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!

4. Chapter 4: A Thin Line

"You don't have to do this! We can work this out if you give us the chance!"

"Yeah, I'm not buying that for one second. Maybe you should have thought twice before you interrupted my play time. You brought ALL of this onto yourself!"

The tentacles that bound Molly to the center tightened while the metal arms that stretched outward wiggled freely to her struggles and the straps across her chest prevented any type of extra room to move. Consequently, it left Nancy as nothing more than a small head that popped up near the top, since she shared the same space with Molly after the intervention. Even with the restrictions set in place though, she never would have gotten out. The girls never stood a chance against what the ghost kept in storage, and their expectations took a nosedive in an instant. The ghost made itself clear after all, which set the stakes pretty high if they wanted to escape with their lives intact.

…if their spirits still lingered in their bodies in the first place.

To think that both of them separated from their physical selves sounded preposterous, and yet such a phenomenon occurred for both. Nancy still felt queasy but Molly seemed perfectly fine with the concept. Molly's enigmatic glow of her spirit helped provide visibility to Nancy who displayed the exact opposite, which didn't affect her in ways the others expected. Scratch himself never flinched in the slightest, although he more so focused on the unbridled binds that held him together in a prison of plastic. Not even a specter like any of them could possibly break out of what their opposition had in mind, and it definitely held certain standards for its own amusement. Even Molly's overwhelming joy and positivity fell to the ghost's binds, which left all three of them at its mercy. It certainly contained the trump card and wielded it like a monster, much to their uncertainty for their lives. Ghosts definitely had their weak points…even for wraiths.

Scratch tugged endlessly to no avail while he glared at the ghost in a menacing fashion. Molly and Nancy also tried her hardest, but even with their combined efforts they suffered the same fate.

"While I understand why you would go after those two, I have absolutely nothing to do with this. I'm just an innocent party, so I deserve no punishment whatsoever!"

"Shut up Scratch, for I know you love to weasel your way out of situations." the ghost replied. "You've garnered a name for yourself down here and I can perfectly see those lies squeak right between the cracks of your teeth."

Scratch's expression immediately went flat.

"You REALLY want to go through with this, do you?"

"You pretty much convinced me the moment you showed your presence here…along with the other two!"

The ghost intensely leered back at both Molly and Nancy while Scratch couldn't believe his non existent ears. Soon after, the tiny one sulked downward even if she couldn't go that far.

"You know, I've experienced my fair share of crazy ghosts in my afterlife, but you crank that up to, like, a bazillion or something."

"For once I'm agreeing with Scratch on this!" Molly added with slight panic in her voice.

Her response came when some type of sliding door slowly started to creep in from both sides of their holding areas which lightly lit up the blank eyes above them. Molly struggled again and again to failing results while Nancy felt her chest tie into a knot. If either of them had legs they probably would have lost all feeling in them at that point, and yet Nancy shook more in her ectoplasm than Molly ever could. If nobody acted fast their lives would fall into living playthings for the ghost's obsession and hobby, which none of them wanted in any aspect other than the instigator.

"Then you should have let me have what I wanted and left me alone when you had the chance." the ghost stated. "Out of everyone to impress you chose VERY poorly, and you displayed such PERFECTION in your roles that the quality speaks for itself. Take this as a learning experience for your futile futures, for you decided on your new fates the moment our eyes met. You caused everything, you intertwined with a being like me, you messed up, and you brought all of this onto yourselves. YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER CROSSED PATHS WITH ME."

…

…

…

SNAP.

At that moment everything converged into all of the worst possible happenings that occurred up to that point. The opposition made a point, but not in a way such expectations turned to. The shrunken one understood all of it in one one single statement, and before long the worst of the worst flooded back to her. Everything started and happened from a string of events that heavily leaned against her, but for Molly and Scratch it just became another day of craziness for them. All of it started due to yet another chance encounter from one specific section in Brighton's supermarket due to Molly's determination with…

It really hurt to think about for someone like her.

---

Even with such a scarce economy and usual bad activity in Brighton, such a town still required a place of trade goods and wares. Nowhere did that fit perfectly than the town's signature supermarket, even if it garnered the reputation for all of the wrong reasons. From frantic buying to constant low stocks at the worst possible times, many say that a step through the sliding doors basically indicated you wouldn't get out with what you wanted. At least for the most part the aisles remained up to snuff and clean so customers wouldn't constantly sneeze from dust, which became one of the only positives the community could think of when it came to shopping there. The employees performed adequately for the most part, which helped the establishment stay afloat throughout many crucial dates and troubles. It included bankruptcy at possibly the last second thanks to a young one at the cash register and her loose piggy bank, but even then uncertainly teetered between prosperous and poor like a war between two gods of the market…over a marketplace in a town no one knew existed. From gnashed teeth, sweat across the floors, and a faint sense of something burning, Brighton's own supermarket went through all of it and still attracted unfortunate circumstances when they least expected it. Even the mayor once claimed that a greedy rat sneaked behind his back at one point and snatched a wallet of his personalized checks while he browsed the gardening section, and even since one of his eyes constantly twitched every time he set foot over in those certain spots. Nothing described "lucky but unlucky" better than the town's establishment of trade and commerce…which even got the building into Brighton's dictionary for some bizarre reason.

Out of everywhere in the store though, most kiddies adored the one section dedicated to the young and crafty. One could easy forgive the bad dedication the moment they suddenly witnessed the aisle of toys and playthings. A tale passed down from kid to kid was that a rich and happy kid once ran through the area before she suddenly puked rainbows sparkles that became the first amazing toys Brighton ever came across. While only just some small folklore from child to child, some took it to heart which always made their eyes light up when they arrived. From remote control cars, dolls, action figures, and even the occasional tricycle kids felt like they ascended into a higher plane of existence upon all of the dazzling sights. Early on it went for a pink kind of color to appeal to girl, but once more toys for the other demographic shipped the managers added blue to the mix. It remained as possibly the only aisle that stayed untouched from all of the bad luck and store rot, as if the quality exceeded expectation beyond normal recollection. As such, the toys section of the supermarket ended up as the one spot the community generally agreed on as one of the only saving graces that kept the place from shutting down. Nothing like a kid's paradise to keep families eyes on whatever came in for the next big sale.

Such an enticing nature of the aisle lead a rather…interesting specter to it.

While ghosts came in all shapes and sizes, one certainly chose a different route compared to the common stereotypes associated with the undead. In terms of height she came up rather short, for she hovered at just under half of average phantoms around the size of a small dog. Her spectral blobs for hair behind her head curled into two large buns tied up by one large ribbon, which matched her spirit's color, although she sometimes forgot to tie it completely when her mind wandered through her own head. While her head size matched the usual average, her face completely flipped the tables in terms of typical appearance. Her eyes alone indicated something off from the norm, as they went completely light black with only a few white dots visible in certain spots. They even displayed some short stubby eyelashes above them that almost blended in with the long black spaces around her eyes akin to most common ghosts. Her short but sweet smile pulled at the hearts of everyone lucky enough to see her, which lead to her being rebuked by other ghosts at times. While ghosts couldn't wear any clothes, she still showed a faint outline of one over her short body where a faint uniform akin to school attendance from the land of the rising sun can be seen. She heard many times about how her short torso looked like someone akin to a toddler or a five or ten year old girl, which she took as complements to keep up her high spirits. To top everything off, she maintained a bright violet color not seen by most ghosts that helped her stand out.

All in all, Selene definitely existed as a one of a kind ghost many haven't seen before.

The satisfaction across her face scanned across the rows and rows of dolls while her fingers twiddled all over like someone about to open a birthday present. She even sniffed a couple of them that dialed up her emotions as the seconds rolled by.

"Ahhhhh, classic string and plastic all over. I can never get enough of such beauty and cuteness rolled into one!"

Her attention then instantly turned to a particular doll next to the one in her sight.

"Okay, okay. Yes, your qualities stand out too. How about you work on your hair for a better chance?"

She gazed at the doll for a few seconds in silence before she spoke again.

"Oh, nonono! I'm not saying you look bad by any means! I'm only saying you should probably, you know, spruce yourself up for another joyous kid! You never know when your lucky day will come!"

More silence passed only for Selene to break it once again.

"Ah, okay! Thanks for clearing that up! You have no idea what-"

Instantly, right before the ghost could finish her sentence, she quickly perked up and stiffened her back for a second before brief shock shot across her face. She then glanced back down at the one doll and bit her bottom lip for a split second.

"Ummm, excuse me for a second. I…have someone else to attend to. You understand, right?"

Silence yet again.

"Oh, thank goodness! For a second there I thought you might have felt crossed from that! Errrr, please excuse me!"

The ghost took a light bow before she zoomed right away from the spot and panted. Right after she cooled off, Selene reached behind her and rummaged around until she found what she wanted. Immediately, she brought out yet another pristine doll that wouldn't appear out of place in the aisle of toys for young kids. Unlike the common dolls around though, the one Selene personally kept displayed traits that stood out among the rest. From chocolate brown hair to dazzling blue eyes, she sure took the affection from Selene whenever she brought her out. The infectious smile most dolls for girls expressed remained plastered on like it came straight from the factory, even if it required some scrubbing every now and then from dirt. Whenever a single patch of dirt splattered across any part of the particular doll's face, Selene instantly declared a "facial emergency" and zipped over to anything possible to clean her off. Such a standard also applied to the large puffy dress at times during "special occasions" especially so the bright yellow sparkles gleamed in the light like someone blessed it from the stars. Constant assumptions also claimed that most dolls of her kind wore some large heels or slippers, but not Selene's special one. One could find it really weird for such a regal looking doll to wear large yellow sandals, but for the ghost she claimed it helped make her pink toenails stand out. Because it also stood at the height of most standard dolls, she clashed at times in terms of appearance with others similar to her, but Selene completely ignored such trash talk. Such uniqueness made her special one extra amazing in her eyes, which warranted her constant watch and travels to see everything reality had to offer.

Once the doll appeared before Selene in her grasp, it instantly began talking…even though the ghost provided her voice in a muffled manner and shook her as if she actually contained a soul.

"Yeesh, Selene! It took you long enough!"

"I'm…I'm terribly sorry Twila." Selene said. "You know I can't help but gossip with the others just to raise their spirits. You never know when that one lucky kid might-"

"You don't think I understand that already?" "Twila" interjected. "You love to waste time yapping your mouth off and never get to actual selection. I vividly remember when you assigned me to jar your memories when needed!"

"Oh, right. THAT addendum." Selene replied. "I can't help it though! One day just might end up lucky for someone here, you know, like you!"

"Ah, yes. That fateful day when I ended up as the only one in stock." "Twila" said while her shaking slowed. "I can't thank you enough for choosing me over someone LESS rare."

"Hey, when I see quality I go for it!" Selene said. "You caught my eye and I couldn't have felt happier since!"

"Tell that to the one continuously staring at me."

At that moment, Selene perked up again. Her eyes widened a little as she still kept her eyes on Twila for a bit, but then she slowly turned to a row of action figures nearby from a set that leaned heavily toward space exploration. Two young kids in typical space suits littered one of the front rows while some type of Labrador Retriever stood next to them in a suit similar to their but for canines. The less desirable figures of a three eyed alien and cosmic space ranger sat near the back rows as the focus remained on the kids and dog figures, which apparently took Selene's attention more than anything else at the moment. From what "Twila" informed her, one ended up as the bad egg of the group.

Selene's sight centered on the young boy action figure as she deeply frowned.

"Ah, so you have an admirer then?" Selene said. "Can't say I'm not too surprised."

"At that age? Hah! Give me a break!" "Twila" answered. "I saw him acting like a peeping tom as you floated by! How…rude!"

Selene's eyes widened even further while she formed a fist in her other hand. Out of everyone in the room to possibly try and pick up her one and true friend, the young space suit doll just so happened to provide a few winks in her direction, which the ghost definitely didn't want. While she silently shook her head a little in an attempt to calm down, it only fueled the flames and raised her anger further. Such actions won't be tolerated without a right hook upside the jaw.

However, even with such feelings, Selene kept up a friendly persona for her one of a kind doll for the moment. In fact, she even played along with what "Twila" had to say.

"Well…of course you could have just ignored him and moved on. You display so much beauty and cuteness rolled into one that I'm not surprised to see such vile actions from other dolls. As your best friend and absolute soulmate, heheheheh, if anyone ever decided to throw you some of those terrible looks, I would immediately go-"

Without so much as a flinch, Selene instantly flipped around toward the kid astronaut doll and showed one of the most scariest faces a ghost could ever put on, which even made some objects around her levitate a little as their colors inverted.

"IF YOU EVER GIVE HER A DIRTY LOOK AGAIN, I'LL TOSS YOU INTO A FURNACE AND WATCH YOUR EYES MELT FROM YOUR SOCKETS!"

In only a split second after, Selene's demeanor quickly shifted back to her normal attitude as she got back to her doll. The area around her also shifted back to its normal look.

"See? You have nothing to worry about. As long as you stick with me, I always have your back."

"Twila" slowly nodded to Selene while the ghost mirrored her actions. Their smiles matched like true friends which made the ghost shudder with happiness. After everything they went through, they deserved each other more than ever, and Selene knew it too well. She felt blessed to always have someone like Twila to look to when goings got tough. Just because Twila was an inanimate object didn't mean she deserved a home inside a garbage bin, which Selene took as a sign of an inseparable friendship.

She stayed so enamored with her doll that she almost failed to hear some footsteps approach the aisle. At first her attention steered toward it for a moment since she knew the store didn't have too many customers for the day, but once she realized nobody could see her anyway she calmed down a bit. Even so, she silently rolled her eyes before she got back to her doll.

"Aww shoot. Just when I thought nobody would come too. You better stay back and let me finish before anyone else arrives."

After she gave that last statement, Selene stored Twila back to her personal storage before she huffed and went back to her glances over the endless rows of dolls around her. Normally if anyone managed to stumble into the toy section while she occupied the space, she wouldn't bat an eye in their direction. Ghosts like her completely made themselves invisible to the naked eye in public after all, so most of the normal people never managed to see her anyway. Besides, she didn't want to interrupt any potential purchases from her appearance alone, for dolls deserved love from kids that needed them. She couldn't dictate fate between human and doll, and she wanted to keep it that way.

Of course she'd never met a young enthusiastic tween named Molly McGee.

The upbeat girl hastily walked into the isle with one of the biggest smiles on her face. While she mostly expressed one of her signature smiles at every possible second, after everything that happened since she arrived in Brighton it became most well deserved. From mischievous ghosts, community acceptance from the whole town, to even a trip into the Ghost World Molly went through all of it. She even took out the head of the Ghost Council and left the higher ups in nervous wrecks after that escapade and she went through everything like any other joyous day. In the end though, she managed to save Scratch and all of the ghosts banished to the Flow of Failed Phantoms thanks to her overwhelming joy, which gave her massive respects from both the human and ghost world. Not everyday can someone say they saved the world, but Molly had a special case. To think someone of her age could take out an entire system of misery and torture in just a small touch of a finger, but for Molly fiction became history. Her joyous nature made her the hero everyone wanted to look up to.

…minus one.

It seemed like every time something amazing happened to Molly, Nancy always took the unbridled punishments. For the most part whenever something came up she usually sat curled up and let everyone above her act on their own, which almost made the days zip by in an instant with little to no reaction from the shrunken girl. While Molly paid attention on extremely rare occasions, for the most part Nancy basically had only herself to hang out with. Even though for the most part she became rather used to it, for she already failed to leave an impact which left her practically unnoticed by the general public, it made everything worse since she now had to tilt her head upward for clearer visuals. For someone to claim that they would do everything in their power to change her back only to completely ditch her a few days later served as one huge punch to the teeth that hurt Nancy more than anything like some type of sick joke. In fairness, to think so much happened and yet Molly only just moved to Brighton nearly boggled her mind and left it in the dust, but her deep and utter misery held her back from such surprise. If she acted on any other personality she probably would have enjoyed all of the zany antics that eventually culminated into Molly's win over the Ghost World, but such smiles remained locked in a shrunken prison.

However, even after everything that happened Nancy kept one crucial page out of Molly's attention. She never informed her about it because even after everything that happened, she lacked any sort of worthwhile trust in Molly since she caused her problems in the first place. She did nothing to persuade her otherwise, even with her successes, but if she ever found out…

Molly's mind would think otherwise that day.

---

Out of everything to possibly happen in the McGee household, once Molly separated from her body all bets went off the table. Nancy almost couldn't believe her eyes as the events unfolded, all while she stood on her usual place in Molly's shelf no less. From all of the tall tales she picked up over the years, none told her about wraiths and their limbo state between the living and the dead which she witnessed with her giant captor. Of course since Libby, the bookworm of the bunch, hung around at the time she basically understood the concept in a snap, and soon enough the idea emerged to take Scratch back straight from the lion's den itself. While Nancy would have chimed in at the time to give her two cents on the situation, before long Molly whisked herself away through the ghost portal in a daring rescue. Libby stayed behind with Molly's drained body which took up most of her attention span, which Nancy couldn't blame her for. If Molly's body trudged out the window in a brainless blunder it wouldn't go over well, and even though her situation dangled over her head as an emergency, Scratch's well being warranted attention more than her lasting problem. She kept her eyes on Molly's body so much that Nancy wasn't sure if she knew her tiny stature still had a presence in the room, which never felt too out of place in the shrunken one's case. When happenings completely steered in another direction priorities ran all over the place, and for now it pointed toward the saving of a certain ghost Molly latched onto almost instantly.

While it started off as nothing, Nancy slowly stirred as the seconds rolled by but she never thought too much about it. However, as time passed the signs became more apparent. Her stomach churned into a sickening mush as her heart rate increased to faster levels, which caught her by surprise and sent her to her knees. She still considered it not too hard to muster through, although the speeds increased to where they seemed to constantly bash at her abdomen endlessly for freedom for the most discomfort imaginable. She almost couldn't catch her breath as they shortened considerably to the point where they practically never existed, which took a toll on her bones which rattled and shook like an instant winter. From there the red flags alerted her to something terribly off, but she never thought about it too long until her insides bashed her again and changed her skin into a clammy mess. The worry soon plastered itself across Nancy's face as her own body degraded further and further down, which eventually lead to an instant spike that pierced her chest that lead her to collapse on her front. If she even found the chance to shout out to Libby she would have done so by that point, but the happenings sapped her strength to the bare minimum and left her to fend for herself. She used her last bit to willpower to slowly roll to the back of the shelf to where a small crack separated the wall and wood from each other, where at that point she laid at the mercy of her own body. Soon after her stomach lurched upward a few more times until the dry heaves started. Any form of shouting for attention fell into helplessness as her speech changed into short bursts as if something wanted to shoot out of her innards. From the constant daggers against her chest, the seeping poison that pinned her limbs, her pale and worn skin, to her organs that actively worked against her it completely left her in shamble and a husk of what she lived for.

…yet the operation desired her life over everything else.

Her stomach finally managed to land the killing blow and forced her to heave out everything she had eaten before the moment. Molly always made sure she managed to consume a few minuscule crumbs of bigger foods every day when it came to breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but they disappeared down the crack to no return much to Nancy's failing health. From one heave forward they still wanted more out of her, and after another dose of poison in her legs the girl hurled out more against her breaking point. From there the tears that dripped down her face multiplied from hundreds to thousand as she emptied more and more out of her stomach that went completely unnoticed by anyone other than herself. All of the doses injected in her hollowed out her bones and sapped at her life while she threw up again and again until she completely emptied herself out. At that point she would have easily pushed away her deep dislike and disdain against Molly just for the chance to grab her attention, or anyone else for the matter. Too bad she completely left the world of the living for the Ghost World, and Libby never thought of her in any capacity at the moment since she focused more on Molly's separated body. As buckets of bile left Nancy and her life continuously stripped away every second, if she had her regular size someone would have easily noticed to possibly give her some medicine or something similar. Unfortunately, Nancy didn't have such a luxury from her shrinkage and the attentions of everyone around her directed over to the abducted ghost and his foreboding fate. If Scratch currently felt the same way in the Ghost World it would be understandable, but she highly doubted it from the buckets of vomit she hurled and spilled down the crack.

Her ruined body wobbled and shuddered from the sheer amounts she puked out, but her operations still continued. Even though nothing remained in her stomach she still continued to dry heave like it still stayed full to the brim. Her head swelled as raw bile and gastric acids poured out which made her cry to herself even more. She didn't deserve an instant torture session that she never saw coming, and yet her systems actively made sure she utterly ruin and drain her of any life left. From buckets of constant vomit to empty stomach only to hurl more, she had nothing left to possibly force out of her. Any cries out to alert Libby never happened as the force of the dry heaves muffled any attempts to contact anyone. She coughed endlessly while her vitality sapped into a pale raisin against the wood, and it wouldn't stop there.

She threw up something else soon after, and it horrified her the moment she saw it.

Crimson.

Deep crimson.

She wanted to pretend that it wasn't real. Her head sluggishly shook in denial that such a travesty never escaped her mouth, but her eyes didn't deceive her.

The complete and utter shock took her in for another sudden surgery when the bile poured out once more. Her muscles nearly forced all of the activity into more pukes that now contained streaks of red across them. While she had no idea how much she heaved out, none of it mattered when entire gallons streamed out like an abridged fountain. Eventually her skin went nearly pure white as the stakes pierced her arms and legs which left her basically embedded into the wood, all while her stomach grabbed everything in her to chuck out of her mouth. The red streaks became more apparent over time until she couldn't find any traces of stomach acids left in everything she spat out, which took a toll on her in more ways than one. Her head throbbed as her heart rate reached blistering speeds, which eventually lead to a critical moment she desired to never come across. The pain everywhere fell back as her eyes went heavy, which meant only one thing. Her muscles loosened and fell to the wood lifelessly before her legs followed, all while her blood pressure lingered dangerously low. Nancy had no choice as she cried out her last remaining tears and dry heaved one more time before the darkness converged. Everything slowed to a crawl as Nancy collapsed and went limp…

She seriously thought she reached her end, but once certain noises hit her hearing her sight slowly came back up. If she thoroughly perished certain expectations stirred in her head, and yet she guessed completely off course of the outcome. She picked up the sights and sound from somewhere completely different, and the sounds of a certain voice became instantly recognizable whether she wanted to forget or not. As if it smacked her right in the face, she knew she never set foot through the pearly gates or the gates of the underworld.

…but the Ghost World.

She tried to move her arms and legs but couldn't, and she would have expected to possibly have changed into a common phantom like Scratch. After all, she perished and it seemed like the most likely outcome in her eyes. However, while she may have managed to correctly conclude on part of a certain factor, once she looked down at herself the voices she heard suddenly made sense, and if she had the guts to scream she would have done so by then.

She saw not herself, but Molly's ghost.

All of it surged in her head like someone just electrocuted her, but no matter how much she attempted to move nothing worked. Dozens of sights zipped by as she got taken for a ride throughout the Ghost World straight from Molly's eyes, and yet any communication attempts fell silent. At that point she almost felt her heart stop, which would have sounded normal if she never passed away in the first place, but then the implications came up that mortified her. Her final judgment may have been sealed, and if the chaos around her ceased she probably would have more time to think to herself about it, but Molly never made such a moment possible. From the moment Molly entered the Ghost World Nancy saw everything, and she already wanted out more than anything. Molly had no idea she inadvertently had Nancy along for her Ghost World escapade.

