded. If he spoke to anyone else they probably would have taken more offense to it, but because Nancy learned pretty rapidly that Molly followed the norm in her own way any possible chance deteriorated. She adored Scratch far more than anyone else on the planet, despite her brief stay in Brighton, and it wouldn't become a "Mollyfied" moment if she went against him.

Instead of shouting an angry response back, Molly silently shook her head.

"I'll let it pass for now since I already want to help you out by any means possible. If you want me to win you that beanbag chair, I'll GLADLY take part it that competition for my best buddy! Ooh, wait right there for a quick second!"

After she made that exclamation, Molly hastily reached down and picked up Nancy from her shoulder before she set her down on her bed before she zoomed off in an instant hurry. Both Scratch and Nancy stood bewildered at what she possibly had in mind, and after they heard some banging and crashing downstairs it confused them even further. Scratch could have easily spoiled himself if he willingly phased through the floorboards to see her idea prematurely, but he let her have it in case he wanted to chew him out for any kind of attempt. Besides, if it involved clothes the less thought about "Peeping Tom" the better. Nancy remained mostly silent, but still remained equally as curious as Scratch. Clearly they had another Molly moment on their hands, and if they didn't tread carefully they awaited mountains of glitter, sugar, and rainbows beyond the large double doors.

When she meant that it would only take a short time she really meant it, as after only around five seconds the eager go lucky tween zoomed straight back into the room.

"I'm BAAAAAAAACK!"

Her new choice of attire completely turned the tables on her typical look. She almost looked like someone completely different, but her smiling expression and cutesy eyes gave the illusion away in an instant. From an energetic young girl to souffle chef, she pulled off the whole aesthetic as if she always desired to become one in her prime. The stereotypical high hat stood out as the most unmistakable part of the whole outfit, and just the sight of it already made Scratch desire something to eat on the side. The puffiness of the top almost gave off the appeal of a giant cupcake or muffin, which Nancy had to admit to herself as she looked at it. She never understood if such a design ended up intended or not, but it helped provide an appeal to someone who took the job and helped them stand out. As for her outfit, it also blended with the choice of hobby. From a tightly knit white suit with long sleeves that even displayed a couple of buttons across the center that held it together, it almost seemed professionally made and tailor crafted for Molly. Nancy really took notice of the red scarf underneath the collar as the color made it stand out from the white, although she expected such an accessory on butlers or servants than anything else. As it turned out, apparently cooks and chefs wore them too according to what Nancy took from Molly's choices. While her shoes resembled her normal pink and yellow sneakers, for the most part they saw pitch black all over, which implied that she couldn't find any decent replacements. At least the color blended in a bit that made it seem like something that matched, but if they knew Molly she probably already had some ideas for something better when she had the chance. While her pants matched the color of the suit and didn't have the apparent and stylist appeal of everything else, she topped all of it off with a small adorable mustache under her nose that only reached around half the width of her mouth. Even if girls lacked such a minute part typically, for Molly specifically Scratch and Nancy had to admit that it added to her cute nature and matched her whole attire perfectly. For an attempt at a play of the whole conventional chef, in terms of clothes and style alone Molly really nailed it on the head.

She introduced herself in an outlandish and joyous manner only she could provide.

"Innnnnntroduuuucing the most talented and amazing cook from this side of Brighton with a pinch of cream and sugar, the lovely Mystery Magical Mixer Molly!"

She then struck a triumphant pose while some sweet custard pies and swamps of pudding made up each letter of her title under a brilliant sparkle. Nancy took it rather well as her eyes sparkled at the display before she lightly smiled and applauded lightly, but Scratch didn't find it that appealing as the visuals disappeared.

"You really couldn't have settled on an easier title? Sounds like you came up with it on the spot."

"Come on Scratch, I can't settle on something so BORING sounding!" Molly responded while she put her hands on her hips. "Why settle on any ordinary name when you can go for a much GRANDER and more EXTRAVAGANT title fit for someone like me!"

"…why am I not surprised…" Scratch muttered under his breath.

"Come on Scratch, you know you wanted to see me under a different umbrella the moment we became besties." Molly added with a cutesy smile. "Besides, I've wanted to bust out this alter ego for years now. I think I found the most appropriate time to bust this girl out, if you know what I mean."

She then leveled her eyes with Scratch's while her smile turned smug and her eyebrows raised a couple of times to the unfazed ghost. Nancy could tell from his expression alone that he held back an urge to roll his eyes straight in her face, and yet he cocked an eyebrow instead.

"So you had this on standby in case you ever needed it? Sheesh! Got any more of your 'alter egos' I don't know about?! How about 'Zipper Mouth Molly' so I can finally have some peace and quiet?!"

He actually chuckled a little from his brief idea before Molly answered back almost instantly.

"Yes, I actually have plenty more!"

Scratch's grin immediately disappeared once he heard her response, and before long both him and Nancy watched as Molly rushed off, yet again, and reappeared a split second later with something in her grasp. At first they saw it as nothing but a standard blue binder held together in a pretty tight manner, but once she opened it up its true purpose unraveled before them. Because Nancy lacked in the height department and couldn't see for herself, Molly carefully placed a hand down before her and let the tiny one walk on. She then brought Nancy up to her smiling face and set her on one of her shoulder before she opened the binder up. Molly wanted everyone in on her ideas after all.

Scratch and Nancy only grazed the surface of Molly's mindset of designs.

From the first few pages alone, they already saw over a dozen different designs for possible outfits for seemingly every type of situation imaginable, including some that seemed too far fetched to ever occur. Some type of weird crustacean themed drawing labeled "Pinch Pinch Bubbler Molly" became apparent in one of the pages, while a "Hypster Ballerina 'n Dancer Molly" themed drawing stood out in another, and even then she had more and more drawn in every available space she could fit. Even though her drawing ability became one of her most prolific traits in the eyes of Scratch and Nancy, because of the sheer number of designs that plastered across each page she had drawn each one on a "lesser scale" than what she usually went for. That didn't mean they were terrible, but they stood a little less on par with what they were used to. They seemed to go on and on as the pages flipped, and the catalog of entries went up and up. Her young and vibrant mind set examples between the pages, and Molly's couldn't have felt any happier to share them with her close friends.

Holly Jolly with a Lollipop Molly.

"Funtastic" Robot Molly with Lightning.

Molly Squared and Split (Clones Inconclusive).

Gymnastic Acrobat Molly.

Everlasting Hugs and Friendship Molly.

The Molverine.

…and they only memorized a small sample of her ideas.

"Mol, I was joking!" Scratch said. "You didn't need to… Sheesh, how many have you got listed in there?!"

"One for almost every occasion…with more incoming!" Molly happily answered. "I even just started one yesterday in my free time after everything that happened up to this point! Here, I'll show you!"

Scratch and Nancy kept their eyes open as the eager girl flipped through more of the pages until she settled on a particular part. They found it difficult to distinguish at first from all of the other pieces around it, but once they noticed the outline it became quick to point out. Unlike the other drawings, it showed some very incomplete lines and shapes, but clearly Molly still had a vision for it. While individual details remained vague, they could determine the general shape of Molly's body from the lines alone.

They didn't get it at first.

"Ummm, what am I seeing exactly?" Scratch asked. "Looks like you didn't finish it yet."

"I'm…working out a bit of the more noteworthy details." Molly answered. "I'm certain it'll become a great addition to the 'Hall of Mollys' once I've planned everything out. I know at most she stands at, like, a bazillion feet tall and resembles more of a terrible lizard, but in the end she has a heart of gold and would do nothing to harm anyone! Despite her monster appearance, she wants everyone to think of her as the biggest cuddly creature on the planet!"

"Uh huh, I can easily picture that from a mile away." Scratch said. "And what name have you given to this 'alter ego' of yours?"

Molly immediately turned to Scratch with a smile.

"The Giant Reptilian Molly from the Depths!"

For Nancy, she shuddered to think about such an occurrence here such a creature existed. She already got her dose of a potential scenario with a giant Molly from her nightmare last night, and ever since her drastic perspective change such a sight became an everyday occurrence. When it came to large scales it became next to impossible to do anything without any collateral damage whatsoever, and despite her intention given, Nancy couldn't see it as an outcome. Destruction rained from above to the helpless citizens below, and anything she touched would basically not exist anymore. If she really wanted, Molly could have added the ability to breathe fire for even more terror below as anything would've melt away in seconds from the heat. Everything stricken stood no chance again the complete reign of a giant monster Molly even if she desired no such harm to everyone down by her feet.

She expected it to have ended there, but Molly went on with her idea.

"I know it sounds dull at first, but I found the inspiration behind such a creation ever since we found ourselves in the center of something we've never experienced before. I've wanted to make something out of it so it seemed less like a problem and more like a new adventure because it's not nice to always dwell on the negatives. I have to give it to Nancy, for she really made my wheels turn ever since that fateful day!"

If the name brought a certain dread to her before, the effect after eased such feelings. To think that Molly came up with such an idea from her unfortunate situation sounded quite charming in certain aspects. She stated a few days ago that she took the whole problem seriously even if she showed no such seriousness in her common face, and even though her idea of a giant monster version of herself came out of left field, she probably wouldn't have done so if she stated the contrary. Despite the terrible predicament Nancy found herself in, Molly thought things differently in a positive light. She made the most out of the bad situation and formed it into something to look forward to, which seemed to set an example for Nancy to follow…even if it was a bit too early to jump to conclusions.

Scratch switched the topics back soon after.

"Okay, okay, you brought out something you always had on the back burner. You better know your way through all of the utensils for this."

"Oh, I do!" Molly answered giddily.

"An oven?"

"Yup!"

"Microwave?"

"That's child's play!"

"How about actual cooking?"

Nancy swore she heard some glass break in the back of her mind immediately after Scratch finished. Molly's trademark smile didn't fade away, but her pupils contracted a little. She could barely feel her shudder from under her rear, and while Scratch probably lacked the ability to see the pristine detail Nancy found a couple of minuscule drops of sweat that fell slowly down her cheek. While not to the extremes she went through the moment she laid her eyes on Katrina for the first time, all signs pointed to one specific answer behind the question given. She never had the perfect ability of subtly listed in her spreadsheet after all, which left any form of acting out of a potential future, although she probably wouldn't have chosen such a profession in the first place.

"Uhhhhhh, heheheh…" Molly began before she rubbed the back of her head. "Well, you see, I kind of, ummmmm…"

Scratch caught on rather quickly and fell back to his flat demeanor.

"You came up with an entire persona centered around such tasks…and yet you've never actually done any of it in the first place. Why am I not surprised?"

"No, I've done so in the past before Scratch!" Molly replied in a slightly flustered manner. "I just, well, haven't actually…done a recipe in full before. I've assisted others with their own dishes, you know, like a low working scullion, but in terms of solo projects… Yeah, not so much. That doesn't mean I can't make something work though!"

"So you, once again, put your actions first before thinking." Scratch responded while unfazed by her words. "I'm tempted to hold a plaque in your honor for how many times you screwed up that way."

Nancy kept her mouth shut throughout the conversation, and she definitely heard the dilemma between the girl and ghost. To hear that Molly never actually performed any cooking on her own honestly didn't surprise her that much, especially since she seemed to always have herself booked with endless activities in mind. It probably stood out as just one too many to force into the energetic mind of hers, although her age might have also factored in to the whole thing. For someone who always put herself first when it came to helping others, the one specific trait always eluded her interests for much more important matters. While Nancy never meant to degrade her, it sounded so mundane that to hear about someone who missed the mark became somewhat of an enigma to her. In the end though, it only added to the list of outlandish attributes Molly had to her name, and she wouldn't blame her if she wore it like a badge of honor.

If only she ever got the chance to witness her older sister…

"The midget knows something."

Nancy's train of thought screeched to a halt once she heard the familiar ghost speak overhead. Her head perked straight up before she brought it back to the ones much bigger than her, and they had their attention right over her puny body.

"Scratch, you can't make such blunt assumptions unless prompted. You know you can hurt someone's feelings with them."

"Molly, I can see it in her face. I can read her like a book from such blatant signs…and yet I'm still wringing my brain out with that Olivia girl." Scratch answered.

"Ohhhhhhhhkay?" Molly said in a slightly weirded out manner. She then brought her attention back to the shrunken girl on her shoulder.

"I guess we have no choice but to ask then. Do you really know something that can help?"

Nancy stammered all over. The sight of Molly's planetary sized eyes had the sweetness and deadliness set upon her shrunken body that ultimately brought her emotions into a stalemate. She could very easy squish her into paste if she wanted, and Nancy still lacked full trust in Molly to somehow pull off the miracle of height reversal. Even so, she still had to put up with all of the antics ahead. Cooperation became the most common outcome to at the current time.

"Well, uhhhhh, I…kind of do?" Nancy answered while a bit unsure herself.

"How so?" Molly asked.

"I, ummmm, may have memorized some tidbits from, uhhhhhh, my sister…" Nancy responded.

Out of every topic to somehow stir the pot of Nancy's mind, her older sister's cooking habits ended up as the last thing after everything that happened. She still remembered all the times she ruined the kitchen from overheating the dish or something similar. Even when she still wanted to figure out which classes to take before college, her first couple of days stood out as some of the most infamous moments within the household. Eggs flew straight into windows, she got her head stuck in a pot, and one time the oven spewed flames, but despite the infamous example once she eventually got to it her results suddenly went positive. From delicious stews, pizzas, and even stuffed peppers for the most part they became some of her delicious standards. A few times she assisted in some sweets, like cakes and cookies, during special occasions, and they became the most delectable parts throughout the day. Even with her promising future in the kitchen though, it only became just one of many that she went through in her ventures to figure out the correct career choice, and once she left Nancy never figured out which classes she decided on and left her guessing for years. It crushed her to know that she never figured out the most crucial detail before her sister's leave, but at least in the process she inadvertently picked up a couple of pointers and recipes just because she could. She never thought the need to revisit them until Molly turned over to her, and even if she only figured out a couple of portions she needed all of the help she could get. Her sister's cooking time may have gone undetected until now, but it came back at the most opportune moment for all of them.

Scratch flew up closer to Nancy for a closer look, which spooked the tiny one a little before her spoke up.

"Well, I guess that gives us SOME relief in this whole thing! Phew, and I thought I would have to resort to CERTAIN tactics!"

"I'd…rather not find out about those." Molly stated while she slightly winced. After that, she turned back to Nancy.

"You think you can give me some pointers on a certain recipe you memorized? Together, we can potentially create something AMAZING! Ooh, I already have some ideas for decorations!"

"I…think I may recall a pretty spectacular piece…at least from what I remember." Nancy answered. "Details may remain…a bit fuzzy at certain points."

"I'll make it work nonetheless." Molly replied. "As long as I put my mind to it, I'm determined to see this cooking pastry job through! LET MYSTERY MAGICAL MIXER MOLLY HANDLE THIS!"

"Yes, let's do it…for the beanbag chair!" Scratch exclaimed while he smiled himself…for the prize at the end.

---

It required a bit of extra thinking to figure out how to get the kitchen all to themselves. With both Mr. McGee and Darryl and their eyes glued to the TV it wouldn't go by easy unless they thought outside of the box. When they eventually concluded on an answer, although Molly came up with it while the others agreed, it relied on Molly's brother and he defined "unpredictable" in a completely different manner. Molly conversed with her brother through text while he watched the big game with his father, and even though he refused at first, especially because of the football game, after some really dire convincing, which involved doing his chores for a month and a "solid" whenever he called it, he eventually turned to their side. It required a few of Darryl's "underground" associates, who he refused to name, and after a couple of minutes on his phone he managed to get the job done. One quick notification popped up on Mr. McGee's phone about some required assistance with his wife's current Gig-Pig job, and once he had his eyes on the payout he dropped everything and bolted straight out the door with Darryl in tow. It required an extra set of hands other than his and he just so happened to have his son next to him for the perfect opportunity. Despite the involvement, the young troublemaker knew what he would get into for the sake of his older sister, and as long as she held up her end of the bargain he remained satisfied.

Mr. McGee had his eyes set on his own personal heater for a while after all.

With them out of the picture, it left the two girls and ghost alone with their cooking escapades. Nancy already had a certain recipe set in mind, a cake shaped like a treasure chest that poured coins from under the lid, and even though she stated that it wouldn't go by easily, "Chef" Molly insisted that she could pull it off in a snap. She brought all of the required utensils out and started up the oven while Scratch already heard his taste buds as they cried out for something tasty. Nancy's sister baked the cake herself after all to outstanding results, and if the stars aligned then Molly possibly had the potential to make one too. While a long shot in the eyes of Nancy, Molly insisted to go through with it even if she never fully created a dish by herself before.

The group got to work immediately while a hard rock tune went through the kitchen.

The Perfect Pastry

Cake mix and chocolate…

(Molly pours the ingredients in the bowl while her hands remain a bit clenched)

Flour and cherry sauce…

(Scratch grabs the requisite ingredients from the shelves and pours them in next)

Brought together for the ages…

(Molly takes a couple of deep breaths before she grabs the ladle and mixes them in a vigorous motion. Some parts of the mixture spill out and nearly land on Nancy on the counter close by while Scratch watches)

Time to show the sweet whose boss!

(Molly stops stirring and looks inside, followed by Scratch, only to see a semi successful mixture inside. Molly and Scratch look at each other with smiles before they nod in agreement and Scratch brings out the cooking tray)

Batter everywhere…

(Molly slowly tilts the bowl forward and pours the batter carefully within the confines of the tray. Her smile goes even higher from her current success with the whole thing)

Oven turned up high…

(Molly opens the front of the oven. She feels the heat before she puts on some happy kitty oven mitts and cautiously grabs the tray before she slides it inside)

Its fate has been sealed…

(Molly closes the front of the oven while Scratch gets the various frostings and decorations from one of the cupboards)

To sit tight and transmogrify!

(Molly happily sets the timer atop the stove to a certain point, but in her haste she accidentally sets it one digit further which nearly triples the amount inputted)

HEEEEEEEAAAAAAAT!

(The oven starts and the insides increase in temperature until it reaches the correct degrees. Both Molly and Scratch watch anxiously while Nancy can't due to her placement on the counter)

AND COMPLEEEEEEEEEEEETE!

(Molly and Scratch have their eyes straight, with dilated pupils, on the cooking batter in the oven while their grins expanded)

TO GO THE MILE AND PUT ON A SMILE

(Time passes in a millisecond, and soon enough they see results…but not what they expected. The somewhat solidified batter inside raised upward unto a bulbous dome as various flames under increased the temperature. Their smiles vanish while Molly tries to turn everything off)

THE YUMMY TASTE SHALL CLEAN YOUR HATE!

(Eventually, it becomes too late as the front of the oven flies open and the entire batter sprays over everything in the kitchen. Scratch takes a large glob to the face which sends him to the back wall and traps him against it, while Molly falls backward against the ground in a ruined mess. Nancy suffers something similar to Scratch and takes a piece all across her body due to her size, which plants her against the counter and leaves her stuck against it)

FROM CREAM, THE DOUGH, AND CHOCOLATE CHIPS

(Scratches phases out of his sticky prison while Molly quickly gets back up and forcefully shuts the oven. She then shuts the whole thing down while Scratch takes a moment to look at his frozen imprint left behind from the batter. He chuckles a little at it before he raises and lowers his eyebrows in a certain manner, while behind him Molly slips back on the floor for a moment before she pries Nancy out of her own sticky prison)

ALL COME TOGETHER ACROSS YOUR LIPS!

(Another cut happens as more attempts to cook the recipe end just as badly, if not worse, than the initial attempt. Various stills pass through. One is of streams of fire being shot out of the oven that nearly roasts Molly and Nancy only for Scratch to disappointingly be the only one to turn the whole thing off. The second is of all three of them being coated in flour after the entire bag collapses on all of them from the top cabinet, which also leaves the entire contents across the floor)

DELICIOUS, LUSCIOUS, AND A PINCH OF PASSION

(More stills pass by of Molly accidentally leaving the oven mitt inside the oven and another of Scratch bloating up from eating all of the sprinkles, which doesn't sit well with the girls)

THE PERFECT PASTRY AND COMPASSION!

(A cut of Molly stirring the bowl passes by)

GOOOOOOOOOOO!

(Chocolate chips fall into the bowl soon after)

SUGAR AND SPICE!

(It goes straight into the oven)

GOOOOOOOOOOO!

(…only for it to explode shortly after)

THE PERFECT PASTRY!

The aftermath of all the cooking trials left the kitchen in shambles. Whether cake batter or flour covered the surfaces, they still created a huge mess throughout the entire room. It left Molly coated in butter, eggs, flour, and everything in between from all of her attempts, while Scratch hit the wall multiple times whether by an explosion, sudden combustion, or something else which left dozens of indents against it in various poses…including letters of a certain popular 70s song. It lessened his anger by a little bit, but not by much especially as the special chair begged for his ownership. Nancy took as much punishments as the others, from getting covered in batter to a fall that almost put her in the tray on the way to the oven, and almost brought her to a breaking point. If Molly and Scratch didn't take some form of damage on their own she probably would have felt more terrible fates upon her, but she had to admit that the sight of how messed up they looked lifted her spirits a little. It matched her covered appearance from all the eggs and cake mix drenched over her, and it provided a nice example of how crazy the whole situation became in an instant. Molly really lacked the perfect knowledge of cooking a cake and brought ruin to the entire kitchen, but the ridiculousness behind it kept most of the three in high spirits.

After all of the insanity with the oven, it left all of them on cleaning duty before everyone else made it back. Scratch took on the higher parts while Molly handled the lower ones. Nancy also did her best to help, but at best she only got a hold of very small portions of sponge and managed to wipe down a tiny portion of the counter in the whole process. She tried her hardest, but in the end it contributed minimal to the whole duty. It took a good thirty minutes because of the damage caused, but eventually they got the job done. Molly had to change back into her regular clothes after her "alter ego" became filthy in cooking ingredients, and after that she collapsed onto the living room couch followed by the other two, although she carried Nancy herself between her fingers. As for the tiny girl herself, she had to get a firm scrubbing in her clothes, which involved soap and a wet towel, and it left her drenched in the end. Molly enjoyed it more than Nancy did, but not so much the recipient of her washing. Suffice to say, the recovery phase became just as tiring as the actual cooking phase.