From her constant rushes away from certain authorities to complete spills and powers of joy, all of Molly's senses became Nancy's to the point where she actually felt like she somehow took her place. Out of all of the senses only speech ended up barred for some sort of communication with Molly, although she probably would have kept her mouth shut anyway from the sheer amount the ghostly girl provided. In a way it almost felt like she just waltzed into an interactive movie…probably the most interactive one to date. She practically became a nonentity as she experienced everything Molly went through, and it seemed like it would never end. In fairness, the sights of the Ghost World brought serious intrigue to the young girl to where she wished she could have experienced it in her own body. In many ways she saw the stark parallels between the world of the living and dead to where the Ghost World could have acted like a reflection to everything she knew. She even saw a brief glimpse through Molly's eyes of the one Salvatore ghost and his all in one store of ghostly requirements, and he luckily managed to avoid all of the infectious joy Molly's spirit shot like the plague. For once she almost forgot that she perished to get to where she stood as she couldn't take her sight off of the screens of Molly's eyes. As much as she never set foot outside of Brighton, from what she saw from the point of view from her captor she may reconsider such thoughts.

Too bad everything came crashing down when she reached the Ghost Council. At first she found it charming to finally see Molly and Scratch together, even though Scratch's stickiness rubbed her the wrong way when Molly hugged him, but after some back and forth between the higher ups it surprised her to see both of them sentenced to the Flow of Failed Phantoms. The gusts of wind almost pulled her hair out before she found herself sucked inside, where lots of suffering specters hovered around them as if they desired her head. However, such feelings lasted for only a few brief moments before she felt Molly's joy nearly burst from her spirit, which soon caused the whole place to shudder and shake in deafening quakes. Before long, she completely shattered the unjustifiable prison and released all of the ghostly apparitions wrongfully accused in one almighty blast. Nancy's chest raced as she felt the culmination of emotions built up in Molly's ghost as both her and Scratch gazed at the council with bursting aura. She heard Molly as she stated how joy is one of the most powerful emotions in the world that misery couldn't defeat, and everything reached its climax once Nancy's first point of view from Molly eyes soon flew up to the terrifying stature of the Ghost Council's leader, the Chairman. If Nancy currently didn't share everything with Molly she probably would have bolted at the sight, but because she held no power in her host's actions she stayed helpless inside Molly head and only could only watch the events unfold.

The entire affair culminated into one final action that left Nancy probably more horrified than anyone else, especially since she saw everything up close and personal. Molly didn't just defeat the Chairman in one small boop, she OBLITERATED him. She witnessed the ghoul's complete and utter annihilation from Molly's joy until she left nothing behind but a raggedy scrap of his cloak against the ground. The Ghost Council reeled back with eyes the size of dinner plates while Molly floated back to Scratch as her smile pierced the misery around her. Scratch smiled toward her as the horrid consequences for not keeping a thorough streak of scares completely disappeared, and Molly couldn't have felt happier to help him out. After one final statement toward the Ghost Council along with a powerful threat soon after, where she shot out her joyous aura and took on an angry stance, Molly's sight shifted as Nancy witnessed another ghost portal form in front of her. To think she accomplished her goal sounded so far fetched, and yet Nancy basically infiltrated into Molly's head to unintentionally vouch for her. She experienced what it was like to accidentally become Molly's ghost and everything about it whether she wanted to or not.

Once Molly flew straight into the ghost portal home, Nancy's perspective changed yet again. At first she thought maybe that she would likely stay stuck inside Molly's head for eternity, but soon after…she opened her eyes. As if she carried millions of lucky charms around her neck, her lungs filled with air and she found herself against wood. Her head still remained a little hazy, but the fact she finally became able to move again stood out more than others. While she considered that maybe Molly may have bashed into a wooden fence or something, the instant her eyes glanced up all forms of astonishment broke loose. While completely clueless as to whether she received a miracle or not, she no longer found herself trapped in Molly's head but aback atop the shelf where she perished. As if on instinct, she quickly scanned herself thoroughly only to find herself completely intact with no signs of sickness whatsoever. No pale skin, no weak bones, no weak muscles; her body stood up as sharp as ever. She saw nothing about her terrifying ordeal earlier as if it never happened in the first place.

While shaken beyond normal comprehension, she still managed to see the aftermath of everything as Molly's ghost reappeared and joined back with her body. After some quick exchanges between family members and Libby, everything finally settled down in the McGee household…for the most part. For Nancy, she couldn't get any of the horrified experiences out of her head. From passing away under the worst pain and suffering she's ever went through, finding herself experiencing everything Molly did while in the Ghost World, to witnessing the death of the head of ghosts from Molly's overwhelming joy, everything came together for some of the worst memories that left the tiny girl in shambles. Even when Molly, back in her body, and Libby checked up on Nancy after all of it ended she still showed some intense nervousness at certain points. However, despite Molly and Libby questioning her expressions, Nancy never found it in her to inform them about what happened behind their backs. She still considered Molly the sole reason behind all of her misfortunes since the accident with cake and frosting, which pretty much left her with next to no trust to spare. Molly may have saved Scratch and the rest of the ghosts from an eternity of scaring, but it came at the cost of Nancy's sanity as trauma reared its ugly head in her direction.

---

Since then, Nancy stayed more bottled up than usual. The sheer trauma of such a series of events never left her and lingered in her head like a grumble of maggots. Everyone else celebrated victory, but they didn't see what she went through in that allotted time. On infrequent nights she even had terrible nightmares where she took place of the Chairman and a furiously joyful Molly glared in her direction with a fist at the ready. No matter how much she attempted to move, Molly always stated that she thought of her ways of existing as wrong before she got right up in her face and made her suffer the same fate at the ghost she ended. One single boop on the nose from Molly's ghost became enough to completely annihilate Nancy from existence, and by the time she woke up her body shook and sweated nonstop. Molly's naive nature left such worries somewhere else since she almost never asked about how shaken up she looked, and on the off chance she did ask Nancy always failed to answer in full. She didn't deserve to find out about the worst of the worst since she caused her shrinkage in the first place. Even so, several other nightmares followed, such as one where Molly's joyful spirit crushed her into the ground and another where her ghost ripped her apart from between her large ghastly fingers, which also sent Nancy into a downward miserable spiral. Molly thought of nothing wrong over her victory, but her tiny friend certainly had her differing opinions.

She certainly was no hero to Nancy, only someone who held the ball and chain to her prison sentence.

"Uhhhh, Nancy? You okay down there?"

Nancy's train of thought halted once she heard her captor's infamous voice from above. Even thought she barely ended up visible to the naked eye, since Molly already kept her for a while she had gotten rather used to having keen eyes to always keep a lookout for her tiny friend at all times. She remained hidden in Molly's pocket for the most part when out in public, and yet the giant girl above seemed to always have eyes on her.

Nancy shook herself a bit before she glanced up at Molly's massive happy face pretty unnervingly.

"Errrrr, yeah. For the most part…I'm fine." Nancy answered.

Molly responded with another one of her infectious smiles.

"Ah, okay! Nice to know! After everything that happened up to this point…I can imagine you completely losing your mind. No offense, obviously!"

"You have no idea…" Nancy thought before she answered. "Well, umm, I guess…you kind of alleviate certain sorrows. I…appreciate that."

Molly lightly squealed behind closed lips while her eyes lit up.

"Awwwwww, thanks Nancy! I can see you have opened up a bit since we-"

A loud crash off to the side rang throughout the building right before Molly could finish. Both Molly's and Nancy's face went lightly static as more of the noises hit their eardrums, then soon after a couple of screams followed. The girls didn't take such sounds too kindly.

"You REALLY shouldn't have gotten Scratch addicted to seafood." Molly said pretty flatly.

"I've…pretty much accepted that…since day one…" Nancy stuttered while she twiddled her thumbs.

Indeed, after a few taste tests with shrimp and chowder in a can, Nancy pretty much created a new type of gluttony for the ghost on accident. What started as Scratch desiring to try something new to tickle his taste buds ended with him changing into a rich seafood connoisseur. While at first he felt reluctant to try something that still had eyes that stared at him like he ended them in the first place, which took a few days to get over, once she finally sunk his teeth into it he practically changed into a fish himself since he became hooked almost instantly. While Scratch kept his emotions up high when it came to food, once he got his grubby hands on seafood he cranked up his appetite to eleven. Ever since, he always kept certain tastes on the back burner in case his eyes caught some particular sights, so when he heard about a special of crab bisque at the supermarket he made a beeline toward the second like mad. Suffice to say, Scratch now had a new favorite type of food.

"Hey, big guy! You better have that bisque front and center before I start getting too crabby! DON'T MAKE ME SMACK YOU WITH THIS AGAIN!"

Both Molly and Nancy shook their heads and slapped their foreheads once they heard his outbursts…which nobody other than them would have probably heard anyway.

"I'm sure they regret…having that large salmon sale today." Nancy said while she silently rolled her eyes.

"Oh yeah. They DEFINITELY regret that now." Molly said with a slight cringe.

To get their minds off of Scratch's "hangry" mood, Molly proceeded down the toy aisle with Nancy in tow. Because of the sheer amount that lined up in rows across the shelves, their eyes required multiple scans across each section just to make sure they never missed anything between the lines. Molly kept her eyes more peeled than Nancy's, since a certain something could catch her attention instantly. Because her attention span persisted at a rather short length, Molly's sight ran everywhere and lasted for only a couple of seconds before she zipped over to another portion. Her percentage to discover a needle in a haystack pretty much fell into negative numbers if she ever found herself tasked to do so.

Eventually, after another through investigation through doll after doll, Nancy finally spoke up.

"Molly, you…really don't have to do this. You know that Olivia can think of-"

Almost instantly, Molly brought her attention down to the tiny girl in her pocket before she could finish.

"But Nancy, I want to! You know I do what I can to help the ones I care about, no matter the urgency, and I already have you on the list of 'Molly's Greatest' when it comes to helping out! Besides, I…kind of can't leave you out of my sight after you shrunk."

"Uhhh, don't you have everyone you know about on the 'Molly's Greatest' list?" Nancy asked as she tilted her head.

"Well, I can't just ignore everyone I meet!" Molly answered. "You never know when a new friend will show up at your front door!"

"Including that fake magic guy?" Nancy asked. "If you accept everyone, does that mean-"

Before Nancy finished, Molly hastily stopped her right there as she placed one of her massive fingers over her lips, which at Nancy's size basically meant her entire face.

"Heheheheh, you always know the best jokes there Nancy!" Molly said through clamped teeth as she put on a cheesy and comical smile. "Thelesswetalkaboutthatthebetter!"

Molly withdrew her finger instantly which revealed the decently surprised Nancy behind it. Even though she stayed with Molly and Scratch for a while, out of all the facts laid out across the table she still didn't quite understand the "fake magic" dilemma that ultimately brought out the absolute worst in Molly. After all of the foreboding signs of the lengths she went through to avoid as much of it as possible, along with what she could do if she ever got her hands on a magician, Nancy pretty much wanted no part in possibly figuring it out. She already went through her worst on a daily basis since she shrunk, and she wanted to steer clear of anything extra…even if it came from her captor.

As if in an attempt to quickly get out of awkward territory, Molly immediately zoomed to a particular part of the aisle and let her eyes loose across all of the dolls like a predator. Her determination to assist her tiny friend knew no bounds…even if Nancy considered it not too big of a deal. Even though her sister moved out a while back and currently lived in a college dorm, the rest of her family still paid attention to when her birthday came in over the horizon. With only a couple days away, her parents usually got what little stuff she wanted, but for Nancy she always found it charming to gift a childhood doll she bought every year with her allowance. Back when her sister was around the same age she obsessed over the toys and littered her room with them from shelves, bed, and even her closet on occasion. Despite her older age, she still kept a storage of all the dolls Nancy gave her to help remind her of how much she cared, which her younger sister appreciated. However, thanks to Molly and her crash course with a large cake, such a possibility this year wouldn't be possible with her own hands. She would have let Olivia handle the gift, since the giddy shapeshifter took her place and also held her allowance in the process, but once Molly heard of such a trouble she immediately took matters into her own hands. She even insisted to buy the doll out of her own personal savings, and no matter how much Nancy tried to say how little such a problem mattered she never listened. She informed Nancy to not "bite the hand that feeds you" and even attempted to use an analogy to relate to her more…only to come up with something about how connected their families were since they met like amoebas. To Nancy it made almost no sense at all, but before she could replay Molly already made her way out the door. She wanted to see it through all the way…whether Nancy wanted to or not.

"Ah, you think your sister would like this?" Molly asked while she grabbed a peculiar doll with tropical clothes and sandals.

"Uhhhhh, maybe?" Nancy responded lightly. "I may have given her that once…"

"Come on Nancy! You know your sister better than I do!" Molly said as she put the doll back on the shelf. "I need some insight here!"

"Well, I'm not always one hundred percent sure…" Nancy said while she fiddled with her fingers. "Maybe…a bit further down?"

Molly nodded and smiled before she waltzed down a bit further. Eventually they came across some rather regal appearing dolls straight out of a fairy tale, from kings, queens, and even a large castle set painted in pink. Nancy's eyes widened a bit further up which caught Molly's eye.

"I see an interested face down there!" Molly said. "Your sister might have some rather high class tastes, if I say so myself. How about one of these?"

Nancy more thoroughly gazed at the dolls for a few more moments, but soon after she frowned and shook her head.

"Not quite. The colors don't pop that well."

"Really? They look completely fine to me." Molly said. "You sure about that?"

"I'm certain." Nancy replied. "She likes ones with more vibrant colors…if I remember correctly."

"Well…okay then." Molly said.

The uncertainty across her face became more apparent over time, but the constant denials didn't upset her that much. If anything, Nancy knew Molly probably understood better than she did when it came to plushes and dolls, and yet she allowed the tiny one to take the wheel. Thanks to all of the stuffed animals in her room Molly knew what made something more appealing to the kids, but due to her void knowledge about her friend's sister she pretty much had no choice but to allow Nancy to pick out the perfect present. Just because she stood higher than the entire planet over Nancy didn't mean she called the shots every single time.

Molly steadily took her time down the aisle while she suggested certain dolls nearby, and while some almost got picked Nancy never fully concluded on a definitive choice. She still went for anything to help out the tiny girl in her pocket and she insisted to go through with the birthday present for Nancy's sister in the first place, so she couldn't back out of it. Even so, her pink and yellow shoes wandered down row after row until the girl approached the end. Molly still kept her happy upbeat attitude while Nancy focused more on the countless choices around her, which almost made them miss the other ghost as she also scanned for something in particular.

Eventually, after Nancy concluded on an almost perfect doll for her sister, Molly and Nancy saw Selene while she still her back to them. Nancy jolted upward for a moment before she realized that the ghost seemed not the frightful type while Molly didn't falter back in the slightest. In fact, she grew increasingly curious since, for the most part, Scratch became the primary ghost that haunted Brighton. To see another ghost around town meant another possible friend from the other side after all.

"Uhhh, hi there! I didn't know this place attracted ghosts!"

Her statement caused Selene to lightly turn toward the tween, but then she immediately turned back.

"Heheheh, for a second there I thought someone living could actually see me…"

"But I can see you!" Molly said. "To make a long story short, I'm friends with another ghost who bestowed me the ability to see the dead. Sounds unorthodox, but true."

Her words finally shook Selene enough to put her attention back to Molly.

"Oh, really?"

Nancy watched as Selene floated up close and personal to Molly's face for a better look. It made Molly's smile slowly fade and slight tension settled in.

"Umm, you want a better look at my eyes or something? I know that I'm pretty adorable and all, but I don't like others popping my bubble…if you know what I mean."

Both Molly and Nancy got taken aback when Selene instantly reeled backward with wide eyes.

"No way! You actually CAN see me?! Wow, I never thought such an occurrence was possible!"

"I thought the same thing before my life changed when I moved here." Molly replied. "I pretty much have friends from both the living and dead now!"

Selene would have spoken up again to answer, but before she could do so some last few crashes shook the place around them which almost took Molly off of her feet. After a few more seconds the culprit immediately flew into the area, and he still had a loose fish bone in his right hand. All three girls gazed at him like an enigma while he rambled off for a bit about what happened as if only Molly existed in the toy section. First signs alone indicated that he went through quite a lot before then.

"Okay, so I immediately zoomed straight over to the seafood area where I expected to find that bisque, but APPARENTLY some joker erased letters on the initial announcement! Instead, I found crab BISCUITS instead, and while I initially wouldn't have it and beat a coworker with a large frozen tuna at first, once I got around to actually taste the thing I realized that I pretty much cried over spilled-"

He immediately halted his speech once he saw the girls before him, and from there he dropped his fish bone, crossed his arms, then rolled his eyes.

"I see that the time of month has come a bit early for one of you."

Selene fixated a gaze on him for a moment.

"I heard that a shipment arrived a bit early, so I went for it in case I got lucky. Got any issues with that?"

"Nah, especially since we don't cross paths that often." Scratch replied.

Molly blatancy with her emotions arrived at the forefront once she heard the two ghost converse with one another. Her mouth went slightly agape and her pupils contracted a little before her body went stiff. As if she emerged from a cheesy mystery novel, Molly then immediately pointed forward toward Scratch before she shifted and pointed toward Selene, which eventually progressed into frequent back and forths between the two ghost. She even muttered into jumbled words a few times while everyone else looked at her like she just went crazy, but before it took too long she quickly stopped. They mixed a few of her wires which required some personal untangling.

"You…uhhhhh, you two…know each other?" Molly stuttered while she struggled to find correct words.

"I've crossed paths with her a few times, mostly here." Scratch said. "She usually skims this place every few weeks for that 'perfect' pick…which sometimes goes for a couple of hours at best."

"Hey, when you have an eye for those sorts of interests certain parts just click." Selene answered while she crossed her arms. "Plus, I like to take my time, thank you very much!"

"Soooo…you have a knack for dolls then?" Molly asked while she tilted her head.

The deep snarkiness dripped across Selene's face.

"Girl, you underestimate me WAY too much."

"She speaks the truth on that front." Scratch said.

The group glanced at each other for a quick moment before Scratch spoke up again.

"Aaaaaaanywaaaaaaays, I see you've met my associate here, Molly."

The instant he directed Selene's attention over to her, Molly instantly expressed one of her largest wide clean teethed smiles and waved rapidly like someone trying to get attention from far away. Selene would have replied to such actions if one very tiny extra never hit her sight. In her eagerness to introduce herself to another possible new friend, Molly bobbed a little up and down which shook her clothes and consequently almost made the one in her pocket fall out. The shrunken girl almost lost her grip when Selene witnessed her near fall.

"Do you have a stowaway on you or what?" Selene asked while slightly confused.

As if someone flicked a switch in her head, Molly feelings instantly shifted while Nancy got the message and ducked further down into the encompass of Molly's pocket. As if on instinct, Molly immediately zipped one of her hands over the opening to her pocket while she put one of the guiltiest grins imaginable.

"NOPE! Definitely nothing to see here! Nothing but a girl and her ghost and NOTHING more to speak of! Heheheheheh…"

The sheer cheesiness and guilt of her actions pretty much procced even more curiosity that caused Scratch to sigh and slap his forehead. Selene then instantly went flat at the display.

"Really? You sure you don't have anyone else on you?"

"Yes, definitely! Absolutely nothing!"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Really?"

"Ye…AAH!"

As the two paddled words back and forth, Selene never flinched while Molly pretty much spelled her guilt all over her face. Right before Molly could finish her final reassurance she suddenly found Nancy sitting on her shoulder…and she also had no idea how she got there. Selene likely had something to do with it, but since it happened so instantaneously nobody knew for sure…including Scratch.

Both Nancy and Molly jumped up a little in astonishment, which almost sent Nancy off of Molly in the process.

"Knew it." Selene flatly said before she shook her head.

"Oh, uhhhhh, ahhh! Where did you come from?" Molly said while she badly acted out some form of surprise. Nancy even attempted to follow along in some fashion, but like all of the other times Molly tried to cover herself she ended up with egg on her face.

"Cut the act Mol, for you have the acting skills of a flopping fish." Scratch said with a small frown. "She would have found out sooner or later anyway."

Molly instantly turned to face Scratch and put on a comical pout.

"Come on Scratch, you could have backed me up on this!"

"Hey, I'm just stating the obvious." Scratch responded while he shrugged. "Seriously though, you won't become the next Hamlet with those skills."

Molly slightly frowned at what she heard while Nancy let everyone else do the talking. However, her expectations steered in another direction when the short ghost of Selene floated up close to the tiny girl for a better look. Nancy lightly shrieked for a brief moment under her breath before she curled up and poked her eyes out, which would have caused some light commotion for the ghost if everything else about her never caught on fully.

Selene couldn't take her eyes off of such perfection of cuteness.

Selene's pupils dilated across her eyes as the miniaturized stature of a young girl completely enamored her to no end. She heard the bells chime as sparkles erupted before the girl's adorable eyes, and millions of tiny rainbows arched over her tiny body. Clouds parted which allowed the celestial light to bathe upon such beauty as the birds tweeted a loving chime like they sang for the divine on an endless loop. The long seas of her hair sprouted hearts to the never ending pink behind her all to the dazzling stars under the smiling crescent moon where the constellations actively shined in her direction. The shield decal on her shirts swapped warm palettes which the insignia curved and angled until it formed a throbbing heart that tugged at Selene's own strings. It even throbbed and pulsated to a charming beat like if a cherub struck it with a love arrow. Her shoes even sparkled and shined pure gold that ultimately sealed the deal for the smitten Selene and her desires moving forward. She found what she wanted out of the aisle by an endless margin.

Everyone else gazed at her stunned face while she hovered in place like a frozen statue.

"Uhhh, you okay there, ummm, ghost?"

Molly stirred her back to reality as her fantasies took a back seat. Selene shook herself a bit for a quicker recovery before she got back to the young tween.

"For starters, my name is Selene. I almost forgot to introduce myself proper until now. Second, where did you get that ADORABLE doll for your collection?"

Molly, Scratch, and Nancy stood a bit confused at first, but then they soon realized what she indicated. Soon after, Nancy curled up a little while Molly put her attention over to the tiny girl.

"Oh, uhhhhh, this little girl? Well, she doesn't exactly fall into that category. Let's just say…she doesn't look like this normally."

"Errrrm, uhhhhhh, what she said…" Nancy added while she shuddered to herself.

The news only enticed Selene even further into her desires. She almost couldn't believe what she saw or heard from the others, and yet her giddiness rose quickly. Not only had a living person somehow managed to exist on a different scale compared to everyone else, but she seemed too submissive to ever go against anyone. If she ever tried, anyone could just reassure their dominance in size and get away with basically anything against them. She wanted her, and she wanted her more than anything.

"Ooooh, that makes things even better!" Selene said as excitement poured all over her. "While I usually just take what I want, since I don't have to follow the rules of the living, I'll make an exception this one time! So…how much do you want for her?"

Selene's last sentence left reactions all over the table. To hear someone undead actually attempt to buy someone living never crossed the minds of anyone in Brighton, and it sent waves that coursed through the others. Nancy almost felt her chest throb to irregular beats while her skin went pale, which incidentally shortened her breath into small amounts by the second. She held her legs more tightly than before but still kept her head above her knees, but even then the nervousness and worry already kicked in. Molly nearly fell stunned at such an offer that left her legs temporarily paralyzed on the spot as her pupils practically vanished from existence. Small wrinkles showed up under her eyes as her usual joy and happiness ran off in another direction. As a girl who let her emotions get the better of her, it seemed not too out of the ordinary for her but also abnormal at the same time. Scratch couldn't have acted to the complete contrary more than the other girls, as the instant he became aware of Selene's true intention his cheeks puffed up until he unleashed one huge laughing fit that resonated throughout the few that could actually hear him. Tears flew down his face before he fell to the floor and rolled endlessly to the sick sense of humor that tickled him fancy. Eventually he resorted to banging against an empty shelf until he laughed so hard he coughed his brain out, which took his eyes with it. He paused for a moment until the organ glanced at his ectoplasmic body before the two yukked it up even more as Scratch slid his brain back into his body. He spent a few more moments imitating a hyena before he finally settled down and slumped down into a puddle of goo. Suffice to say, reactions varied upon Selene's question.