After she placed Nancy on the arm of the couch, Molly immediately collapsed on it followed by her shrunken companion. Scratch slouched on a chair close by and let his arms hang from the side.

"I need oxygen!" Molly said before she put her head up and deeply gasped for air. "I need OXYGEN!"

"So…much…work…" Nancy stated while her heart yearned for relaxation. "My arms feel like…drained twigs…"

After her statement, Scratch's exhausted arms cracked a little before they snapped straight off, but his fatigue left him unable to care too much.

"I completely understand that feeling…" Scratch said. "Even so…we still need to bake something…before time runs out…"

"I don't think…I can lift another muscle…" Molly said while she glanced at her arms and saw her veins pulsate. She groaned slightly afterward before she spoke to Nancy.

"Please tell me…you know something LESS tiring…before my limbs give out…"

"Can't think… Give me thirty minutes…" Nancy answered as her mind remained somewhere far away.

"I can…agree on that…" Molly answered with a small smile.

"But…we can't delay any further…or else we'll miss everything…" Scratch said through periodic breaths.

"Sorry Scratch…but we tried our hardest…" Molly answered. "Maybe we should…wait until next year…or…something…"

Such a response ignited something in Scratch that completely flipped the tables for his typical personality. Low utterances of a certain blob creature rang through his head like millions of bells, and no matter how much he reached out he couldn't fully grasp it. The creature's chubby mouth adorably smiled in his direction which only prodded Scratch to reach further and further only to always hover out of arms' reach like it taunted him from afar. The ghost wanted it more than anything, and while he kept his eyes on the prize the desperation set in once the image began to fade. His breathing shortened as he sped forward, and yet the blobby creature never fully came into his grasp. Before long, he completely lost sight of it, and its loving catchphrase fell to the crowds of laughter that followed. Scratch's empty hollow stared into space at such a failure, and it hurt to think about it every aspect. Such an outcome never crossed his mind, and yet Molly and Nancy became ruined wrecks from all of their efforts. His desires rooted in deep, and he then pictured someone else as they sat in the cherished treasure, insultingly stuck their tongues out, and then flipped…

That served as the final straw.

"Nonononono! I'M NOT TAKING THIS LYING DOWN!"

As quick as a wink, Scratch's ghostly body suddenly lost all of its fatigue as he sternly put himself back in the air and sped straight over to the two tired girls. He focused on Molly first, who remained almost out of it, and got up straight in her face with fire in his eyes.

"Molly! You got to get up and try again! Come on, for the beanbag chair!"

"Scratch…you know already that I can't cook efficiently." Molly answered.

Scratch didn't take such a response lightly and took the situation even further as he clasped her cheeks close and shook her like a madman. Such actions took Molly by surprise, but she still remained greatly exhausted.

"THAT'S NOT THE MOLLY I KNOW! COME ON, I SIGNED YOU UP AND I'M NOT LETTING THIS GO TO WASTE! GET UP AND PUT THOSE OVEN MITTS BACK ON!"

Molly's head plopped right back on the couch the moment Scratch let go. He heard her groan a little under her breath, but it only made Scratch more upset. The ghost silently growled before he went over to Nancy next, who also seemed out of it, and stared at her straight in her tiny eyes.

"Do you know any other potential recipes to possibly win the gold?"

Nancy's head tilted back and force as buckets of sweat continued to pour waterfalls down her head.

"So many suds…the sizes of mountains…" Nancy muttered. "Never again…ice skating…"

Her head immediately fell straight back down which insulted Scratch's current demeanor. He even slapped her right across her entire body to possibly speed up her wake up time, which would have hurt her if her mind never wandered completely off like Molly's tired body. The instant he saw Nancy collapse back on the arm of the couch, Scratch took it a step further and angrily grabbed the tiny girl. Because of her current mindset, Nancy didn't take it as majorly threatening and only made her dizzier than usual.

"Come on midget, give me a good idea!" Scratch exclaimed while he shook her. He only received some more groaning while nearly made him blow his top. Eventually, he heard a distant in his head that served the final barrier to a full outrage, and just like that he snapped completely.

"AUUUUUGH! COME ON, GIVE ME SOMETHING!"

In his twisted mind to sort everything out, the mere concept of an uncooperative Molly or Nancy became the most offensive thing in the world. Any amount of safety and humanity drained from his mind, and soon enough he hovered over to the exhausted Molly and performed something that never crossed his mind until then. With a fatigued Nancy still in his hand, Scratch swung her downward and banged the helpless girl against Molly head in every way possible. Luckily for the tiny one his hand took most of the force, but it didn't help the constant dizziness he provided from his constant back and forth motions. At that point Nancy woke up somewhat, but it mostly came from roller coaster Scratch kept on loop.

As for Molly, her eyes flew more open the instant she felt Nancy sorry body impact across her face at various point.

"Scratch! What the heck?! Please stop!"

"Not until…you win me that chair!" Scratch furiously exclaimed through his scorching tantrum.

None of them saw the next few parts coming. Nancy cried out for some kind of comfort while Scratch continued to bang her against Molly's head like a hammer, which not only hurt the girl in his hand but also the one he cursed himself to. It left multiple red spots across her forehead and cranium, and even though Molly held up her hands at one point to soften the blows, after his last hit she never fully needed it. It almost seemed to occur in slow motion from all of the factors that went into it, and it happened when the ghost reeled back for another strike across Molly's face. Nancy's yells continued when Scratch swung her over to the stricken girl's face, but another clash never happened. For some reason beyond any of their current comprehensions, whether by Scratch's anger, Molly's position, or some other factor, when the ghost's angry Nancy powered fist almost collided with Molly's face again it sunk in further than previously…as his hand phased right into it. It proceeded like that a few extra times before his fists started to hit Molly's face properly. His outrage left nobody safe, every under specific circumstances that left nobody as winners.

After around a minute of Scratch and his fit of rage, eventually Molly had enough and brought everything to a halt.

"SCRATCH…STOP."

If her words never reached him before, her final stern outburst certainly left an impact. It almost left Scratch stricken in shock from such speak, enough to slow him down to a certain extent. To completely seal the deal, Molly got up and grabbed Scratch's arms while she glared at him straight in the eyes. It left almost no extra room to move them and brought the ghost to a standstill. Scratch swore he heard his arms crack in the background, but his focus soon took on the young girl's serious expression that he never thought would show up again. The memories from the time he explained the spider fiasco came crawling back and lingered in his head just to hammer the points in, and he only saw the fire in her eyes for a few seconds before he got the message. He wanted to forget such power behind some of Molly's rainbow of palettes, but the color red constantly hounded him the last couple of days and he blamed Nancy's existence behind such sudden shifts.

As if her grip over his arms served as a harsh reminder enough, a short time after they snapped completely off and fell to the ground. While it freed him from the girl's actions, it left him without arms for a second or two until he grew them back from the stubs left behind. As if he needed another moment where he lost his arms, Molly sure brought them at unexpected rates.

"Okay, okay, I get it! I get it! No need to splash me into a lava bath! Sheesh!" Scratch exclaimed while he held up his hands near his face as if to block something.

"Good." Molly responded before she calmed down some. "Don't use me as a punching bag ever again. I think you already inflicted some bruises across my face."

"Duly noted, duly noted." Scratch replied. Soon after, he watched as Molly tilted her head after a brief glance all across him.

"Say, Scratch? Umm, where did you put Nancy? I think you held onto her the whole time back there."

"Oh, right. Yeah, I held her in my…"

His thoughts took a different turn the moment he glanced over at his hand. If he had a heart, it probably would have dropped the moment his eyes caught the critical detail he missed initially…or lack thereof. He no longer had Nancy in his grasp, and soon after her looked all over himself for any trace of the tiny girl. However, no such girl made her presence known in the time he briefly searched. His mind raced all over for some kind of conclusion, and yet the wires didn't connect at first. His didn't want to admit it, especially after the beating he brought across Molly, but he lost Nancy in the scuffle.

Molly seemed to catch on rather quickly, which prompted up a few distressed wrinkles below her eyes and caused her pupils to shrink.

"Scratch…where's Nancy?"

Her voice quivered in those few words while she pointed at him like he just got away with a major crime, which only made Scratch worry even more.

"I…I don't know! I only remember grabbing her, planting her across her face, and then…then…"

A certain realization hit that almost completely stunned him. His arms went limp before his pupils mirrored Molly's, and it immediately stuck some red flags everywhere. He shook his head in pure denial that turned Molly into a distressed wreck.

"You…you better know where you planted Nancy Scratch, because I…I…I don't want…to…"

She tried to ignore it beforehand, but as time moved on it became too blatant to ignore. At first it started as a slight migraine, which Molly dealt with before, although it lingered on more much longer than she anticipated. Soon after it slowly turned the cranks higher and higher until she hit the pain threshold, which caused her to hold the sides of her head as some kind of makeshift aspirin to failing results. Her legs shuddered, her skin went clammy, and her stomach lurched everywhere. She heard noises from there that only made her even more sick, although she had no idea if her temperature hit triple digits as she continued on. While subtle at first, very quickly she found herself in a process she knew nothing about, and Scratch took notice almost immediately.

"Mol? Hey, Mol? You feeling okay? You don't look so good."

"…fine Scratch… Just…just…"

The life started to leave her body. Her legs almost couldn't hold her up any further and forced her back to the couch while her mind took on two ton weights. She almost felt like it wanted to burst out of her skull as something continuously attempted to push her out, and it brought her into a ruined heap. The rest of her body went numb as her immense sickness took over even further, and Scratch's worried expression didn't help things in the slightest. Her eyes rolled all over, and control of her body slowly began to take it away from her. She wanted to speak up about it with Scratch to figure out what sort of curse he placed on her, but words failed to come out as the last amounts of sanity left her mind. It seemed to have gone on forever in her head, and yet it ended up as a stark contrary. No amount of puke would force her out of the dilemma her body went through.

…and then she collapsed on the couch.

Scratch almost felt like he died for a second time the moment he witnessed Molly instantly keel backward and smack her head against the arm of the couch. He immediately flew over to her as the tween's eyes rolled to the back of her head and her body stirred all over the place. It really felt like she had an epileptic seizure and left the ghost to handle everything despite his lack of a doctor's diploma. He really wished someone else could have dealt with such an issue, like Molly's parents or a relative of sorts, but he had no choice but to put on the gloves and deal with it himself. No way would he desire to have Molly's ghost wander the streets at that moment.

His lack of knowledge came back to bite him as he grasped Molly's cheeks and shook them in an erratic manner.

"Molly! MOLLY! SPEAK TO ME! STOP WITH THIS SICKNESS NONSENSE! I CAN'T HAVE YOU POPPING DAISIES THIS EARLY! COME ON, HOLD IT IN!"

---

She heard everything and yet nothing at the same time. Nothing but void stretched endlessly across the horizons, and the eeriness hit her in all of the wrong places. No matter if she tried to ignore it, for it still plastered everywhere across her so she stayed in her mind beyond normal recollections. Her senses hit the reset switch so nothing worked as intended, but even then the eternal black kept her in place no mater where she headed. All emotions left her to fend for herself, and yet the husk left behind became all too familiar. No matter how much she attempted, nothing could release her from the abyss. Nothing to go through, nothing to live with, and existence meant nothing. She stared at the abyss and it stared back.

She never thought such emptiness had an end in sight, but out of nowhere she found her first breath. The nerves in her limbs roared to life and her heart began to beat, and yet…they felt unnatural at the same time. The rest of her senses awakened at a sluggish pace, as her eyes only picked up indistinguishable blurriness and her ears rang as if a bomb went off right in front of her. She wouldn't blame herself if she found her body in a hospital bed, as the relations between scenarios became too similar to ignore, and yet she desired to never end up there for the sake of her limited sanity. The high pitched screeching that bounced through her head combined with her blurry vision only served to shroud the actual situation she found herself in next, and as her body stirred back to reality the anxiety behind it knew no bounds. Wherever she ended up, it wouldn't go by well.

"…Mol…Molly… Wake up… Come on kid, WAKE UP!"

The familiar voice forced an underwhelming groan out of her as the visuals slowly solidified in front of her. She took another gasp of air while the ringing disappeared and dizziness faded. Her back ached a little, but it didn't prevent her from getting up. If she landed somewhere not in familiar territory then she knew which emotion to fall back on, and as everything came into view she readied herself.

…only to notice a familiar specter in the midst of the living room around her.

"Oh, thank goodness. Almost thought I lost you there for a second! Not that I cared or anything, I just…I didn't want to find myself bound to another ghost! Yeah, uhhh, I'm definitely going with that!"

Her mind remained a bit hazy, but she had enough to conclude on a response.

"Urrrrgh, uhhhhh, what…do you mean by that?"

For some reason Scratch widened his eyes more that normal and tilted his head a little. It worried her to an extent, but she still needed a bit more time to clear her head.

He floated up to her face in slight confusion.

"Hold up… Speak again with a better vocabulary."

She still didn't quite understand what he wanted.

"You want me to speak or something? I don't-"

Her mind connected to another part as more kicked in. At that moment her ears picked up a certain voice that she recognized in an instant, but it took a couple more seconds to figure out where it came from. The instant the sparks connected in her head her eyes went wide and she hastily covered her mouth with her hands. More red flags sprouted in the distance, and her heart staggered as if it wanted to not witness the outcome.

At that point, Scratch hovered back and even seemed to lightly gasp at an almost inaudible volume. He almost put his hands on his mouth while his sights remained on her the whole time.

"I think I may have lost a bit of my sanity, because for a second I thought I heard the midget's voice under yours. Clearly I need some caffeine or else I might see things…but just for the sake of it…"

He got back up to her face again.

"…you in there midget, errrr, Nancy?"

She wanted to not hear the voice from her mouth again, and at first she refused to open it. However, because she knew Scratch and his frightful tendencies if he didn't get want he wanted, she had no choice but to answer.

"Errrrrrr…yes? Who else would you…be talking to…exactly?"

Just hearing the certain voice from her own mouth gave her dozens of jitters across her skin. She couldn't comprehend the certain ending in sight and refused to take her eyes off of anywhere else but Scratch's confused expression. If the confirmations became true she would completely lose it.

She watched as Scratch backed up yet again and even slightly yelped as everything somehow became clear for him. He even rubbed the sides of his head in silence and muttered to himself some incoherent nonsense she couldn't determine, but soon after she got back to her.

"Well, this might seem a bit awkward, although I pretty much encounter weirdness on a daily basis with this family, but, well…have you looked into a mirror lately?"

She wanted to turn away from the ending, but it tugged at her endlessly and dragged her toward it. In her haste to deny everything, the girl quickly shook her head. However, in the process she caught a glimpse of her arms that put her on edge more than anything else. Before long she instantly brought them up only to realize distinct similarities that shortened her breath. Her body shook all over before she glanced further down and saw the clothes she wore, and it hammered in certain facts she wanted to forget. To finally seal the deal and tie the knot, she witnessed Scratch as he seemingly noticed the terror and fear built up, which made him lightly smile, before she took off toward one of the house's bathroom. He arrived back with a smile mirror and wasted no time to shove it straight in her face, and at that moment it came together as one deafening shriek that staggered her chest to a halt.

Nancy found herself looking through Molly's eyes and body.

She scrambled for some kind of traction before she got to her feet and instantly plastered her back to the wall. Her eyes remained glued to the mirror Scratch brought out, and it brought so much unnerving tension to her that she couldn't bear to look at herself any other way. If she attempted to look at herself any other way she would have freaked out and panicked even further, and yet she couldn't ignore what Scratch put her through. Her entire figure, perception, and perspective now matched Molly McGee's perfectly although personality never managed to stick.

She thought time came to a halt the moment she found herself in her terrified position, but one she noticed Scratch instantly form a grin it became an example of the contrary. She refused to pry herself from the wall while Scratch put the mirror away only to have a typical camera in its place.

"…and there's one for the books." Scratch said before he chuckled silently. "Good thing I thought ahead!"

The "Mollyfied" Nancy gazed at him like he went crazy while the ghost stored the camera away for later. At that moment she couldn't take it anymore even though her voice remained absent in lieu of the girl she ended up forced in.

"SCRATCH, WHAT IN THE REALM OF GHOSTS DID YOU DO?! YOU TURNED ME INTO MOLLY!"

Scratch floated up to the greatly terrified girl to better communicate, although his usual flat expression didn't clearly explain if he cared about the problem or not.

"Well, technically you never changed into her. I don't know how it happened, but you POSSESSED Molly instead. Two completely different concepts, so get it right."

The news only brought more worry out of Nancy. From a concept she thought only worked with ghosts, to hear that she somehow pulled it off served as a more frightening example of the weird occurrences that happened ever since that fateful day. To know that she now controlled Molly's body while the tween herself remained out of commission stirred more questions that she refused to ask because of the voice she now controlled. The less reminders the better, even though a lot remained impossible to ignore.

"Who cares how it happened? The fact remains that I'M NOW MOLLY!" Nancy exclaimed. "I can't continue like this! Change me back!"

"Well, I wish I knew how!" Scratch responded. "I never knew I had it in me to perform such a feat! They don't exactly lend out handbooks that easily about what ghosts can and cannot do!"

"Then FIGURE IT OUT!" Nancy retorted in full panic mode. "Pull me out of her, push me out, I don't care! Do whatever it takes to GET ME OUT OF MOLLY'S BODY!"

"As if I needed more headaches to this whole curse business…" Scratch muttered while he pinched his forehead and glanced downward. For once he didn't spout any lies through his lips, for he really had no idea he had it in him to force a possession between two people. In fairness, he lacked a lot of knowledge about many attributes ghosts had and chose other topics to memorize instead, like how to perform a successful haunting and scare the skins off of unaware people. Nowhere in the "ghost dictionary" as he called it stated that specters could perform such a process, and even though it became the "you learn something everyday" type of fact for Scratch, he stayed clueless as to how to possibly reverse it. He had to admit though that he appreciated the lack of affection from Nancy instead of Molly, for the latter most likely would have given him another tight hug despite her failure as a cook. She clearly couldn't tell the difference between a spoon and a ladle-

He couldn't have hit a better stroke of luck than that one moment.

He saw it in his mind. A perfect cake from the baking genius, and on the sidelines the beanbag chair sat in wait much to his overwhelming happiness. He heard the fireworks from behind when he finally placed himself in the comfy goodness, and Molly gazed at him in tears from such absolute perfection. His utter comfort caused the small cherubs over his head to sing a heavenly tune, and he couldn't get enough of it. The kind of Brighton made his stance as the grumpy ghost that accidentally cursed himself to someone that he disliked in many aspects.

His pleasuring smile spelled everything before she suddenly stirred back to reality with the tiny girl stuck in Molly's body. She still expressed herself as if she witnessed the most terrifying part of her life, and in certain cases that probably became true after what Scratch pulled on her. She refused to move away from the wall, which Scratch took advantage of as he hovered up to her with his creepy smile. Something didn't sit right, but her mindset completely flipped at that moment. They clashed in ideals, and only one would come out on top.

"You better know of SOME way to get me out of this!" Nancy stated as her panic continued.

Scratch let his intentions slip out a little.

"You know, now that I think about it, I MAY understand a thing or two about a POSSIBLE solution to undo the process…"

"You do?!" Nancy responded in quick succession. "THEN GET ME OUT OF MOLLY THEN!"

"Unh, unh, unh! Not so fast midget!" Scratch answered while he shook his head. He obviously dripped in lies right in front of the girl's face, but because her emotions drove her forward any amount of suspicion burned into cinders in an instant. His tone even resembled guilt in a playful manner, which Nancy never caught on, while his face matched it.

"What do you mean by that?! I CAN'T CONTINUE LIKE THIS!" Nancy exclaimed.

"I understand that already from the MANY times you said so." Scratch said. "However, I think we can use this little screw up to our advantage…considering the cooking competition ahead."

For the first time since Scratch put her in Molly's body, Nancy didn't retort back with an exclamation. Instead, she tilted her head, or more specifically Molly's, in slight confusion since she lacked the certain insights the ghost lead on about. She still panicked beyond belief, but not to the extremes once Scratch began to spread lies in front of her. If he truly knew a way to pull her out, Nancy practically bowed by his feet…if the ghost had any in the first place.

Scratch continued on while Nancy let him speak. Her breathing slowly down a bit, but she still worried for her life as she remained stuck inside the body of the tween.

"We both know Molly can't bake a decent pastry, if her failures from earlier taught us anything, but you understand the recipes. Because of your midget status you couldn't do anything else to help, but now…"

The ghost hovered over to Nancy with a mischievous smile and raised his eyebrows a couple of times straight in her face. The trapped girl herself wanted to clamp her mouth shut, but she needed confirmation on one particular part. Scratch lead her onto a certain idea, and if she guessed correctly…

"You…you want me…to…to…"

She struggled to get the words, and most of it had to do with the fact that she heard Molly's voice as she spoke instead of her own. The harsh reality set in and she wanted out of it more than ever.

"Why don't you get those oven mitts on and get to work then?" Scratch finished for her.

His creepy smile bled his crooked nature all over, and yet Nancy fell for it hook line and sinker. Her desperation to possibly get out of Molly's body served as the primary motivator to follow everything Scratch said. Her voice alone made her queasy, and for the most part she never minded it. Only when she found herself trapped inside Molly's body did she take issue with it, and Scratch couldn't get enough of the monstrosity he created. She found it somewhat weird though that he put everything on the line for the one cooking competition for that beanbag chair, and to force her to bake an exquisite confection in Molly's body seemed out of place at first, but once she reminded herself of the "anything goes" nature of Molly it made more sense than she thought. If Scratch wanted cake, as long as Nancy remained stuck, he'll get cake.

Even though Nancy hastily nodded her head in agreement, she didn't want to move herself off of the wall. It required moving Molly's body against her will after all, and even if she stayed out of the picture it felt wrong on so many levels for Nancy. She burst in uninvited and took control of her after all, even if a third party shoved her in, and if it went the other way around Molly probably would have done the same. She still shuddered uncontrollably and shut her mouth while her arms and legs remained stiff beyond reason. Her immense worry drove her forward like someone placed her into a horror movie.

…which Scratch took full advantage of.

"Come on Nancy, you don't want me to KeEp YoU iN tHeRe FoReVeR…"

Nancy watched in utter fear as Scratch expanded his body and slowly put up a more terrifying appearance while the scenery around him morphed and twisted into various shapes. Colors inverted and changed to match the surrounding area while many objects floated and lost gravity in the time span the ghost glared straight through her sorry self. Scratch's body went all green while jagged fangs covered his top and bottom jaw like an undead shark, which scared the girl beyond belief. His body stretched and widened until he took up almost the entire room, while his eyes popped out of their sockets to stare at the helpless girl. To top everything off and sell it to Nancy, his voice constantly shifted in pitch and tone like any typical spectral encounter in the movies. If he chose to perform his scare tactics against Molly she easily wouldn't buy it and just shake it off in her normal happy demeanor, but she remained long gone once Nancy unwillingly took over her body. Suffice to say, Scratch completely terrified Nancy beyond belief in only a couple of seconds, even though she would have acted on his desires without his methods.

He watched in delight as the young girl lightly shrieked and bundled herself up on the floor. At that point she cared less about her imprisonment inside the body of the girl she didn't fully trust, for she just wanted to escape the burning depths brought on her that she never deserved. She kept her face covered in her knees for a moment before she glanced back up while scared for her life.

"…I'll do it. Please, I'll…do what you want… Just…leave me alone…"

Once he saw the small tears in her eyes he immediately ceased everything. The scenery changed back to normal while Scratch reverted back to his typical grumpy shape and personality.

"Good! Now let's get cooking for the competition! If we don't win this…well, I guess you'll have to get used to staying in there forever, huh? You know, living out Molly's strenuous life, acting as her to avoid detection, going through all of her tendencies and hobbies…"

"Eep!" Nancy yelped.

She didn't give Scratch another moment to speak, as she finally put Molly's legs to use and bolted straight into the kitchen. The ghost read her like a book since she completely flipped her priorities around once he forced her to possess Molly, and from the first moments alone he already preferred her personality over the happy tween. As long as Nancy remained at the helm, any kind of minor scare would put her into submission for anything, and Scratch intended to take it for as long as he could. Molly wouldn't fall for such tricks, but for the midget everything remained fair game. He'll win the grand prize for sure.

"Scratch, you finally hit it big time. No crushing hugs, no annoying schemes, no screams of joy, and not a single stupid summon. Such a stroke of luck seems to happen in a millennia or so, and I…I think I might cry! The longer the midget stays stuck like that…I might actually win that chair!"

He hastily made his way after the Nancy possessed girl while he subtly brought out a small piece of paper and wrote down Nancy's name below a row of others…which also consisted of her name again and again. In fact, Nancy was the most common name written on there, and if everything progressed like he wanted Scratch would most likely have more of her listed in due time.

---

Scratch pushed Nancy to work almost immediately. She only created a few low leveled foods in the past, such as sandwiches, soups, and even a few salads, so an entire cake seemed a bit extreme for a next dish. Once she made it to the kitchen and brought the required ingredients out she settled down a little bit, but Scratch's looming presence made such to kill the mood almost immediately. Combined with the fact that she didn't have access to her normal body served as another compounding issue that she just had to adapt to and live with throughout the whole process. Just the sight of Molly's arms in her range of sight made her sick to her stomach, but she had to go through with it if she wanted the ghost to pull her out. She wondered where Molly got sent when the possession occurred, but any further thoughts would have cranked her worry up more. She needed to create the masterpiece Scratch demanded of her if she ever wanted to get out of Molly in any capacity.

She took a couple of deep breaths at first as if it would have calmed her nerves, even though it didn't, and glanced at the ingredients before she got to work. While slow at first, she eventually got the hang of it once she reminded herself of the times her older sister worked on the sidelines. While not as efficient, eventually her fingers worked the bowls and ladles like the high working scullion she used to as as. She even got Scratch to hand her a couple of ingredients as if she cared less about his forceful work, which he surprisingly acted on and assisted when he could. Some details remained a bit too specific to remember, so at times Nancy came up with estimates that seemed close to the correct numbers. For someone her age she worked like someone who had experience in the craft even in reality it ended up as the contrary, and once all of the flour, sugar, and yeast all came together for the general shape the batter went straight in the oven after she poured it into the tray. After all of the time spent in there, she carefully took it out and found it to be around the correct size, at least from what she remembered, which left only the decorating part left. Out of everything about the recipe that she remembered from her sister, she distinctly memorized the overall looks as if she just witnessed the pictures yesterday. She knew exactly where each dab of frosting and which colors matched, so she made extra sure to put everything perfectly in place. Scratch even wanted to dabble into the decorating phase at one point, which Nancy let him do as long as he followed her instructions, and soon enough the whole tasty treat became coated in the way Nancy wanted it. Even though Scratch helped himself to sprays of frosting, as if someone dared him to chug away at them, in the end they only needed some chocolate coins…which they didn't have. To make do with what they had, Nancy substituted them for small bars of white chocolate, which didn't quite make too much sense but she made the best out of them. The entire process went by in a somewhat tiring manner, but it would end up worthwhile in the end.

It even occurred to Nancy that she finally received something she wanted since her forced imprisonment with the girl and ghost. Even though she wanted out of Molly's body as quickly as possible, she got to stand at a somewhat normal height once more. Granted, Molly stood at a slightly taller height compared to Nancy's current average, but for once she actually got to hold something in her hands without someone else holding her instead. At least for a time she almost forgot about how Scratch stuck her inside Molly and rather enjoyed her time as a regular everyday young girl, even if that wasn't the case. However, it only remained temporary as long as Molly remained in her control, which provided an outcome that no matter what path she took she wouldn't win out in the end. She either had to lose her height or body, and even though she already set on a choice at least she got to pretend like nothing went wrong. As much as she wanted to hate Scratch, she had to give it to him in some respect. She found her height again, albeit a bit taller than usual, even though she borrowed Molly's to do it.

Finally, after all of the work put into it, Nancy finished the cake. Scratch's mouth basically turned into a waterfall of drool as he laid his eyes on such splendor, even if Nancy missed a few points. From a fat loaf to pirate's treasure, she actually did a pretty decent job from what she remembered. Her estimates went slightly off and the frosting dripped in a couple of spots, but it made her proud to call it something she created. Making the lid slightly ajar became the most difficult part in the end, although Scratch concluded on an angle where such an illusion could work. While it didn't open per say, from the shading and positioning she made it seem like such an action occurred. Scratch had to hold himself back from immediately chomping it as the cake served as the ticket to help win the grand prize. Even though he acted as a glutton at times, the chance for the beanbag chair became more important to him at the moment. If everything went well, first placed stayed in their reach.

With the cake in tow, only the competition awaited. The location didn't appear too out of the way, so it only took a couple of minutes to reach on foot. They immediately figured it out once they saw all of the familiar blob merchandise around the entrance in combination with the vivid signs that detailed the competition's title. Nancy carefully made her way up the steps while Scratch helped reinforce her so she wouldn't drop it. Once she made her way through the doors the two found themselves in the midst of ongoing crowds, but luckily not to incredible extremes. They arrived safely with their cake in tow, and to Scratch that's all that mattered.

To think that Brighton shared some type of large building sounded like blasphemy, but if one searched hard enough they wouldn't find any type of disappointment from fruitless endeavors. The venue chosen for such a competition lent itself to a large open space akin to a large gymnasium, and from the windows and stage in the back alone it possibly had such a title at one point. Various tables dotted the premises across the outside where various other contestants sat with their masterpieces, although some positioned themselves around the center when those spaces became too crowded. The scope also indicated it could have ended up as a mess hall at one point, and even Scratch never thought such a large building ever had a presence in Brighton. A couple of extra doors set around the entrance, which probably lead to some offices or coat rooms, and a blank long cork board was close by. Someone even placed a couple of tacks around the center even if nothing became plastered across it, although one could guess that it could have related to how it stayed on the wall slightly lopsided to the left. The gray hard flooring didn't stand out too much, but it matched well with the lighter gray walls and ceiling in Nancy's eyes. The stage stood at a slightly higher height from the ground in the back, about the size of an average adult, and extended up to the ceiling. The red curtains on the sides appeared worn down a little while in the back they could barely make out a couple of bleachers, probably from its gymnasium days. Two sets of stairs set on both sides to help get on stage easier, but other than that they couldn't figure out any further details due to angle. They had to give it to Brighton on something, as it had at least one large building in the vicinity people could flock to.

Scratch had to give it to himself throughout the ordeal, for he actually found a way to shut Molly up and replace her with someone else that didn't act like an energetic klazomaniac on a daily basis. To even more to his benefit, the one that took over fell over easily to any scare tactic in his arsenal, so he could force her to do anything unlike his attempts against Molly. Everything aligned perfectly for him and he wanted to keep the lucky streak going for as long as he can abuse it, and he certainly got a portion of his share the instant he took note of every sugary delight in the building. He never fancied himself as a specter that relied on groaking for food, especially with his horrific stature, and even then unless he allowed it they wouldn't have the ability to see him in the first place. He could have easily zipped through the premises and eaten everything in sight, for it would eliminate competition and satisfy his sweet tooth, but after an incident with Molly and softball she pretty much forced him to play by the rules. He always had it in mind just in case, but he figured that Nancy cooked up something too amazing to rely on. He surely went through a lot for the moment of glory, and now it paid off with the grand prize in sight.

Both Nancy and Scratch kept their eyes open for an available spot at first, and once they found one they headed on over. In their walk down they witnessed an entourage of outstanding designs for sweets their minds never came up with. From large football pies to gargantuan sized turnip lollipops, it became apparent that creativity went through the roof with certain entrants. Scratch couldn't take his eyes off of a floating pile of ice cream in the shape of a tropical island at one point, and the fact that they substituted water for root beer only made his taste buds scream for attention as if his afterlife depended on it. He wanted to taste all of it, and yet he couldn't for the sake of the competition. To both Nancy's and Scratch's astonishment though, some familiar faces also manage to cook up something fancy that they never expected. For one reason or another that they couldn't determine, Katrina stood in one of the corners with her own pastry dish, which appeared as a large pie with a surface straight out of a graveyard. She even cropped up some small gravestones, shovels, and dead trees on top that really sold them in on her creativity, even if her tendencies became obvious from her own appearance alone. Even the science nerd that Molly blew up before in the hallways had a presence among the contestants, and he brought upon his own brand of lollipops that looked pretty standard at first, but if they knew him he probably had more to show under the hood. Nancy also found it a bit heart wrenching as she saw the sight of herself across the hall with both of her parents by her side, who acted out and played as her perfectly. If anything, she expected her doppelganger to remain at home, but the event probably prodded her family to visit such an occasion. They had no idea about the real situation behind closed doors, and even then the more people who knew the more worrying it got. Olivia lived out Nancy's life while the girl herself stayed stuck inside Molly's body like a freak of nature. The palette of personalities dotted everywhere within the area, whether competing or not, and more would come as the minutes passed.

"Okay, I guess we may have overestimated certain conditions with this…" Nancy stated while she set her cake down on their personal table.

"Relax midget, we still got this." Scratch answered. "If all else fails we still have the ghostly garbage bin of my stomach to eliminate everything…and the fact that you'll stay as Molly for the rest of your days. Either way, don't lose this."

Just the last reminder alone provided goosebumps over her skin. His blatant blackmail suspended in front of her face and stayed as the never ending irritant that made sure she wouldn't forget about it. She clearly had no idea how to undo the mess Scratch put on her, and since he might be the only one who could possibly reverse everything she had to follow through with his demands. Any progressive inch toward her resolutions of her mix up into Molly became a miracle in disguise. She'll get out of her all right if she followed the instructions given carefully, as long as Scratch knew what to go for.

Nancy sat down for a few minutes while passing visitors admired all of the sugary foods on display, which included her own, while she put her attention down on the body she unintentionally took over. After such an immediate change it almost hurt to know that she couldn't pull herself out and had to deal with it. She wiggled Molly's fingers and moved her legs against her will while the tween herself stayed out of it, which felt wrong for Nancy on so many levels. She never would have done the deed willingly and would have left possession duties to the specters like Scratch, but after such a disaster it left her as someone she already lacked faith in. Every time she pushed the girl forward with something she couldn't help but feel like some kind of parasite while Molly remained a prisoner in her own body…wherever he mindset got sent off to. It served as a partial reason why Nancy wanted Scratch to undo the process, and yet it became too much at the same time.

"Ah, Molly! I should have expected to see you and Scratch here!"

Nancy's train of thought came to a screeching halt from such a voice. Her heart nearly came to a stop as she stirred upward, but once she noticed who came by she simmered down a bit. Nothing but Molly's run down nervous friend decided to visit the two of them, and while her smile never matched up to Molly's Nancy had to admit that it came off as charming. It also became a major first for Nancy, as she didn't have to tilt her head upward just to see her in the face. For once she managed to see her figure in full unlike the proportions as a shrunken girl previously, and for the first time she noticed that Molly actually stood at a slightly lower height than her best friend. She never figured that out until the particular moment her shrunken status left many details out of her grasp. While she would have liked to understand more about her, especially because of Molly's friendly relationship between them, her priorities scattered all over the place until she concluded on her separation from Molly as the one on top. Even so, Molly enjoyed her company and it rubbed off on Nancy the same way.

She left Nancy to respond back, and even though she wanted to keep herself mute just so she wouldn't hear Molly's voice from her mouth she couldn't leave her without one.

"Oh, uhhhh, yeah! You know Scratch and his, ummm, gluttonous tendencies, heheh, so I couldn't resist!"

It felt very wrong in her mind to wield Molly's voice as if she owned it, and yet she couldn't rely on anything else. She conflicted with herself to determine whether or not to tell Libby about what happened back at the McGee household because Molly insisted that she could rely on her and the fact that she agreed to figure out just how such a shrinking phenomenon could have possibly happened to someone like Nancy, but Scratch still had her in a binding agreement. If she stepped out of line he could very well leave her to fend for herself stuck inside the body of the eager and happy tween, and she wanted none of that. The two sides clashed and left her in a stalemate where no such results occurred and shut her up despite Libby's friendly nature. Blaming it on her disability stood as the easy way out, and yet such a conclusion wouldn't be out of the ordinary for her. The scale tipped both ways and left the Nancy possessed Molly to fight with herself over a minute decision.

Libby appeared to take it at face value at first.

"Yeah, I should have expected him to put you up to this. Even with your new Cake Crasher moniker you always consider others first. I like that about you."

Scratch floated down toward the two girls, who only they could see, and went along with the fabricated assumption from Libby.

"I pretty much fell to the one deadly sin the instant I saw the commercial. I couldn't resist, especially with the branding. Let's just say…I want that chair more than ANYTHING right now."

Libby chuckled.

"You and everyone else here. I've seen some pretty crazy sign ups as the forms came in, and let me tell you…I almost lost myself to millions of paper cuts."

"Ummmm, forms?" Nancy asked.

Scratch also caught on rather quickly and didn't quite understand what she meant. They didn't need to wait long though, because they soon witnessed Libby as she grinned and stood up straight like rivers of eagerness swelled in her.

"I'm very excited that this happened to me, as you two have your eyes set on one of the judges for this year's Motichan cooking competition!"

Nancy and Scratch almost couldn't believe their ears from what they just heard. They almost didn't want to believe it at first, but then they saw Libby as she reached into one of her pockets and brought out a distinct pin that Scratch probably became jealous of in an instant. Right under the vivid design of the familiar flabby blob creature and its infectious smile set a couple of words that they easily read as "Motichan Judge Major" in letters displayed as if the lovable character wrote them itself in its own gray slime. As someone obsessed and indulged into the fandom, Scratch took the news harder than Nancy who now knew who to look out for when the judging portion would occur. To think that Libby hit it big and dictated who progressed in the competition, it came as no surprise to see someone like her happy and on her feet.

Scratch wasted no time and let the words out immediately.

"But…but how? I thought we had, you know, ACTUAL judges on standby with this thing! When did you suddenly earn that badge of honor?"

"Oh, I actually didn't become their first pick for the role." Libby explained. "Apparently the organizers pick out someone that lives in the city or town to take part as a judge for 'familiarity' so to speak. I just so happened to arrive in the right place at the right time, and, well, look at me now!"

"Wow, uhhhhh, congrats on your involvement then!" Nancy answered.

Despite Nancy's shaky performance as Molly, Libby seemed to buy it for the moment.

"Thanks! It really means a lot to me." Libby replied. "However, just because we're friends doesn't mean you'll earn extra brownie points from me, errrrr, no pun intended. The organizers can get pretty serious if the rules don't get enforced regularly, and I can't lose my complementary t-shirt for this duty after all!"

"Aww, you can't just give a LITTLE leeway over here?" Scratch asked.

Libby shook her head.

"Sorry, you have to play the game like everyone else. Your cake looks decent at first glance though, at least from what I'm seeing."

Scratch huffed and pouted to himself before he snorted. Nancy held back the urge to roll her eyes and giggle, but then Libby changed the subject yet again.

"So, ummm, did you also bring the, uhhhhh, small girl with you?"

The slight ease Nancy found immediately vanished while her back stiffened. After all of the preparation done with the cake and arriving on schedule, she completely missed the fact that she wouldn't have a presence inside Molly's pocket when she WAS Molly herself. She kept it as a small missing detail that didn't matter much, but when one of the few people that clearly knew about her existence came along it suddenly became something much more serious. At that point, the scale tipped over to a certain side and she needed to get the information out. Even though she hardly knew her, going against Molly's best friend seemed cruel and undeserving.

She shuddered before answering.

"Well, ummm, about that. You see, I, uhhhhhh…"

Before she could attempt to finish, she suddenly saw the ghost as he immediately zipped up to her and planted one of his hands over her mouth, which kept her lips shut and muffled her speech.

"She became tuckered out after she helped scrub the tables after Molly cooked the cake, so she's knocked out right now! Please don't disturb her sleep in Molly's pocket, please!"

It stunned her to see Scratch act in such a frantic fashion. She could easily spill the beans and nothing problematic would come of it, and yet the ghost wanted none of it. At first she lacked the understanding to figure out why, but it soon came to her that he probably wanted to keep his "body binding blackmail" out of the public eye. While she wanted to get out of Molly's body as soon as possible, it hurt a bit to know that nobody else would understand until she found an outcome. Her pain was his joy after all.

Libby lowered her eyes while her mouth went flat.

"Don't make me break out the Bloodhound of Truth now."

"No, no, you don't need to do that." Scratch replied with a blatant guilty smile. "Let's…keep suspicions for the competition, eh?"

His lukewarm chuckles after only made Libby's eyes narrow as she glared at the specter like a high ranked security guard. Nancy kept her mouth shut while she let the two of them settle their differences, since she clearly didn't want to butt in at any point…which completely went against Molly's personality. If she didn't have the obvious target on her forehead, her attitude raised it even higher.

Eventually, after a couple of intense seconds, Libby gave her two cents.

"You're lucky I'm in such a good mood from this once in a lifetime opportunity. Any other day and I would sing a different tune."

While Scratch didn't change his face, Nancy could tell under his guise that he built up a large sigh of relief. Ever since she combined with Molly the ghost kept going through an incredible lucky streak that hindered the ones around him that he never cared about. From what she heard in the last few days since her stay, Scratch almost never went through any amount of fortunate times and pinned one of the major culprits as his eternal curse with Molly. However, with her temporarily out of the picture somewhat no amount of terrible fates occurred across his transparent self, so it seemed believable that he wanted the possession to last longer because of it. Of course, she learned that ghosts could act in unpredictable ways so nothing fully solidified as facts just yet in her eyes. Much to her detriment, he placed the separation of her and Molly at the bottom of the list and his benefits went on for a lot longer.

Once a certain amount of footsteps hit the group's ears they didn't need to turn around to figure out who just waltzed in their midst like the diva she acted out as on a daily basis. To think someone like her had an interest in the special day when she already had access to everything she always wanted baffled Nancy, and yet her status left everyone else as just pawns to her reality. Throughout all of Nancy's years in Brighton the one particular girl never gave her a single amount of attention, although Nancy's desires to remain out of the spotlight became part of it. No amount of astonishment flowed through her body the moment the girl lead on that she lacked the knowledge of her existence, and yet she uttered not a single word. The popularity went to the girl's head and made her feel like the next president of the world, which it left a mark on everyone to know of her existence…except for the invisible ones like Nancy that she could care less about.

The girl immediately backed up and struck a pose to the phone in her hand, which recorded her every action. She talked in a more exaggerated tone while she batted her gorgeous eyelashes to the camera.

"Hello to all of my FAndreas! I'm here for this miracle of an event that just so happened to settle in this rusted town! As the model icon of Brighton in every aspect, I just HAD to visit the Motichan cooking competition and admire all of the AMAZING designs! If all of you give me just a few more moments I'll finally-"

She immediately interrupted herself as something caught her eye. Before long, her head immediately turned around to see the Molly possessed Nancy at her table with her cake close by. For a second she appeared genuinely surprised, but it only lasted for a brief moment until she appeared right next to the cake in a flash. With her status she completely ignored Libby's presence as she angled her phone over to Nancy and the cake before she put herself into the shot.

"Whoa, talk about amateur night! Did someone call for a certain Cake Crasher or what? I think I'm seeing some MOLD under all of that frosting, hahaha! I bet the judges would ADORE to have a spare doorstop!"

She degraded Nancy's cooking skills and knocked her down a peg or two live to her hundreds of followers. Even though she worked her hardest, in someone else's body no less, when it came to the conclusion of one Andrea she detested such a confection. The unfortunate one shuddered while her borrowed eyes glanced at the popular girl, and yet it hurt to see. At least she finally got recognized for the first time by her despite her entire life spent in Brighton, even if it came with a nasty caveat and the fact that she clearly saw Molly instead of the one possessing her. It felt somewhat nice to see her face to face instead of weird angles from inside her long hair, but even then she knew the true nature behind her. Andrea's ego did it again and brought Nancy into the crossfire.

Scratch greatly frowned while Andrea snapped a few shots for her adoring fans.