"Heheheheh, hahahahah…" Scratch said before he plucked out his eyes and wiped them of any excess tears. He placed them back into his head before he continued.

"Wow, just…wow. You REALLY know how to give a good joke there. Seriously, good job with that."

Selene left Molly and Nancy to themselves while she addressed the elephant in the room…the very hectic and loud elephant. She had to admit though, his large nose could pass off as the trunk of a pachyderm if one looked hard enough.

"Why am I not surprised to see YOU as the impractical heckler around here?" Selene said. "I'm DEAD SERIOUS."

From there Scratch's satisfaction slowly went south until his smile disappeared. The reality of the situation crept into his noggin until the wheels in his head finally sparked. If Selene asked during the beginning to take the miniaturized girl off of there hands, Scratch probably wouldn't hesitate to give her away like a bomb about to combust. He despised the fact that another annoyance came up in his afterlife where ignorance became impossible, let alone at the same time as Molly. The mysteries around all of the circumstances since she showed up complicated everything even further to where his mind required constant breaks just so he wouldn't overthink all of the strange effects that happened. However, as days turned into weeks he learned to appreciate all of the new occurrences and understood her desperation to restore herself back to normal size more than anything. If anything, she added more to the craziness of the McGees and provided something to unravel for the sake of her future that Scratch really liked. She also lacked the excited nature Molly gave off on a daily basis, which even he required breaks from, all while she stood as a speck on the ground. His hate against Nancy started off strong, but over time it weakened until he could comfortably call her…an adequate acquaintance.

"Oh, so I'm not hearing a joke then." Scratch said. "Of course since you're already dead you can't give that type of seriousness. Bad joke? Yes. Appropriate time? Also yes!"

"I'm going to ignore your rambling and get back on point." Selene said before she placed her attention on the girls. "So…how much do you want?"

Molly stared nearly dumbfounded at Selene for a brief moment before she switched gears again.

"Hate to break it to you, but Nancy doesn't fall under the 'doll' category. Sure she may have the size of one, on the smallest of smallest scales, but she has a soul! She's a human being after all!"

As much as Nancy didn't display her feelings at the time, for once she actually had to agree with Molly. Since the start of her turmoils, she feared that her tiny size would end up misconstruing he true self under some more common interpretations. Bug probably stood out as the easiest stereotype, but others like dolls, crumbs, or an incomprehensible speck hung around close behind. Unless someone really narrowed their eyes and got to know her face value became one of the biggest issues, although thanks to the few that truly understood like Molly she at least had some leeway. In some ways, to hear such statements escape from Molly's mouth and no one else sounded a bit out of place in certain areas, and yet she still became her best bet at a size recovery. She treated her like any other human being after all and not like an object.

Selene frowned a little but kept up her friendly attitude toward the others.

"But she has the size to easily match up with my whole collection! Miracles like this only happen once in an afterlife! Surely you can part with something so inconsequential like her!"

As if to gain a head start over the others, Selene floated in close and reached toward the tiny speck of Nancy to grab her. The tiny girl herself almost felt her heart stop at the moment, but someone acted the quickest out of everyone around. Before Selene could get her ghostly fingers on Nancy, Molly sprang into action and snatched her tiny friend away from her shoulder. She kept a firm grip on the speck while Nancy's small head poked out from the top. As much as she desired to not find herself grabbed by anyone, for once the relief fell over her as she knew that Molly held her in the encompass of her fingers over others. Molly bound her for the most part, but not too tightly so she could still breathe. The colossal girl that was Molly made sure that she always kept her close as all times.

"Unh unh unh, hands off the shrunken girl, lady." Molly said as her eyebrows tipped down.

"I can easily make it worth your while though!" Selene responded. "I'll…I'll even part with some of my most prized collections if you give me a chance!"

"Geez, and even I thought I could go crazy over anything at times." Scratch said while he rolled his eyes. "We gave our hard denials lady, and it won't change at all. You can't keep this up all day!"

---

Selene made sure to keep up with begging all day.

Even after they mustered through her constant offers and managed to find a doll for Nancy's sister, no matter how much they attempted to avoid her the ghost always found a way to interrupt their activities just for an extra moment. A play date at the dog park? Selene popped in as they sat on a bench. A calm moment at the library? She instantly appeared once Molly opened the first book. Private time in the bathroom? Not even privacy fazed Selene when her hand popped out of the toilet. Molly usually planned every day thoroughly for activities and enjoyed all of her ideas to hang out with her close friends, and yet the one particular day fell into ruin thanks to an annoying ghost and her tendency to show up at the worst of times. While not one to call every day a failure, Molly still labeled the day as "so and so of unbaked cookie dough" in her personal notes. She handled Scratch to where he became her supernatural friend, befriended Libby despite her nervousness and overestimates with theories, and took it upon herself to change Nancy back and her outlook on everything, but for once she wanted someone out of her life altogether. She usually never resorted to such conclusions, but Selene stepped a bit too over the line. Never had she wanted to label a day as anything other than another positive one, but after all of the annoyances to BUY Nancy away from her she may have to set certain standards somewhere else.

Eventually, after dozens and dozens of constant annoyances from the doll loving ghost, night finally fell over Brighton and Selene finally left them alone. Scratch made note of the less than amused expression across her face before she disappeared for the final time, but at that point Molly heard the bells. She brushed her teeth, along with Nancy's which basically went over her entire face, before she headed up to her attic bedroom and plopped on her bed. She made extra sure nobody in the household heard or saw Nancy in any aspect before she brought her out of hiding. The tiny girl's hair took on a messy bush look after Molly haphazardly brought her way larger toothbrush across her speck of a face, but for the most part she appeared okay. Even so, Molly couldn't help but giggle a little at the sight, which brought a small smile to Nancy's face. Everyone was ready to head in for the night.

…for the most part.

Immediately once she made her way inside her bedroom, Molly set Nancy nearby and plopped on her bed from sheer exhaustion. She inadvertently catapulted Nancy upward for a split second, which would have made her scared for her life if it lasted any longer. Scratch floated in while he seemed unfazed by all of the annoyances brought by the one doll loving ghost.

"Sweet baby corn… Oh, sweet baby corn…" Molly mumbled through her pillow. She groaned for a few extra seconds before she turned her face back up to the others.

"I may need to turn the dial down a notch for loving plush toys after this. Not by too much, but enough so that I don't tear my hair out!"

"I think I still hear the ringing in my head…" Nancy said before her head shook as Selene's voice echoed through her.

"I have an entire cacophony pounding through me!" Molly responded.

The two girls looked over to Scratch to her his two cents about the day, but he seemed unresponsive despite his gaze directly at them. While unnerving to an extent, they learned that, at least to Molly, he cared enough to not scare or worry them to any extent.

It took a couple a couple of seconds of silence, but eventually Scratch finally got to them.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?"

…after he pulled out two pieces of cotton from both sides of his head.

"Seriously Scratch?!" Molly said in slight disbelief.

"Hey, I zoned out around halfway through the day. I would do anything to get out of that crazy ghost's begging."

"You could have given us a heads up first!" Molly replied. "We need to experience bliss too!"

"Sorry, for you came in a little late there." Scratch answered.

Molly groaned again and placed her hands on her forehead. For once Nancy got to see Molly in a new light other than pure joy and happiness, although she probably wished she didn't. Molly's mood in anything other than her usual kind of painted curved lines other than straight, and those lines barely missed the spiked railings. If she dipped any further across the sides Nancy feared that she might snap and take the ones nearby with her, which she wanted no part of. From the other times Molly ran "off the rails" she pretty much lost her mind and changed into a completely different person everyone ended up used to, which pretty much hurt only herself and left everyone alone. She couldn't blame Molly if she lost a small bit of sanity every time she hit the deep end, and yet she learned that the ones around her helped keep those crazy thoughts in check. In some ways it reminded her of herself, although she acted in a different manner compared to the overjoyed Molly, and provided something she can relate to. Molly kept her in check at all times after all and helped suppress her horrified thoughts as she stated multiple times that she would find a way to reverse the reduction placed on her. While on two different sides, similarities existed that helped connect the two.

"Errgh, I had the whole day planned out too…" Molly said in a slightly lower tone before she shifted again. "On the positive side though, I never gave up the tiny cute one of the group! Another win for the MISSION Squad in the bag!"

"Ummm, didn't your eyes gleam at the one blonde haired doll…in that marvelous outfit straight from the cosmos?" Nancy mumbled at a normal volume. "You seemed to really want that-"

Before she knew it, Molly instantly brought one of her massive fingers over Nancy's entire body, which cut her short by a margin.

"A TOTAL WIN for the MISSION Squad!" Molly interjected rather shakily and guiltily.

Nancy stared flatly in her direction once she could see again. Scratch even glanced at her like she just lost her mind.

"And I thought my obsession with Motichan merchandise zoomed over the line." Scratch said before he yawned. "Anyway, goodnight to both of you."

The girls watched as Scratch floated over to his personal model house and compressed his entire body until he could fit through the front door. One clean turn of the handle later and Scratch disappeared inside, which gave Molly and Nancy indicators that they should probably follow his example. Their escapades throughout the day with Selene took the entire day to muster through, and after those types of situation they deserved some quiet time. Molly in particular quickly brought out one of her signature smiles before she reached forward and planted a hand flat in front of the tiny girl on her bed. Nancy understood what she wanted and carefully walked atop of one of Molly's fingertips before she lifted her off the bed. Because she couldn't climb up all the way unless she desired to take a steep fall, Molly had to embed her hand into the bed pretty deeply until she gave Nancy some flat footing, which didn't matter to the massive one as much since she basically went through every safety precaution imaginable just so she wouldn't inadvertently harm her in any way. The MISSION Squad required Nancy up and about for a clean success after all.

Nancy kept a steady footing as Molly elevated her right to the top shelf near her bed where she always slept for the nights, and once she set foot on the wood she got a good view of Molly's planet sized smiling face.

"Today may have went less than adequately, but it only incentivised tomorrow to go EVEN BETTER! I'll make sure when the next day comes we'll find ourselves EXTREMELY HAPPY over everything else! No more misery on my watch, that's for sure!"

Nancy found it rather charming to hear Molly change something negative into a positive. It helped complement her optimism to where minor inconveniences didn't chip away at her like she developed a rock hard exoskeleton…like a beetle. While Molly fancied herself as someone not too appreciative of the bug family, she obviously knew Nancy as unrelated and never reviled in horror at her indescribable features from the naked eye. In certain ways she wish such positivity rubbed off of her to where such fears didn't affect her, for it provided semi invulnerability to all of the misery built up since she shrunk. Everything always flowed in Molly's direction and such weaknesses never became apparent for her, as all negative vibes just fell off of her. All fell in Molly's favor as reality adored her, while the polar opposite affected Nancy on a daily basis.

It really felt like nothing stood a chance against her joyous attitude.

"Nighty-night Nancy! I'll see you in the morning!"

"Errrr, you too." Nancy responded as she slightly nodded.

With that said, Molly disappeared down below to her bed before she shut the lights off. While she couldn't see too much down below in the dark, Nancy figured Molly would fall asleep pretty quickly so she took her leave toward the back of the shelf. After a couple of minutes she reached the stray piece of cotton and fabric Molly meticulously crafted for Nancy's stay in the McGee household. She wrung her brain out and fiddled with around a dozen or so rulers before she finally settled on workable numbers that eventually lead to the perfect construction of a tiny girl's bed. At that point Nancy already became accustomed to the hard wood for sleeping grounds, but the addition of some extra conveniences lead her to sleep slightly better than before. Molly needed to keep her out of sight just in case, which meant anywhere else became off limits for now, but Nancy didn't mind. She found herself comfortable on the shelf, and if it ain't broke than don't fix it.

She gave herself a few more seconds as she settled in under the cloth and placed her head on the small cotton ball. After she gave off a deep breath and stared off into the top ceiling of the shelf she finally closed her eyes. She knew that likely another nightmare of Molly's giant ghost would follow, possibly another where her huge finger made her spontaneously combust on the spot, but she hoped over time reality gave pity and left her alone. If her luck turned around she might finally discover a breakthrough that gave something crucial to her whole fiasco. She was only eleven years old compared to Molly's thirteen after all.

As her mind went on a trip into dreamland, for once she managed to find some calmness throughout all of the mucky waters plagued across her. Her breathing slowed peacefully while she curled up into a more relaxing position. She almost never experienced such ever since her miniaturization, and yet she almost couldn't believe it herself. Such stillness, love, and composure added into a very pleasant sleep over her young body. While her back became a bit cold despite the cloth and goosebumps dotted around her skin, for once none of it mattered. After everything she went through such a deep sleep opened its arms to her in a heartwarming snug. The night became such a gratifying one for the one stricken with the worst of the worst.

…at least in a false sense.

The comfort may have coursed through her at first, but the cold chills became harder and harder to ignore over time. The cloth provided next to nothing as her skin crawled into freezing ice, which caused Nancy to bind herself even tighter. Eventually, it became too much as all of the heat left her which shot her eyes wide open. Such feelings failed to occur until it reeled up into an everlasting winter that night, and while at first she seemed to not understand such a happening once her eyes faintly picked up something as it appeared from the wood of the shelf itself. Once a certain pair of eyes slowly gazed at her she felt the urge to scream, but before she ever concluded on such an action something clamped it shut and left her muffled. The rest of her body followed, then soon enough the main culprit gladly smiled down toward her tiny eyes. Nancy never had perfect safety with the inhibitors over her body.

"If I can't have the perfect playmate, then she doesn't deserve you either."

The shrunken girl immediately found herself airborne and muffled as a familiar yet deadly sight came into eye distance. Her panic increased to her failing actions since she witnessed a prime example of such a phenomenon up close, and such a process now had her name on it. No matter how much she tried to yell and scream nothing came out, and when she hovered only inches away no such struggles would change her fate. The light and sparks showered around her as the sensations surged to a final judgment she felt almost instantly. Everything formed together as the peeling occurred like she changed into a lone sticker in a packet. She went from flat to bent when the forces literally peeled her upward which visuals kept her updated on nonexistent sights. While it began at her head, the sensation soon dipped downward to her neck, then torso, abdomen, torso, legs, and then to the final stretch of her feet. As each part fell she became further hollowed out as if her conscience wanted to leave her behind, and while she experienced no pain in any aspect, her worry knew no bounds. As only her touch sense remained, a spectacle she saw earlier reared back for her sorry hide. Never had she expected to succumb to the same process, and yet reality used her as a punching bag.

Everything in her feet soon ceased to function…

Then her toes…

…

…

…

…it finished.

---

Scratch snored in his bed while donuts danced above him. While known somewhat throughout the household for sleeping in for extra hours on end, he only required a single interruption before his eyes flew open, and for the most part it boiled down to a certain someone and her crazy antics. He may not always notice such occurrences, which Molly took to her advantage when she required him for certain activities. As she stared through the one window to his bed, in certain ways she almost couldn't get enough of it. She still felt the overjoyed bumps across her back every time her fingers took hold of the tiny girl the MISSION Squad relied on, and while he only brought himself down for the most part when night fell it gave Molly so many ideas that she jotted down in one of her notebooks. The alternate persona of the "Giant Reptilian Molly from the Depths" came from such fascinations after all, especially from Nancy, and even then the ideas poured in. While she gave Scratch hugs on a daily basis, one might wonder how a GIANT Molly would hug a tiny Scratch, which she jotted down as a potential "maybe after I discover a unicorn". As an outgoing and adventurous tween, one such excursion never left her head and she awaited it with open arms.

She still wouldn't allow Scratch any extra wink over the limit of forty.

"Wake up Scratch! It's that time of month!"

Her startling shout shot Scratch up as if some strapped a rocket to his back at the last second. He lightly yelped before his body phased through the ceiling and expanded back to his normal size, which he didn't appreciate in the slightest. He took a couple of moments to wake himself up for the most part, although the bags under his eyes indicated some slight drowsiness still in him.

"Dang it Molly! I almost got a taste of the eternal donut!" Scratch said while he pinched two of his fingers. "This close Mol…THIS CLOSE!"

"Sorry, but you know I can't wait too long when it comes to the BEST DAYS EVER!" Molly replied as the anticipation built up in her. "Take a wild guess Scratch! Do you know what TODAY is?!"

Her ecstatic nature combined with her eager and bright smile basically forced Scratch to play along, although once he glanced around the room the answered required almost next to no thought whatsoever. From the streamers across the ceiling decorated like cat tails to the balloons inflated to where they appeared like large strips of tuna, his guesses remained at one particular subject. To her credit, she went a bit beyond her usual excitement for "one of those days" when it came to decorations. He saw a large post with multiple claw marks nearby and an entire set of small bleachers on her bed littered with cat plushes, each with their own unique appearance. One even held a large signpost with an image of a dog crossed out, which he found as a pretty subtle touch. The flooring of her room even changed into one large rug that displayed a completely adorable image of a newborn kitten with large dilated eyes, and the ceiling ended up covered from top to bottom with multiple drawings of various cats and kittens all hand drawn and painted by the overexcited tween. Just to help reinforce her dedication, each corner became occupied by at least one litter box fit for a cat and her beanbag chair contained multiple swinging bells on sticks that swayed a soft chime from each motion. With her room absolutely covered with the particular furry animal, the obviousness of Molly's question couldn't have stood out more than anything else.

"Gee, I don't suppose it has something do with CATS, right?" Scratch asked with blatant sarcasm in his voice.

Molly lightly squealed in response.

"Eeeeeee! Yes, definitely about our feline friends! You know what that means? IT'S CATURDAY!"

Before Scratch could react, Molly immediately shoved a biscuit shaped like a sardine straight into his mouth. While appalled at first, as he tasted what Molly cooked up he actually rather enjoyed the treat and would have asked for another if the young girl didn't instantly zip off downstairs. She only took a couple of brief moments away, but immediately after she zoomed back straight into the room in a completely different getup. Scratch's expectations took a wrong turn again, as something cheap and unimpressive became his most reliable guesses, but she proved him wrong again. Even though he had no idea if she created such an outfit by herself, he had to give it to her for the authenticity on first impressions. Her complete lower body appeared like she skinned an adult calico cat with a mix of black and brown spots soft to the touch, which even included a curved tail likely made out of wire of some sort. The headband with the respectable cat ears and large glove paws complemented the outfit near perfectly. To top everything off she even painted her face with small whiskers and a small pink nose as if she didn't show herself as an artist already. If she desired to go out with a bag in hand door to door for candy she likely would obtain piles from her detail alone, and her attitude made for a perfect fit for even more her way. From young extravagant girl to frisky happy feline, Molly sure looked the part more than most.

"Okay, I have to admit…you really did some work here." Scratch said before he swallowed the biscuit. "What did you put in these?"

"Oh, those?" Molly responded. "I just filled them with tuna after I bought a dozen or so cans."

If anyone normal would have heard such a fact, one quick trip to the toilet became all but necessary. However, when it came to a gluttonous ghost already dead and immune to food poisoning, Scratch scarfed it down like nothing. He ate more dangerous foods before, such as poison berries, so a biscuit filled with raw fish seemed like a drop in the bucket. Besides, Nancy got him addicted to seafood that helped him stomach any disgusts.

Even so, he stared at her for a moment then back at another biscuit close by.

"No kidding." Scratch said in slight disbelief. "I gotta say…when it come to strange recipes I'll know who to go to."

"Thanks Scratch, but that's only a small portion of my plans for today!" Molly answered. "We got to pay our respects to all feline kind! Brighton shall understand our PURRFECT plans of HISSTORICAL proportions!"

Scratch then watched as Molly zipped all over the room and showed examples of certain activities planned, all while she had on her iconic smile and cat costume.

"First, we'll get started with the scratching posts before we move onto curtains, then we'll go to the park and attempt to snatch birds in our paws before we release the balls of yarn! I have mice catching in the basement as a possible maybe since Darryl won't let his snake collection go hungry, but the constant napping on porches will serve as a substitute in case the piano playing competition goes bust. For the afternoon, we'll see who can stick to a tree the longest before the land on all fours competition starts, and then we'll see who coughs up the biggest hairball! I saw a lot of these on the internet and I couldn't help but FRISK and STEAL to MEOWSTIC ideas!"

Molly put on a big white teethed smile after she finished only for Scratch to not seem too impressed. Her mouth then quickly went flat.

"Right, bad cat pun. I'm still getting the gist of it."

"Remind me to never hire you as a stand up comedian." Scratch said flatly.

Molly's eyes narrowed for a brief moment before she instantly shifted tones again.

"Oh, by the way, your normal ghostly getup won't work for today. Don't worry, for your perfect friend Molly McGee will fix your crisis in a snap!"

"Wait wha-"

The rest of Scratch's remark vanished the moment Molly grabbed the ghost by the hand and brought him over to the large mirror in the room. After she hastily dragged a stool over and placed Scratch atop it, Molly brought out a large makeup kit that remained partially open and got to work immediately. Despite still wearing paws from her cat outfit, she worked as efficiently as she could while Scratch muttered and wriggled at over from all of the objects shoved in his face. From balms, paintbrushes, eyeliner, and even a pair of scissors, nearly everything and the kitchen sink became used in the procedure for Scratch's makeover that Molly made use of. At face value, one might associate all of the extras as unnecessary, and yet she still went for them. Crazy? Maybe. Essential? Debatable. For Molly though, she knew how to work certain part in her favor and understood the ramifications of even a slight mistake. She worked her hardest to make sure her vision came forth for Scratch's new change…all while she still wore her cat paws.

After multiple muffled words from Scratch, continued struggles, and mismatched colors, Molly finally pulled back and let the ghost witness the final product. Despite all of the sharp objects seemingly used by Molly, his generic shape stayed the same for the most part. In terms of his face though, he almost didn't recognize himself at first. His typical long nose retreated inward until it became a small pink circle with some very small whiskers on the side, and his eyes almost expanded to large proportions like dinner plates, although the blackness around them that most ghosts displayed stayed behind. Underneath his changed nose some yellow patches hung around the side above his upper lip, and they even showed a few small dots in certain locations like freckles. While he lacked ears on the outside, Molly made sure to shape parts his upper tuft of ectoplasm into two stout pointy ears like the cat she saw in him, which surprised even him. She even pulled part of his back out into a long moving tail that displayed dozens of black splotches in a checkered pattern. Just to help reinforce the example all over him, multiple long stripes covered the sides of his body and also extended across his back in a way akin to another large feline, which caused Molly's eyes to sparkle with joy. Suffice to say, Molly changed Scratch's appearance in more ways than one to better suit the day ahead.

Scratch only had one thing to say about his makeover.

"Why do I suddenly feel like hating Tuesdays?"

Molly didn't buy his act.

"Come on! Don't be such a sourpuss Scratch!"

Scratch didn't have too much time after until Molly instantly sprayed him in the face with some type of scent. He recoiled back a bit and held his arms out before he opened his eyes and sneezed.

"Blech! Blech! What the heck, Mol?!"

"Every cat needs to relax and calm down after a session at the groomers!" Molly said with a smile. "What better way to calm the nerves than a dose of…catnip!"

Once she finished with Scratch, Molly instantly turned the bottle of spray over to herself and let the nozzle loose. A thin veil of green formed clouds around Molly for a second until they cleared and revealed a very satisfied and pleasured teen underneath. Her jagged smile, slumped back, and crossed eyes told Scratch everything he needed about her enjoyment, although her low pitched moans creeped him out to an extent. While not a cat to any degree, Molly sure obtained her dose of catnip that moment…which she probably won't get enough of.