"…as if I needed MORE interruptions to knock up OUR masterpiece!" Scratch mumbled incoherently under his breath. If he didn't want to keep himself invisible to everyone other than Nancy and Libby he would have easily shown Andrea a thing or two in "scare tactics". He put a pin in it just in case since he still had the beanbag chair to win.

"Well, uhhhh, I think I did pretty okay with this. Art is, ummmm, in the eye of the beholder you know."

Nancy tried to retort in the way Molly McGee would, but her attempt fell flat on her face as she regressed into her own personality. She twiddled her fingers before she saw Andrea as she loomed in close to her face in her standard plastered smile, which unnerved Nancy to a certain extent.

"Awwww, little Molly the Cake Crasher thinks she actually has a chance in this! How cute! Clearly you haven't seen MY extravagant delicacy created straight from the Davenport money pit!"

She put her spin on the whole thing as if she toyed with her between her rich fingertips. Nancy could imagine just how Andrea may have acted if the accidental possession never happened, and she probably wouldn't hear the end of it. Such an anomaly only became something to further her career after all, and she would stand on top further than anyone else if she forever kept Nancy's actual shrunken body to herself. As much as Nancy wanted to defend herself, she instantly crumbled to any slight breeze much to anyone willing to abuse it.

After a remark like that, Libby eventually chimed in.

"Is that why you didn't weasel yourself into the judge's booth?"

She quickly found herself in Andrea's presence as she playfully got up close and personal while she kept the live stream going across her egotistical demeanor.

"And possibly ruin my figure in the process? Don't you know anything about social status? I can't RISK the transformation into a bloated behemoth, and I know EVERYONE watched wouldn't want to see that! Besides, any great competition needs a main course of ANDREA for automatic perfection!"

Various comments ran across her phone of the chat in agreement with the media social girl. From "She still has it", "Always correct", and "Perfect!", endless seas of text flooded Andrea's camera with even a couple of emojis tucked in there for good measure. Libby and Scratch stared at the online star with slight frowns while Nancy shuddered at the sight. She clearly wanted everything set on her for the big competition ahead, whether they liked her or not.

Soon after all of the unnecessary fluff, Andrea immediately turned to the side and snapped her fingers a couple of times.

"Skeeves, roll our cake in!"

She diverted the other three's attention over to a spot in the back where a door stood. While it clearly had an "Entrance" sign plaster over the front, such a way in became unnecessary for what Andrea had in mind. The others' expectations took a curve when the door never opened, but the wall next to it collapsed in one loud boom. Block of concrete fell to the sidelines as something emerged from the hole, and when the smoke settled they understood why it required such an entrance.

The rich girl had a cake all right, and it mesmerized everyone near it. While most of the competition made yummy sweets on the petite side, Andrea went big and never went home. The bottom tier itself matched some of the tables in height alone and eclipsed everything in ranges of a typical lollipop. From dazzling white frosting and soft cream around the edges, all of it covered the bottom pink color but left the protruded strawberries alone. Whoever cooked it made sure each individual strawberry had a long blue ribbon next to it that almost suspended from the cart the held it. Large whipped bulbs of magenta dotted around the top and covered a portion of the tier above, which also rounded out on a massive scale. While not as huge as the bottom, the middle tier displayed its own appealing decorations that caught the eyes of many. It gave off the impressions of smooth sherbet under the veil of an aurora, which became even more apparent from the dozens of raspberries placed around the outside in wavy patterns. Someone even sneaked in a small picture of a polar bear, all made with black and white frosting, as it waved hello to the onlookers while it grinned happily under the moon. Someone had a very artistic talent to pull something like that off, but all of it came to a head with the apical tier on top. To serve as the final set of details to sell the act that Andrea deserved to win, a creamy figure in her sparkling gown likeness that waved to all of the little people below happily stood on top as if she had a presence in an award show, and with a filling of blueberries and sprinkles across her hair it made her out as the princess of sweets. Whoever Andrea hired to create a beast like that pretty much deserved the win from everything they put into that delicious cake, and the young girl knew it too well.

Nancy, Scratch, and Libby watched the dessert in awe while one of Andrea stereotypical french cooks walked out from behind before he nearly collapsed on the ground in buckets of sweat.

"I'll take my first place earning now, please!" Andrea jokingly said before she egotistically laughed. The chat log in the corner of her phone stated their own sentiments from "No way!", "INSTANT WIN!", and "She convinced me!" in support of the young superstar before she got back to them in front of the camera.

"There you have it everyone! I've hired the perfect talent to make such splendor for me, so I've pretty much won on the spot. Say hello to all of the fans, Skeeves!"

The worn out french baker on the floor face down stuck up one of his arms and gave the camera a thumbs up before he collapsed again.

"He'll have to pay an extra dollar for that." Andrea continued. "Anyways, I talk to all of you later once this whole competition ends. I've already prepared my award winning statements and I don't want to miss that crucial moment! SEE ALL OF YOU LATER FANDREAS!"

With that said, the chat went wild with their goodbyes before she cut the livestream and turned her phone off. She left the others stunned for a quick second for her amusement before Nancy spoke up.

"You, ummmm, sure know how to make an entrance there…" Nancy said before she glanced over the cake one more time. Any amounts of denial crashed and burned, as the girl saw designs that surpassed anything basic. It made her own treasure chest design seem like a kindergarten drawing to a painting by Picasso. If design alone consisted of ninety percent of the score, Andrea would win in a heartbeat, but the rules remained out of Nancy's sight. She didn't know the other factors, but she knew who scored big in the appearance department.

She immediately found herself in the presence of Andrea once the diva zipped up to her.

"Awwww, thanks for the inconsequential and obvious Molly! Maybe next year you might have a SLIVER of a chance."

She toyed with her and shot any amounts of hope in cold blood. The sheer intimidation factors rubbed off on Nancy the wrong way, tactics of which Scratch and Libby couldn't stand.

"I holding back on SO MUCH to utterly wreck her on the spot…" Scratch muttered as he tightened his fists.

"Ummm, you know that I'm one of the judges for this, right?" Libby said. "I can deduct points, uhhhh, before everything starts from behavior alone. Maybe you should…take you table for now."

Andrea's selfish attitude immediately pivoted around and faced Molly's best friend like a predator. She didn't fancy herself as a stone cold killer, but underneath all of the sass and ego she could easily lunge for Libby's neck in an instant.

"I've already calculated that you'll provide me a high score anyway, because I KNOW the organizers can't tolerate any potential cheating, you know, like BRIBERY and such. Even so, you said SOMETHING right for once, because I've pretty much wasted too much time among the losers of this whole thing. I'll just leave the roughhousing to the desserts, and when mine comes out on top, well, I told you so. Here, you may want this when you get to my masterpiece."

Instantly after she finished, Andrea smacked Libby straight in the face with a piece of paper and left it across her face before she went along her merry way. Skeeves groaned for a second before he got back up and followed her with the cake in tow, much to his great displeasure. Soon after, Nancy winced while Scratch shook his head as Libby peeled the piece off. She went pretty flat as she glanced over the paper, and once she had her time with it she immediately looked back at the two. One flip of the sides later and they pretty much figured out what Andrea meant before she left, and she made it blatantly clear.

Nothing but one large number ten spread across the blank whiteness.

"Well, joke's on her because she won't compete in the Olympics anytime soon!" Scratch said.

"If I could deduct points, I'd probably cut her score in half from that alone." Libby said before she shook her head.

Nancy remained relatively quiet while she let the others do the talking, since they pretty much got the point across already. However, her silence performed the opposite effect on Libby, since she quickly found herself in the face of Molly's best friend.

"Hmm, not a single attempt to stand up for yourself. I thought you always intervened and stood up against snobbish ones like Andrea. How…UNMOLLY to see…"

Nancy felt her skin crawl, or more specifically Molly's, as the intimidation factors kicked in. At that point she would have let the cat out of the bag and let Libby in on the plans ahead, but like last time before she could utter a single word Scratch zipped up and closed her mouth swiftly.

"Again, NOTHING to see here Libby. Just move on and let us present out cake in peace when the time comes, okay?"

Libby gave off a venomous gaze in Scratch's direction while he kept Nancy's mouth shut. The two stared into each other's being like an old style stand off, but eventually Libby backed up and shifted her fingers between hers and Scratch's eyes. Her eyes narrowed intensely before she let off some steam and walked off to find the other judges before everything started. Despite the fact that Nancy saw them as friends, apparently they had some animosity in them that she didn't know about. Molly probably left some crucial details out in her explanations from before the fateful meet up that changed Nancy forever, so she made a mental note to ask her about it later…if Scratch would separate both of them.

Before she could get back to her cake, Scratch provided an intense leer while the scenery around him briefly changed into a more scary space.

"DoN't MeSs ThIs Up."

Nancy bit her lip and worriedly nodded as if her life depended on it, then soon after everything changed back to normal.

"Good. Now, despite the obvious with Andrea, we still have a chance. For the beanbag chair midget!"

Nancy quickly nodded once again before she let time pass until the competition officially started. The other contestants seemed to have some last minute prep work in their heads, although Nancy already performed everything she could to spruce up her creation. She glanced a couple times down at Molly's fingertips as if to remind herself of the terrible fate bestowed on her before she subtly escaped into her own head. Scratch easily took advantage of her status and zipped off so he could chck out the other sweets on board for the competition ahead…minus Andrea's since he could basically see such a skyscraper from a mile away. Nancy assumed he must have felt like he just wandered into paradise, both from the desserts everywhere and the lack of Molly to annoy him, which came at Nancy's detriment. She wondered where Molly got sent to and what she thought about the whole issue after her accidental possession, but the mere thought made Nancy sick to her stomach. If Scratch turned against her and desired to keep Nancy as a messed up Molly…

Her stomach turned again as the minutes went by.

She didn't know how long everything progressed, but by the time she snapped back to reality the crowds began to thin. It took her a moment to figure out what happened, and once she stared at the front of the room it became clear. The judges apparently arrived so everything could truly begin, and the last amount of prep work the others around her had on hand suddenly ceased. The wanted to give a good first impression after all, even if Nancy didn't find the judges to have any spectacular features. Other than the one male having an overload of Motichan merchandise on him, from a hat with the icon's face on the front, a matching t-shirt, and even long Motichan pants, he came prepared for a day of Motichan goodness. She also saw an overjoyed Libby in the presence of an old woman and a middle aged one, probably the other two judges, and Nancy couldn't blame her after everything she said earlier. It became time for the big leagues, and if she wanted her body back losing was not an option.

The man of the four stated everything first.

"Hello and welcome everyone! I find it such a joy to see so many wonderful creations for this year's Motichan cook off, probably the best ever, from a town majorly unknown to the general public! Even so, I hope everyone has their sweet tooth up and ready, because we don't just hand out perfect scores to any old dessert! The four of us here will grade everyone fairly to the best of our abilities, and for this year's 'Local Judge' for the competition, we found the perfect fit! Come now, let's give it up for the young Libby Stein-Torres!"

The entire hall erupted in claps from everywhere, including the other judges, toward the timid and nervous girl that caused her to blush a little. She tucked her head a bit into her shirt before she shuddered underneath, which she did when the outside world became too much for her, but for the most part she seemed to appreciate the support from everyone around her. Nancy even couldn't help but applaud in her direction to show her appreciation, even though she only met her briefly, and for a moment her attitude lifted a bit higher. She could see herself in Libby's shoes up there, for the nervousness after possessing Molly knew no bounds, and to see someone she could relate to take the pressure head on…

She couldn't help but lightly smile in her direction once the applause simmered back down.

"I know she'll do a great job with her own opinions on each individual delicacy! When the time comes, well, you better bring your A game when it comes to our scores! We factor in nearly every single detail when it comes to the perfect dessert, as the better the sweet the happier Motichan will feel when the next film hits theaters! Let's get this show on the road, and before anyone asks…call me Gene."

"I'm Martha" the middle aged woman behind him stated after.

"And I'm Shelly." the old woman close by replied after.

Libby waved in a tepid manner to everyone again and lightly chuckled before Gene spoke up again.

"Let's line up those tables and BEGIN!"

---

The three elder judges had their pencils on the tips of their lips as they glanced all over the particularly…dark atmosphere across one particular pastry. Martha tilted her head and wrote something down at first followed by Libby and her eagle eyes.

"Uh huh…" Gene said while he placed the eraser end on the front of his teeth. "You have a…unique taste in pastries…"

"Thanks. I got the idea for this after I contacted the designer of the first graveyard." Katrina stated in her usual flat monotone pitch.

Her remark caused a couple of judges to have goosebumps, including Libby, before they progressed to the next part. After they wrote a couple of notes in their personal papers, Katrina sliced off some inconsequential parts of the cake and handed them over in their own plates. The four wasted no time to chow down, and the taste caught Martha's attention the most.

"Hmm, I really like the cranberry sauce and…walnuts, I think? Either way, I'm hooked."

"Yes, yes, very unique." Shelly said before she took another bite. "I'm tasting something flat though on the side. A bit…too distinct in some parts…"

"Oh, that." Katrina replied. "That's because you're tasting an appendix."

Immediately upon the revelation, the four judges quickly stared off into space for a second before their cheeks puffed up and they hurled everything out of their mouths. Katrina's expression never changed, but the judges couldn't help but look at her like she went crazy.

"YOU PUT THAT INTO A PIE?!" Libby exclaimed in astonishment.

"What? I heard it adds a certain spice straight from the emergency room." Katrina said. "Besides, the appendix is the most worthless gland in our bodies and nobody would miss it."

"Oh, I'm APPENDING SOMETHING ALL RIGHT." Gene said sternly before he vigorously wrote something down in his notes.

---

"…and all of that equates to the perfect platter of cookies." the nerdy kid finished while the judges each sampled a portion of his dessert.

A couple of them raised their eyebrows for a second before they nodded and let their pencils do the talking. Libby seemed to really enjoy such a delicacy to herself, and she even had some choice words for the kid.

"I have to say…you really know your craft. I like it!"

The kid smiled while he witnessed the judges and their positive feedback thrown his way. He remained pretty confident that such positivity would net him some really useful extra credit like he always got in school. Such splendor easily bumped him up a couple of rungs on the social ladder.

…only to see the heads of the judges explode in his face.

He stood completely dumbfounded for a second as reality set in. His heart slowed to a crawl as drops of sweat fell down his face…

…but then their heads suddenly popped back up from inside their shirts.

"Hey, Charlotte! WE ALREADY WENT OVER YOUR CHERRY BOMBS!" Shelly yelled as she turned around and shook a fist at the young girl. The one who threw them in the first place frowned for a moment before she huffed and took off somewhere else.

"Well, I think we've taken enough to conclude on something here." Martha stated.

"Agreed." Gene said before he lead the others to the next station.

The nerdy kid watched them leave as a massive relief went over him.

"Phew! For once nothing acted up on my end! I might actually-"

…only to see tails of chimpanzees sprout from their behinds as they left.

"Dang it!"

---

"Not bad, but not too great either…"Gene said as he sampled the certain part.

"I do like the tropical punch to it though." Libby said before she jotted something down in her notes. "Very…distinct."

"Oh, thank you!" the contestant girl replied while she hurriedly bowed again and again in thanks. "I spent the last few days perfecting such techniques to get this up and running!"

"Have you ever considered a refrigerator at some point though?" Martha asked while she wrote something down.

The girl initially didn't understand such a question, but when she glanced back to her creation she instantly found out.

"No, no, no, no! It's not supposed to look like that!"

"Ah, so you didn't have a sleeping tapeworm in mind?" Shelly said.

"I had it shaped like Motichan!" the girl exclaimed.

"Well, at least it tasted decent." Gene said while he wrote his own personal notes.

---

Nancy's chest thumped at high rates as she saw the judges close by. Her treasure chest shaped cake set only a few more tables away from where they stood next, which meant her entry would shine under the spotlight in the coming minutes. The last time she forcibly found herself as the center of attention it cost her a majority of her height, so likewise her nervousness hit a new high. Molly would easily handle everything as if nothing went wrong, but she left the building and Nancy didn't see her in sight. If she provided anything out of line Scratch would have her head, despite the fact that she currently wore Molly's, and likely wouldn't pull her out of the tween's body in the first place. Dozens of frantic thoughts and ideas plagued her mind, and yet only one outcome stood out as the possible way out. Either win or stay inside Molly forever, which raised the stakes much to the ghost's amusement.

She bit her lip as the four judges handled the table next to hers, and she would have focused more on them if her spectral ticket to separate from Molly didn't suddenly zoom in around her head. First impressions indicated that he went around all over the place for everything related to the infamous blob, as he wore one of the souvenir Motichan hats, which had the character's face plaster all over its front, and held multiple pennants that displayed "Motimoti!" in big white letters above the titular eyes and smile of the famous blob. He also appeared with his mouth covered in multiple layers of frosting he never fully licked off, but other than those stand out parts she easily recognized him as Scratch the Motichan Fanboy.

"You'll never believe it, but they've gone ALL out on the Motichan stuff outside! I've pretty much seen it all and I'm one HAPPY ghost to go through everything! They've even brought out those rare popsicles used to promote that one movie, and I thought I've never gotten the chance to taste such-"

Nancy didn't answer. She focused too hard on the judges closes by and her inevitable turn next. Part of her thought about a last minute over preparation to potentially spruce up her dish, and yet she knew how unfeasible such a task would add up in the long run.

Scratch didn't see that in her though.

"Oh, right. That whole competition thing. I've actually sampled a bit of everything here, you know, because you BETTER win this, and from what I've tasted I think we have a good chance of seeing gold. However, I may have gone a bit overboard with Andrea's cake and stuffed myself on a portion-"

"Just go to your happy place Nancy, just go to your happy place…" Nancy muttered while her knees collided over and over from uncontrollable shuddering.

She made Scratch gaze at her flatly.

"You clearly have left the planet, haven't you?"

Nancy continued to mutter to herself as a nervous incomprehensible mess, which became the total opposite personality of the girl she possessed, while she kept her eyes glued to the people next to her. Her attitude made Scratch sigh deeply.

"At least I'm not having an earful of endless friendships and everlasting hugs." Scratch muttered to himself before he went back to Nancy. "You better win this unless you want me to keep you in there for the rest of your… OH MY GOSH!"

He completely dropped everything on his mind once a particular figure entered the room. While her eyes remained somewhat glued to the judges, she had enough in her to briefly glance at what Scratch referred to. Once she figured out what though, it didn't surprise her too much especially with his obsessive fanboyism toward the subject. She didn't consider herself fully grown out of mascots, as she considered them quite charming when done correctly, and if she went out of her way to fall into the franchise like Scratch she probably would have fallen head over heels in the same way he did. From the over bulbous head to the trademark happy and adorable smile whoever donned that suit must have felt like a million dollars to go through such a privilege. While the worldwide icon lacked limbs of any kind, for an outfit to match the character she couldn't ignore the stunning accuracy. Any amount of faults either ended up nonexistent or incredibly minor, for the one in the Motichan suit acted the part perfectly.

Young kids began to swarm the iconic character in droves which caused Scratch to act up a bit. His fists tightened while the pupils in his eyes expanded beyond their normal boundaries.

"It…it…it actually set foot upon this very space. I can't help it, I NEED him to myself! HEY MOTICHAN, SIGN MY BACK! HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE A THREESOME IN THE CURSE DEPARTMENT?!"

Before Nancy could even speak, the ghost instantly disappeared from next to her. At that moment she knew that Scratch converted to the ways of the sticky blob long before she met him. While she indulged on her own interests and hobbies from time to time, she never fell to the standards Scratch set for himself. She could handle a poster, some clothes, and movies when it came to fandoms, and yet her devotions pales in comparison to the ghost's. He may have lost a body from what seemed like an eternity ago, but he distinctly lost his mind when it came to the lovable blob and his sticky adventures on the big screen.

Of course she had her attention on something else more than anything as she heard the foreboding footsteps come her way.

Her teeth clamped together the moment each of the four judges arrived right in front of her table. Her stomach cramped and whirled everywhere while her chest pulsated at extreme rates, which she knew Molly would never fall to if she never left reality behind. For once she wished Molly took her spot and took on the competition for her, and yet Scratch forced her to act on her own accord. All of the eyes against her shot daggers that pinned her on the spot whether she wanted it or not, despite the supposed friendliness behind them. They could have easily set up a front and laid in wait for the right moment to send her into the depths of the ghost world of no return. They wanted nothing more than to lay it on her as a hopeless and useless sack of a human being imaginable. Her overreactions felt well warranted for something like a pastry competition, at least in her eyes…which actually were Molly's at the moment.

She felt the quicksilver under her neck when one of them spoke up.

"Ooh, someone took some creative liberties with this one." Martha said as she gazed over the treasure chest inspired cake.

"Yeah, I can see that too." Gene said before he lightly nodded. "Not too shabby…"

"Better than some others I've seen here." Shelly said. "Say, did you make this?"

She thoroughly addressed Nancy which stiffened the young girl's back. Her lips refused to part way at first, but she needed to answer the judge.

"Uhhhh, well, yes…" Nancy said. It didn't help matters in her mind that she heard Molly's voice and not her own as she spoke, and yet she had to work with it for the competition.

"You put some effort into this, I'd say." Libby said with a smile.

The others watched as Libby leaned in close and gave the cake a couple of god sniffs before she pulled back.

"Doesn't smell like burnt toast either! I think I can call this well baked…and decorated!"

Martha and Shelly followed Libby's actions and then gave their own two cents.

"I'm not hearing any lies. The girl has something on her mind, I'll give her that." Martha said.

"Perhaps something creative, but smell only contributes one major factor in my book." Shelly said. "Everything has to add up into something amazing, and I'm experiencing some potential in this one. Even with her Cake Crasher moniker, she knows how to please."

They knew about the incident.

They KNEW about the incident.

They fired a kill shot from behind while her expectations ran in another direction. The black haze clouded her into fogs of the grim and evil that lingered like vultures. No matter where she turned the terrible fate brought upon her always hung around like flies to garbage. Just the mere mention evoked a terrifying dread across her skin like the plague, and even though it turned Molly into a school sensation it came at the cost of Nancy's humiliation across the whole school. The poor girl just wanted to leave it in the past, but as long as people remember what happened she won't ever find solitude ever again. The worlds above had it out for her at every angle, and it left her as a shell across the desolate land.

She almost couldn't put her eyes back to the judges from the sheer negativity that surrounded such an occurrence in her terrible life, but at least she found Libby as a somewhat better sight than others. Despite their brief encounter before, she seemed like a nice girl willing to help her out even with her run down appearance. In some ways she reminded her of herself, although Libby clearly had better social aspects. Anyone who Nancy didn't know prior that tried to prod her pretty much never got an answer, and even though Libby also shared a timid nature at least she could willingly talk back. The fact she had that in her left some envy in Nancy, but not by a wide margin. The two had their similarities, and if given the chance Nancy could possibly call her a friend in the future.

"So, you had any inspirations for your piece?" Gene asked.

Her stomach lurched forward again and left her in a nervous stasis.

"Well, uhhhh…" Nancy stuttered in Molly's voice. "I…learned a few pointers…from a relative."

"Oh, so it runs in the family then?" Martha asked.

"I guess you can say that." Nancy replied while her body tried to shut itself from reality.

"Can we have a quick sample?" Libby asked while she quickly glanced at the cake.

Nancy almost forgot about the next set of steps before her turn could blow over. She thought ahead before the whole competition started and hoarded a couple of plates and plastic wares in just in case, which paid off in the end. To answer Libby's question, Nancy slowly nodded her head before she bent over to reach for the objects under the table. It took almost no time at all before she got back and put the plates and forks on the table before the four judges. She held a knife in her hand carefully before she slowly sliced off an inconsequential part of the cake and placed it on one of the loose plates. She let Gene take the plate before he took his fork and munched into the dessert, which soon got followed by the other three. Nancy's stomach acted up in droves as she could hear some potential bad remarks in her head about her cooking, and they rebounded like a forever echo that gave a slight migraine. She could only wait for their next couple of judgments and hope for the best.

Once everyone had their fill, Gene spoke up first.

"It may be a little bit half baked, but I'm not tasting anything terrible."

"Yeah, I think I'm in the same boat." Shelly said after. "She nailed it on the head in certain parts."

"Wow, uhhh…I'm just as amazed myself." Libby said before she swallowed her piece. "For the record Molly, how did you pull this off? You got me curious a bit."

Nancy looked at Libby in the eyes, and even though her social skills remained inhibited to a degree for once a portion of her regression parted ways. Her tone of voice had no spikes embedded in the walls and not a single buzz saw overhead; only a soft cushy cloud that protruded long licorice sticks for her delight. It sounded like she meant it and wanted her to become a close friend, something that she didn't see in Molly ever since she instigated her problems in the first place. For once Nancy saw someone she could call a friend, and it lifted her spirits by a small margin.

"Well, uhhh…" Nancy stammered at first. "I, errrrr, memorized a recipe with competent ingredients. I had to substitute gold coins for white chocolate, uhhhhh, if you couldn't tell…even if it doesn't fit all that well."

Her stomach acted up and almost put her on breaking point while she watched Libby and the other judges as they smiled and wrote in their own notes on hand.

"We have a standing contender here." Martha said. "Simplistic, but also tasty at the same time."

"I couldn't agree more." Gene stated while he slightly nodded. "Let's move on to the last few, shall we?"

The other judges gave their nods in agreement before they began to walk off toward the next table close by. For Nancy, she couldn't believe what she just mustered through. Her body may have refused to function properly, but somehow the judges finished their examinations and she never shut off the whole time. She would have considered it a proud moment, but even she knew it became short lived. One moment didn't equal an entire lifespan after all, and she saw many more hurdles ahead. Even so, she found a decent jump start in social skills and she had to thank Libby for pushing her forward a bit despite the fact that she had no idea she spoke with her and not Molly. If she ever had the chance to, she might actually ask her to become a close friend.

She also heard a familiar specter's voice in the distance at an aggressive pitch.

"Hey, get back here! I'm getting that perfect photo AND autograph or you'll never live this down! DON'T TICK ME OFF, MOTICHAN!"

---

The last few contestants after Nancy fared decently, at least from what she could see from a distance, which left the girl to wait while they tallied up their scores. She already had her guesses as to what they graded when it came to Andrea's masterpiece, even though she hired someone and never placed a finger on a spatula, and she would be somewhat surprised if she scored anything lower than a perfect ten on all sides. Libby couldn't cheat the system and provide any bias either, so despite her attitude earlier she had to grade Andrea fairly like the others. It completely flew by Nancy's mind as to how she could stomach dozens of sugary goodness without hurling into a can, but she had to give it to her for going through with it. Her nervousness might have faltered some when it came to her own cake, but her stomach still turned the rest of her organs inside out. She attributed it at first to to leftover timidness, but when it slowly escalated over time it became clear that something else took hold. While she maintained some control over it, cracks formed as time passed but not enough to warrant total attention. As long as she held the fort down she wouldn't require any assistance, but she saw the timer tick down to utter annihilation. For now, she stayed put and let the judges do their jobs…even with her bizarre failing health.

After an extra ten minutes or so, she eventually heard Gene speak up again throughout the room. She brought her attention up front where he stood with the other judges, including Libby, while everyone else did the same. Scratch seemed to have flown off somewhere as Nancy couldn't see him, although from what she heard him exclaim earlier he clearly had his own businesses to attend to.

"Attention everyone, we've finally concluded on our scores for the most part and are almost ready to declare this year's winner! We've seen some very intricate and distinct designs that made us wish we could take all of them home and claim everyone as winners, but alas we unfortunately can't. This went by amazingly, probably the best ever, and while only one will come out on top-"

As if it occurred in a weird case of deja vu, before he could finish all four judges suddenly had their heads explode in front of everyone which caused multiple gasps across the premises. It left the whole area speechless as their bodies still remained standing, but it lasted for a very brief moment as they popped back into place from inside their shirts. A wave of relief hit the audience while Gene turned his attention momentarily to the sidelines.

"CHARLOTTE, PUT YOUR CHERRY BOMBS AWAY ALREADY!"

The aforementioned young girl frowned again before she shook her head and walked back to her table, tasty sweet explosive desserts in hand. Soon after, Gene cleared his throat and got back to everyone else.

"Ahem, as I was saying, we enjoyed our time here in Brighton this year, but we can't give our grand prize away JUST yet. Some desserts gave us some conflicting thoughts about them, so we'll need a second opinion on them before we can come to a conclusion. That doesn't mean we consider them bad by any means, but we need to go over them again to remain on the safe side. For the ones we already concluded on, well, I guess you found yourselves another short break then."

Nancy's heart staggered to a crawl upon hearing the news, but not to certain extremes she thought of previously. She made it through the first time and never lost a limb in the process, so it sounded reasonable that she might safely have a decent go a second time if her special cake required it from the judges. It didn't calm her stomach down though, for it really fought against her like a raging animal. At certain points it almost felt like she swallowed something and it angrily wanted out, much to her immense displeasure. If she somehow caught something it definitely kicked her butt in more ways than one.

"Come on Nancy, you can do this. If they come by for your cake again just…do what you went for last time. Hold it in, hold it in, just hold it in…"

She went for some silent breathing exercises, but it did nothing to quell the pains underneath. If she puked up a storm she would never hear the end of it, even the guise of Molly's body, and yet the forces pushed harder. The fuse lit underneath everything and the perpetrator left her strapped to the explosive in sturdy ropes. She saw some faces that didn't appear the greatly interested, which left her to fend for herself while the beast clawed across her stomach and left it in shambles. Her pupils nearly evaporated as she felt her life being drained, to the point her legs became wooden planks on the verge of collapse. Everyone else may have went along the competition completely fine, but for Nancy her insides told a different story…and it didn't come from her nervousness.

Her eyes stayed on the judges as they made their rounds while her body continued to act up. She held herself together the best she could, but once she lost the feeling in her legs that served as the final straw.

Snap.

She collapsed to the ground and held back torrents of screams behind her lips. Everyone else had their agendas focused on the competition which left Nancy on her own to deal with her own turmoils. Her hands clutched her stomach but she still felt the constant pain it brought to the table. Now more than ever she required some help from anyone nearby, but it came with a snag. While she truly believed that her pain came from something unnatural, if it ended up as the case and something would pop out it might possibly become a "Cake Crasher" incident all over again, and she definitely never wanted to revisit such a concept again. However, it limited her potential options to a certain minimum that she couldn't focus too much on from her out of control body. Only Scratch and Libby came to mind for the young girl, and both went about their own agendas at the moment far away from her.

…although one came with a major exception.

The fact completely slipped her mind at the moment, but Nancy hesitated to attempt it at first. The words clearly described one particular individual as the only one to perform it, and yet the circumstances she found herself in seemed to intertwine into a clause that could possibly serve as her only emergency call. As much as she didn't want to abuse such a fact, she had nothing to lose and no other possible choice to get the help she needed. She had to go for it, and it NEEDED to work despite her condition.

---

Scratch wouldn't take denial for an answer.

The mascot took none of his requests seriously and only focused on the single detail that pretty much went against everything he tried to say. The ones around him bolted at the sight of him, but the ghost wouldn't let the one in the suit get away without what he asked for. It tried to runaway like the other, and yet Scratch planted it down in place multiple times to no avail. Autograph across the back? No dice. Questions about a particular movie in the franchise? Not a chance. No matter what he tried to ask, the mascot prioritized survival over everything else, especially after Scratch willingly showed himself and proved ghosts existed to it. Eventually, after so many failed attempts, Scratch had enough and took more drastic measures. It involved lots of jelly beans, a crate, and an abandoned crane that someone left alone for whatever reason, but it did the trick. He finally got the iconic character all to himself, and after all of the troubles it gave him…Scratch would get the point across one way or another.

The head of the costume rattled while the one inside muttered some inaudible nonsense to try and keep its spirits up to the darkness everywhere. While a single lamp hung overhead, it only provided adequate results and did nothing to untie the ropes that kept it in place. No matter how much it struggled, it couldn't free itself, much to the delight of the ghost before it. He stared daggers at the mascot's static beady eyes while he slowly waved a Motichan branded squeaky hammer, which uttered the character's iconic phrase with every strike, into his other hand like a police officer's beating stick. He wanted no further interruptions after all, and if positivity toward it gave him nothing but screams…it became time to go negative.

He let the squeaky hammer do the talking for a little until he laid it on the bound mascot.

"Now, will you give me any further problems or do I have to LET YOU HAVE IT again?" Scratch said with a certain pinch of poison in his words. He heard some muffled speech for a second, but he got his answer when the large mascot's head dipped forward and back like a nod. The expression never changed, but underneath all of the sticky goodness the person inside obviously thought something different. As long as it followed orders though, Scratch didn't care at that point.

"Good. Glad to see us on the same terms." Scratch said while he squeezed the hammer and let a "Motimoti!" play out. "Let's finally settle this, for I'm GOING to get what I want."

The ghost floated up closer to the static face of the mascot, which made the whole suit shudder uncontrollably. Scratch shook his head and took a deep breath before he reached behind him and brought out the one thing to finally satisfy his need for Motichan goodness from the character itself. With Molly out of commission for the moment since he forced Nancy into her, it left a particular object all to himself. He didn't fancy himself the greatest of photographers, but he obtained some pointers just for the occasion when he came across his favorite mascot. He turned the device on and scrolled through the respective functions until one caught his eye. Once it booted up, he turned his attention back to the bound character.

"GET IN VIEW."

He spoke sternly with a pinch of his ghastly attitude, which the one in the suit understood immediately. Before long, Scratch quickly turned himself around to let the camera pick up his face as he got the mascot in focus at the same time. Soon after, he put on a very hearty smile right before the flash went off, which made him giddy while he let the picture develop. Once the screen loaded up, his smile faded before he sighed under his breath. It should have came as no surprise that the picture didn't pick up his presence and only saw him as an eerie blue light, which irked him a bit before he got back to tied up mascot.

"Ugh, too blurry. Maybe if I angled it a bit further to the left…"

He set the camera up again as he floated back over to the one in the suit and struck another happy face in front of the lens. He forced his captive to look in the same direction as the camera went off, and one brilliant flash later Scratch glanced over the results. He frowned as history repeated itself yet again.

"No, no, that won't work. Hey, put your chin up! I need to capture your slimy greatness with ME and ME alone!"

One rearranged setup and flash later, nothing but his blue light showed up next to the one in the suit.

"Darn it! Go again!"

Another failure.

"Grrrrn!"

And again.

"Look toward the camera!"

And again.

"I'll get this perfect shot!"

And one final time.

No matter how many times he pressed the button though, his appearance never showed up in the photos. For once his ghostly form came with a snag that he couldn't work around, which he didn't admit that often. However, for him it became just a minor setback, for he would get something out of his favorite character after all of the effort to get it for himself. Pictures remained out of the question, so he needed something else that didn't rely on visuals.

He heard some more incoherent noises from the mascot while something else came to mind.

"Okay, so I'm permanently camera shy. I'm still not letting you off the hook that easy though! We'll go with voicemail instead, so give me that iconic catchphrase when I hit record! I'm getting something out of you whether-"

"Scratch!"

The instant he heard that distinct voice in combination with the one word, he knew what would come after. His entire body paused for a moment until he saw the familiar pink aura around him, and soon after his entire body began to get pulled out of the dimly lit room. The ghost panicked a bit while he tried to grab anything to keep him in place, only to find such a feat futile. The instant he hit the door and half of his body phased through, he noticed the one in the outfit attempt to pull itself out of the ropes which Scratch didn't appreciate.

"I'm not done with you yet! Once I'm done with this stupid errand, I'M GETTING THAT VOICEMAIL!"

The instant he finished, he completely phased out through the door and left the iconic character to itself. It uttered some more incoherent mumbling before it attempted again to untie the ropes that bound it. Unfortunately, its last few movements loosened the legs on the chair it sat on, which soon resulted in its complete collapse and left the character against the floor. Some muffled noises of what sounded like grief came from it as it slowly struggled to free itself while on the ground…which was a lot harder than it looked.

---

Nancy's pain spiked again once she called out. If she performed it too loudly though it could have brought some attention on her, so she didn't go at it too loudly. Something skewered through her guts and left her on the ground to perish, which left her in a mangled heap. She covered her stomach the best she could, but it still acted up in more ways than one. At that point she wouldn't find it out of place to puke up a storm through her watery eyes, which left the visuals around her as fuzzy blobs. Her cries for help from the grumpy specter had to work, despite the fact that Molly had the curse and she didn't, but because she accidental took over her body it seemed plausible under the current circumstances. The spiked pounded against her belly again which made her grit her teeth in pain while she could only wait for certain results if they even occurred in the first place.

"Scratch, please… I…need you right now…"

She only managed a few choice words before the sharp pointed pierced her guts again. While she lacked the perfect vision through her watery eyes, she vividly heard a loud whoosh over her followed by a burst of wind. No requirements for a magnifying glass became necessary once she heard the certain voice overhead.

"I can't believe I wasted my chance and now I have to go and-"

She couldn't see him fully, but Nancy could clearly tell he felt very upset.

"Wait a minute. Are you kidding me here? ARE YOU SERIOUSLY KIDDING ME HERE?! I'm pretty sure my whole curse business doesn't involve YOU to any extent, midget. I'm going to have to look at the fine print for any loopholes because you may have Molly's body, but you don't-"

"NOT NOW SCRATCH, I'M GOING THROUGH SOMETHING UNNATURAL HERE!" Nancy said in a frantic manner while the pain flared up again. She rolled a little across the floor on her back while Scratch sighed in deep grief before he floated in for a closer look. While he saw nothing abhorrent at first, once Nancy hit a certain side something caught his attention. While subtle at first, right when Nancy rolled onto her front side Scratch distinctly saw one large lump slowly protrude from the side of her back. Once it began to glow for a split second it immediately receded, but when the girl rolled back to her front the same bulge raised straight up near one of her shoulders then shot back down. It continued like that all over her, and the more it appeared the more pain Nancy received.

Soon enough, even Scratch understood that something didn't seem right.

"Okay, I have NEVER seen something like that before." Scratch said. "Just, uhhhh, give me a quick moment!"

While Nancy could do nothing as she almost went hunchback a few times, Scratch immediately got his hands to work as he brought out a small handbook that he somehow had on hand. Contrary to what he may have thought earlier, apparently a book did exist out there that detailed the abilities behind what a ghost could and couldn't do. Ironically titled "So You Just Died?" by S. Kellyton, Scratch got it for a bargain from Salvatore during his "times" with the Motichan mascot just in case, and if he guessed correctly it would have the solution to Nancy's problem. While she may not have perished yet, it surely involved the dead after he forced her into Molly in the first place.

The large bump shot out of her stomach next before it lowered back down and appeared somewhere else across her body, ad in that time frame she noticed what Scratch intended to go through with next.

"You want to read a, grrrrrn, book…at a time like this?!" Nancy said as the bump appeared across her back and made her slightly yelp.

"Hey, I'm doing this for you after all!" Scratch responded. "I don't even fancy myself as a bookworm so I'm just as getting punished like you, so LET ME READ AND FIGURE OUT YOUR ISSUE!"

Nancy couldn't help but let him perform his duty. If what he bought from that other ghost truly stated the problems that went on with her possession then she just had to endure a bit longer despite the painful process. She rolled across the ground as she slowly changed into a hunchback once again, and Scratch seemed to skim across as many pages as possible for a solution, but whatever occurred inside her made sure to use her guts and ribs as bouncy playthings. At certain point it seemed like something chewed on her from the inside, which only furthered the unimaginable pain built up in her. Eventually, it became too much and she finally screamed, in Molly's voice no less, as she hit the back wall, but in an astonishing twist her suffering went largely unnoticed. Either her status as someone completely forgettable carried over from her normal self, or the competition became so heated that no one bothered to pay attention. Whatever the case, both Scratch and Nancy each had their issues to go through to possibly find a way out unscathed.

…although one became a major exception to the rule.

The timid and worried friend of Molly's may have had a job to go through, but she could easy hear distress from her best friend from inside a busy building. She kept her nose in her notes with the other judges as they reevaluated the "melted Motichan" dessert again, which the girl insisted that she would have refrigerated it earlier if she knew of the consequences, and she would have remained that way if a certain never hit her ears. She got done writing some specific words when she perked up from the noise, and soon enough her attention turned in a specific direction.

One of the judges glanced at Libby is slight confusion.

"Everything okay there?" Shelly asked as she looked up from her notes.

"Errr, ummm, kind of." Libby answered. "Uhhhhh, please excuse me for a moment. I, ummm, already wrote my score down for this anyway."

She hastily handed Shelly her notepad before she took off toward the cry for help. Shelly cocked an eyebrow at her display, but she didn't think too much of it since she still had some of her own notes to work on. She passed the information to Gene and Martha so they wouldn't get left behind, and after that they let Libby have her moment. Even judges needed their alone time after all.

Libby ran by dozens of extra displays and contestants until she tracked down the table where Nancy was with her own cake. She stood in shock for a moment once she couldn't see her and raced up only to notice the girl as she rolled across the floor with a large hump that shot up everywhere. Scratch floated nearby with a book in his hand, but she kept her eyes on who she assumed as Molly since she appeared in a mangled heap.

"Molly! I hurried over as quickly as I could! What's going on?!"

Nancy could barely see Libby from above the table while she moved around in a torture of discomfort. The large lump seemed to have gotten bigger over time, as now it basically took up her entire back or stomach when it suddenly oscillated higher and higher before it settled down. At that point, she couldn't hide the facts any longer. Scratch wanted to keep the details under wraps, but with the current circumstances such attempts basically became pointless. If she wanted to know what happened between her and Scratch, she definitely would get the message.

Nancy barely managed to squeak out a few words through Molly's lips.

"…not Molly… Nancy… I…I can't hold it…"

The bulge raised up again across her back that made Nancy yelp and hit the wall again. Despite the few words, Libby pieced them together into a more coherent picture, but even then she still didn't get it. Her "Bloodhound of Truth" senses went into overdrive before she turned over to Scratch, who still have is eyes glued to the pages. If she couldn't get an answer from Molly, her cursed buddy became her next best option.

"Scratch, WHAT…HAPPENED?" Libby asked in a stern and powerful tone. Even with her tone though, it took a couple of moments for the ghost to pull himself from the book to address her.

He soon followed the same decision set by Nancy, but not before he deeply sighed and gritted his teeth.

"Urgh, I guess I can't hide it from you any longer." Scratch answered before he set things straight. "You want to know what crazy problem we found ourselves in next? Well…I managed to have Nancy possess Molly on accident."

She didn't quite expect such a reveal, although she held back boasting about her correct suspicions from earlier. To any normal person such an answer wouldn't go over easily and usually fall into the cracks of insanity or craziness, but for a conspiracy theorist granted the ability to see and hear the undead, Libby followed along without any hesitation. It knocked out a couple of her personal theories in the process, but none of that mattered at the moment. She clearly heard about how the Molly she talked to when she arrived at the competition was actually Nancy after another mishap, and even though she only got to know her for a short period that never meant she deserved any further punishments. She may have wielded Molly's body, but underneath a younger girl cried out for help and Libby couldn't let that pass.

Libby stood dumbfounded for a second at what she just heard.

"You…WHAT?!"

"Hey, hey, I'm just as flabbergasted as you!" Scratch responded. "I should find an answer in these pages though, much to my ultimate displeasure, and I'm speed reading as fast as I can!"

"Make it stop…MAKE IT STOP!" Nancy cried out as the bulge nearly matched Molly's entire height.

The suffering across her face became impossible to ignore. It hurt just to look at such a painful expression, and the large lump made it harder to look over. Unfortunately, her options remained somewhat limited. Scratch sped up his eyes across every individual letter, and yet Libby still wanted to help. It only took a quick moment to think of something though, as one glance to the side revealed the other three judges on their way over after another successful reevaluation of someone. If they had Molly, or Nancy specifically, on their list as someone to go over next she obviously couldn't act in her current condition. She found her opportunity to assist in a way only she could.

Libby instantly rushed off and stopped them in their tracks. She put on a facade of a smile to lighten the mood a bit and cover the turmoils ahead with Nancy and Scratch.