"Mmmmmm, refreshing herbs and reeds… Cat Molly's favorite…"

"Ohhhhhkay, now I know what to not gift you for your birthday." Scratch said before shifting topics. "So, you gonna get the midget out or what?"

While Molly heard Scratch at first, they required a couple of moments to process. Even so, she still didn't act immediately and stood daydreaming after she sprayed herself, which necessitated one swift slap across the face just to snap her out of it! It didn't hurt, but it caused Molly to shake herself awake before she shot up back to her normal mindset.

"Oh right, I almost forgot about Nancy! I can't leave her out of the PAWFECT activities for today!"

Scratch's eyes instantly went blank before he crossed his arms and shook his head.

"Seriously Mol?"

"I'm still working on it!" Molly replied while slightly frustrated.

With that said, Molly zipped over to the one shelf near her bed where she always placed Nancy before bedtime. Scratch sighed a little on the sideline until he saw the respective plate near the windowsill where Molly placed the tuna filled biscuits. He eyed it down for a split second as he floated up close to it, and since Molly had her sights set on the shelf, it left the plate wide open for the picking which Scratch took full advantage of. His "seafood tooth" still screamed at him for more.

Molly smile had no bounds as she slowly peeked across the top shelf and silently mumbled to herself like she thought of the perfect idea. She gave off a couple of lighthearted chuckles before she finally let herself loose and instantly popped up over the shelf.

"MORNING NANCY! GUESS WHAT TODAY IS?! I HAVE A PORTION OF THE SCRATCHING POST WITH YOUR NAME ON IT!"

As much of a surprise as she wanted to put on full display for the shrunken girl, she heard not a single reaction her way. It didn't kill off her mood yet, for she scanned all around the area at first glance just in case she may have startled her. However, no matter how much her eyes scanned the particular places again and again, even with her thorough sight since Nancy's size basically required it, she found no sign of the eleven year old anywhere.

"Uhhhh, Nancy? You here?"

As much as she didn't want to move stuff around in case she would accidentally crush her, Molly had no other choice since on the surface level she couldn't see her. Even so, she played it safe and carefully shifted some books around, even with her large paws, as she kept her eyes peeled. As for Scratch, his attention set on the delicious plate and his sinister smile told everything he intended to do. While he may have thought he found an easy score though, he never paid attention to the other guest that napped nearby. Whether Molly accidentally brought it in or it wandered in from the open window, none of it mattered when it kept the biscuits on the menu even when it slumbered. Before Scratch could even lay a finger on one of the treats, it shot out a paw which made him yelp before its beady eyes leered at the ghost like a predator. Even if Scratch made himself semi invisible except to the ones he granted the ability to see him, animals ended up as one of the few exceptions to the rule. Once he pried himself from the claws in his hand, Scratch looked at animal in the eyes in slight guilt as he slowly grabbed a biscuit as if to not upset the feline any further. The cat didn't move at first but hissed in his direction, which Scratch didn't back down from at first while he slowly picked up the biscuit from the plate and opened his mouth to eat it. Unfortunately, he pushed his luck a bit too much during the last few seconds and the cat wouldn't have it. It lunged straight forward and screeched before Scratch found himself on the receiving end of millions of bites and claws. No matter how much he tried to pull the cat off it stuck to him and kept ripping him to shreds…all of which Molly never noticed in the background behind her. The brawl between animal and ghost eventually culminated into a large dust cloud that ran all over the room, and multiple loose parts of Scratch's ectoplasm sprayed in several spots from the carnage. Both Molly and Scratch had their priorities, with one safe and the other in pieces.

No matter how much she attempted to find her though, Molly couldn't find the tiny girl anywhere. Eventually she began getting frantic, and soon enough she moved every object around for even a slight clue about her whereabouts, and yet her eyes located nothing. As far as she knew, Nancy completely disappeared.

"SCRATCH, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!"

While he may not share a curse with her anymore, the ghost still listened even as he fought with the rogue cat. Eventually, he let the plate go and gave it to the cat just to save the rest of his ectoplasm, which the animal accepted and hoarded it atop Molly's bed. In the aftermath, Scratch had a large chunk of his body either ripped to shreds, torn apart, slashed open, a loose ticktacktoe game, or thrown somewhere across the room. He even only had one eye in him since the other hit somewhere else in the room during the scuffle, and what became of his makeover Molly put him through basically fell apart in an instant. His namesake couldn't have fit more perfectly than any other moment in his afterlife.

Still, his damaged spirit floated up toward the frantic Molly less than enthused while the cat on the bed enjoyed the plate of biscuits and stuffed its face.

"You caught me in stitches, so this better go by quick."

"It won't if we don't find her this second!" Molly stated in panic. "NANCY'S GONE MISSING!"

Even though the apparent visible capillaries in her eyes provided all of the information he needed, Scratch didn't budge too much.

"So what else is new?" Scratch said in a mellowed manner. "How many times have you lost that midget again?"

"I haven't lost her that many times!" Molly replied. "I've searched all over this shelf and found NO TRACE OF HER!"

"She couldn't have gone far with those tiny legs you know." Scratch said. "You sure you haven't searched well enough?"

"YES, I'M SURE!" Molly stated while she freaked out.

The damaged body of Scratch sighed deeply for a second before he fell back and grabbed his loose eye from the splattered spot. Once he shoved it back into its socket and shook himself back to his normal shape, all while the cat on the bed viciously leered at him to not come closer or face another angry slashing, Scratch floated back to Molly and glanced over the shelf himself just to reassure that she told the truth. Because he cared a bit less compared to Molly's wary caution, Scratch blitzed through the shelf as nearly everything flew around t until he literally put his face into it. His entire spectral spirit took up nearly everything on the shelf as he looked over every single spot for Nancy…plus a few extra places.

"Hmmmm, I can't seem to see her anywhere close in here, but maybe if I try a little more depth… Oh, wait! What do we have here?"

Molly spirits slightly rose as she heard her ghostly friend while he embedded his face everywhere.

"Hey Mol, I think I may have located her! I don't blame you for missing this certain spot, but I see something very faint in there!"

"Got it!" Molly exclaimed before she hastily pulled Scratch away so she can see for herself.

She paid attention to where Scratch looked at a particular angle, which lead her over to one of the corners of the shelf she glanced over numerous times. Once she narrowed her eyes and focused Molly finally figured out the abnormal part Scratch talked about. While ever so slightly visible, she barely managed to see a very slight crack in the wood she failed to notice before. While not too notable at first, once she glanced further down toward the bottom a certain shape became obvious and recognizable in an instant, although her head remained in the crack for some reason. She couldn't ignore such a familiar sight, and soon after the relief settled in.

"Oh, sweet baby corn, I finally found you! You nearly scared me for a second, but I'm so glad you didn't leave!"

She expected Nancy to pull her head out from the loud voice, but for some reason she still kept her head in the crack. While Molly found it rather odd to see her tiny friend blatantly ignore her, if she somehow got her head stuck she needed to act fast. Since she already assumed that specific occurrence happened, Molly carefully took off her paw gloves and brought two fingers forward toward the young girl. She made extra sure she didn't hurt her as she cautiously lowered them down and pinched her back using her fingernails. Once safely in her grasp, Molly lifted the tiny girl up before she set her down in her other hand for better visibility. For such a weird set of circumstances, at least Molly finally found and held her, which gave the tween another chance to act like the biggest friendly girl in existence.

However, even as Molly kept her shrunken friend in the palm of her hand, Nancy still kept her head down as she sat slumped in a rather awkward position.

"Nancy? You okay down there?"

She heard a response in the form of some indescribable mumbling from Nancy, but she failed to move too much. Even Scratch became curious and glanced at the girl in Molly's grasp, only for some shivers to crawl down his back in the process. While he didn't know why at first, Nancy's run down appearance shot a couple of red flags up. Even so, it rubbed Molly the wrong way too, but due to the fact that she refused to look up, it required some "massive Molly" intervention. She brought another one of her massive fingers forward and sluggishly used another fingernail to lift Nancy's head upward toward her and Scratch.

Her expression left the two mortified.

They saw the cherished tiny girl all right, but not in her typical form. Multiple bagged dangled under her eyes while the eye themselves stared off as if someone replaced them with glass replicas. The frown across her face appeared lifeless and dead as it failed to move much, although the rest of her body also acted the same. While she showed no signs of injuries or foul play, the color across her body fell slightly pale and drained across every single inch, which almost gave her the appeal of an undead zombie or mummy of some kind. Her arms hung like dead fish and while she sat up for the most part, her lags stayed immobile like iron. At certain points her tongue stuck out and drooled before she slowly withdrew it back into her mouth, almost in a very creepy manner, which made Molly and Scratch shudder. They knew they finally came across Nancy…but at a cost.

Her appearance took Molly by surprise enough to where she almost dropped her, but she stayed upright as certain factors came into her head.

"Uhhhhhh…Nancy? You, errrrr, okay?"

"I don't care."

Nancy's voice fell flat and stiff to the dryness in her tone. It probably would have taken a bit of time to figure out what happened, but thanks to a previous incident Molly and Scratch came to an instant conclusion.

"Scratch…I think Nancy completely lost her mind." Molly said in slight panic.

"Wow, you just figured that out already?" Scratch replied while he fought back the urge to roll his eyes. "I mean, I pretty much found out she had a couple of screws loose when that one-"

"No Scratch, not she like she went crazy!" Molly interrupted. "I'm saying she literally 'gave up the ghost' like I did! Her spirit completely left the building!"

"Errrrgg, I feel nothing." Nancy uttered in her flat tone.

At that point, she completely hunched forward until her head hit Molly's skin and stayed there like a dead puppet. Molly felt buckets of drool fall out of her mouth which, while gross, helped reinforce the concept behind her emptiness.

"Okay, I pretty much figured that out the instant I saw her face." Scratch replied. "Even ghosts like me need SOME entertainment in their afterlife."

"Not the time, Scratch! DEFINITELY not the time!" Molly said slightly frantically. "Did you do this? You can conjure up portals to the Ghost World after all."

Scratch shook his head.

"And possibly give myself an even bigger headache with an uncontrollable midget ghost over a strange workable midget girl? Yeah, no thanks."

"So, if you didn't do it, than who could have-"

Molly stopped herself prematurely once the light bulb shined above her head. The instant it hit her she deeply frowned and dipped low into disappointment and disgust territory.

"…she really couldn't take no for an answer…" Molly said in a disgruntled tone.

"Seems like she didn't." Scratch replied. "That crazy idiot possibly took Nancy back to her own place for eternity."

"Then we have to get her back." Molly stated with slight valor. "Scratch, do you know of Selene's whereabouts?"

"Other than the fact that she went crazy?" Scratch asked.

"Yes! Anything to get Nancy back!" Molly responded. "How about location? Anywhere in the Ghost World ring a bell?"

Scratch shook his head again.

"Just because I'm a ghost doesn't mean I'm an encyclopedia and atlas. The Ghost World contains a lot more than the brief snippets you've seen, and Selene could have claimed her humble abode anywhere in the endless void."

"But you must have learned of some clues during her visits to the toy section!" Molly said. "Come on Scratch, I really need your help here!"

Scratch saw the desperation in Molly's eyes which her couldn't ignore. She clearly cared for Nancy's safety, if the MISSION Squad didn't inform him otherwise, and it meant a lot to get her back. Even in a large kitty costume she stood her ground to help the ones close to her, and while the shrunken girl shared no family relations with Molly, she would gladly call her part of the family even after the few times they spent together. She made and lost a lot of friends before she arrived in Brighton, and Nancy became one of them to stick with her for the foreseeable future despite the slight friction between them. Ignorance over her never stood a chance in Molly's eyes, and she would travel to the ends of the Earth and back to snatch her from the clutches of evildoers.

Her dilated kitten appearing eyes tugged at Scratch more than he could handle.

"Okay, okay! Maybe I HAVE eavesdropped a few times for a COUPLE of snippets, but we can't exactly rely on them for-"

"YAY! THANK YOU SCRATCHY!"

Molly wasted no time as she set Nancy's body on her bed before she provided the ghost with one of her tight gripped hugs, which inflated Scratch head pretty widely until she eventually popped the top of his head like a balloon. Since he already lingered between the living and dead he stayed intact when Molly finally released him.

He took a moment to comically sew himself back up before Molly spoke up again.

"Because we have to go into the Ghost World, I'm going to need one small favor from you Scratch."

Scratch finished stitching himself back up before he answered.

"You want me to fire up the ghost portal then?"

Molly nodded.

"Please do so. We have to get Nancy back more than anything."

She then took a prideful stride and struck a valorous pose.

"Sit tight for now Nancy, for the leader of the MISSION Squad shall rescue you from the clutches of the evildoers no matter what! No matter where you end up, I'll always-"

She never fully finished her speech as her throat began to muddle to a certain extent that nearly made her cough. Before she could fully commit to it though, she completely hurled out one very large hairball that just so happened to head straight for Nancy's body and cover it completely from head to toe. She would have gone over and pulled her out if Nancy's didn't never slowly slide out from the buckets of saliva and stickiness, which, because her spirit completely separated from it, never seemed to care about as it slumped to the ground again.

Scratch glared at Molly for a second who quickly retorted back.

"Hey, today required authenticity and I delivered! You would've done the same thing if you followed my calendar!"

"Yeah, I would have DEFINITELY cared enough to dress myself up like that." Scratch sarcastically answered while he referred to Molly's cat outfit.

"I don't care about anything…" Nancy's drained body replied flatly while it stayed sticky all over.

---

Nancy never imagined that she would ever take in air again, but once it poured into her lungs her eyes jolted awake. After the grim scare last night her senses basically informed her that she went through something horrific, and for the most part her panic amplified them ten fold. Her breath shortened and refused to slow down, which didn't help matters as her mind tried to catch up to the times. What started as a good night sleep turned sour in an instant, and the more she reminisced the more she wished her life still stayed on track…from before Molly's intrusion. Once again, she served as the beating stick to the reality around her, which brought her down more pegs than one.

She lightly shrieked when she woke up and tried to get to her feet. While her arms moved and functioned like normal, when it came to her legs they became completely unresponsive. She panicked a bit before she instantly looked down to survey the potential damage, only to find no such limbs in sight. Her breathing shortened even more as something black and semi transparent hit her sights instead, which soon followed by a quick scan over her arm. No such living tissue passed through her line of sight, for only two lanky black arms became known to her utter worries ahead. At that point she required a clean picture of her actual self to quell the progressing dread and kill the anxiety before it rose too high, which she didn't have to look too in depth for since she saw something ahead of her. While most of the area around her stayed somewhat dark, ahead something reflective and semi holographic set instead that would possibly work just as well. Because her legs disappeared off the map, she instead used her arms to steadily crawl forward until she reached it. While tiring, none of it mattered when a clear picture of herself became her top priority, and after a strong pull upward she finally found the answer she wanted.

Molly wasn't the only young girl of Brighton to completely escape her body anymore.

The image stayed pretty vague, but she could barely make out the image of herself. While she experienced what Molly went through when she lost her body, Nancy didn't expect to go through with it first hand. At least for the most part she recognized herself, but not in a manner she was used to. Similar to Molly's ghost, her overall form as a spirit reflected her actual body to an extent. Her face and proportions matched her image very well, and yet she saw certain differences that made her shudder. She no longer had her hazel eyes as in their place set a pair of two beady black ones with gray sclera around the pupils, which matched with the black surrounding areas akin to most ghosts she'd seen. What she once wore as her standard attire now blended in to the point where they practically changed into parts of her spirit, which meant she wouldn't require any as someone without a body. She still kept her long hair even though it shared the same color as her body, which she witnessed as pretty standard from other ghosts Molly provided through her eyes, and yet it didn't stand out compared to one major detail no other ghost displayed, at least from what she'd seen before. Every ghost pretty much existed in one particular color, from purple, blue, and even bright yellow in Molly's case, which helped them blend in or distinguish themselves from others in certain cases. With that fact in mind, she never would have guessed which color her ghost would have ended up unless she saw it with her own eyes, which she did in full view. It heavily contrasted with everyone else in the world of the undead, even Molly's spirit, and it unnerved to to certain extremes.

Black. PITCH black.

While her spirit maintained some level of transparency, for the most part her color stayed as the darkest shade imaginable. If the dark areas around her eyes like all ghosts had wasn't a slightly brighter black she probably would have missed it initially, for she could barely make out the rest of her features due to the color. Not even her typical blue tips at the end of her hair displayed in her ghostly form from all of the black, and she would easily fit in to the darkness around her if her gray eyes never gave her away. If any of the scarier ghosts managed to look at her color they probably wished they ended up with black over their own, and yet Nancy felt the contrary. Anything other than pure darkness suddenly became the best possible outcome for her, but she knew she couldn't change it. In the end, she got stuck with black, and her ghost will continue to use black.

It took only a couple of seconds to figure out how to float and fly around, especially since she lacked legs, which didn't require much. She considered it akin to something like breathing, for her mind just handled the process automatically until she voluntarily handled it herself. Even so, she only solved one of her problems as a wandering spirit while hundreds followed after. After she got the hang of it for the most part, she next needed to figure out where she ended up after that horrified night. Luckily for her, the clear holo cover gave her more than just a vague image of herself. As much as she wanted to stay in the shadows, any further information became mandatory if she wanted to find a way out…wherever she ended up.

The images definitely didn't disappoint, and they almost sent her staggering backward. First off, her presence barely made a dent in the scope of the room she found herself in, and even a normal sized being probably never had a chance either. If certain features failed to stand out she probably would have mistaken the entire place as an auditorium of some kind, for it expanded to those types of scopes. At least the raspberry colored carpeting and white pristine walls appealed to her in combination with the pine green colored couches in one of the corners. For such a spacious room, she could still determine at least some objects close by, such as a tightly locked chest below her near a one of the expansive walls. Even though she couldn't see its contents, at that certain point she wanted nothing to do with whatever stayed locked in it. One large square window set on the wall above it, which made her wonder why anyone possibly wanted a piece that large since she never saw a point in it. Unless someone really wanted a thorough look at one particular sight across the street it seemed like one large waste of space, which the owner appeared to not get the memo. For whatever reason to her left, she also saw a big piano that may have existed around possibly hundreds of years ago from the worn wood and corners of dust at every angle. While she didn't quite understand the appeal of playing such an instrument, especially after one point where her parents once sent her to personal lessons with others, she also knew that it required a lot of memorization and note reading that flattened her brain when she concentrated too hard. Even so, it seemed to nobody used it in forever and abandoned it pretty quickly like the plague. Even though the room existed in such a massive scope, the entryways into other rooms also opened up at similar lengths as if someone greatly bigger lived in such a place. From the few snippets she managed to see through the entryways, the one further away to her right revealed a couple of nondescript stools and a large brown table followed by…a counter of sorts. It stayed too far to the left for the clearest picture, but from the brief impressions she guessed the room might have ended up as a kitchen of some sort. To her far left the other opening lead to a short hallway where she could barely see a staircase against the furthest wall and two twin doors in front to the right. A portion in front of the stairs seemed like it lead off toward the right to another hallway, but from the angles given to her she couldn't claim it as completely accurate. From everything she saw of the new location, she wouldn't blame herself if she became a hostage for a deadly dragon while a knight in shining armor journeyed across several lands to reach her, even if such a beast thought things…a bit more casually than the common stereotype. From such a combination of factors, she had to admit whoever lived in such an abode lived in scenic style.

From large rooms to her dark prison, Nancy still needed to figure out what sort of contraption kept her sealed from reality. While she could barely see from the inside, it left her with only the outside to find potential clues. However, due to the limited scope off on the sides she only managed to slip in a couple of brief glances, but she only needed those snippets and nothing more. Once it occurred to her where she found herself trapped, it only worried her even more.

She found herself trapped inside of a doll box.

She never stood along the floor in the first place, but on one of around hundreds or so shelves decorated from one end to the other in dolls. For such a massive room with endless amounts of wall to work with, the place where she couldn't get a full picture became the final destination for endless rows of the toys for girls, and clearly someone saw her as one of them. Due to her tiny stature in the land of the living, one could easily associate her as such…if she stood a bit taller. Even she understood that at her shrunken height such a picture basically never flew into her mind, and even Molly mirrored the same thoughts. Nearly every type of doll imaginable towered over her in some fashion, as fine lines blurred into nondescript features at half a centimeter big. She knew the common stance toward her classification as a bug, since her height fit around that general scope, but not as a plaything made of plastic. Despite all of the compounding facts against her mindset, none of it mattered since one set of ideals came out on top and dictated the misconception of her miniaturized stature.

If she learned how to phase through objects she probably would have done so by then, but at the point where she figured out most of the details on her own she heard some loud creaking off in the distance. Even with her limited sight, from the barely visible stairs near the left she noticed a very familiar shape as it floated down…along with something else in its hold. While curious to a particular level, she needed no such efforts to distinguish the one being that kept her eyes on the miniature prize for a majority of yesterday. While a bit run down from what her eyes saw, she clearly went through something upstairs from what Nancy guessed.

"Ahh, nothing like a good polish to raise my spirits!" "Twila" said.

"Of course! You deserve the best of the best after all!" Selene replied. "Not a single speck of dust on you!"

"I know, and it makes me feel squeaky clean!" "Twila" answered. "If I may ask, why do you always leave me as the LAST one to deal with? If I'm the most important, I think it seems a bit reasonable to have me go BEFORE everyone else in your collection."

Selene giggled.

"Oh Twila, I do so because I want to give you the most thorough treatment imaginable, and if I let you go first in that instance, well, I'd have to hold up the entire line! You know how some of the others get when they lose their patience."

"Ahhh, yes. Those OTHER impatient jerks." "Twila" responded. "Didn't that one princess chick throw her shoe that one time?"

"Don't remind me of those…collateral damages." Selene said while she tightened her other hand.

"Okay! Okay! I'll let off on that! Sheesh!" "Twila" said. "Sooo, uhhhhhhh, did you also need to focus on my shoes for, ummmmm, a full ten minutes?"

Her question jarred Selene back to reality.

"Oh, right! Of course I had to! Remember what said about your top treatment?"

"But…I'm pretty sure you left them spotless every-"

"DON'T BITE THE HAND THAT CONTROLS YOU, TWILA." Selene said in a deepened pitch while her face slowly devolved into horrific madness.

She stayed like that for a few more seconds while she stared at Twila before her mood shifted instantly. Her frown flipped upside down as if her previous anger never happened, then soon after she stored Twila away for safe keeping. In certain ways she almost expressed herself like Molly and her constant shifts, but at least with her captor she kept some form of sanity in her that kept her from certain extremes…in certain situations. For Selene, such standards flew out the window since she clearly resorted to kidnapping just to get her way with her new living toy, which Molly wouldn't resort to…unless her target was Nancy. In retrospect, the two really had some similarities when she put her mind to it, but Nancy would take Molly over Selene any day.

Nancy silently watched as Selene slowly floated toward her while her tiny self remained trapped in the box. The wraith of the two backed away sluggishly at first until the ghost's huge face took up a majority of the viewing space before her, which almost sent her backward in recoil. Instead, Nancy lightly yelped and curled herself up for some type of slight comfort, which didn't help much in the end.

"Yay, you finally awoke!" Selene stated with a smile.

Nancy refused to open her mouth at first to respond as she shuddered all over and stiffened her ectoplasm, which Selene caught on to. It caused her smile to lightly fall.

"Aww, still a little uneasy I see. I guess I don't blame you, especially since I made you mine after all. You better feel up and about when I'm ready to play with you."

"Wha…what have you done to me?!" Nancy exclaimed in pure worry. "I'm…I'm not supposed to look like this!"