"Ah, you've returned." Martha said.

"Yeah, I needed a bit of a stress relief." Libby answered. "I've built up a lot of pressure from this once in a lifetime opportunity and-"

"We understand. You don't need to explain further." Gene interjected. "The first time I did this whole judging thing, hoo boy, I surely took a lot that day."

"Yeah, yeah, you overworked us in the process. Geez, you almost threw my back out!" Shelly said with a slight frown.

"Heheheh, yeah." Gene stated while he rubbed the back of his head. "Anyway, we only have two more reevaluations before we can wrap this up. I recall we needed to go over that Molly girl again…"

Libby's back lightly stiffened from the last sentence.

"No, uhhhhh, we can't exactly go to her yet!"

"Why not?" Shelly asked while she tilted her head.

Libby barely heard Nancy's suffering from the back of the room, and if they went over to her now it wouldn't end well. She required a decent excuse to steer the others' attention off track, and in a spur of improvising on the spot two wires connected for her to illuminate the light bulb.

"I, ummmm, think we gave, uhhhhh, that Charlotte girl some pretty harsh criticisms…and never gave her the chance she deserved! Yeah, uhhhhhh, not the greatest opportunity…to stand out! Uh huh, definitely that!"

Her fake smile nearly bled guilt all over, but she held it together to provide the best impression the sell her opinion to the other three. While she could pull off a decent act unlike her friend Molly, she still lacked the last few patches of perfection that held her up completely. If she performed well enough anyone who watched her never provided any second doubts to her intentions. Nancy counted on her after all to do her part despite shortly knowing each other.

Gene didn't take such a suggestion lightly.

"You mean the girl with the sugary explosives? Yeah, I already set things straight with THAT entry."

"I think I still have a few burns on my cheeks!" Shelly responded soon after.

"I got my scores written down for her PRETTY sternly." Martha said while slightly upset at the thought.

"But, ummm, don't we have to judge everyone fairly?" Libby said while she scratched her cheek. "I mean, we can't just, uhhhhh, give her low scores because of those…kinds of mishaps. We kind of rushed through her after that, so, uhhhhhh, I think she deserves a second chance to properly display her…creation."

She dipped further into lukewarm territory the more the conversation progressed. As much as she wanted to delay the other judges, she made a point in the process. Charlotte clearly had something on her mind when she designed her homemade sugar bombs, but because of their nature and the fact that they literally blew up in their faces she never found the chance to explain the other details behind it. If anything, she crafted something unique over the standards set by others. The girl deserved a reevaluation in Libby's eyes, and it would also serve as a ticket to keep the attention away from the stricken Nancy.

Finally, after a few tense filled moments for Libby, she finally got her answer.

"I…I guess you're right…" Gene stated. "We let a factor outside the boundaries of the competition fuel our scores for her. She had something distinct in mind, I'll say that."

"I'm with you as well, Gene." Shelly said. "It takes more than a couple of burns to wear this old woman down. I'll let her have it this one time."

"Same here." Martha said soon after. "Thanks for the advice Libby. You sure know how to think one step ahead."

Libby uttered a couple of tepid chuckles and embarrassingly smiled.

"Oh why, uhhhhhh, thanks. It runs in the family, I guess."

With the distraction set in place, Libby and the other three judges made their way in the opposite direction toward the station where the girl and her cherry bombs sat. Once they had their backs turned, Libby quickly turned back to face Scratch and gave the ghost a thumbs up. Scratch spared a moment to glance up and see her, and once he saw what happened he grinned in return and gave slight nod in her direction. Once the four disappeared across the room, Scratch could finally get back to the book while Nancy endured a gauntlet of painful sensations as the large lump grew bigger.

The mere sight of the large hump gave Scratch the shivers. At certain points he swore he saw a piece of bone stick out, which immediately made his rush back to the pages just to get the thought out of his system. No matter how much he skimmed through the pages though, he couldn't ignore the harsh wailing whenever the lump skewered through Nancy like a knife. She tried her hardest to remain silent, but whatever coursed through her took control, which came as an annoying detriment for Scratch. He basically had to read as if he put himself in a baseball stadium during a home run. Not the most pleasant of times to assist in a phenomenon he didn't know about.

His eyes lit up after a few minutes of intense skimming, for the title "Possession" hit his sights near the top. He might actually have found the answer to the problem, but the instant he glanced down to read the chapter his smile turned into a frown. To think such greedy tactics existed in the ghost world, but for a certain shopkeeper he made sure to squeeze out as much as he could.

"Unlock this chapter for five dollars?"

His expression went very flat as he glanced into space for a second.

"You sleazy jerk. Dang it Salvatore, you ALWAYS need the extra chump change, do ya?"

The ghost shook his head before he comically brought out a ghostly chair and put on some small reading glasses. He kept his eyes on the page while he grumpily pulled out a five dollar bill and placed it before the book. Right before his eyes the money vanished and the price tag disappeared to the paragraphs of words underneath. He let loose a slight sigh soon after before he skimmed over the paragraphs that didn't interest him. It took some picky reading, but eventually certain paragraphs caught his sight. He read them thoroughly so he wouldn't miss anything.

Lesson #27: Using something other than you to possess someone else

Yes, such a power exists when it comes to any specters. While seldom used these days, nevertheless one can pull such a feat off if given the chance. Simply take hold of the victim you desire and phase them into the target, although size may factor depending on the two subjects. Reactions obviously vary, but remain careful when using such a power. Unlike the normal possessing techniques, because a ghost isn't part of the equation the two combined subjects cannot hold such a form for long. If a ghost doesn't separate the two, or higher numbers for more experienced ghosts, symptoms may occur such as inflation or the appearance of massive lumps across the body. Any further along and the body will spontaneously combust from the pressure of two living souls in one body. Recommendations include an earlier separation or a distinct watch over the victims for any adverse effects, for they easily signal when the time remains low. Dedicated practice will lessen the chances of something awry happening in the process.

If Scratch had a heart, he most definitely would have felt it stop at that moment. No wonder such a power became rarely used for ghosts, and he put both Molly and Nancy on the timer he had no clue existed in the first place. Sure, he could let them perish and inflict misery to an all time low, but it would come at the cost of both girls potentially becoming ghosts themselves. He would never find a moment to act like himself for the rest of eternity as long as he remained bound to a ghost Molly, and Nancy probably never had it in her to act out as a ghost if it ever happen. The Flow of Failed Phantoms basically awaited both of them, and if Molly fell there the curse would pull him along for the ride. All of that over a possible failure of an accidental possession between the two girls, and he wanted none of that.

He got up from his chair and put his glasses away before he raced over the process in the pages for the method to undo such a problem. Luckily for him it didn't require another five dollars and it seemed simple enough, so once he memorized most of it he rushed on over to the suffering Nancy. She barely saw Scratch above her before she flipped over from the enormous bulge. If he had to guess, the ghost probably only had a couple of minutes left to reverse the process.

"Okay, I think I understand how to pull you out, but I've never done this before so you might-"

"JUST GET ME OUT OF MOLLY'S BODY!" Nancy exclaimed as the pain flared up and the budge grew taller.

As much as he hated the interruption, such a thought became the least important priority at the moment. While he could have taken his time to understand the basics, with the ticking clock such a risk stood tall on the unviable spectrum. He squinted his eyes for a moment while he glanced over her back as the large hump shot up from her shoulder, and to set the tone for what to come he conjured up some ghostly gloves, a stethoscope, a light atop his head, and a typical white jacket fit for his general shape. While such a cosplay proved as a possible trip to prison for living people, as a ghost he worried none about such an outcome. Time for the ghost doctor on campus to operate on his first and only patient.

"Now you might feel a slight prick… Actually, scratch that thought because I'm not qualified at all for this!"

Without any further delays, Scratch immediately reached out and phased his arms straight into the girl's back. Nancy couldn't focus on the procedure but Scratch definitely felt some "squishy" stuff that gave him goosebumps across his ectoplasm. He almost puked himself on several occasions while he felt for something specific that thankfully had no relations to Molly's glands. At one point he thought he had it and gave it a good squeak…only to hear Nancy yelp which quickly made him reconsider. He probably accidentally went over to her liver or kidneys that only sickened him even further. He never wanted to become a surgeon or doctor, but after his "operation" on the girl he wanted to scrub every inch of the thoughts out of his brain like the plague. He likely suffered more than Nancy as his hands trudged through Molly's organs, and he already had enough on his mind with the whole curse to Molly and everything.

Expectations set between the two brought their guesses of time to several minutes, but in the end the process only lasted around half a minute when Scratch's fingertips hit the one part he desired. He wasted no time to grasp it before he lightly turned it to the left a few times, which even caused a few harmless clicks as he did so, and right then and there Nancy suddenly paused. Her eyes stared into space for a couple of seconds before both her and Scratch witnessed the large lump quickly subside until it vanished completely. Nancy didn't know what to think, but Scratch had something on his mind as he floated up to her.

"You okay there kid? At least give me some type of approval here."

Nancy never answered as her bones shuddered and shivers crawled all over her. They didn't last that long though, as her stomach churned once more and put her on breaking point. The pressure behind such poundings left her with almost no extra weight to possibly fight against it, which only left one option remaining. No matter how much she held her stomach now, she couldn't push it back. Whatever Scratch performed on her unlocked something, and with nowhere to turn it only left one final option.

Once the ghost saw her cheeks swell up he immediately kept his distance. They fluctuated a few as she felt something try break out, but even then it only became a matter of time. It constantly ran up and down her throat like a ride at an amusement park, and Nancy did her best each time to contain it. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't hold onto such a problem forever, and eventually she heard the cracks. She never stood a chance, but before long the wall collapsed and it steamrolled over her.

Nancy let loose a devastating hurl and spat out the problem straight out of her mouth.

Everything happened so quickly that Scratch required a moment to catch up to the times. Molly's body couldn't take the punishment any more and finally heaved out the issue that nearly caused the girl to explode. However, her accuracy went a bit off center as the one she puked out sailed straight through the air above them. It soared through the air like a bullet until it hit a rather weird spot. While Andrea may have forced a personal cook to create the perfect monster of a cake, its size became a determent during the incident as the small object zoomed straight into the perfectly frosted caricature of herself in a sparkling dress and dug right into its abdomen. The soft cream may have taken the impact with only an indent, but at the speed the objects hit it the sculpted marvel it recoiled backward and tumbled right from its perch on top of the cake and fell right into the bottom most tier with a splat. It didn't end there though, as the girl that shot the object out of her mouth suddenly got to her feet and stumbled a bit in slight dizziness. Unluckily for her, she inadvertently knocked her table over which took her cake with it, and as quick as a flash she no longer had a working entry for the competition. To rub salt into the wound in her stumbling to regain stability she set her left foot right into the ruined dessert, which not only destroyed it further but made her slip and fall to the ground on her behind. Scratch could only watch in horror as the cake to his dreams splattered everywhere across the open floor, and in his mind everything played out in ironic slow motion like a crucial moment. In the span of a few seconds he no longer had anything to compete with, and the girl he cursed himself to once again acted out her online status.

Just to make the whole thing worse in every aspect, once the creamy caricature of Andrea fell off the top of her cake, a majority of the whole place had their eyes on the incident. Most of them stood in shock at what just happened, although some clearly had other ideas in mind. They never saw Scratch as he rushed in over to the girl's semi conscious body due to his traits while transparent, minus one specific tween, but he clearly acted in slight desperation as he got up in her face.

"Nancy?! Nancy?! You still in there?!" Scratch exclaimed while he shook the blacked out tween. He even gave the girl a couple of good wake up slaps to possibly speed up the process, but he only saw slight reactions.

He prepared a couple more slaps for good measure, but he never resorted to such actions when he saw the dazed and blank eyes slowly come back to life followed by some slight twitches of her limbs. Before long he heard some slight groaning in her direction as the girl put a hand on her head and sluggishly lifted herself off the ground. She swayed a few times as the rest of her character kicked in, and while her sight remained a bit fuzzy with a couple of stars in the way she easily figured out who floated next to her.

"Errgh…urgh…" the girl said as the rest of her senses slowly started back up. It took a couple more seconds, but when her vision cleared she saw the respective ghost.

"Wha…uhhhh…S-S-S-Scratch?"

"Oh, thank goodness. I didn't need to break out a gravestone just yet." Scratch said as relief hit him. "Uhhhh, am I speaking to Molly or Nancy right now?"

The girl seemed baffled at such a question.

"Ummm, I'm Molly… Why are you asking such a-"

As the rest of her senses kicked back into action, her head cleared further and she quickly noticed her left foot completely drenched in frosting and sugar from the destroyed cake. She lightly shrieked for a very brief moment before she quickly drew it back and instantly turned her head everywhere to see her new surroundings. Her pupils lightly contracted as she saw dozens of others stare at her like she just went crazy, which in retrospect she went through under someone else's control. She almost didn't know how to act next after whatever just happened while she remained out cold. She would have to ask Scratch about it later, but for now she had to improvise the awkwardness brought on her.

"I, uhhhhhh…couldn't leave another cake not crushed? You know me the, ummmmm, Cake Crasher and her solemn duty to eliminate all sugary substances! Heheheheh…"

Molly's lukewarm chuckles did nothing to quell the incident at all. She remained completely clueless as to what happened behind her back, but she did her best to make it seem like not a big deal. Unfortunately for her, it only made her out as more of a maniac than normal, something social media would eat up in an instant. By the time she got back on her feet, she already had the judges on her like scavengers, although Libby easily let up more than the others. Scratch seemed to have placed her right into the lion's den, and everyone aimed between the eyes.

Scratch stared to become very nervous once the judges marched over.

"Oof, that won't see the light of day anytime soon." Shelly said while she frowned and shook her head.

"Yeah, that looks completely wrecked beyond repair." Martha said before she sighed. "Such a shame too, for I had some really nice remarks written about it."

"Ummmm, uhhhhh…" Molly stuttered as she tried to come up with something to say. With no recollection about what truly happened she drew blank on everything, and Scratch didn't have the time to tell her in such a short span. She had to improvise a bit more.

"Well, I, ummm, didn't exactly appreciate the composition! Yeah! I, uhhhhhh, have a personal vendetta against vanilla-"

"Chocolate." Scratch added.

"Chocolate! I can't stand that!" Molly hastily corrected. "Definitely don't like the large buckets of brown! They, errrrrr, deserve to fall to the, uhhhhh, Cake Crasher! Yeah, ummmm, the Cake Crasher wants chocolate eliminated! Heheheheh, uhhhhhh, yeah…"

She completely went in the opposite direction of the actual situation, which even caused Scratch to facepalm once he figured out where she headed. At that point, the judges thought she completely lost her mind, minus Libby since she knew Molly's true nature, before they provided their own news about what they saw.

"I'm terribly sorry Molly, but you pretty much shot yourself in the foot." Gene stated while he shook his head. "You eliminated yourself on the spot with that stunt. As much as I don't want to say this, because you no longer have a completed pastry, well, I'm afraid we have to disqualify you."

Right then and there Molly stood completely stiff as if someone just punched her in the gut. Certain realizations immediately hit in more ways than one as memories flooded back to her. The competition, cakes, the banging against her head, but then it went black. It hurt to think about, and it only became worse as the seconds passed. Scratch also couldn't take such news lightly either, as the instant they hit his ears he instantly popped like a balloon as his scraps fell to the ground followed by his eyeballs. The remains shuddered all over before he he uttered a triumphant and epic cry out in total defeat. Such failure struck the two hard, and Molly didn't even experience a majority of the competition.

Libby bit her lip and gripped her notes hard as she heard of her best friend's unfortunate circumstances as Molly tried to stitch certain pieces of the situation back together.

"No, uhhhhh, did I just say that I hated chocolate? I meant, errrrrr, I'm not a strawberry person! Yeah, that! I can still make do with…whatever I made! See, ummmm, I can make this-"

"MY CAKE! SOMEONE RUINED MY PERFECT THREE TIERED CAKE!"

Everyone's train of thought came to a screeching halt when a certain egotistical diva shouted presumably in anger throughout the whole vicinity. Molly and the others immediately knew who did the deed and instantly set off toward the source across the room, although Scratch took a moment to reconstruct himself before he followed soon after. Once the judges plus Molly made it over they quickly figured out the meaning behind her words, and the social tween stood right before her paid creation. Even though she didn't stand by her cake earlier, she likely had her social status in mind and kept her attention on her live streams. Still, she had a presence now and she made the problem obvious all over.

While up front the colossal confection appeared unscathed at first glance, one look behind and it told something different. The creamy caricature of Andrea in a sparkling dress left an impact across the back end of the bottom tier and completely ruined the portion. The imitation even lay next to the cake as it somehow managed to roll out, but even then some details about it became splattered across the floor. Even though it seemed light at first, for it to inflict something like that into a cake meant it carried some weight to it, although the others could only see the creamy surface. Despite the damage, it left the backside in pretty bad shape, but not in a horrific state.

The others watched as the distraught Andrea fell to her knees while her eyes dazzled across the ruined parts.

"My perfect image, one of my greatest achievements money could buy, and she perished in the face of the Cake Crasher. Such…poise and brilliance all in one, so much so that I can't take my eyes off of it. Goodnight, sweet princess, may you relish in the cushy skies of cotton candy…"

The fact that she sniffed a couple of times after served as the icing on the mangled Andrea cake, as it tugged at everyone's heart strings like a lost puppy. Of course, ones like Molly and Libby knew better than to fall for something Andrea related.

"Aww, such a shame." Martha said with a small frown. "I really liked that decoration."

"This likely won't change much on my end." Shelly said. "My notes won't change on the matter."

"Ummmm…sorry?" Molly said even though she still remained mostly in the dark.

Immediately, the rich diva turned toward Molly with a slight scowl, which made the others take a step back from sights alone.

"Once again, you try to ruin my career in everything like an envious beast. Such a way of life for a CAKE CRASHER like you in every aspect. You must REALLY want me to ruin you back, don't you?"

"No, no, I didn't mean it!" Molly responded. "It was an accident in every way!"

"Oh really?" Andrea answered. "I find that hard to believe from someone with a status related to DESTROYING PASTRIES."

Before Molly could answer back, Gene came forth and interrupted the two. He remained silent until then and clearly had something on his mind.

"Such an incident wouldn't matter though when it comes to this competition."

All eyes lay on Gene as he made that announcement. Andrea, Molly, and Scratch gazed at him like he went stupid before he huddled up with both Martha and Shelly for one final conclusion. Once she realized that she also had the privilege, Libby perked up and rushed into the group so she wouldn't find herself left out. Everyone outside only heard some murmurs and whispers from the circle, but for them to act in unison for some kind of conversation it easily meant something more serious than before. Some even felt a bit of tension in their bones, for they saw something over the horizon that they didn't appreciate. If they had an idea that possibly meant the end, some parts didn't want to hear it as if dread clouded their minds. The judges conversed on something, and it kept a lot of minds racing for an answer.

After a few minutes have passed of unnerving silence the four broke away. Everyone had their eyes on Gene, and he made the verdict known like he owned the whole building.

"Everyone, I can say with all of my greatest gratitude that we've concluded on a final verdict as to who takes home the gold for this competition!"

Immediately everyone's attention cranked up a few levels while Gene kept his smile.

"I'm pleased to say that this has been one amazing ride through everyone's delicacies today, probably one of the best we've ever experienced. However, only one can claim the title as Motichan's favorite chef of the year, and I'm sure it will love the creation behind the well deserved verdict! From the depths of the franchise, such splendor only occurs every-"

"JUST DECLARE THE WINNER ALREADY!" a guy in the back shouted.

The four judges' expressions went flat for a second before Gene continued on.

"To finally bring a conclusion to this very special contest, the winner of this year's Motichan Cooking Competition is…"

Everyone held their breath as the anticipation nearly brought their emotions to a boiling point.

…

…

…

…

…

"…despite the slight damages on her entry, ANDREA DAVENPORT!"

A surge of applause ran throughout the room while Scratch groaned and crossed his arms. Molly felt a bit disappointed at the inevitable outcome, but nevertheless applauded anyway. As for the rich girl herself, her smile nearly went ear to ear before she glamorously waved to all of her encouraging audience and put her best foot forward for the cameras.

"Yes, yes, thank you everyone for this stunning achievement! I'd like to thank all of my adoring fans for their endless amounts of support, for I always provide for all of the FAndreas out there! Money truly can buy everything!"

Scratch and Molly could only watch as one of the judges went toward the back and fished out the almighty Motichan beanbag chair, and it hurt Scratch more than anyone else. Everything advertised displayed front and center like solid gold, and it devastated him to know that his ghostly bunions would never have the chance to lay upon such legendary fabrics. Sure, he may have experienced Nancy's exquisite paradise and Molly's insufficient one in her room, but they didn't compare to a brand new chair and it out of the box freshness. He almost heard it cry out his name like a confiscated baby, and yet he could do nothing about it but let it off into the sunset. All of his efforts to scare Nancy into submission for something to drive home first prize ended in nothing but more eternal torment, which he went through on a daily basis thanks to his stupidity with a curse. All of the luck in the world within his fingertips fell into the never ending abyss of no return and left the ghost with nothing in the end.

As the congratulatory messages headed Andrea's way, Molly tried to cheer up her undead best friend.

"Come on Scratch, it's not the end of the world. I mean, you still have your everlasting best buddy to always hang out with, and if we're lucky the contest might come here next year! I still don't know how I got here but I can assume you tried your hardest, and it's the thought that counts!"

Scratch never budged in the slightest.

"And you just made this whole thing worse in every aspect. Yeah, thanks for rubbing it in, Mol." Scratch responded in a blatant sarcastic tone. Molly would have spoke back to him if she didn't see her other best friend Libby run up to her in a bit of a nervous stance.

"Ummm, I'm terribly sorry about your unfortunate circumstances." Libby said while she twiddled her fingers. "If it makes either of you feel any better, I, uhhhhh, gave your cake a good score. While not the most perfect, I really adored the creative liberties."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Nancy would have appreciated that." Scratch said with a pinch of disdain.

Molly perked up more than usual.

"Wait, Nancy made that crushed cake? Wow, I had no idea she had it in her at that tiny size! So then the cake that I… Wait a minute…"

The instant the certain thoughts hit her mood went a bit sour. As it turned out the confection she found her left leg in ended up as the entry Nancy managed to cook up for the competition presumably after Molly failed with hers…and she destroyed it. Her fumbling with words from earlier really only made the situation worse even though she still lacked the full picture, and to hear that she presumably put a big fat X on their last winning chance put a large hole in her chest. She wanted to make the world a better and cheery place, not a ruin of sadness. While it dampened her spirits to a degree and she took full responsibility for the mistake, she still had some of her trademark upbeat personality to not sink too low into the negativities.

Libby tilted her head in slight confusion.

"Umm, am I missing something here? Scratch, I thought you said-"

"Yeah, yeah, I did." Scratch said while still clearly upset. "I finally separated them, even though it cost our cake in the process, so Molly has returned…in all of her happy go lucky glory…"

"So, I'm speaking to Molly now?" Libby asked while pointing at her.

"Of course you are speaking to your best friend! What made you think otherwise?" Molly said with a cocked eyebrow. She didn't quite understand everything that happened, so she turned to Scratch with an obvious comical deduction face

"Scratch, what exactly did you do? As a matter of fact, where's Nancy? Don't tell me you-"

The girl never fully finished when something hit the group's hearing. While everyone else had their attention on Andrea and her exquisite win in the competition, Molly, Libby, and Scratch put their over somewhere else. It took no time at all to figure out the source, and once they did it raised their eyebrows quite a bit. While the sugary caricature of Andrea that once stood at the top of the colossal cake no longer had a presence up there, they maintained certainty that it stayed stationary like any other decoration. If her hired help placed any sort of rumble technology in there they certainly never set their eyes on it when it happened until they saw it do so while it lay across the floor on its side. For once it brought some slight nervousness to the once giddy girl while Scratch became quite surprised himself. Libby likewise became the most worried of the three, but as the one known around town as the most timid she pretty much fit in to the situation like her personality dictated. Their deductions left them under the impression that something went into the cake, and if so…Scratch surely had never seen anything like it.

Their hearts almost skipped a beat once they saw the next part unfold. A few seconds ago it may have only rumbled on the floor, but quickly after one of the limbs slightly tingled individually. It started light, but over time it moved more and more until it acted on its own. Libby almost couldn't take the full picture and rushed behind Molly while she held her stomach. Even Scratch moved a decent pace backward while he and the girls watched another limb suddenly surge to life. It almost seemed like something straight out of a horror movie, and it even forced Molly to take a couple of steps back. From arms and legs to the eventual body, they watched in utter worry once the entire sweet image of Andrea brought itself up from the ground. It sat on the floor and placed on of its hands against the side of its head while it a few of the sprinkles in its hair fell to the ground. They didn't want to admit it as something real, but their eyes made it clear as day. Whatever got put into the cake, or Andrea's caricature that was placed on top of it, made it act on its own.

Their expectations took a nosedive again once they heard something else.

"Urgh, uhhhh… It hurts all over…"

They almost couldn't believe their ears. They knew who uttered such distinct characteristics in their voice, and yet they saw someone else. Molly wasted no time to rush on over followed by Scratch and Libby at slower paces. The creamy Andrea figure seemed a little banged up, but for the most it remained intact as Molly looked at it in its perfectly sculpted eyes of the young diva. In terms of accuracy, it remained spot on with no mistakes whatsoever, which became standard for something Andrea paid for. However, while it had her creamy appearance it definitely didn't share the attitude of the snobbish tween.

None of the three wanted to speak to it, but from the voice alone Molly's attitude slowly shifted into a more comfortable place. To make extra sure though, she provided the inevitable question.

"…Nancy?"

The sugary Andrea sculpture coughed for a second as her senses cleared up.

"Ergh, uhhhhh, yes? I'm still here. Who do you think you…"

The mind of the sweet delight booted back into a working state, and once her eyes set on the other three her heart also felt like it skipped a beat. She last remembered Scratch finally pulling her and Molly apart, and while she saw the respective girl on the other end she knew well that her size wouldn't come back anytime soon. The instant she saw herself at the same height as Molly, but not Libby since she stood at a slightly taller size, she knew something didn't fully end according to plan. As much as she wanted to keep her eyes on the other girls, she still glanced down anyway and noticed all of the white cream across her arms and millions of light sparkles for a long dress. Her eyes went wide before everything came to a head when Scratch begrudgingly brought out a small mirror and held it before her as if he wanted to see her reaction.

The ghost obtained his misery numbers for the day from the moment.

Once she saw herself as the culmination of cake, sweets, and a snobby brat she lightly screamed and instantly backed up as if on instinct. She didn't pay attention where she headed though, so after a few steps she fell backwards straight into the open damaged space of Andrea's cake and drenched herself even further in sweet goodness. She wasted no time as she get back up and glanced at herself in her new form, and soon after she saw Molly and the others rush up to her. Libby stayed a little bit nervous, but after she determined that she saw Nancy and nobody threatening she let up slightly in her presence. Even so, Nancy switched from one body to another.

She almost didn't sound that serious due to her new appearance, but the ones close knew her otherwise.

"SCRATCH, WHAT DID YOU DO NOW?!" Nancy exclaimed as frosting dripped down her body. "I'M A LITERAL CREAM PUFF NOW!"

As she stood in the midst of the others, Molly quickly put a finger in one of the creamy girl's arms before she instantly withdrew and tasted it. Soon after she immediately perked up.

"Wow, soft cream and vanilla! I have to say that Andrea has good tastes."

"Seriously Molly?!" Nancy responded in a desperate tone.

"Hey, curiosity got the better of me." Molly said. "I can't help it when you look so tasty that I can eat you up! Whoa, NOW I understand where that phrase comes from!"

"Uhhhh, I think Nancy has enough on her plate right now…" Libby said to the others, no pun intended.

Her statement got Molly to calm down some while Scratch watched in slight shock that such an occurrence happened in the first place. As that happened, Libby quickly brought out one of her tape recorders and hit the record button.

"Supernatural theory number seventy four confirmed. Ghosts CAN force others to possess inanimate objects, not just themselves! More research pending."

Soon after Libby finished and put her device away, the cream that made up Nancy's skin continued to drip down to the floor which caught Nancy off guard when she took a step. She instantly slipped on the loose residue and hit the ground with a large splat face forward, although Molly stood on duty to pick the cake girl off her feet…then licked the sweet delight off her hands.

As frantic as Nancy expressed through her sweet Andrea imitation, it never deterred Molly from the problem at hand. She turned to Scratch for a potential answer.

"Scraaaaaatch, did you perform something wrong?" Molly asked the ghost as if he remained as the sole culprit.

"I'm checking, I'm checking." Scratch answered while he brought out the specific ghost book again and flipped through the pages. It took him a couple of seconds to reach the particular article where he looked last, and after a more thorough investigation it dawned on him as he hit certain words.

"Ohhhhhhhhhh, looks like I missed a few degrees clockwise."

"A simple mistake resulted in THAT?!" Libby said while obviously referring to Nancy's new "dessert" appearance.

Scratch glanced up from the book before he put it away and addressed Libby.

"Hey, I've never done something like this EVER in my afterlife so give me a break, will ya? I still haven't fully grasped the whole concept of this ghostly power yet. I'm learning about this as much as all of you!"

"Well, you better know of a method to REVERSE it as well." Molly said in a slightly serious tone. "Nancy plainly doesn't want to live out the rest of her life as a human beignet!"

"Wrong type of pastry, but I get your point." Scratch answered while correcting her.

"So can you pull me out of this or not?" Nancy asked while slightly less desperate and more cream dripped down her Andrea sculpted hair.

"Eh, I can probably undo the problem in a snap." Scratch answered.

"Then we should probably go somewhere that doesn't contain an entire audience up front."

The other three put their attention on the timid girl who provided the advice. Most of her immense worry faded, and because she wanted to help out Nancy as much as Molly and Scratch she had her thinking cap on the whole time despite what her personality said.

"I mean, we can't exactly make our escape unless everyone has their sight in the opposite direction. I don't want to take chances to head for the exit and possibly NOT get spotted with a living dessert in Andrea's likeness. I'd rather keep the spectral problems to a minimum for the sake of everyone's sanity."

She made a good point in the long run. Even though Andrea always seemed to keep eyes on her for elongated periods of time, like after her win with her large cake, because of all the eyes in her direction the possibility of someone inadvertently coming across the group, including Nancy's sugary exterior, remained up in the air. If it involved chance the reliability behind it became wonky at best, and if they flipped wrong everything would collapse on them. It contributed to why Nancy didn't outright run all over the place in panic, because she wanted to remain out of the public eye while she remained stuck in her dessert prison. As much as she wanted to panic more than she wanted to, if she ran out from behind the massive cake where she stayed hidden she most certainly would obtain more attention than ever. In combination with her need to remain out of the public eye at all costs, she would never hear the end of it if she gave herself up anytime soon. Libby stayed on the right track, and the others agreed with such an idea.

Luckily for them, they only required a few more seconds until they found their "Get Out of Jail Free" card.

They never lifted a finger to find the right distraction. At one point everyone still had their attention on Andrea, who desired attention more than anyone else, but the next a certain blob like creature made it unintended grand entrance. From where it remained for a majority of the day tied up to the whim of a certain ghost, the one in the suit somehow managed to sneak straight out from his imprisonment…all while it stayed bound to the chair. Scratch in particular heavily hit the negatives once he saw the iconic mascot out in the open while he had it locked away to himself, but he never got so much as a single thought before the entire area lit up and gazed toward it with big grins. The one in the suit only managed to see one good look at the crowds before it as it muttered something incoherent.

"…oh shoot…"

Everyone in the room screamed for Motichan before they ran in droves toward the mascot. Even Andrea wanted a piece of the sticky limey creature as she made her way over, and soon enough the character disappeared under the endless crowds. The other four looked thunderstruck for a quick moment from such actions, but then they realized that they found the distraction all of them wanted. With all of the eyes on the Motichan character, Molly and the others made a beeline toward the back entrance, although Nancy slipped a couple of times from all of her dropped cream. While it seemed to last forever, after a quick dash through all of them successfully escaped the building without a single eye on them. Nancy needed their assistance after all in private.

…at least a majority appeared to miss them. As Andrea attempted to find the perfect photo opportunity through the constant people that wanted Motichan's attention, one angle directed her camera toward the back part past her cake. From they she swore she saw a brief glimpse of her sweet caricature on the move out the door, but she put it on the back burner because she had a more serious business to attend to.

Davenport's would easily see a surge of customers with Motichan's support in combination with her endless followers online.

---

Everyone managed to get their time with the iconic mascot of the Motichan series, although it left the one in the suit completely wrecked on the floor after. The costume nearly became ripped to shreds in the chaos, so other workers helped lead the character to safety. Even with the damages though, nobody knew for certain as to who donned the suit in the first place, even down to whether they heard a male or female, but in the end it never mattered. The cooking contest that arrived in Brighton ended up as a huge success, especially to Andrea and all the attention she had, and the winning cake ended up towed away, due to its huge scale, to the Motichan company headquarters. It didn't get delivered in its damaged state either, for Andrea quickly found out that she could just pay her hired chef to fix such faults. After a very instant process from such a professional chef, a new sugary and sweet Andrea caricature once again stood on top and the collapsed backside went through a thorough repair as if the Cake Crasher never destroyed them in the first place. She likewise received thousands of new followers and millions of views from such a clean win, which shot her status through the roof of influential media personalities. The Motichan and Davenport companies became the biggest winners in the end, and everyone that attended obtained dozens of new Motichan merchandise for their growing collections. The character loves to bring its joy and sticky goodness everywhere it goes, and Brighton definitely got its fair share of Motichan that day.

For Molly and the others though, they luckily got out undetected. They found nobody around the back exit when they ran out while Libby directed the others toward a grove of trees nearby where they could hide out for the time. Nancy inadvertently collected blades of grass, various leaves, and pretty flowers in her new possessed body that required some good shakes before they fell off, although her creamy feet didn't help. She slipped and fell multiple times from the loose cream and cake mix that chipped off her body, and every time Molly stood on standby to help her back up. Of course for Libby and Scratch they thought she only helped out so she would find tasty cream on her hands to lick off, which seemed not too out of the craziness and loose nature of Molly. They never spoke up about it just in case, but Molly really enjoyed the taste behind Nancy's new body whenever she found the chance. One might wonder if she intended to eat her the whole time, but the girl never commented on it to any of the others. Even so, they couldn't ignore the possibility. A sweet tooth can be a downfall in disguise after all, and Nancy learned about it first hand even though she didn't taste a single amount of sugar that day.

Molly definitely tasted her fair share from Nancy's creamy body alone.

"Okay, we should stay safe over here." Libby said once everyone settled down.

Molly, Scratch and Nancy came in soon after, but the comical disappointed expression across Nancy's face became priceless. They couldn't blame her though, for her sticky head managed to grab multiple twigs and branches and some even wedged into her skull. However, due to her kind of body they remained relatively harmless, but it didn't settle the fact that she obtained more stuff that stuck into her sugary body. She shook them off for the most part, but she wanted her old body back.

"Phew, we made it." Molly said. "From one situation to another in a nonstop fashion, I STILL CAN'T GET ENOUGH! I'm LOVING all of this!"

"Easy for you to say." Nancy said as her tone dipped. "I'm taking all of the punishments around here."

"Relax Nancy, we got out of there, didn't we?" Molly said. "Now we can finally pull you out of that sweet, sweet goodness!"

Her lack of seriousness rubbed Nancy the wrong way. Despite all of her statements that contributed to the contrary, Molly really seemed to never act the part. She never got to think much about it though, as Libby eventually joined in and visibly swiveled around Nancy's dessert laden body in every direction. She scanned every visible inch, which made the girl trapped inside a bit uncomfortable, before she locked Nancy in the eyes.

"Pardon my thorough actions, but I almost can't get over the fact that something like what you went through even existed." Libby said with great curiosity. "If I may ask…how does it feel? I just can't get over such a unique concept right now!"

To hear something like that from Libby astonished Nancy to an extent. While she knew she desired to understand every supernatural theory imaginable, to hear her mishap as a possible subject sounded absurd. However, the more she thought about it her fascination made more sense. The accident became more of Scratch's part, but she became the outcome much to her discomfort. The fact that she asked in such a down to earth manner compared to the outlandish personality Molly acted on a daily basis, such a request filtered into a reasonable question. In some ways, Nancy appreciated Libby's less craziness compared to the polar opposite in Molly, but she had to admit that she liked some of Molly's freakish attitude.

Libby's more relatable personality calmed Nancy down some enough to actually answer her.

"Well, uhhhhh, I guess maybe a bit…queasy, I guess? Like, I can move and act no problem, but it lacks weight and…realism in some aspects. No bones, no muscles… Yeah, I guess this has some unnatural feel to it. If I didn't have the general shape of someone like…Andrea, then I guess I could get used to this…but not in an easy manner. I still would prefer…my normal-"

Her train of thought went off rails when a certain noise hit her hearing. She paused in place for a moment before she glanced off to the side, only to see a greatly satisfied Molly as she chewed on Nancy's sugar-coated hair. She shivered with immense pleasure as dozens of sprinkles hit her lips like a giant doughnut, but her actions didn't fly under the radar.

"MOLLY!" Nancy, Libby, and Scratch exclaimed.

Molly suddenly froze in place before she glanced at everyone like she just got caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"Come on, I'm tasting custard in this! I'm laying ownership of this and it's going to be a CUSTARDY BATTLE!"

It took a moment for Scratch to finally pry the crazy tween away from Nancy and her sugar filled self. She fought back a bit, but eventually he managed to separate the two. From such a display of greed and gluttony, it left Nancy to wonder if she really maintained a charming and sweet appearance in her new possessed body. She briefly gazed over herself somewhat akin to what Libby performed, and over time she slowly got the bigger picture. Whatever chef sculpted the cake filled Andrea caricature sure performed splendidly, even down to the minor details one could have missed. She heard from Molly about her sparkling dress but never managed to see it herself, and despite the liberties taken to accurately portray the piece of clothing she had to admit that Andrea certainly wore audience grabbing outfits that lots of money could buy. The cushy and creamy hair, while thick in some areas, that represented Andrea's silky white twisted through her sugary fingers and even felt like actual hair at certain points for an almost perfect match. Her pinkish white skin even had a smoothness that seemed like a crime to touch, although she made quite a few indents due to the flimsiness. Her feet even came with some rather stunning red heels that appeared made out of some highly crystallized sugar supplements, which she couldn't determine from first looks. For anyone else they probably would have wanted to stay in such an amazing body of beauty and cake all in one, but for Nancy she found that it didn't fit her that well. Combined with the strict limits any non ghost had when they possessed inanimate objects, she wouldn't have much time in such a caricature anyway. She'll gladly give it away to someone else that could handle it.

…although the sight of a living, breathing caricature of Andrea made of cake mix and other sweets sounded like something Molly might save for later for one of her millions of schemes.

Even though Nancy appreciated none of Molly's actions toward her dessert for a body, she still focused more on the more important task.

"Can…can I please just get out of this sugar and spice already? The more I look at myself in this…I keep getting thoughts about cream puffs, cupcakes, brownies… Okay, now I REALLY want out of this body."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Scratch answered, still in his grumpy self as always. "Just let me put on the gloves and prepare myself…"

"Wait, Scratch. Not just yet." Molly stated. A part of her voice went a little bit serious, which was in another direction compared to a few moments ago.

"Molly, I think Nancy doesn't want any more continuous licks from your direction." Libby said before she shuddered. "Yeesh, just the thoughts gave me eerie chills!"

"No, no, I'm not talking about that." Molly answered before she turned to Scratch with a light leer. "I think SOMEONE has some choice words to say to Nancy."

It took a moment for everyone to conclude on what she meant, but it became apparent pretty quickly. On their run away to their hiding spot, both Nancy and Scratch managed to squeeze out the details about what happened up to that point to get both Molly and Libby up to speed. While Molly didn't emote much as the words hit, her last remark indicated that she had something on her mind the whole time. The others knew that Molly didn't tend to break out the drastic seriousness often, but when she wielded such emotions it meant a big deal. She aimed her arsenal at her favorite ghostly pal, for even the ones kept close deserved tough love every once in a while, while the ghost remained somewhat grumpy like usual. The others noticed a few shudders as Molly placed a knife across his neck, but for the most part it didn't affect him too much. She meant business whether Scratch wanted it or not, and she wouldn't let him off the hook that easily.

He never changed too much despite the girl's intentions.

"Yeah, I'm going to pass on that demand. It won't change a dang thing and once I pull her out-"

"GIVE YOUR APOLOGIES SCRATCH."

She fired at all angles while both Libby and Nancy felt the heat. It only took four specific words to immediately accelerate both of their heart rates, and they never wanted to end up on the receiving end of the tween's fury after the burning tensions they felt close by. While they locked up their true feelings under wraps, they already never wanted to hear such depths from her again. To think that such a minor situation between herself and her ghost pal stirred up such undeniable seriousness, it worried them in case anything else could possibly force out such power. From that moment on they understood to never awaken Molly's bad side or else risk a fiery fate.

…and yet Scratch reacted with only a disgruntled sigh and pinch of the forehead.

"Okay, okay, fine! I'll DELAY the one thing Nancy wants for this one stupid setback! Sheesh, give me a break here!"

He grumbled some under his breath before he floated on over to the distraught sweets possessed girl. While an open and shut case to him at first, once he glanced over her messed up appearance such feelings didn't immediately click at first. However, the more he saw such sweet goodness in control of the young girl, they slowly started to creep up. The outcome to everything he went for just to claim what he desired became a shattered girl in the wrong body. From his tantrum earlier, accidental possession, to scare tactics so she did what he wanted, all of it culminated into a cluster of imagery one could call sick. Such realizations hurt a grump like him in many ways, and yet became natural the more he gazed into her sugar coated eyes. His creation lead him to become a monster in his own right, and part of him wanted none of that status. While he wanted to stay as a scary phantom that kept Brighton miserable, a dangerous monster seemed like too much for someone like him.

His normal attitude began to slowly take a seat as he kept his eyes on Nancy and her sweets covered possessed body. He took a deep breath and rubbed his forehead a bit before he finally addressed the elephant in the room.

"Nancy, uhhh, errrm… Okay, I'll admit that I messed up! I shouldn't have forced you into doing what I wanted and left you as Molly and…whatever Andrea caricature you're in now."

"I…pretty much don't understand this fully either." Nancy said while she wrung out some excess sprinkles and frosting out of her decorated hair.

"Even so, I probably should have seen the writing on the wall sooner." Scratch continued. "I just wanted that golden prize at the end and ignored all senses for the slight chance to win it. I mean, for the most part Molly always gets what she wants, and when I finally have the chance to earn something that I can call my own…I wanted it beyond ANYTHING else. Despite the fact that I have to keep this town miserable, even I have to draw the line somewhere. I shouldn't have put you, and I guess technically Molly as well, on the edge just for the slightest chance to possibly win a divine dream object I've always wanted beyond normal-"

He interrupted himself to let the enamoring thought pass through before he ended it.

"Almost…went on another tangent there. Phew! Okay, anyways, to sum everything up in a way you may not accept at first…I'm…I'm…

His shuddered and stirred all over as if something held him back, and yet Molly and Libby watched with immense intrigue. Nancy didn't quite understand at first, although she received a few clues when Scratch's mouth opened and closed repeatedly in different mumbling tones. At one point it even changed into multiple zippers that required the ghost to unzip them before he found another chance…only for another zipper to appear. He seemed to struggle a few times, with himself from what the others witnessed, and after a few struggles that almost left him speechless, he finally burst forth with the obvious.

"OKAY, I'M SORRY FOR EVERYTHING! I admit that I messed up in every single way!"

From just a few short seconds, it left him gasping for breath before he collapsed into a tired and exhausted puddle. Libby and Nancy glanced at him like he just amputated one of his kidneys, but Molly had a more satisfied expression up front.