Selene turned away rather nonchalantly and glanced up in a sarcastic manner.

"Let's see here. I got rejected by that one girl, continuously pestered her to no avail, and then willingly snatched you while she slept… A rather standard affair in my opinion. Since I couldn't take your body with me I had to rip your spirit out with a ghost portal, which luckily didn't change anything in terms of your adorable charm."

Selene told her everything like her needs never mattered, and yet Nancy couldn't get the circumstances out of her head. The weird sensations of getting peeled off the ground finally made sense, which left the tiny girl as nothing but a living person changed into a wraith against her will. Molly certainly never minded the changes when it happened to her, but Nancy thought things differently. Already she wanted her body back which Selene wouldn't allow as long as she had her, and all of the panic built up in her suppressed her diminished health. Because she lacked a body they only served as a sick distraction more than anything, especially since she no longer had any organs to worry about with hurling and puking. For once her undead nature complemented her normal personality over all of the negative urges, and yet she still couldn't handle herself as a ghost. While she had benefits, she saw the writing on the wall if she didn't reunite with her body at some point.

"But…but I'm not meant to be like this!" Nancy retorted while she stuttered. "Just…just please bring me back to my body…"

Selene glared at her tiny prisoner between the plastic of the box.

"Yeah, not going to happen. That Molly girl refused my offers so I had to take the matters in for myself. If you want to blame anyone, go after her…if you ever see her again after today."

After everything Nancy heard escape from Selene's mouth, for once she wished to have Molly hold her captive over Selene. At least with Molly she still saw a young girl through the magnifying glass and not a collectible object. She thought of something similar earlier when she first met Selene, and she still stood by that notion. Clearly after she kidnapped the shrunken girl, Selene never once considered her as anything other than another addition to her doll collection. Nancy had to give it to Scratch for the one statement, for she really WAS crazy.

"Oh, I almost never paid attention to the time! I guess my excitement over finally seeing you awake almost carried me away! Time for PLAYTIME!"

Nancy's gray eyes nearly expanded into dinner plates once she figured out what would happen next. Before it even occurred to her about what happened, she immediately found herself against the back of the box while she struggled to find a way to phase through. Her inexperience as a ghost became her downfall as she saw the plastic once it opened up and revealed one of Selene's large hands. No matter how much she tried, nothing she did worked in her favor and before long she fell to the giant ghost's digits as they pulled her away. While she no longer floated around in complete darkness of the doll box, she now became bound to the twisted mind of the doll loving ghost.

Nancy's breathing shortened considerably in the ghost's hand as Selene's enamored eyes gazed at her endlessly.

"Oh my gosh, I can't help it! SOOOOOOOO CUUUUUUUUUTE! Despite your existence as a ghost now, I just can't take my eyes off of you! I'LL NEVER LET YOUR ADORABLENESS OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

Nancy already heard it the moment they met, and yet Selene still made it apparent that she owned her now. At that point her hearing grew tired of the same statement again and again, but Selene wanted to make sure the facts engraved in her mind for eternity. Her nervousness prevented speech against the doll loving ghost, which she seemed to take advantage of as she forced Nancy to submit to her ideals. The newly made wraith basically held no power against Selene and her crazed antics.

At first, Nancy expected Selene to immediately start with one of her possible games, and while she stated the time arrived for such an activity Selene didn't act upon her word immediately. Instead, while she kept Nancy bound in her hand, she floated over to the one large window and gazed through it. It also meant that Nancy also got a pristine view of the area around her, but from what she witnessed through Molly's eyes certain signs stirred in her head for what she might find.

…yet none of the scenery reflected such gloomy skies.

The outside caught her completely off guard. While Selene inhabited one of the largest buildings Nancy had ever seen, it equaled a fraction of the full picture. In fact, Selene's abode set at only one of the main corners from what she saw, as everything else bustled around almost in a frenzy. She just so happened to house herself near a four way intersection of a busy metropolis she'd only seen in movies, and the buildings reflected them. To the right across a busy street Nancy saw some little tidbits through the large windows. Round tables in combination with stacks upon stacks of plates gave her certain indications that left her mouth watering at points, although she didn't quite understand the rotating conveyor near the back that constantly brought in plates of food she couldn't recognize. At best some type of white triangle with a black square down below made her think of something close, but not quite. The ghosts inside seemed to enjoy the cuisines, despite Nancy's unfamiliarity, which made her wonder about how each one tasted if given the chance. The building on the left portion of the street probably stood out more than anything else, as the bright lights above the entrance that spelled out…something really painted an appealing look at first sight along with some white cat statue that looked like it wanted to give someone a high five more than anything. Inside through the windows, dozens of rows littered with tall machines called the place home, and numerous ghosts lined up at various ones for a go at them. Out of everything so far, the place became the most recognizable to Nancy and yet it surprised her to know somewhere of its appeal existed in the Ghost World. While she couldn't read the sign up top, she didn't need it to understand what she saw, and she couldn't blame the long lines of ghosts. From crane games, video games, and even quirky pachinko she basically witnessed all of the common types throughout her glimpses of the building. While she never fancied herself as completely into such games, if someone asked she most likely would follow. The last building, and the one furthest to Selene's place off near the upper left corner, served as familiar yet different at the same time. It served as the widest of the bunch, as only a couple of long mats stretched across the floor along with a few punching bags that hung from the ceiling. While ambiguous at first, once she noticed the ghosts as they zipped around everywhere she required no further clues. She never considered herself someone to take up those types of actions, even in self defense, she knew people around her had their interests in such. For most part she preferred brains instead of brawn, and any training directed toward her most likely resulted in nothing but constant flailing from her side. To know that even the undead favored such professions stirred her curiosity a bit, but not enough to willingly desire further information. She left the facts in certain incomplete sentences, for her interests drove in a completely different direction. In one fell swoop, Nancy found herself straight in the ghostly east of the rising sun, which almost seemed like it just moved in next door to Brighton as if it was always there waiting for her to discover it.

Surprisingly, not even the ghosts of the particular region displayed such normalcy…at least from what Nancy saw through Molly. While ghosts typically went by forms akin to when they still had a body, the ones that Nancy witnessed as they floated through the streets of…wherever in the Ghost World she ended up bared no such features. In fact, she definitely found it fair to not classify them under the same umbrella at all! No mouths, noses, unique forms, or anything typically seen on a ghost dotted across their souls, but they at least displayed eyes below their flickering flames. Indeed, every single spectral being in the streets showed as a ball of fire with eyes down below, and none of them seemed to mind the odd shape of their spirits. They floated along, consumed foods, enjoyed arcade machines, and even went through martial arts all without the features of normal ghosts…which also included limbs. From the looks of their only visible part other than their fiery souls, their eyes, they rather enjoyed the afterlife as if nothing wrong occurred, and for Nancy that was all that mattered. They may not share the appearance of a spectral stereotype, but as long as they had their enjoyment in the Ghost World none of it mattered.

Nancy's gray eyes glistened at all of the enticing sights as Selene spoke up.

"Like what you see? I just wanted to give you one good look at where your life now stands, since this part of the Ghost World almost never gets noticed by the general public. The Ghost Council? Pfffffffffffffft! They don't care for an inch whether this part exists or not!"

"I…I don't know what to say." Nancy said while slightly stunned. "I never thought…the Ghost World ever had such splendor. I didn't even know…balls of fire can become ghosts…"

"Hitodama."

Nancy slightly glanced up at Selene in a bit of confusion.

"Umm, what?"

"They're known as hitodamas." Selene said. "You don't see them often in the typical Ghost World because most of the time they usually settle here. For the most part ones that perish in the far east of the world become them due to cultural differences, but they don't seem to mind. Consider ourselves lucky that most of them can speak perfect English here, because this part of the Ghost World gets lots of tourists from specters that know of this place's existence."

To think such a set of facts existed blew Nancy's mind wide open, but before she could possibly ask further some type of doorbell rang. Selene perked right up and quickly turned around to face the front door before she hovered on over. She still kept Nancy in her grasp while she opened the door and saw who caught her attention. For Nancy, it surprised her to an extent. She barely got to understand the concept of floating balls of fire as another type of ghost, and yet one floated right in front of her with some items in tow. The particular hitodama even wore some type of triangular hat with some symbols on the front, that somehow resisted the burning heat on top, and held a piece of paper with some really small stubs below its eyes. Apparently they had some kind of appendages for other actions, which explained the martial arts buildings across the street, but it didn't explain the large filled wheelbarrow attached to to tricycle behind it. Upon first glance, they appeared as some type of small box, which still confused Nancy behind their true purpose. Even so, the appearance of the ball of fire helped further expand the notion behind their uniqueness as ghosts that Selene talked about.

The small ball of fire glanced down at the paper for a split second in its stubs before it got back to Selene.

"Package for a Miss Selene."

As the voice distinguished the certain hitodama as male, Selene happily smiled while Nancy watched from the sidelines. Either the ball of fire didn't care about the tiny girl's presence, or willingly ignored her to stay on track with its supposed job.

"Ooh, yes! I've desired a bento box for SOOOOO long! Where exactly do I sign?"

"Right here, ma'am." the hitodama replied as it handed her the paper and a pen.

Selene lightly squealed before she put the paper on the side of the door and wrote her name all with one hand. While impressive to know about such a talent, she most likely did it because she couldn't let Nancy roam free after she kidnapped her. The trapped one in Selene's other hand bit her bottom lip as Selene finished her signature and handed the paper back. At that point, the hitodama turned back toward the tricycle so he could get back on his delivery route, but at the same time Selene eagerly opened her box and found all of the lush foods inside that gave Nancy some hungry vibes. While Nancy differentiated a pile of rice from what she saw, everything else completely zipped over her head as they set a bit too foreign for her to recognize. She had no idea what the other foods were, but she put a pin in it just in case she ever had the chance to taste them.

"Am…am I seeing wasabi in here?"

Such a question confused Nancy more than anyone else, and yet she clamped her mouth shut and let the others do the talking. Even so, it convinced the delivery hitodama to turn back toward Selene.

"Why, yes. You vividly stated you wanted it with everything else."

Selene's demeanor slowly dipped sour.

"I never said such a thing. Do you WANT to burn my tongue off or something?"

The hitodama cocked one of his eyes up and tilted his body.

"Ma'am, my associates told me plain and simple that you wanted wasabi with your box. If you wish to complain then you should direct yourself to-"

"Show me your list of orders."

Her stern voice went straight to the point, and it seemed to boggle the mind of the fireball…at least from the vague signs across its face.

"Umm, excuse me?"

"Show me your DANG list of orders!"

Before anyone knew what would come next, Selene instantly rushed right up to the small flame and reached behind it until it found the list she demanded. Even though Nancy didn't know how someone with a literal burning soul kept such a piece of paper out of incineration and carried it without any bags or pockets to speak of, none of it mattered when Selene made her dominance over them known. She even made sure to keep most of the details away from Nancy as she scanned through all of the fine print, although she still picked up very brief sights of a language she couldn't read. The angry ghost ran through word after word at a blistering pace until she suddenly stopped. She snorted fumes before she wiped away something off of it then showed the hitodama the results. Time for her to speak her mind.

"Soy sauce… You completely missed the ONE part covered in SOY SAUCE!"

The eyes of the fireball perked up before it blinked a few times at the words shown.

"Oh, well… Umm… My sincere apologies, miss. It seems that one of my associates may have accidentally-"

"I don't want your apologies, you ball of hot air." Selene interjected. "I want to know why you wanted to change me into a FLAMETHROWER! You should have KNOWN that I HATE searing burns, especially when it comes to SPICY TOPPINGS!"

She really appeared like a fuse disappeared behind her hair while she waited to combust before them. If the main area lacked crowds she probably would have stirred a commotion, but due to the busyness everywhere it went largely unnoticed.

"Errrr, uhhhhh…" the hitodama stuttered. "I'll make note of that in case I ever-"

"I'LL RUIN YOU FOR YOUR ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT!"

At that point the small flame had enough and instantly bolted from the spot back to his tricycle. Selene furiously followed close behind until he put the pedal to the metal and sped away like he just joined a marathon. The hitodama disappeared as fast as he could while Selene shouted a few more times just to get the point across.

"DON'T YOU DARE PACKAGE ANY WASABI FROM NOW ON!"

Her eyes twitched while the scowl across her face spelled psychopath in an instant. It chilled Nancy to the bone…if she had any at the moment, and made her shudder before Selene stormed back inside with the bento box in tow. She opened it one more time and deeply sighed in an angry manner before she set it by the staircase. While she clearly expressed herself annoyingly up above, when she acted alone in the Ghost World her true colors displayed underneath. Of course Scratch stated pretty bluntly about his opinions on her, but until then it completely flew under the radar for Nancy. Selene definitely hit herself on the head too much as a child, for no other ghost had it in them to go THAT completely crazy from what Nancy saw earlier.

Once most of the steam left her head, Selene rubbed her forehead for a second and floated back to the large open room from earlier while she still held Nancy. The instant she noticed the tiny girl she completely flipped the lid and almost completely gawked at her.

"Urrrgh, I can't help it! My eyes refuse to leave you alone for even a second! Ooooh, I absolutely LOVE how you look down there, even as a ghost!"

"Errrrrm…thanks?" Nancy silently answered rather confusingly.

Yup. Scratch called it.

"Then I think we should finally get our playtime started! YAY! Fun times between me and my new ghostly doll!"

Nancy bit her lip and shook as the giant ghost scanned her over for a few seconds. Her smile faded a little, but Selene never dipped too low to where Nancy considered her completely carried away for the moment.

"Hmmmm, a bit dull on colors…plus that ragged hairdo. Yup, I'm easily seeing it. Your attire won't cut it."

Such a statement boggled Nancy's mind.

"Errrrm, what? But…but I'm sure ghosts don't wear clothes…at least normally."

"True, but you look like a special case." Selene answered. "If you want to play around in my presence you need STYLE. Going natural doesn't work in my book. Luckily for you, I just so happened to have collected HUNDREDS of doll clothes in my afterlife, and I KNOW one will perfectly fit you!"

Before Nancy understood her words, Selene instantly snapped her fingers which caused a portion of the room to rumble lowly. What began as a small quake soon subsided when a part of the floor under them formed into a large square slate and flipped outward for a vivid shape underneath. To think Selene had some type of future technology in her home sounded ludicrous, and yet Nancy's eyes never lied before. From underneath the slate, dozens of rows that carried doll sized racks filled up the area and set right beside Selene like a group of military soldiers. All of them lined up perfectly and seemed catagorized in a particular pattern, but Nancy lacked the time to figure it out. Even with the rows though, from what Selene stated she had plenty more to choose from.

"Get ready doll, for it's time to play…DRESS UP!"

With that said, Selene eagerly placed Nancy on the floor and rummaged through row after row until she snagged something interesting. The tiny specter bolted herself down and dared not to stray anywhere or escape in any fashion unless she wanted to suffer through Selene's wrath. Even if she did somehow find a way out, since she had no idea about anywhere in the distinct eastern influenced area of the Ghost World, she very well never stood a chance on her own especially with her reduced size…that somehow carried over to her ghostly spirit. For now, endurance stood out as her only chance until she finally found her break, since she desired to get back to Molly as soon as possible.

From dresses, shirts, blouses, and even the occasional trousers, Selene sure made Nancy her experiment of clothes. Since ghosts pretty much never wore anything Nancy didn't need to bring any awkward situations to the table, although one could call the activity between the two ghosts as such. Sometimes Selene never gave Nancy a couple of seconds before she swapped to another set, and soon enough she ran through a large part of her stored collection. While it seemed like the one batch brought up served as the only ones in storage, Selene proved such an assumption wrong once all of them went used on Nancy. After a majority of the used clothes suddenly fell down a chute due to another piece of the floor that opened up, another batch of rows instantly appeared from the first hole. It left Nancy as the unfortunate product of constant clothes testing in a never ending loop of a few seconds of freedom to clothed within moments. Selene pretty much worked herself into overdrive all with a smile on her face while Nancy never found a chance to react. In the end though, Selene eventually settled on a frilly pink dress straight from a fairy tale novel that pretty much dolled up the tiny ghost in an instant. As disappointed Nancy felt under the hood, at least she finally got out of the issue in one piece. She liked to dress up dolls herself, but not the other way around.

The joy across Selene's face told everything.

"Perfect! You match that outfit like it was meant for you in the first place! Granted, it required some digging to find because of your size, but I say that dress looks REALLY good on you!"

Nancy mumbled under her breath while she itched her sleeves and glanced down. For such an appealing garment in Selene's eyes, its comfortable nature hit a few bumps. While not the most problematic, some spots left her to scratch across her back at times which indicated some less than stellar fabric. At least she tolerated it for the most part, despite the fact that she scored it "V" for "very horrid". Her desires tugged at her for the shape of blending in, not as a walking pink target.

Soon after Selene "dolled" her up, she started with the next step. She zoomed over to the chest near one of the corners before she opened it up and rummaged through for something specific. Nancy just floated in the frilly pink dress and watched from a distance until Selene finally found what she wanted. The big ghost's smile reached ear to ear…if she had any, as she towed on over what appeared as a large type of dollhouse straight from all of the popular catalogs. On first glance it almost resembled an abode that Scratch usually withdrew to when night fell, but on the contrary the outside displayed a hot pink with a white roof that helped identify its true purpose. While Nancy never set foot inside Scratch's small hideaway despite the fact that her size allowed her to, she also respected privacy and never once asked the ghost for such an offer. Despite now hovering around as a free ghost after the Ghost Council's demise, she still remained somewhat uneven about a personality change. Even if she made it inside a vast majority still towered over her, as nothing quite matched half a centimeter other than some of the smallest of bugs. In many ways it seemed like a miracle that Molly found her when the opportunity came, and yet her troubles didn't end there. At her size, a model house wasn't the best place to lay low until her ecstatic captor somehow changed her back.

The whole house opened up like a large storybook, which Selene did, and it revealed the rather impressive inside of the establishment. Even though most became near impossible to traverse at Nancy's tiny height, she still found it rather impressive at her angle. For the most part, the whole place consisted of four rooms and a staircase, with the latter situated in the middle. The top left consisted of a standard bedroom and wardrobe that seemed used at first glance, while the top left across from it stood out as the typical bathroom that appeared well decorated. She even saw what appeared as a well replicated toilet and tub one could easy fit a large doll into and pretend that they required privacy. At the bottom of the stair on the bottom left appeared like a standard family room that just so happened to have the entrance to the house near the back. A large couch set smack in the middle while a plastic TV stood across from it that displayed nothing on it. While a few cabinets dotted around the walls, Nancy couldn't see inside even though one of them hung slightly ajar. As for the last room in the bottom right, it surprised Nancy next to none as she saw it as a quint essential station one required for food and drinks. A long sturdy table, for doll standards at least, became the most obvious part as it practically dwarfed the refrigerator and chairs around it, which she possibly concluded as a manufacturing mistake of some sort. Other than a small sink in the back and a couple of cabinets across the walls though, nothing else stood out apart from the norm. Nancy had to admit it made Scratch's place look like an outhouse compared to it, even if she preferred his place over Selene's dollhouse.

"Alrighty! Time for fun, my little Nancy doll! I already got the family prepared!"

Nancy didn't quite understand the last statement at first, but then Selene brought her amorphous nature of being a ghost into the limelight as she sprouted two more arms that each held a doll all while her smile pierced into her being. While she already saw Selene's most prized doll earlier, which she also held in one of her hands, the other two pretty much provided their purpose from first glances alone. One looked like a stereotypical young man with perfect hair and a smile that seemed dead inside, which she knew came with the average dad doll for girls. The other also shared similar traits, but on the other side of the gender spectrum, which informed her that she also saw an average mom doll. Nothing else stood out between the two, although Selene could have gotten them from a bargain bin of sorts, but they set the stage for what the ghost had in mind. Time for their playtime to start.

"Okay, I have everything ready. I only need to put you in one specific spot…"

Nancy stayed silent as another arm sprouted from Selene's body and grabbed her steadily. She brought her over to the small couch in the house's family room and set he down on the cushion before she withdrew her hand back into her body. She didn't quite understand the full picture at first, but before she could possibly ask Selene the large ghost brought the mom doll down and kept it close to Nancy on the couch next to her. Between the two, Nancy barely stood out. She didn't even match up to the high heeled shoes and still stood out as nothing but a speck on the ground. The harsh reminders helped bury her mood into the ground, and the fact that even dolls eclipsed her nearly brought senses of hopelessness into her head.

Selene moved over to the front of the dollhouse where Nancy couldn't see her, and before long the front door opened which revealed the husband doll behind it.

"Honey, I'm back! Work went by as great as usual!"

The voice Selene provided barely resonated as the typical voice of a man, but accuracy stood out as the focal point to the whole thing. As long as Selene waltzed around in her own fantasy, she made all of the rules.

"Welcome back, you hunk of man!" the woman doll "said". "I have your favorite show on! I know you LOVE the slapstick!"

"Oh, definitely!" the man doll "answered". "Just let me unpack my things first, for my boss almost chewed me out for arriving late again."

"Oof, that doesn't sound too pleasant." the woman doll "responded". "Before you go though, you need to know what happened to our little girl…"

Selene tilted the man doll to the side.

"Uhhh, what? Did something happen to her?"

Nancy had her guesses as to where things would possibly lead next, but if she spoke up prematurely she risked Selene's outlandish anger. She just waited for her cue for the sake of her own safety.

"Well, errrrm, just look on the couch next to me."

Selene tilted the male dole again before she slowly moved it in close until it loomed over her. As she had both of the dolls now aimed at her with their plastic faces, she realized just how uncanny they appeared up close. The fake smiles, eyes, and hair all contributed to something that could have passed by as a spooky jumpscare creature in a haunted house. At a further distance such detailed eluded her for the best, and it brought an even creepier tone from how drastically bigger they stood. Nancy may still have an interest in the playthings, but not when observed up close. She placed her bets that Molly probably would have felt the same way if she witnessed the same sets of visuals. Distance really helps masquerade certain facts, and Nancy experienced it first hand.

Selene quickly pulled the male doll back after a few seconds.

"My word! What happened to our daughter?!"

Part of Nancy's thoughts went flat Selene revealed her role. Despite the fact that she failed to appear like her "parents", she still got the part of a young relative related to them. She didn't even take into account the fact that she lacked a body and currently existed as a ghost, for such facts became the most obvious in her eyes.

Once she saw one of Selene's massive eyes through one of the few windows, she got the message to finally take center stage.

"Well, ummm, I…kind of suffered through an accident…"

She voiced quivered all over, but Selene didn't provide too much extra time until she spoke through the woman doll again.

"To make a long story short, a lab accident went wrong. You know Uncle Reese?"

"Ohhhhhhh, right. Now I get it." the male doll "replied". "Hey junior, you okay down there?"

"Errrrm, well, yeah. I guess you can say that." Nancy said while she twiddled her fingers. "The perspectives have warped around me, but I can manage…"

"Good! Very nice to hear!" the male doll "said" while Selene made it pat Nancy's head. "As long as a cure gets made, we'll remain a happy family all around!"

"Thanks for the support, dear." the woman doll "said". "I honestly don't know how long it will take though. With Twila's rather blatant narcissism…"

"I'm sure she'll understand when we explain everything to her." the male doll "replied". "If you need me, I'm going to-"

Selene cut the sentence short when she got up close to the doll house and shook the structure carelessly that almost sent Nancy off of the couch. If she lacked the ability of flight she probably would have careened straight off toward somewhere else, so the fact that she currently existed as a ghost saved her in the end. As to why Selene chose such an action, the question completely flew over Nancy's head as only an answer stayed behind. She pretty much concluded that Selene went crazy again and wanted something else out of her presence, which seemed not too out of place after what she displayed earlier. From an abstract makeshift family to quakes across the house, Selene really thought of the typical household as something out of left field more than anything else.