While at first Nancy thought nothing much about it, but when she got down to it the more she managed to appreciate such a daunting sacrifice. Since the start she always saw Scratch as nothing more than a devious spook that only wanted alone time but couldn't because of his backfired curse against Molly. For the most part she still believed such a fact, but as she saw him in a heap across the ground after he forcibly gave himself up for forgiveness part of her began to doubt such beliefs. If she had anything to go by from Scratch's willingness, maybe, just maybe, he might have held more than she initially thought. Molly tolerated him as if his scare tactics never existed, and if she could tolerate such a specter who may have a squeamish belly underneath all of his grumpy personality it seemed believable that anyone had the ability to call him a friend. Such ignorance of his genuine approach fell to the ground and burned to the possessed girl, which only left a single option behind.

Nancy got to her cake mix covered knees and gave her inevitable response.

"I…I believe you Scratch. To a certain degree, despite everything you've done…I forgive you. I just want to forget…this ever happened anyway."

Scratch's eyes widened before his gelatinous body perked up a bit. For once she actually saw the ghost smile before her, which made Molly and Libby do the same, and it helped reinforce his genuine sincerity from everything he'd done. It took a lot out of him just to say the words after all, and Nancy knew it wasn't that easy especially with his usual attitude. Forgive and forget at its bluntest moment.

"Wow, we really have similar thoughts on the matter." Scratch said. "I would like to go on for a bit longer, buuuuuuuuut I want to get this over with and forget it ever happened. You ready to get out of there?"

Nancy lightly nodded which caused some frosting and cream to fall off of her head.

"I…would like that very much."

Scratch lightly smiled back before he formed back up. Molly and Libby took a few steps back for safety while Nancy stood back on her sweet smothered heels and Scratch stretched his fingers. He deeply breathed for a couple of seconds before he floated behind the stricken girl and brought up his makeshift doctors gear for a second time. He comically outfitted himself with the standard gloves and stethoscope as usual before he put on the doctor's hat and mask, which accidentally covered his large nose at first until he brought it back out. All preparations were in order, and now he had to "operate" without a license.

Good thing ghosts couldn't go to prison.

"Okay, so, ummmmm, take a couple of deep breaths…and maybe I won't hit a kidney this time."

Nancy staggered for a moment and shuddered but kept herself upright while Scratch cracked his knuckles to the audience of Molly and Libby. The sugar coated girl held herself tight while Scratch focused himself and hovered his hands over the girl's back. He composed himself one final time, and then he finally went for it. His hands phased right through her back and almost made Molly and Libby lose their lunch, but for Nancy just the feeling of the ghost brought unnerving tensions that required no such sights. Scratch also didn't appreciate the fact that such a process became mandatory for a second time, but he wanted to get the whole thing over with as much as Nancy so he went through anyway. From squishy to solid, it brought everyone into terrible uneasiness in every regard imaginable.

The whole "operation" progressed through several minutes with everyone on the edge of their seats, but before long the ghost appeared to come across something.

"Hey, I think I finally got this-"

He wasted no time as he pulled out the young girl's true body…at least what he thought at first. One glance further and everyone knew what he had, and as it began to pulsate and throb in his grasp…

"AAAAH!" Molly, Libby, and Scratch yelped. Nancy lacked the position to see, but if she did she probably would have acted the same. Weirdly though, she felt no pain or issues as it happened.

"Augh! Wrong part! WRONG PART!" Scratch exclaimed before he shoved it back in.

Nancy stiffened up a bit more once she heard their cries, but soon after Scratch plunged his arms and hands into her back again for another go. After the scare he brought upon everyone, including himself, Scratch's determination rose a bit. He began to feel around for something much more specific, which took another few minutes of searching. It lasted not too long after though, for he eventually felt the familiarity across his fingertips. He smiled to Molly and Libby, who mirrored such an expression back, before he made extra sure to turn his hand a couple of degrees first. Soon after, he went for it and grasped the object before he pulled it straight out.

They remained covered for a second in loose frosting and cream, but once he brushed them off a wave of relief hit all of them as he gazed at his open hands.

Mission accomplished.

As for the husk left behind, because it lost next to all of its stability as Nancy moved around the shape of Andrea sagged downward and collapsed in on itself into a mushy mesh against the ground. It entirely went formless as the normally happy face of Andrea fell into a sad frown, which creeped some of the group out but they focused more on the more important aspect. They finally had Nancy back.

The tiny girl coughed a couple of time and parts of her body still had some numbness to them, but for the most part she got out in one piece.

"S-s-s-s…Scratch?" Nancy stammered as her mind caught up with the times.

"Yup, you're out now." Scratch stated in a neutral way, but with a slight smile.

Out of everyone in the group though, Molly built up the most in terms of feelings. One she saw the clear picture of Nancy in Scratch's grasp, everything burst out.

"NANCY!"

Before anyone else had a moment to react, Molly immediately appeared near Scratch and snatched the shrunken girl right out of his hands. The ghost almost had a heart attack at first from such speed, but once he noticed that he saw Molly and nobody else he calmed down some. Libby watched from the sidelines as the giddy one smothered the tiny one against her chest in one of her signature hugs, which lifted her spirit in a positive light. It made her glad to know that she had a friend like Molly, and even though Nancy didn't quite feel the same way if everything aligned perfectly she might warm up over time. Just because their personalities clashed didn't mean they couldn't forge a new friendship over the horizon.

Once Molly heard the disgruntled mumbling under her, she understood what it meant and backed off on nearly suffocating Nancy. The shrunken one required a few deep breaths of air before she could take in familiar sights again. Even though she saw everyone's faces at the sizes of mountains again, for the moment she would gladly take it over the status of "walking cake" any day. Molly even gave her a light happy pat on the back with one of her massive fingers while the tween's smile took up the skies once more.

"I'm…I'm so glad to see you back." Molly said.

"Yeah, I…I guess so." Nancy stuttered. "I…still don't appreciate the changes in scale though."

"At least you don't have to worry about walking around as a living dessert anymore." Libby said as she looked at Nancy in Molly's hand. "Not gonna lie, it looked a bit creepy as time flew by."

"I'm still trying to quell my nervous twitch throughout all that." Scratch said as his right eye did so. "I'm probably going to keep that power on lock down for now JUST so I don't wring my brain out again."

"I think we've finished on possessing for one day." Molly replied. "Besides, I'll take a tiny Nancy over a sweet filled Nancy any day."

Everyone wholeheartedly agreed on that front.

With that said, the group got up to head back to their own abodes for some relaxation time, because after a crazy scenario like a possession of a sweet coated caricature of Andrea they deserved it more than everything. Molly placed the exhausted and tired Nancy back in her pocket for safe keeping before she got started, but out of the corner of Nancy's eye she barely managed to catch a sight from Scratch she had never seen before. It lasted for a brief moment or so, but she caught it in time. From all of the work he put into his plan to capture first place, she knew how it felt to see everything crumble to nothing before your very eyes. However, from everything she saw in him up to that point it seemed like he only desired to have her strapped to a chair with an ax overhead. From the brief snippet her eyes saw though, he had no intention to do so. In fact, he may have wanted to put himself under the weapon despite the fact that he remained undead, which helped paint a picture in the girl's mind of someone she never knew accompanied Molly on a daily basis. She assumed many ideas from the ghost, but never such horrendous downfalls and tragedies.

Nancy sagged to the bottom of Molly's pocket and bottled herself up from reality to help stabilize her sanity.

---

The rest of the day progressed without a hitch or situation from anything ghostly. Molly greeted everyone she walked by while Libby continuously asked for Nancy's perspective about her possessions of both Molly and the Andrea caricature dessert for one of her crazy theories. It almost drove Nancy insane herself from all of the questions thrown her way, although Libby silenced up around others so nobody knew about her true status, and they rang through her head on many occasions. Eventually she ceased altogether once she got her answers and headed away to her own home to "process the data" in her own words. The less she thought about Libby's tactics the less headaches she obtained, although Molly chimed in at one point and stated that she also couldn't stand certain portions of her pestering methods. Just because Molly had Libby as a best friend didn't mean she enjoyed all moments with her twenty four seven, but she locked those facts up tight for the sake of their friendship. Nancy understood where she came from, because Katrina also had traits with…distinct tastes she wanted to forget. Even so, friends stayed together no matter what even if they annoyed you at times.

Eventually everyone settled for the night and went to bed. Molly hid Nancy on the bookshelf again before the three of them knocked themselves out in their designated spots. For the most part they remained rather content in their own dreams until the sun loomed over the horizon once again. Scratch yawned in his own little house before he cracked his back and smacked his lips a couple of times for good measure. He still had some drowsiness in him as he floated out and expanded his body back to normal size. His expectations turned him toward another possible eager Molly moment, for she adored to jolt him awake at every possible second, but that never happened. In fact, he didn't see Molly or Nancy at all in the room. The covers across Molly bed appeared undone for the most part, so she likely woke up before he did, and the fact that Nancy didn't have a presence on the bookshelf also meant she likely took her as well. Even so, he still didn't get his hopes up for it only took one single call for Molly's "Friendship Chain" to find himself in her presence once more, and the less reminders about that misfire the better. It baffled him for a moment, but he knew it was only a matter of time before his days of forced happiness and friendship would formally begin.

"I'll give her five minutes before I call shenanigans." Scratch thought before he drowsily yawned.

He never managed to go through such a time period, for it only too around half a minute to hear some rumbling occur from under him. Because Molly set her bedroom into the attic he knew where one would enter from, and as he predicted the door in the floor flapped open to reveal the girl he expected. However, she arrived with something else in tow, and from the looks of it it possibly took some effort to hoard such a box all the way back to the room.

He barely caught the sight of Molly's tired face from behind the package while he slowly stirred awake.

"Looks like someone appreciates you to the tenth degree there." Scratch said.

Molly glanced from behind the package before she pushed it up further inside.

"Mmmmmph, nice to see you awake Scratch!" Molly said. "Care to, errrgh, help a bit?"

She performed most of the heavy lifting, but Scratch decided to help out anyway. He held the front end and pulled backward while Molly pushed forward, and even though they struggled a bit eventually the managed to place the box on the floor. Molly wiped some slight sweat off of her brow before she came in after and shut the door under her.

"Well, that looks pretty important." Scratch said before he floated closer to check the labels. Everything checked out at first glance, for it clearly stated Molly as the recipient, but once he checked the sender it raised a couple of eyebrows.

"Ummm, it says that Nancy sent this."

"Yeah, she did. At least, uhhh, everyone thinks she did." Molly answered after a couple of deep breaths.

It didn't take long to figure out what she meant, for Scratch still had some craziness left in him from all of his theories about the girl.

"Okay, now I get it." Scratch said. "I assume you have the actual midget with you?"

"Never leave without her!" Molly replied with a smile.

The ghost watched as the tween put a hand close to the respective pocket that kept her secret, and not long after a familiar speck made her way into the center of her palm. Scratch stared down at it for a second while Molly placed the dot on her right shoulder, and soon enough he barely found the visuals to notice Nancy as she sat down near Molly's gigantic face.

"Ummm…good morning Scratch…" Nancy said with a couple of stutters.

"Errrm, you too." the ghost answered before he got back to the large package. "So, uhhhh, midget, you called that crazy girl up to send something to Molly?"

Nancy silently shook her head while Molly did the same.

"Actually, no." Molly stated.

"And yet I'm seeing the label with your name on it." Scratch said.

"Well…it was put there to cover up the real recipient…" Nancy said with more stutters. "In reality…it's for you."

That certain reveal caught Scratch's attention more than anything else at the moment. Because of his status as a ghost he didn't usually show himself to anyone other than certain specifics, like the one he cursed himself to and her best friend, so to hear that someone specifically sought him out for a package brought some confusion into the mix. It didn't exactly disturb him, but he found the circumstances a bit off. Libby probably would have scanned over the whole thing for anything suspicious if she had a presence, but Scratch lacked the time and effort to thoroughly think everything through. Whatever the case, packages existed for one purpose in his eyes, which left only one more part to uncover.

"I don't know what sort of joke you want to pull, but I'll give it to you anyway." Scratch said.

With that said, Molly took a step back to give Scratch some space while he tore away the tape and pulled open the flaps. He never appreciated all of the loose styrofoam pellets since they only provided more of a mess in the end, and after about a million or so he finally saw some color underneath. It took a little bit more effort, but eventually he managed to dump everything out in one piece, although it left a majority of the place covered in pellets. It reminded him about how much he cared less about the postal service and their practices, especially because he never used it, but he understood why someone would consider such an option.

None of that mattered though when he saw the object that was packed inside.

He almost completely lost it. Such perfection remained out of his reach for someone of his caliber, and after all of the failures yesterday he accepted the facts and expected nothing else. It evaded him like the plague despite his efforts, and yet his eyes never had curtains placed before them. He may have lacked a body, but he surely understood the depths his emotions would take the moment such beauty plastered in his presence. Astonishment, awe, joy, enjoyment, surprise, and so many other palettes ran over Scratch's face like a picture perfect painting, and yet he would never have the eligibility for an Oscar. All of that and more from one single sight of utter flawlessness.

He lost all of his words as his arms went limp and his pupils dilated. Even Molly didn't know what to say at the moment as she also seemed surprised, deeply gasped, and recoiled back at what came out of the package.

"Am…am I really seeing this?" Scratch said as his mouth hung open. "How…how can this get sent…to me?"

"Sweet baby corn! I…I don't know what to say!" Molly said in bewilderment. "I thought we completely lost yesterday…"

"Ummm, you're actually looking at…the one from my house…" Nancy stammered.

Both Molly and Scratch immediately turned their attentions to the shrunken girl. Scratch especially couldn't believe what he just heard, for he KNEW how rare such an object out there was. Not just anyone would hand it away willingly unless they sat on mountains of cash, like Andrea, and yet someone as inconspicuous as a diminished and timid girl always had one in her room since she enjoyed the character. Now she brought such a treasure all the way from her abode into Scratch's presence, and it shook him deep.

"This special chair…came all the way from your house…" Scratch said in a hollow and astounded fashion. "But…but how did you pull it off?!"

"Well, ummmm…" Nancy answered while she twiddled her thumbs. "Errrrr, remember that off request yesterday…about possessing Molly again?"

Both the other girl and ghost quickly recollected such a moment.

"Ohhhhhhh, so I didn't go crazy from the sight of that extra phone call! I thought I had to change the password to possibly avoid more potential break ins!" Molly said.

"Yeah, uhhhhh, I convinced Scratch to do it again…" Nancy replied as she stuttered some more. "One phone call to Olivia later, and, well, you know…"

She explained everything in as few words as she could muster. While she made it perfectly clear that she didn't want to undergo possession once again, it became required to pull off a delivery from back at her actual house. Because Olivia currently took her spot in the world and helped cover Nancy's true status from the masses, she obliged with no questions asked. For Scratch, while he had no idea how she managed to power through the crazy girl's "insane" tendencies in the end one particular fact mattered. Nancy went through all of the trouble for the special chair to find its place in Scratch's afterlife.

"So, you got Scratch to put you into my body again for the one special delivery…" Molly said while her voice quivered a bit. "Why…why am I forming tears from this? I…I think I might cry."

She didn't lie as the other two saw very minute drops when they fell from her eyelids. Her eyes shimmered and flickered while her mouth aimed downward in a very comical fashion. They even heard a couple of sniffs from her direction as she crumbled to the facts her ears picked up.

"I…I can't help it… To see such kindness…from her… So…SO HEARTWARMING!"

She easily got taken for a ride from her emotions, which didn't become that uncommon for Molly McGee, and they brought so much to the peak that she couldn't help herself. In a move taken entirely by her feelings, she snatched the tiny speck from her shoulder and smothered her in another one of her overwhelming hugs. She silently wailed in joy and happiness as Nancy almost suffocated again from the tween's actions. She even stared off into the distance with her watery and dilated eyes as if she couldn't bear to set her sights on the one that brought her to tears. While her display may have gone pretty unchanged for the only witness, the more he thought about it and glanced down at what Nancy hauled from her home, soon enough even he felt something touch his soul. He placed a hand on it and felt the king served fabric before he also broke down. His pupils expanded like Molly's and his amorphous body oscillated in waves before his eyes poured waterfalls down his face in an amusing way. She never cried out like Molly, but he didn't need to. Nancy really put the emotional work on the two, and she only provided an offering in comfy and cushy portions.

Not until Nancy began to choke on air did Molly finally realize her overbearing strength, so the instant she heard the first few times she instantly pulled back and kept the tiny girl in her hand. Nancy took a moment to refill her lungs while Molly couldn't help but glance at her with her planet sized eyes.

"You're opening up… I can't believe I'm finally seeing a baby bird try to flap its wings…" Molly said as more tears fell down. "Scratch, I need you to pinch me. PINCH ME HARD SO I KNOW I'M NOT DREAMING!"

"I'm…trying to take everything in myself…" Scratch answered.

He didn't fall to the extremes he saw Molly in, but he still received a wallop upon the "motimoti" bombshell underneath the cardboard. He silently breathed a bit on the slower side as he felt some of his tears evaporate, then soon after he closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead a few times. While not the perfect solution, he simmered down enough to finally address the worried girl in Molly's grasp. She never uttered a peep in the whole process due to her typical nervous and muffled mindset, and she even stepped back a bit once she noticed Scratch as he hovered over to her.

She actually witnessed the ghost as he lightly smiled and sniffed from his overwhelming joy.

"Hey, midget. Ummm…thanks for the help. It really means a lot."

Nancy shuddered all over while she got on her knees, but she managed to answer such an endearing statement.

"Errrrr, well…it seemed natural…"

"It's a start, I'll give you that." Scratch responded. "You'll really let me keep your prized possession?"

"It…it may not be brand new…" Nancy said. "However…it still works great…"

"I think I can make it work." Scratch answered with another grin. "For once I can actually tolerate you. You're…you're pretty cool."

A faint flicker appeared inside her heart. She remained too worried for her life to pay attention to it much, and for the most part she didn't understand its meaning. Her mask rattled to the enigma placed before her, something that brought with it a nervous tension. The more she gazed at it the more fearful she became, so to save herself she turned away to let such heat simmer down. Eventually the cold hit her skin once more, and from there her normal mood returned. Such a dreadful sight in her eyes for such a minute occurrence, but if it shared any significance it completely flew over her head.

For Molly though, such a connection between Nancy and Scratch left her in a drenched heap.

"I'm seeing some good in her after all… I'm really seeing friendships blossom… I'm seeing my happy place tenfold… More friends…DEFINITELY MEANS MORE FUN!"

Streams of happy tears flowed down Molly's face and she didn't show any signs of stopping anytime soon. Her emotions brought her through a roller coaster ride and she enjoyed every second of it, much to Scratch's blatant grumpiness. He grabbed his new cushy chair and shook his head while he exchanged looks with Nancy, but before he could find a decent place to set it both Molly's and Scratch's faces suddenly exploded before Nancy's eyes. She stood shocked for a moment and nearly felt her heart stagger despite the fact that Molly still held her in her hand, but before long a strong relief hit her. She saw Molly's head quickly pop back into view after she tucked it into her shirt, and Scratch did the same but with his formless body instead…which looked really weird. Even so, so much happened in those few seconds that anyone could have blinked and missed it.

All three of them immediately expressed flat faces while Scratch stated the obvious.

"That girl really needs to get a life."

"Hahah, I win!" Charlotte happily stated from a distance across the street.

---

Nobody bothered to clean up the mess left behind between the trees.

Ever since the contest ended the ruined mesh of the sugary dessert caricature sat on the ground as a formless blob after Scratch forced Nancy out of it. Because it remained partially covered in leaves any observations as to whether or not it succumbed to any mold or rot remained unknown. While a couple of passing animals nibbled at it from time to time, for the most part it remained still on the ground. If Andrea knew of its existence she probably would have felt appalled to see her stature ruined thanks to the supposed "Cake Crasher". To see such a status over her own destroyed figure possibly induced more fury if she ever got the chance, but since she never knew of its existence Molly luckily stayed in a somewhat safe position. Nothing but the empty husk of cake mix and Andrea stayed in a lump under the close watch of the trees overhead.

…at least what the others expected.

It began at a sluggish pace, but as time ticked down the infrequent rumblings became more apparent. A stray arm protruded from the formless mesh at first and placed itself on the ground followed by another. They temporarily hoisted the mass upward while two legs formed below, both with two dazzling heels for feet. The mushy blob shook and sputtered loose pieces everywhere as it took on a different shape, which thinned out pretty quickly. From the shifts, a long extravagant dress that sparkled in the light ended up around it as a bulb shaped up near the top. The bump inflated like a balloon until the head fully formed, and for anyone that lived in Brighton they could easily determine who its face imitated in a heartbeat. The whole new shape of the mesh wobbled and wiggled before some long silky hair stretched downward which knocked off a couple of extraneous sprinkles left in it. Such a stunning transformation defied all potential facts towards science and research, and yet it happened nonetheless.

The formless mesh somehow reformed back to its original shape, the sugary and sweet Andrea caricature, like straight out of a cheesy horror flick.

While it may have changed back and stood back on its own two feet, it didn't act like the monster media painted such creatures as. In fact, it stood in place for a second before it glanced downward and saw itself move its limbs. It gazed down at its moving hands and took a few steps back only to slip and fall on its behind from the leftover residue. Pieces of its body splattered across the ground, but it had no trouble as it got back up and rubbed the affected spot. A few seconds later the indent left behind immediately filled back in as if it never suffered damage in the first place, but the sugary Andrea caricature didn't care. Its expression remained somewhat blank and it never uttered a single word, but unlike in monster movies it never rampaged in an instant. It turned its head left and right, which made its sweet hair flow in the wind, before it put its hand on its cheeks and proceeded in another direction, but not before a few birds flew down and started to peck at it. It winced as their beaks dug into its sugary coating and it tried to ward them off by waving its hands, but the sugary delight soon fell to the ground after it slipped on its slippery leftovers. The action finally got the birds to back off, but it left the living sculpture against the ground. The first few actions performed didn't end well for the enigmatic sweet ridden Andrea lookalike.

It soon dragged itself off of the ground and glanced down at its feet where more of the sticky substance dripped off. As it looked at them it lightly hummed before it started to wander off somewhere else. It left behind some high heeled footprints, but as to where it decided to wander off to…

The Ghost and Molly McGee!