Nancy quickly caught her breath for a moment before Selene's fake voices rang through her head again.

"Oh, shoot! I think the cat finally found those jars of cookies!" the woman doll "said".

"You don't need to tell me twice!" the male doll "answered". "He'll burn the place down if we don't do something!"

"Yeah, definitely!" the woman doll "said" before Selene tilted its head down. "We'll be right back sweetie. If everything goes well this won't take too long."

"Errrrm… Okay?" Nancy answered while slightly confused.

After all of that said, Selene forced the dolls upward and playfully trotted their plastic feet over to the stairwell before they disappeared up them. Due to the angle, Nancy couldn't see the full picture from above the back couch, but she heard a loud thump that nearly shook her again. She guessed that Selene possibly set them down since they escaped "off screen" so to speak, and yet Nancy refused to fall for it at first. She spent only a couple of minutes, from what she could have guessed, as Selene's toy and barely found times to reply to what Selene wanted. If she truly wanted some time she probably would have at least wanted to spend at least half an hour at best, at least from what Nancy speculated, and she only spent a fraction of that time frame. Nancy knew her time was far from over, and if Selene pinpointed everything out it completely avoided her detection.

…until the most coveted of the bunch emerged from the front door.

She wondered why Selene never brought her out sooner, but she lacked the perfect insight into the crazy ghost's mind anyway. When she said earlier that she gave her most prized doll a good polishing, she didn't kid around. Nancy almost saw herself reflected in the doll's eyes from how pristine and shiny Selene made her. To know she went through that perfect of a session just for one single object completely baffled Nancy about her enigmatic intentions, and yet she still classified her under the insane category. If Selene wanted her under the spotlight for a play session, she sure "dolled" her up for such an occasion.

"Hey everyone! I'm back from my road trip!"

Selene raised Twila's arms up as if she intended for something grand, but the response never came in the form Nancy expected. Instead, another large rumble shook the entire house, caused by the giant ghost, which almost tripped up Nancy again. Even without feet she still found it difficult to maintain balance under the earth shattering situations while hindered as a speck on the floor.

Soon after, "Twila" spoke up again.

"Ugh, that darn cat again? Sheesh, and I thought my sugar problem demanded more attention…"

Selene tilted the doll and whirled it a bit for some reason before she made it walk over to Nancy pretty closely. Of course because of Nancy's diminished size, even as a ghost, even a typical doll fit for young girls changed into world conquering overlords from her perspective. She didn't tell Molly about such a picture, but she guess that if she ever learned about it she more than likely would stir with excitement. She already expressed how jittery she felt every time she held Nancy after all, so if she managed to expand larger than planets it basically meant everything about her would shoot into complete overdrive. For Nancy, she barely handled a titan sized Molly, which pretty much told her everything if she somehow became bigger than that. Suffice to say, her preparations for everything bigger than her completely fled instantly, and she already had her hands full with the excitable tween that kept her to herself.

The sooner she found a cure the quicker she can forget that it ever happened in the first place.

The silence across Nancy's face continued when Selene slowly brought Twila toward her until her static smiling face aimed straight at her. For such a sight from her perspective, the unnatural nature of it unnerved her that almost left her to recoil back and curl up just to repress all of her senses. However, because of Selene's nature, she left next to no extra time until the next part of her game occurred.

"AUGH! SPIDER! I'LL SMASH YOUR GUTS OUT!"

As if a switched flipped in her head, the realizations behind everything built up since the start unfolded like a picture book. All of the awkwardness and unnecessary fluff brought earlier by the other dolls had a purpose the whole time, and Nancy saw it with her own two eyes…even as a ghost. She never intended to just leave her in one spot the whole time as the true meaning of what she had in mind came to light. She lacked legs after all, so naturally she settled on the next best option, and since Nancy already "gave up the ghost", although against her will, if she struck her at any point none of it mattered. In retrospect, Selene possibly lied between her teeth when she stated that she never intended to rip her right out of her body, for she gained more benefits with Nancy as a wraith than a living person. In the end, all of the clumsiness from the other dolls she acted out earlier served as the appetizer to the full meal between the worried tiny ghost and the most prized doll of the bunch.

Let the true game of "Crush the Nancy" commence.

Selene tested Nancy's reaction time when she lifted Twila into the air as her heels aimed in the tiny girl's direction. She barely found a split second available and sped away, where she completely ditched the pink dress over her body, all while completely terrified right before the heels hit the couch. Her mad scramble left her mind in all of the wrong places, and in her panic she had completely forgotten that she hung around in a doll house where reality didn't apply. She could have flown out of one of the open windows if she settled down and put two and two together, but Selene forced her into a bind that left normal thinking out of the question. She used it to her advantage that left Nancy to fend for herself, whether she wanted to or not.

She only started though as Nancy rushed into the kitchen area next. Her eyes frantically scanned every inch of the area just as Selene's doll Twila entered the room right after. She left the plastic arms swinging toward the unfortunate ghost who required quick movements to somehow avoid disaster. The tiny ghost zoomed into the cabinets first that Selene kept close watch of. Once she flung the doors open with her doll, Nancy's adrenaline rose while her opposition shot a plastic hand in her direction. The small ghost ran down the cabinets that followed by open doors behind until no extra space remained. She would have ended up trapped as the doll's dead eyes loomed toward her if Selene never made a certain mistake. Because she left all of the cabinet doors open, Nancy required no thorough searches for a method of evasion, so when Selene used her doll and struck again Nancy dodged to the side before she rushed right past the doll's head from the opening next to it. Selene remained hot on her trail though, as she instantly turned the doll around in hot pursuit of the black speck in the air while Nancy went into the open refrigerator next. Selene growled under her breath as she controlled Twila to open the compartment where all of the plastic foods set. From zucchinis, tomatoes, lettuce, and even some pomegranates, Selene ran over all of them. Most of them fell to the fake floor below where she never bothered to pick them up, and every time she eventually caught Nancy behind one of them she vanished behind another. For the one that refused to get caught, even as a specter of scares, it took a lot out of her. She breathed heavily and yet couldn't catch a break or risk Selene's sick and twisted mind. One green pepper later and only a single tomato remained, which left only a split second to frantically scan for an opening. Right as the doll picked up the final hiding spot, she lifted her arms that left just enough room for Nancy to work with. Once she found the opportunity, she made a break for it and barely squeezed under the plastic appendage back to the dollhouse's hallway. Selene's doll ran close behind, and the one in charge wouldn't let Nancy off that easily.

"You won't get away from me, you stupid spider!"

Nancy lightly shrieked as Selene kept the pace with her, and before long she darted up the stairs like mad. The plastic arms almost had her at times that left her focus all over the place. Her mind wandered around so much that before she knew it she accidentally hit the ceiling in one large splat as the doll stomped up the stairs close behind. For once she understood how Scratch felt when he found himself in various "damaging" encounters, and from the brief moment she already wanted no further part in such hurtful occasions. She barely managed to lift her head from the plastic ceiling and recover a bit from sheer dizziness before she instantly fell downward for a short time. Eventually she splattered against something else again on impact, and as her eyes stayed stuck to the surface she quickly realized where she landed and yelped.

"AUGH! GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!"

Nancy fumbled around as her spirit reformed, although it still required her to manually pick up her gray eyes and stick them back into their sockets, until two plastic hands lingered right over her. One short delay became everything needed for one of the fake fingers as it caught the tiny ghost by the lower half, which Nancy freaked out about. Luckily, it last for only a split second before she tugged away and pulled herself free, but she inadvertently left behind the entire half that basically tore her apart like tissue paper. She freaked out for a second before her bottom half suddenly reformed back under her, which gave her some relief until the doll's blank smile crossed her sight again. After that she wasted no time as another plastic arm reached toward her which warranted another rush away from danger.

Selene made the doll stomp up the stairs to the point where she even made some small dents in the plastic and pushed the railing near the top at an odd angle, which provided all of the serious vibes in the world to Nancy. In another moment of last second panic, she rushed straight into the closest room near the top with Selene's doll close behind. Between the two rooms near the top, she just so happened to box herself into the large bathroom which didn't sit too well for her, although she couldn't think too much until the fickle behemoth slammed open the door. One of Selene's massive eyes gazed into the room from the one window as Nancy scrambled again for some possible hiding spot. While not much, she eventually settled on the fake sink before the doll followed. At that point Selene gave it one deadly flyswatter that the doll held like it wielded a dangerous weapon with two hands, and she wasted no time to have the doll use it against the innocent ghost. Smack after smack and Nancy's loose spirit went into exhaustive overdrive, which took a toll on her overall speed at one point to where she accidentally fell straight into the toilet. Because of the fake nature of the dollhouse she never worried about toilet water, but it left her with only enough time to avoid another flurry of swats. At one point the flyswatter even clipped the upside of her head that left a nasty cut behind, but because she lacked a body it quickly vanished like it never happened. All in all, her tiresome troubles persisted even in the face of toilet troubles.

Finally, Nancy's lowered speed became her biggest downfall after one last minute smack managed to hit her head on. The force sent her backward into the wall next to the bathtub which left her gooey body in pieces everywhere. As much as it stung and hurt all over, she still recovered as her form came back with everything intact. She still left large chunks of ectoplasm behind across the wall, but at least she still recovered very quickly as a specter. Despite the recovery though, the doll trapped her in one of the room's corners where, unlike the previous times, left no room to slip away easily.

Nancy fumbled her words a few times as the fear settled in.

"Errr, ummm, please! Just, uhuhuhuhuh, leave me alone! I'm not a susususus…spider! They can't fly and, fuhfuhfuh, float around!"

She stuttered and stammered all over for any amount of mercy, and yet the doll still loomed and cast a grim shadow over her.

"Well… You seem to catch on rather quickly, sis."

Nancy felt her chest lurch upward while her eyes never left the spot.

"You…you knew? Butbutbutbut…"

"But what? Can't untie your tongue?" "Twila" said. "You really love to tick me off, don't you?"

She left her paralyzed on the spot from the sheer intensity of dominance displayed.

"Oh, I knew I didn't see a spider when I first encountered you downstairs. Truth be told, I just wanted an excuse to smear you across the floor after you stole all of the spotlight when you came into the family. Mom and dad ALWAYS provide you with the most extravagant of love and acceptance at every single second, but what do I get? JACK NOTHING!"

The doll leaned in closer to Nancy's sorry spirit, and despite the static expression the tiny ghost knew the one in control behind the curtain.

"Now I can finally put everything to end for good. Hate to break it to you, but your life will end right here where nobody will ever know what truly happened. Goodbye sis, for you deserve everything coming."

At that moment Nancy completely forgot that her existence as a ghost meant such an outcome would never end up possible, as Selene took complete control of the situation while her tiny playmate writhed in total submission to her twisted game. From there, everything about her fell into a meaningless heap. The flyswatter raised above her squishy spirit inches away from one final splat, and she couldn't move on the spot from the gaze that turned her mind into stone. Her tiny stature finally came back to bite her in the worst possible way, as a plaything for someone else that lacked all empathy toward her soul. She saw her as nothing but an object after all, and Nancy learned the hard way about what she desired in a doll for full play sessions. If she ever thought of extra games they totally eluded Nancy's mindset, for the twisted nature of the current one brought out the worst offered by such a ghost. Selene wanted a living doll, and she found one to play with for eternity.

Her pupils almost eclipsed her entire eye as the flyswatter loomed over her before Selene reeled it back. She thoroughly intended to leave Nancy as a splattered stain on the wall from what the tiny ghost determined, and it left the target speechless. Nancy winced until she couldn't take it any more and closed her eyes one final time as she heard the faint whip of the beginning of the swat…

…

…

…

…but another sound stirred her out of it, and it ran loudly throughout the vicinity.

"I'LL BRING YOU DOWN UNDER FOR WHAT YOU DID TO NANCY!"

While normally she detested such familiarity, after everything she went through she didn't care. Selene's faint eye in the window slowly turned away which left the doll she controlled stiff and still on the spot. Once Nancy glanced upward she noticed that the flyswatter came in extremely close and barely avoided contact with her squishy formless spirit.

If she failed to catch it beforehand, the next exclamation cemented the facts in.

"LET HER GO ON ACCOUNT OF THE MISSION SQUAD! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Lots of rumbling outside ensued that threw Nancy everywhere which lead to more gross splats against the walls from all of her ectoplasm. It felt like she just waltzed into an earthquake of high magnitudes, although injuries thankfully became cushioned by her gelatinous spirit. It didn't help with all of the banging around, but at least she never worried about broken bones or torn ligaments as long as she stayed separated from her body.

Eventually, the quakes amplified until the entire room flipped consecutively as if someone tried to roll the entire dollhouse, which sent the doll and Nancy flying everywhere. She bopped her head against the sink, ricocheted off of the toilet, and rebounded off of the doll's uncanny smile numerous times all while her ectoplasm flew and covered thousands of squeaky clean spots. Whatever occurred outside that Nancy could barely witness, nothing but babbling speak processed in her head. Her focus ran everywhere and never stayed in one specific spot, which ultimately provided dozens of migraines from each impact. Nothing but head crash after head crash, and she floated in the center of it. If she still had her body she more than likely never stood a chance of survival, but thankfully she didn't have it at the time. If a bomb just went off she probably never knew the difference between such a happening to the chaos that unfolded around her.

After what seemed like multiple minutes, everything finally settled to a crawl. Nancy collapsed against the ceiling since the whole place stood upside down, and the doll smiled at point blank range next to her. Her eyes rolled wheels as her head took a few extra seconds to catch up to the times. She uttered a couple of low groans while she held her head for a second, but soon after light poured in. Her eyes still lacked complete focus, but after a close encounter of the ghostly kind back in the world of the living she recognized the bright yellow color from a mile away. Her infectious smile pretty much amplified who arrived for her and she couldn't ignore it. She really "gave up the ghost" for a second time just for her, and it gave her a warm feeling inside.

"Nancy? Nancy? You in here?"

Her mind slowly shook off the dizziness as the massive yellow specter scanned over everything within the dollhouse for the one specific speck she promised to fix. She never actually got the chance to see her spiritual image yet, so likewise she didn't know where to look. Her planet sized pink eyes ran over every inch but seemed to still not pick up the sight of the black speck. At that point, Nancy knew what to do. She would take Molly over Selene every single time.

"Molly! Hey Molly! Over here!"

The two large pink planetoids soon caught the tiny ghost's attention to the point where they eventually settled right before her in a rather innocent gaze. Nancy waved her hands and floated a bit upward for a better chance at visibility, which after a few more moments seemed to have done the trick.

Molly's eyes opened a bit further upon the sight of the small floating speck.

"…Nancy? Is…is that you?"

Nancy nodded again and again while she waved her arms like she just underwent a profession in cheer leading, which served as the final straw that seemed to have confirmed Molly's suspicions. Before the small specter knew what happened next, she instantly found herself pinched from the back by two massive yellow fingers until she found herself airborne against her will. It didn't last long though, for after a quick trip through the air the two fingers released their hold and plopped her right atop of a long expansive yellow surface. While confused a little at first, she only required one glance upward to figure out who finally arrived in all of her joyous glory as a wraith. She couldn't forget such a heartwarming grin of hers, even in her undead state, as whether or not she wanted to or not, the founder of the MISSION Squad made sure to always have a close eye on her.

She finally witnessed Molly as a wraith with her own two eyes.

Even though Nancy always managed to receive eyefuls of Molly on a daily basis ever since she shrunk, she only ever saw her captor's phantom presence when she found herself trapped inside her head. For the first time since that incident, she finally witnessed Molly's wraith form in all of her overblown joy. Despite the drastic changes in appearance, she still maintained the expansive height Nancy knew her for from her diminished perspective. While Molly's human body may have housed entire continents within her fingertips, as a wraith she contained entire galaxies within her yellow transparency. One patch of her ectoplasm equaled several milky ways and andromedas that she controlled like a deity, and the empty void stretched across endless light years to any loose planets away from their solar systems. While the lengths of the Ghost World seemed to extend endlessly from the spooky flow, she definitely took up a large majority from Nancy's point of view. She wouldn't even break a sweat against the Ghost Council and Chairman if she went she went in as a planetary phantom, which she probably wished would have happened if she ever thought about it for a second. One strong flick of a finger and anyone struck never stood a chance against her never-ending yellow. All in the name of her intense joy and happiness, not even the might of the Ghost World became a threat as Molly practically became the flow that kept the realm afloat. Molly as a wraith became one thing, but as a GIANT wraith she definitely held entire worlds in the palm of her hand.

Just the thought made Nancy shudder.

As the small speck of Nancy's ghostly spirit sat in the palm of ghost Molly's hand, she witnessed the larger one as she took a couple of deep breaths, which almost sucked Nancy inside, and wiped some excess ectoplasm off of her brow.

"Phew! After all of the trouble, I have finally found you! If I would have found you sooner, I probably would have still remembered that ONE SMART QUIP I wanted to say since the start! Ergh, AND I DIDN'T WANT TO FORGET IT!"

Nancy ignored Molly at first as the moments with Selene still lingered in her head to the point where she continuously rubbed the sides of her head while her eyes shot open toward the ground. She still needed to settle down and take in the fact that she no longer became subjected to the sick games of the doll loving ghost. Her reactions didn't go unnoticed though, as Molly tilted her head down for a better look despite the start contrast of colors between them.

"Umm, Nancy? You okay down there?"

Molly's voice jolted Nancy back to reality.

"Oh, ummm, yeah. For the most part, I'm…still intact. So much plastic…and all of those dead eyes…"

"Easy there Nancy, for I have you now!" Molly replied. "You won't have to suffer any more of that ghost's twisted mindset anymore as long as I'm here! I have to admit though…your ghost look really sticks out…like me in a sense!"

Nancy may have already concluded on the certain fact, but it didn't hurt to hear it a second time. It reflected her personality after all, and even she lacked the understanding as to why no other ghost she'd seen yet supported the choices of appearance bestowed upon her. From every color of the rainbow to find herself as, she just so happened to fall on pitch black for some reason. She almost became too lost in her own thoughts before she realized that the tips of her lower body ended up stuck into the ectoplasm of Molly's hand. She immediately tugged herself free which Molly seemed to care less about or it eluded her sight. The more the floated around as a wraith, the more she wanted her actual body back.

She still wondered how Molly managed to track her down in the midst of the entire Ghost World to search, but in the process her eyes glanced over to the side which managed to catch the sight of the infamous doll collecting ghost that kidnapped her…under a large image of an adorable puppy. The happy animal with its huge bulgy eyes completely covered Selene's spirit from head to bottom and barely left enough to look out before her toward the opposition, who she very likely detested at that point. Most likely Molly summoned it with her endless joy, and in the end she came out on top. Joy contained more power than anyone thought after all.

After all that had happened since Molly found her, it took a couple of moments before she noticed the absence of one specific specter that likely provided Molly the means to arrive into the Ghost World in the first place. It required almost no extra time at all though until a very disgruntled ghost sluggishly opened the front door…while a certain pink frog appearing hat covered his nonexistent cranium.

He got one good look of the area around him before his eyes set on Molly and the tiny speck in her hand.

"Oh, shoot! You actually found her!"

His mood quickly shifted before he immediately rushed on over for a better look. He blatantly ignored the giant puppy as it sat on Selene and placed his attention over to the other two girls. The instant he loomed in closer for a better picture of Nancy his back shuddered.

"Yeesh, I'm feeling chills just by looking at her. I can expect your jolly and happy form Molly, but for the midget…"

Nancy slightly frowned and held herself close. She already heard from Molly about her unique form as a ghost, and the more reminders that loaded across her senses only provided more reasons to get her body back. It didn't help that Molly as a ghost basically handled everything on her own with her joyous nature, which even killed the Chairman and left the Ghost Council in disarray, and yet when Nancy separated and became a wraith she still found herself tiny with next to no benefits. She still had to rely on Molly just to get out of a bad situation, which also brought the negative vibes across…

She halted her thoughts when she found the bottom of her spirit stuck into Molly's ectoplasm again, which required another firm tug before she freed herself again.

"I kind of figured that out when I firm saw her, Scratch." Molly answered from Scratch's statement earlier. "While a bit chilly to touch, I can still hold her no problem."

As they spoke, Nancy stared stumped at Scratch and couldn't take her eyes off of the weird hat on his head. For once, she decided to speak up about it.

"Umm, Scratch? Uhhhhh, why do you…?"

She shakily point at the odd getup which caught the attention of the other two. The usual grumpy ghost of the group glanced upward toward it before he got back to her.

"Oh, this stupid thing? Well, you can blame Molly for it. She basically lead this whole 'incredibly delayed excursion' after all."

"Well, it would have gone by earlier if you kept up." Molly said after she shot a glance at him.

"Hey, I'm not the one that thought that barging through every door in sight would yield positive results!" Scratch said before he got back to Nancy. "Look midget, Molly didn't exactly think things through and basically winged it every second available. Clearly thinking before acting never ended up as an option…which didn't sit well for ONE SINGLE DOOR."

Scratch's eyes narrowed into a distasteful leer which Molly took with a low audible lukewarm chuckle and tepid smile.

"Okay, I have to admit that I shouldn't have shouted like I just broke a knee when I barged in-"

"Did you learn about that BEFORE or AFTER those young ghosts shrieked up a storm in that preschool?" Scratch interjected.

"Hey! We calmed them down, didn't we?" Molly replied. "You know it didn't go by THAT badly."

"Mol…you prepared to bash someone's face in with the door handle. Not only that, but when I also said she possibly lived in the ghostly Shibuya district, you thought it was some dated lingo!"

Molly lukewarmly chuckled again and rubbed the back of her head before Scratch finished what happened.

"Midget, let's just say we had to calm them down…the hard way."

Scratch pulled the top of the hat down until it covered his face, when eventually lead to a couple of worrisome shudders from his end. Not much, at least from what Nancy thought, greatly disturbed Scratch since he mostly brushed off negatives due to his usual grumpy personality, so to see such subtle signs told her that she definitely wanted no such knowledge about what happened in that period. If something caused him to clamp up and stay silent any further knowledge only served to hinder than benefit…at least from Nancy's point of view.

After the brief exchange, Scratch hastily put the hat away as Molly floated over to the stuck Selene and immediately set everything straight.

"If you ever pull a stunt like that again I'll personally stuff a rainbow down you throat so deep that it'll shoot out of your behind completely to kingdom come. DON'T…DO IT…AGAIN."

Despite her threats of joyful harm that also came with an angry pose and expression, Selene only mustered up a flat frown and angry snort in her direction. She seemed entirely unfazed even though Molly's bright yellow aura kindled across her body, which didn't hurt Nancy but sent a clear message to Selene. If she ever kidnapped Nancy again she would get it from Molly, and the powerful wraith made her statement like she set it engraved into her target's cranium. Don't mess with a girl who had powers beyond normal comprehension when she separated from her body.

Once she felt like Selene understood, despite what her face indicated otherwise, Molly completely switched gears and smiled before she went back to Scratch. Nancy stayed cozy between her spectral fingers while she listened in between the two.

"I say we handled all of that proficiently!" Molly said with a smile.

"As proficiently as barging in uninvited everywhere constitutes as such…" Scratch mumbled while he expressed the opposite. "Let's just get out of here and call it a day before you cause any more crazy down here."

"I couldn't agree more…" Nancy mumbled to herself in a nervous pinch.

Molly seemed to agree with Scratch as she headed on over to the front door while he followed close behind. They finally achieved their goal for the day after all and put a bad ghost in her place, so nothing out of the ordinary stood out for them to worry about. Even as a ghost Molly enjoyed her time as possibly the biggest specter in existence to the tiny dot of Nancy while she held her, and in the end she emerged victorious over Selene.

…at least they thought at first.

Molly kept Nancy in one of her hands while she used her other to grasp the doorknob and turn it, but such an object didn't budge. She found it rather odd but thought nothing of it and attempted to open the door again, only to find the same result. She muttered to herself before she pulled and pushed at it even harder, but the knob came out on top every single time. Eventually, even Scratch noticed her struggles and tried himself to force open the door to no avail. As if Selene crafted the entire slab out of lead, the door stood firm without a scratch in the face of the three ghosts.

"Oh, I'm not getting beaten by a door of all things after EVERYTHING we went through!" Scratch said as he marched up and prepared himself.

Scratch then screamed like he just stubbed his toe, despite his lack of any, and charged forward until he bashed the door again and again…but the woodwork came out on top. He didn't quite though and kept at it while Molly and Nancy watched for a moment before they floated around for another possible exit point. They attempted the nearby windows, other possible doors in the other rooms, and even a barred off chimney at one point, but every single time nothing let them through. Even Molly's joyous and extravagant ghost powers never left a dent across anything in the vicinity, which Scratch also followed with his own ghostly ones to no avail, which stirred a couple of red flags in their heads. At that point they might as well attempted to break out of Alcatraz from all of the reinforcements against them, which always ended in failure on all accounts between them. The purpose behind such strange occurrences eluded them for a bit until they noticed the faint smirk across Selene's face, which pretty much provided the crucial clue to the happenings around them. She owned the place after all, and if she knew the real reason for such strangeness they required the knowledge to possibly escape it.

Molly zipped on over to the stuck Selene and gave her the vilest of stink eyes imaginable for the young tween.

"Okay, slight change of plans. Explain what sort of witchcraft you cast over this place OR I'll make a rainbow into a PAINBOW! I mean it! Cough up the information, witch!"

"Of course NOW she comes up with a fitting quip…" Scratch muttered.

Even as the flames of joy erupted from her hair and around her spectral spirit, which didn't harm Nancy for some reason, Selene appeared not threatened in the slightest. In fact, she even chuckled under her breath at the seriousness that dripped from Molly's expression.

"Oh, you can't just leave all willy-nilly like that."

Selene's lips never moved, and yet an abridged version of her voice still hit their hearing perfectly. The ghost only stared gravely in their direction until they turned to the side and figured out who imitated the crooked ghost. After the scuffle between doll lover and ghost lover, the one that almost sent her into an eternity of pain in the makeshift house still stood completely intact. Her dead eyes and smile screamed uncanny all over while a loose arm from the doll lover controlled it from the back. She clearly thought everything through right down to the specks of dust on the ground, much to the detriment of the other three.

"Twila" cracked her neck to the side while she "spoke".

"You see, my owner really put one hundred ten percent into her collection, so to make sure NOBODY escapes with ANY of her collectables…"

Her head cracked to the other side.

"-only she can dictate who leaves and makes it out in one piece!"

"Twila" soon uttered a maniacal cackle that shook the whole room before everything began to turn grim and scary around them. She continued to do so for several continuous moments and probably would have kept at it…only for her to suddenly cease after Molly bopped Selene on the head with a fist.

"You can stop messing around with that act of yours, for you ain't fooling anyone."

The dog illusion that pinned her to the ground slowly faded from existence until it disappeared without a trace. After she finally found the wiggle room she deserved, Selene floated back up and met eye to eye with the other three ghosts across from her. She still felt pretty crossed about the party crashers after all, and after Molly interrupted her doll's speech it only made her more important on the hit list.

"Urgh, fine then! Congratulations, you completely ruined my playtime!" Selene said while visibly angry. "Too bad that I get the last laugh since I'm not letting you leave anytime soon!"

"We got the message lady when your doll wouldn't shut up." Scratch answered while he crossed his arms unimpressed. "Look, we've gone through a lot before now and I'm really hungry, so if you can just lift your hex for a few seconds-"

"I WON'T EVER LET YOU OUT OF HERE!"

The room shook yet again while Selene's expression dipped further into angry madness. While Molly and Scratch may have felt nothing, the worry Nancy felt rose even higher after all of the frights she went through since she met the doll loving ghost. She shuddered and shook all over within Molly's grasp and tried to calm herself down a bit, but she only experienced less than adequate results. Her ghostly bottom even became stuck in Molly's ectoplasm again which warranted another pull free, which did nothing to help suppress her feelings. The fragile nature of her emotions left her vulnerable, which many could easily take advantage of if given the chance…like Selene.

"If you won't let us out of here, then I'll-"

"You'll what? Wipe me out of existence like the fate you gave the Chairman?" Selene stated while the snarkiness poured over her. "Yeah, probably not the best idea! Eliminate me and your last shot at getting out of here will never come back. So go ahead! Give me one good wallop against the chin! You know you want to!"

She toyed with her like she saw Molly as another one of her dolls, which pretty much became her biggest gamble in her afterlife. Everyone in the Ghost World knew of Molly's capabilities at that point, and when she went crazy nobody stayed safe. If she wanted to pulverize Selene in one single action to where she no longer existed she could easily do so like a thin layer of ice, and yet it also meant their stay at her abode became permanent. Their one chance at escape floated before them only one single touch from Molly's finger away, and she knew full well of the consequences behind the wrong option.

Molly's joyful aura lit up the area around them to the point where even Scratch backed up for safety, but after a few more seconds it slowly dimmed down. For Nancy, from witnessing her happy powers inside Molly's head to her own eyes, the latter sure made a point to never cross her when she made it rain kittens with her own two hands. The countless nightmares where she completely went off the deep end and caused her to explode like the Chairman reinforced her fears of such an end to the point where she clammed up and refused to speak. While she paraded around as the savior of all the ghosts, Nancy's anxiety amplified since one foul action of upbeat happiness from Molly as a ghost meant she would spring daisies early. She mumbled something under her breath, but she couldn't calm herself. Molly as a wraith dictated everything and if she acted out of line…

…

…

…

BOOP!

Nancy's squirmed as her worries took over, but then she found her bottom half stuck again in Molly's ectoplasm before her feelings went too high. It covered up to her abdomen and the stickiness bound her to an extent, but she still had enough to get out again in one piece. Nobody else other than her seemed to notice them, and for Nancy the less they knew the better.

The tension built up in Molly's spirit slowly died down until her mood shifted yet again. She more than likely realized the stakes at hand since she spoke in a more down to earth manner.

"…fine. As much as I despise you for all that you have done, I won't harm you. Don't tempt fate and make me reconsider, for I still have a rainbow up my sleeve with your name on it."

"I assure you that you won't have to pull it out in here." Selene answered while she also switched emotions. "In fact, I'm glad you decided to stick around, because I HARDLY get visitors these days. I find it quite nice to have such a rare opportunity before me!"

"Gee, I wonder why…" Scratch mumbled while he crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

For once since the debacle started, Nancy actually chimed in with her own choice words.

"Please…if there's any possibility for to reconsider…we can't stay here for the rest of our days…"

Selene appeared surprised to hear words come out of her mouth, as she even took a moment to glance down at the speck in Molly's grasp and shook her head before she answered.

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeell, as much as I don't usually take offers from anyone, especially from all of the neanderthals that always eyed my collection endlessly, I can't ignore such adorableness in my household. Consider yourself lucky, for I'm still completely infatuated by your size and speech and normally wouldn't go against my own standards."

The news became music to their nonexistent ears. For once Nancy actually pulled off a feat that may have saved their bacon and provided them the chance to get out. As much as they wanted to celebrate, they still needed to figure out the last few details.

"About time! Usually the ghosts we encounter like to spill the information immediately, and you took probably an extra millennium!" Scratch said. "Just tell us what we need to do and we'll go for it. I can already hear my belly growling."

"Oh, I definitely have something INTERESTING in mind." Selene answered as she lightly smirked.

"I'm not liking those vibes, but I'll do anything at this point." Molly said. "Just lay it on us, lady. Whatever sick and twisted activity you thought of, we'll do it."

Selene perked up a little from Molly's statement.

"Sick and twisted? Oh, nonononono. I would have at nothing to upset guests like you! However, I need all of you to check out for one thing."

"For what?" Molly asked.

Selene smiled in her direction.

"Teatime."

The others gazed at her like she just lost her marbles, including Nancy.

"Hey, you know we speak English, right?" Scratch said.

Selene sighed and pinched her forehead in disgust.

"Don't tell me you've never played such a game before." Selene answered.

The others still didn't get it at first as they still confusingly gazed at her.

"Seriously?" Selene said before she groaned. "You sit down with all of your toys and pretend to have a tea party with everyone! At this rate you pretty much failed to provide a good first impression!"

Once they finally learned of the details, the light bulbs lit up above their heads. For some reason the term "teatime" didn't click but "tea party" rang the bells. Because Scratch lived around as a male he likewise never felt the need to undergo such an activity, while Molly and Nancy went through a couple in their childhoods. Most of the time they played it around their middle single digits and eventually grew out of it, so to hear the name brought them back to an enjoyable time. Molly felt the hype a bit more than Nancy did, although it mostly came down to personality more than anything. The painted nostalgia hit them hard and Selene wanted to dig it out of the grave.

"Ohhhhhhhhh, now I get it!" Molly said. "I haven't had one of those in ages! Any particular reason for such an offer? I mean, you have so many dolls around-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get that all the time." Selene interrupted before she explained further. "As for why, well, let's just say I can get a bit lonely sometimes. Besides, what better time to get to know each other over some delicious tea and crumpets? I almost never get to break out all of the finest I have to the table, and with all of you possibly stuck here for eternity I find it best to take it slow and let everything sink in. Want a chance to get out of here? Show me that you can give the greatest tea party and ACT ACCORDINGLY. If all goes well, I might reconsider your stay here. So…do we have a deal?"

It sounded so preposterous that out of everyone to find themselves offered such a wager, nobody could have more perfectly fit it than the tween named Molly McGee. For her and everyone associated with her they've pretty much encountered at least one strange occurrence in their lifetime, and the situations only escalated the moment they settled in Brighton. Nancy went from an indescribable nobody that eluded center stage to someone that pretty much saw the weirdest of occurrences on a daily basis ever since the incident of batter and frosting with Molly. To hear that their freedom hinged on an activity reserved for some of the youngest of ages only stood out as another day on the job for the group, and even though Molly shifted emotions continuously pretty much on a whim she understood situations to the point where she could muster through them…for the most part. Nothing but the daily routine for the young McGee, her ghost bestie, and her shrunken bestie.

Scratch seemed almost in complete disbelief at what he just heard.

"You seriously want to put everything on the line…for a stupid tea party. You're slowly climbing up the ranks of crazy there, lady."

"Then maybe I should just keep you here after all." Selene stated in a pinch of sarcasm.

"Nononono, that won't be necessary!" Molly said in slight panic.

She quickly shot Scratch a look who then answered with an unimpressed expression before she got back to Selene.

"If we successfully go through an entire tea party, you'll let us go? Sounds…simple enough. You better not have spouted lies between your teeth if my joy has anything to say about it."

"I'm as clean as a whistle." Selene replied. "I'll also make sure to not bother you in the future about that speck of a doll just to reassure that I'm serious. One tea party for one likely ticket to freedom. Okay?"

She extended a hand toward her for one final confirmation that they agreed on everything. Scratch glared at the scene while Molly and Nancy glanced back at him for a brief moment as if they wanted some type of agreement from him. Because he never answered, they assumed he just went with the flow and relied on their answers moving forward, which basically left only Molly since she started the wager for them in the first place. The joyous wraith bit her bottom lip for a second while she took a couple of moments to think to herself, and once she looked down at the tiny speck of Nancy in her hand she concluded on an answer. The girl closed her eyes and breathed a few times which loosened some of her stress before she opened her eyes back up. A faint vibe of stern seriousness combined with a protective nature reflected in her eyes that provided impressions of a hero about to undergo an elite task, which perfectly exemplified her current state of mind. She had an answer.

"…done."

She refused to allow herself to release Nancy from her fingers, so she used her other hand and, in one final moment of agreement, solidified her answer to Selene. As the two girls digits intertwined between living and dead, Selene kept up a friendly smile before she nodded toward the others before her.

"Then let's begin, shall we?"

The doll loving ghost soon floated backwards while her hands did the talking. She clapped a couple of times that seemed to have only caused a couple of echoes at first, but as time passed the signs started to arrive. Some low audible rumbling hit everyone's hearing which nobody but Selene understood, but then they evolved into full on quakes. Selene grabbed her prized Twila doll and stowed her away while Molly's, Nancy's, and Scratch's eyes darted everywhere from the uncertainty of the situation. In an odd turn of events, none of the furniture or doll collections that set in the room already reacted in full to the sudden motions around them. At best they lightly shook with no damage whatsoever, which would have stood out to the group if everything else didn't catch their attention first. As two large slates raised from the ground and parted that revealed a massive opening underneath, something long and pink emerged at a slow pace, inch by inch. While difficult to figure out at first, as more features became apparent it soon came into light that they saw nothing but one of the longest and largest round tables in existence. It even displayed a long pink tablecloth that covered the entirety of the top and had white fancy edges decorated in long wavy frills. It easily took around half of the whole dome shaped room in height to where it seemed like only the biggest of ghosts could use it effectively. Atop the colorful pink cloth, certain objects started to materialize into familiar shapes that took a few moments to fully form. The faint green outlines of their true shapes appeared in some light sparkles before their colors filled in the blanks, which revealed the common utensils one would associate with cuisine. From spoons, forks, knives, and even some fine chalices, no shortage of them became urgent to all of the preparations at work. They even set on the table in a high class manner and one plate for each one taking part, minus Nancy due to her size. Sets of high furbished chairs followed soon after that arrived it brilliant poofs of smoke that almost forced Molly and Scratch back from their lack of expectations. They tucked in around the edges of the table and even sized up in proportion to the massive table, contrary to the plate and silverware, even though Selene only had three guests. As for the spares, almost as if on a whim, large tall figures popped in a similar manner to the chairs where they instantly sat, but one gaze upward revealed their identities as none other than some of the biggest dolls in existence. From long fake hair to dazzling outfits, each one appeared different over the other that caught Molly's eye more than anyone else. As they towered over everyone, even Selene, and sat in their chairs it almost felt like they ended up on the other end of the shrink ray. It almost creeped the others out, but at least they now understood why the particular room basically shared similarities to a sports stadium. From all that they have gathered, Selene wanted to have the tea party of a lifetime…even if everything eclipsed them in scope.

The furniture never fully stole the show though, for the scenery around them also slowly mutated into something akin to the visuals set in stone. The walls and ceilings faded into a more bright and stylish color until they settled on light pink, while the curtains across the one window in the room stretched downward into long lavish drapes straight out of a fairy tale. The rug and flooring became fuzzy and dark until it changed into a lush raspberry red underneath which complemented the numerous headshots on the walls that all detailed either numerous dolls in Selene's collection or Selene herself in rather appealing poses. All entrances and exits completely fled the scene when the pink wallpaper completely covered them, which left the entire place in a rather plastic appearance. A soothing piece of music waved through the air despite the fact that nobody controlled the tune which left some to wonder where it actually came from, but in the end it helped settle the mood to where in nearly sent a few to sleep. While not as expansive of a transformation as the table and furniture, it reinforced the fact that Selene completely made everything as if someone stuffed all of them into a living dollhouse. She really wanted to set the mood correctly to make sure everything progressed swimmingly and nothing messed up. If Molly, Nancy, and Scratch didn't follow everything perfectly they could kiss their freedom goodbye. Let the tea party of a lifetime begin.

Molly, Nancy, and Scratch never got the chance to take a seat themselves, for two massive chairs poofed in right behind them and immediately brought the group up to the table. Nancy couldn't handle anything at her size, so she shared a seat with Molly. Scratch sat next to them in a bit of surprise while Selene seated herself across from them, which basically equaled a mile or two due to the size of the table. At least their plates and utensils set to their regular sizes for easier handling, and soon enough everyone locked eyes fit for their unique personalities.

Scratch felt goosebumps across his back as a doll leaned over and unintentionally stared at him with the typical uncanny doll expression.

"Lady, I think you may have went a bit bonkers with the set pieces here. I swear this doll is checking me out like she just found her next boyfriend."

Selene lightly gasped in his direction.

"How dare you throw accusations around when we haven't even started yet! Have you ever learned of proper etiquette? Don't judge based on appearance."

"In that case I want to swap seats." Scratch replied in a static manner.

The doll continued to stare at him which only fueled his desire to either get away or show it the ol' one two, but the determination across Molly's face told him otherwise. They needed to get through the game after all, and any negatives only deducted their chances. Even so, he gravely leered at the inanimate object to make himself feel better.

They sat in their seats for a moment in the midst of the circle of gigantic dolls until Selene brought out a small bell and rang it lightly for everyone to hear.

"Attention everyone! The preparations have been completed to the point where this tea party can finally commence. I assume that everyone introduced themselves to the table?"

Molly, Nancy, and Scratch suddenly heard a familiar voice and tone from above as a huge doll nearby swiveled toward everyone else.

"For the most part, we have. Not sure about the newcomers though."

Nancy recognized it very easily as one of the abridged voices Selene provided when she played as the dolls from earlier, but the fact that she didn't see the ghost control the doll from behind indicated something else at work. Even Scratch and Molly sat unnerved at what they just heard in combination with all of the oddities that surrounded the circumstances, but if they thought too hard about it their brains would wring out like Scratch and his thorough thoughts about Olivia. The authenticity turned up a notch into more uncanny territory, and yet they could only watch the scene as it progressed before their eyes.

The next voice however amped up the weirdness even further as another doll shook with it.

"How about that? We haven't had newcomers in ages! I…I think I might cry."

The pupils of the other ghosts almost contracted into faint dots. They lacked hearts, but if they did they probably would have either stopped or stagnated into irregular beats. Selene's voice never escaped from the particular huge doll, for the young ecstatic tween's one took its place like she controlled it in the first place. It sounded like a perfect carbon copy, and yet the actual owner never uttered a single word. Whatever sort of black magic Selene cooked up gave the group chills, including Scratch who usually didn't fall for it, and furthered the crazy madness the doll lover decided on specifically for them.

The disturbed creepiness persisted when Selene answered the doll's question.

"Now now, don't set a bad example for the newcomers. They SHOULD understand all of the standards, and if they didn't I wouldn't have invited them! Say, why don't we let them introduce themselves? I'm certain they have went through SO MUCH before they met us."

The other three basically became deer in headlights when all of the massive dolls around the table, plus Selene, turned to face them in all of their uncanny glory. It almost seemed like they actively sought them out just to mark them up for a potential mutilation later, which Nancy took more than Molly or Scratch, and they definitely stood at a height to do so. Nancy even found herself partially embedded in Molly's ectoplasm again, which required another strong pull to get out although it didn't go unnoticed. While Scratch focused more on the one doll that constantly eyed him down, Molly felt the motion of Nancy as she tugged herself free which made her cock an eyebrow. She couldn't pay attention for too long due to the stakes set by Selene, but she found it rather unusual to see her tiny friend stuck to her spirit like that. Even so, they had more urgent matters to take care of. Whatever Selene potentially kept under wraps provided dread for her first time guests, and one act out of line equaled potential failures.

Molly couldn't keep Selene waiting for too long, so she acted first.

"Well, ummmm, I'm Molly. I'm not usually like this, uhhhhh, because I sort of separated from my body to get here. I'm also the one that, ummmm, kind of saved your world from the Ghost Council, sooooooo… Yeah…"

All of the strange attention got to her in certain manners that made her shut up quicker than normal, and the other two couldn't blame her. Before any of them could answer, another doll "spoke" first.

"Oh, wow! So you're the one that showed the Chairman what for?"

Nancy cringed under wraps since she heard her own particular voice from the certain nearby doll, but Molly felt things differently. She averted her gaze over to the doll that "provided" such a question and pushed some of her worries away.

"Errrrr, well, yeah. I guess you can say I did that." Molly answered.

A few long gasps filled the room before the static huge dolls wiggled and turned toward each other as if they whispered certain conversations behind the group's back.

"Okay ladies, enough with the gossip." Selene stated. "We don't want to paint her as someone horrible. Everyone here has equal importance, you know!"

Her words seemed to have done the trick, for the dolls soon settled a bit and uttered no such further sounds. Even though they only heard a brief snippet, each doll appeared to have some type of personality underneath that stayed partially hidden, contrary to their flat display. If they possibly learned such facts the group might earn a couple of brownie points from Selene to add toward their freedom.

Another doll chimed in soon after.

"What about that other ghost who can't take his eyes off her?"

Molly and Nancy nearly broke from fear to pure hilarity once they heard whose voice rang through their hearing next. Their cheeks inflated into large balloons before they died down so the attention steered away from them. If Scratch ever injected an entire tank of helium he probably would have sounded like the voice that came out from the doll, which dialed the comical nature of it up by eleven. Of course the ghost himself wouldn't have accepted it at all, but Molly and Nancy made note of it for later just in case.

They couldn't leave the question without an answer though, but once the girls turned to get Scratch's attention, they found him still glaring down the one doll that never took her sight away from him.

"Ummm, Scratch?" Molly said.

Her voice snapped him partially back to reality as he averted his gaze over to her for a moment, and he sounded not in the right mood.

"I swear the longer this chick stares at me the more I want to smash her face in." Scratch whispered to Molly and Nancy.

"Not now Scratch. Introductions, remember?" Molly whispered back.

Scratch frowned in her direction before he sluggishly turned to face the table where all of the dolls paid attention to. All of their dead eyes continuously stared into Scratch's being that, while didn't scare him, rubbed him in all of the wrong ways. Even so, first impressions can make or break certain situations like a childish tea party.

Even so, he kept it brief and straight to the point.

"Scratch. Friends with a human. Infamous ghost of Brighton. Helped friend take down council."

The instant he ended his last sentence he partially went back to gravely staring at the one doll as if to keep it in place. Clearly he had some type of beef with her despite the fact that he never saw the object before then.

"Well…I guess that counts." one of the dolls "said".

"He probably doesn't need to, since a majority of the Ghost World already knows about him." another "replied". "Can we please just get to the main course already?"

"Easy there. We have all of the time in the world and don't need to rush things." Selene stated.

"But my stomach is rumbling like a grizzly bear!" the doll "said".

"Patience there. Just keep it to yourself for now, okay?" Selene responded.

The other three heard some low angry grumbles while the particular doll crossed its straight arms, which failed to bend due to their structure, all while her face still sported the typical doll smile. The other dolls even slightly turned as if they stared at her for a second, only for them to reel back stiff in their chairs.

"Guess that only leaves one more." Selene said. "How about she introduces herself?"

Some of the dolls tilted to the side, which immediately took Nancy aback and left her almost completely stunned. She lacked a heart, but if she still had her body it pace would have accelerated ten fold.

"Umm, we have another newcomer here?" one of the dolls "said". "I thought we only had two."

"Yeah, I'm with you on that." another doll "said." "I'm not seeing anyone extra."

Selene's smile fell lightly despite the inquiries from her doll friends.

"Yes we do. Look closely in front of Molly there."

From that moment, Nancy saw possibly one of the most horrifying sights up close as possible. While she may not care to glance at a doll from far away, when their faces expand so large that they fill the sky they became impossible to notice. The constant forced smiles in combination with that unfitting plastic desired her neck far beyond the reaches of a horror movie. She may lack organs, skin, and all of the other requisites, but even as a ghost the images of their sadistic tendencies under the facade of a smile seethed poison. All of the attention diverted over to her squishy formless heap painted her as the most helpless being in existence, as not even her time as a wraith provided anything beneficial. If anything, she ended up more vulnerable since she she basically couldn't die which opened the floodgates to more rough activities over the horizon. Molly had everything when she separated, while the speck in her hand contained nothing to possibly-

All of the plaguing horrors of the looming dolls left her unaware of her spectral spirit halfway embedded into Molly's ectoplasm again. She panicked even more and struggled to pull free until Molly noticed the strangeness. She hummed in slight confusion before she brought down one of her massive ghost fingers which Nancy grabbed. Because her size eclipsed Nancy's it took no trouble as she lightly yanked Nancy back into the air once again. Both Molly and Nancy stayed silent about the incident for reasons only they knew about, and nobody else appeared to notice the weirdness, not even Scratch. Still, the fact that it still persisted left more questions than answers, but more pressing matters kept such deductions at bay.

A few seconds of silence went by until one of the dolls broke it.

"That…that speck…is actually a girl? I never would have thought…"

"Ah, so your obsession you wouldn't shut up about came…from her?" another doll "said". "I almost mistook her for a bug at first glance!"

Out of all of the names to possibly classify her under, they went with some of the most damaging ones. She'd heard those monikers from the moment she found herself shrunk and they lingered in her mind like plagues. The more she heard of them the more they demoralized her like the inconsequential gnat the public saw in her. Just hearing them knocked her down a few pegs to the point where they added to her horrid fate and kept her silent for the most part. Molly understood for the most part, but the general consensus categorized her as related to something instinctual rather than free willed.

"Hey! Don't judge!" Selene said. "I don't need to reiterate the fact more than it needs to."

"Oops. I almost forgot about that." the doll "answered". "Sorry!"

"Just don't do it again." Selene said before she got back to the others. "So…you want to introduce yourself then?"

Nancy couldn't open her mouth after everything said about her. Combined with all of the attention which also included Molly and Scratch she saw nothing to possibly settle down. Everything desired her helpless spirit after all, and she perfectly blended in with pairs of deer in headlights. If she left them hanging for too long though Selene would leave a deduction on their freedom chances, and the less she thought about it the better. They hinged on cooperation to muster through the commotion after all.

"Errrrm, well…"

She briefly glanced upward toward Molly's joyous phantom face before she finally answered.

"I'm…I'm Nancy. You shouldn't exactly see me like this…because I found myself this small after an accident…"

"Really?" one of the dolls "said". "I never would have thought such a happening existed in our world."

"Oh, ummm, yes. It…unfortunately happened to me." Nancy said without a single glance in their general direction. "I'm still…trying to figure everything out about it…"

"We'll figure out what happened Nancy." Molly interjected with a small smile.

Before the tiny girl could answer her, they heard the doll again.

"That sounds…rather interesting. I can see why Selene here wouldn't keep quiet about you for hours on end."

"Ugh, don't get me started." another doll "stated". "I received several headaches that almost left me-"

"Okay, okay! We get the message ladies." Selene interrupted while she tepidly chuckled. "Umm, why don't we get on with the dishes and tea now that everyone introduced themselves?"

"FINALLY!" Scratch exclaimed alongside the one hungry doll from earlier.

Both parties from both the Molly and Nancy side and the doll side shot their respective members a quick serious glare before they got the message and clammed up. Scratch in particular knew what would happen if they failed the tea party, and because he didn't want the particular outcome he shut himself up for extra brownie points.

The others watched as Selene reached under the enormous table for a second before she brought up a small brass bell and rang it lightly a couple of times. At first Molly, Nancy, and Scratch understood none of it which left them floating in confusion. However, before they even knew it, some large puffs of smoke instantly appeared behind them, which caught them off guard, until they extended all around the table almost in a sequential order. Once everything settled, the three soon found the culprits under all of the puffs, and they never provided any extra heat despite their appearances. Not only have dozens of hitodamas showed up for everyone in attendance, but they each kept a plate of some kind over their wispy heads. They circled around the table at least once before they hovered up close and set certain objects across the endless pink fabric. For plates, they covered a decent portion of each one with hand sized triangles coated in small white pellets over some type of black square underneath. The choice raised a couple of eyebrows from Molly, Scratch, and Nancy, and yet they chose now to question it for the sake of their freedom. A more familiar sight came in the form of a classic middle aged style teapot and small round cup atop a light saucer that some of the hitodamas kept above their heads. They set the cups down slowly before they poured a steady streak of hot liquid from the teapot for each of the patrons in their seats, although Nancy remained as the only one unable to obtain such a courtesy for obvious reasons. Once all of the processes finished the hitodamas backed up one final time before they bowed and disappeared in more puffs of smoke as if they never showed up in the first place. Whether Selene hired them or always kept them on standby they performed superbly at what they did. For such a unique type of ghost most haven't seen, they still acted like the typical stereotypes like shape didn't matter.

Molly had her eyes on the empty space where the small flames appeared for a few seconds before she got back to the others.

"Okay, I have to admit…that was really cool."

"Glad you enjoyed it." Selene said while she stirred her cup with a spoon. "They required a few months of hard work to nail the routines down, but in the end they now go through them effortlessly."

"I could tell when I saw one as they literally picked up a loose drop and placed it back in the cup with no stains." Scratch replied as if in slight astonishment. "If you ain't a millionaire for THAT type of quality, you must really have something special behind closed doors for THAT kind of black magic."

"Not exactly." Selene responded. "I just know where to look when I need it. Some are really dedicated to their craft, I'll tell you that much."

With that said, Selene faced everyone across from her which made all of the dolls tilt before she lightly nodded. Soon after, she lightly grabbed one of the white triangles and chomped down on it, which the others took as a sign to finally dig in. Of course, due to Scratch's gluttonous tendencies he advanced first and shoved about half of his plate into his mouth. His cheeks puffed out like he just changed into a rodent about to hibernate for winter, but instantly he found Molly and Nancy glance at him like he just stepped over the line. The three exchanged looks as Scratch's brain slowly caught back up with the times, which immediately made him frown before he swallowed and sat back into his seat. Luckily for them, Selene never reacted to the disruptive display and continued on with her own light snack and tea.

Since Scratch basically got his first tastes out of the way, it left only Molly and Nancy to sample their appetizers. Because Nancy never had a chance to pick one up, Molly did so instead and stared at the weird food for a second with a pinch of uncertainty.

"Wow, ummmm, this looks…delectable." Molly said before she slightly winced. "What do you call these exactly?"

"Onigiri." Selene answered. "A small triangular rice ball common around here as a healthy snack. Give it a chance and you might like it!"

"You already got my seal of approval it it means anything." Scratch said while he chowed on another. "I am tasting a pinch of…salt? I can't exactly determine a certain part."

"Oh, that?" Selene responded. "That's because you're tasting seaweed."

Scratch and the other two instantly froze for a brief moment. Such a fact never occurred inside their heads until Selene revealed the hidden truth behind a certain ingredient used for such a delicacy. As for the one that had his cheeks stuffed to the brim with the rice balls, he clearly felt the most pressure to the point where he stuck his tongue out so he can see the mushy mesh he chewed on. Just as Selene said, certain portions displayed some green on them that made them shudder, but in a surprising twist Scratch withdrew it back in and got back to eating. While stirred up to an extent, the revelation didn't faze him too much.

"You couldn't have used some 'wee seeds' instead?" Scratch said after he swallowed. "Yeesh, and I thought Molly's family made weird food!"

"Glad you like it." Selene responded. "If you like that, you'll LOVE the sushi restaurants around here. They make some of the BEST eastern foods the Ghost World offers. Their udon bowls? I'd die all over again for an entire afterlife of them!"

Unperturbed by the reveal of the extra ingredient, Scratch quickly went back to his onigiri dish and tea while Molly and Nancy still hesitated with theirs. Even though Molly didn't mind rice for the most part, especially when it comes to some of her family's dishes, the image of something unheard of from her neck of the woods brought some uncertainty to the table. Nancy pretty much fell in the same boat, but due to her size she went through the issues on a lesser scale since she wouldn't have to fit the entire rice ball in her mouth. Even so, even though it lacked eyes it almost seemed to desire her inevitable reaction as if it secretly carried something disgusting underneath, although the sight of Scratch's enjoyment alleviated some pressure off that certain side. Nothing left but to inevitably go for it for the two girls.

Molly went first due to her bigger size over Nancy. The smaller one made sure to float out of the way so she wouldn't accidentally end up on the menu before the other took the first bite. She chewed a few times then gulped it down which left her still for a split second, and before long she perked up a bit.

"Wow… These ain't that bad." Molly said before she went for another. "I don't usually get opportunities when it comes to foreign foods, but if I have to go off of this… I might keep this in mind for later."

"Oh, really?" a doll nearby "said". "If it stirs your interest, I have a cousin in college that shares an interest in cooking where, in an instance of irony, the next lesson consists of well made sushi and extras made of loose octopus."

Scratch almost choked on an extra onigiri upon hearing the news.

"Hold on a moment… There's actually food…made of…OCTOPUS?! Where do I sign up to become a taste tester?! You got my mouth watering already!"

One of the dolls near him tilted their stiff body to the side.

"Ummmm, yeah. Some of the all you can eat buffets here have specialties in the sort, and while I'm not entirely keen on them…I find it nice to see someone greatly interested."

The news only made him desire the delicacies even more.

"Alright, I'm settled then. Gonna have to order up some takeout then, and I don't even have to worry about food poisoning! OCTO ME UP BABY!"

Both Molly's and Nancy's expressions went flat at Scratch's display, which surprisingly never stirred up anything bad from Selene from the other side.

"And I thought my quips never passed amateur hour…" Molly muttered.

After that point, the tea party progressed in a pretty mellowed fashion akin to what one typically associate with the activity. Nancy got a taste of the onigiri at a fraction of what everyone else had, and while she didn't mind it for the most part once she got to the seaweed portion her transparency acted up while her cheeks inflated to a degree. She stated that she "saw some weed" soon after and never went for it ever again, which Molly understood and isolated the foreign snacks away from her. Scratch on the other hand couldn't have enough of all the small rice balls, although he held back some of his usual gluttonous tendencies just in case Selene still counted out of line behaviors. At one point he asked for more tea, which became granted when a hitodama appeared beside him with a teapot, but he miscalculated the temperature and almost scalded his tongue straight off. It steamed like mad which required another hitodama as it came it with a bucket of water…or so it thought. The small fireball also mistakenly filled up the bucket with hot tea instead of cold water, which resulted in several severe burns across the unfortunate ghost…if he actually had a body. He recovered pretty quickly for the most part, but the incident left some of the dolls "giggling" in his direction. Apparently his pain ended up as their joy, although Molly and Nancy cracked a smile once they heard the "feminine Scratch" voice again from a doll nearby. They stayed silent for the most part while Selene and the dolls performed most of the talking, as any infraction against their performances at the table remained crucial to their escape from the living dollhouse. The replied to some comments, but kept their mouths shut. If they still stayed on Selene's good side, the facts completely eluded them.

While Molly tipped her cup ever so slightly for Nancy to get some tea, they overheard another conversation from the ones before them.

"…and I automatically assumed that they sold bodies which put me off for several months! Seriously, who in the right mind would SELL those?!"

"Ummmm, you sure you translated correctly? I don't recall any store around here selling THAT."

"Yes, yes! I definitely saw the sign outside that detailed it!"

"I think I know what you might be talking about, but I vividly remember reading something as 'FRESH' instead."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh, I understand it now! I think someone has gotten their Japanese mixed up!"

"Well excuuuuuuuuuuse me for still taking baby steps! Learning a new language doesn't exactly-"

"Okay, okay, ladies! No need to act up over a simple mistake. We want to relax a bit, remember?"

Selene somehow managed to simmer the arguments down into nothing but a small trail of smoke…despite the fact that the dolls around her lacked souls. Even though the dolls never touched their onigiri snacks and tea for obvious reasons, they still acted as though they had their fair share. The other three ghost found it rather odd, but it more or less added to the disturbed craziness of Selene. The more they listened in and participated the more they wanted out, especially Nancy. She couldn't take her eyes off of all the of the aspects that combined into the acts of horror which stirred her worries into high levels, and at times she ended up stuck in Molly's ectoplasm again and again. The giant friendly ghost always floated on the sidelines and helped pull her back out, but it didn't help all of the fear built over over the course of her stay with Selene. From her time as a speck of a doll to the creepy and disturbing tea party, she almost wanted to break down completely. Molly and Scratch dealt with Selene no problem, but from Nancy's experiences she stood on breaking point.

From there the situations shifted one more time, and for the group of three it sounded almost unheard of. The huge dolls before them began to utter some weird kind of noises that almost sounded dismissive. Even the doll that constantly kept her dead eyes on Scratch fell into the same boat as she seemed to provide her goodbyes. For the most part they had no idea what to come of them, but after a couple more seconds the massive dolls shook and shuddered all over. Before it became too paranormal for the group, almost instantly the dolls fell back against their chairs and slumped downward. The three held back the urge to ask Selene what just happened, but the doll loving ghost answered for them. From something that happened so abruptly, all signs pointed to her.

"Okay, okay! I already getting BORED with all of this nonsense. Let's just say someone got food poisoning and we had to end early. Got it? Okay, good."

Selene seemingly ended the tea party early out of boredom…which didn't sound too out of place for someone like her. Molly immediately felt the relief and wiped some sweat from her brow while Nancy had pressure lifted off of her shoulders from everything she witnessed up to that point. Scratch found himself taken off guard since he spent the last couple of minutes hoarding loose rice balls from the each doll's plates thanks to about a dozen or so extra arms. He even still bloated a bit and kept dozens of the foreign food within his cheeks, which painted him as a large amorphous blob that could barely move. Knowing full well that if Selene saw him in his current form it could mean a forever prison inside the pink walls, so he basically acted as if he just entered an eating competition. After a blistering set of swallows, snatches, and small pinches of seaweed, Scratch made all of his quick bites and stomached nearly everything in only a couple of seconds. Before Selene ever set her eyes on him he already shaped himself back to his normal form like it never happened, although the other two knew otherwise. They somehow went through everything in one piece…for better or worse.

Ironically, the one who ate the most spoke up first.

"Phew! About time I stopped busting a hump for this! I can only take SO MUCH PINK before I call a chiropractor for brain damage!"

"I pretty much figured that out from the way you ruined your chair." Selene responded while she crossed her arms.

As if on instinct, everyone's attention instantly shot over to the back of Scratch's chair, where they determined very quickly what she talked about. Not only had the ghost made thousands of indents and cracks from the damage he inflicted, but he also completely tore off at least part of a leg and ravaged the cushion underneath him. Just to reinforce the fact that he held back torrents of rage, he somehow also managed to sculpt a small scene from the damaged wood where it featured him strangling a certain girl…in her dead eyed plastic glory. For such an artistic set of skills under the intense stress, it sure labeled him as someone on the brink of snapping at any moment.

Scratch really only had one thing to say in response.

"Hey, that one doll had it coming."

He then immediately shot the large inanimate doll next to him one of the nastiest leers imaginable while Molly deeply sighed in his direction.

"That…doesn't sound too pleasant." Nancy muttered to herself while Molly spoke up in her stead.

"I have to admit, I felt the deep nostalgia from playing this game. However, we still have one more part to discuss."

"Oh, right. You want to know whether or not you deserve your freedom and whatnot." Selene said as she stared at the three of them.

Everything they acted for lead up to that moment. Some parts went iffy at best, especially from Scratch's table manners, and yet they needed the passing grade. They couldn't stay as Selene's eternal playmates for the rest of their afterlives, and in terms of current goals Molly still made it clear that she kept Nancy's size reversal as a top priority. Their futures struck a frozen glacier that bound them on the spot unless they achieved straight A's across the board from a childish tea party no less, and just one slip up might as well eliminated their chances. Despite everything against them, they acted to the best of their abilities to please Selene, and all eyes set on her for the final judgment.

The ghost in charge closed her eyes and clasped her hands together as if she contemplated between the two scales, which left the anticipation between the other three on the edge. Eventually, after around half a minute, she finally got back to them.

"You have given one of the most interesting exchanges of all time within these walls, and yet you still showed signs of improper behavior. Therefore, I can only conclude on one single decision. Molly, Scratch, and Nancy…"

…

…

…

"Oh, who am I kidding? I can't help it! I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF YOUR COMPANY!"

Molly instantly raised her arms in the air and yelled happily in her own "Molly" way, while Scratch didn't exactly change too much. Nancy easily found the most relief between the three of them, and for the most part just wanted to get out more than anything else. The overjoyed expression across Selene's face reinforced the final results to where it became incredibly obvious that they finally obtained the permission required to leave, although the ghost left the details about it pretty vague. Still, they mustered through all of the creepy childish antics of a doll loving ghost bent on her own selfish desires. They deserved medals which they won't obtain from the general public, but it mattered none since they still came out on top.

An incredibly hyped Molly McGee then instantly questioned the obvious.

"Woohoo! Yes! We passed! So does that mean you'll let us go?"

"Actually, I'm just going to turn you into dolls."

Without missing a beat after everything said, Selene commenced the next part of the whole fiasco. The others never even got the chance to react before they suddenly found themselves wrapped in the sleazy wood of the chairs they sat in. The back parts of the chairs stretched and spiraled into thick threads, including the portions that Scratch mangled, before they shot forward and snagged the three in their woody grasps. Because Nancy floated in front of Molly instead of in the hold of her fingers, the monstrous wood pulled her backward and kept her immobilized right in front of Molly's chest…at least in the spot where it should be if she had her body. Her size meant it only required the bare minimum to keep her stuck to one spot, although it left her as only a small head that poked out from above. No matter how much the three moved, the chairs barred such actions and left them helpless. Not even any amount of ghostly powers managed to provide the extra power necessary to break free. Selene had her prizes right where she wanted them.

In a weird twist, Nancy broke the ice first.

"But…but you said you would let us go if we passed!"

"I'm with the midget here! You said if we played your stupid game and won we can leave this joint!" Scratch exclaimed as his chair kept his arms on his sides.

Selene sinister smile sent the message loud and clear as she floated up to all three of them with a grim glare.

"I said I MIGHT consider your freedom, not that I WOULD. You played so well with that tea party I can't just let the opportunity freely leave my presence! Playmates like you only come around ONCE in an afterlife!"

Molly almost couldn't take it in while she struggled against her binds. The intensiveness in her eyes complemented the provoked frown across her face as she retaliated back.

"You promised we could go, Selene! Going against a solemn word is, like, one of rules of agreement society! Don't act like you just won when you know better!"

"Again, I never said that I WOULD let you go, only CONSIDER it." Selene responded. "Learn to read between the lines, toots! All of this is ON YOU!"

No matter how much anyone tried to escape from their chairs, they stayed still and tight. Even if the somehow managed to do so, Selene still kept everything inside shut tight to where their capture became imminent. Out of the three though, Nancy felt the most under the surface. The forces against her converged in one of the deadliest intimidation factors imaginable, which over time slowly rose up for the young girl. First her shrinkage, the shenanigans she wanted no part of, to the very moment where Selene kept her captive, all of the factors prodded at her spirit and injected very small doses that slowly settled in and took their course. From that point her breathing shortened and her center throbbed something fierce. As if all of the forces of the universe had it out for her, the worst of her dark feelings toyed with her much to her detriment.

Nobody appeared to notice her dips in mood though.

Since all of her targets remained stuck in their seats, Selene progressed to the next part of her scheme. She waited a couple of seconds in silence before the others instantly noticed a rather disturbing change. The once inanimate massive dolls that sat around the huge table instantly whirred back to life, but only for a moment. As if Selene specifically created all of them out of liquid metal, each of the locked limbs with another beside them before they changed into a mess of mangled plastic parts. Dozens of extraneous portion clicked together like building blocks as even their creepy dead faces soon locked with each other. They almost couldn't stomach the sights when more and more of the elastic bodies connected and changed which became one, from long limbs to broken arms, until the large meshes picked themselves off of the ground like two giant mounds of garbage coming to life. From around a dozen or so massive towering dolls, two huge masses remained after all of the fusing and connecting that occurred before their very eyes. What remained after the whole process could only carry a description of "grotesque" and "screwed up" for the ones unfamiliar with them, which basically meant everyone except for Selene.

When the dust settled, two humongous stiff stunning dolls took the places of the meshes in firm and powerful stances. They almost stood up to the ceiling from such heights, and each one seemed like something straight out of a superhero giant robot show. Their eyes went blank in sleek white while their expressions displayed the pure flatness one could associate with static fighting robots. Their long blonde hair stood out from the inhumanity across their bodies, and their long pink dresses covered what seemed like some very sturdy metal. Their limbs, along with their hands and feet, were all coated in sturdy steel and appeared like their could crush anything in one single action. While they didn't have the most greatest of appearances compared to some of the competition as seen on TV, it got the job done to reinstate the status behind their giant robot origins.

"WHAT THE HECK?!" Scratch exclaimed. "LADY, WHAT ON EARTH IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

"Oh, nothing much." Selene responded as if nobody freaked out before her. "I just needed to set up your new homes. Costed quite a hefty amount, and now I FINALLY get to bring them out!"

"While I have to admit that they look pretty cool, WE DON'T DESERVE THIS FATE!" Molly yelled as the panic crept in.

Selene refused to answer and only watched as the next part started. In the blink of an eye before the three knew what hit them, the massive chests of the dolls opened up like two futuristic doors which revealed a large cluster of tentacles underneath. They shot forward and snatched the chairs that contained the three trapped ones, which destroyed the chairs but left them wrapped tightly. Both Molly and Scratch futilely fought against them but only failed, but for Nancy the darkness continued to build up higher and even accelerated from all of the monstrous visuals. She shook all over as the pressure behind all of the grim fates bestowed upon her unfortunate self took hold and brought her into the depths of her worst nightmares. At that point all of the pictures and horrors she witnessed ever since she shrunk flew by and ridiculed her for becoming the unluckiest person in the world, even further than Molly's friend Libby. All of her worst fates clouded her mind and left her in a complete breakdown of emotions and feelings, and Molly's joyous aura and powers failed to change all of the negativeness that coursed through her. Tears fell and her spirit went limb, yet she still stirred awake throughout the whole ordeal as a shell of a girl.

No one cared.

No one knew she existed.

Nothing but void.

At that point the tentacles finally forced them in into the cavities of the dolls, one for Scratch and the other for the two girls, and trapped them near the back walls. The darkness inside painted one of the bleakest pictures if Selene finally got her wish, and yet she fully intended to go through with her ideals. As if to rub salt in the wound, Selene herself floated up to the trapped spirits of all three ghosts while she expressed one of the most sky and satisfied faces ever conceived by ghosts. At that point she knew she finally won over them.

"You don't have to do this! We can work this out if you give us the chance!" Molly pleaded.

"Yeah, I'm not buying that for one second. Maybe you should have thought twice before you interrupted my play time. You brought ALL of this onto yourself!" Selene responded.

Scratch, from his trapped concave environment, shot Selene an intense glare.

"While I understand why you would go after those two, I have absolutely nothing to do with this. I'm just an innocent party, so I deserve no punishment whatsoever!"

"Shut up Scratch, for I know you love to weasel your way out of situations." Selene replied. "You've garnered a name for yourself down here and I can perfectly see those lies squeak right between the cracks of your teeth."

Scratch's expression immediately went flat.

"You REALLY want to go through with this, do you?"

"You pretty much convinced me the moment you showed your presence here…along with the other two!"

Selene's gaze struck their petrified expressions hard while Scratch looked at her like she never had a brain in the first place. The face alone caused Nancy to sulk downward despite her constraints and unhappiness buildup.

"You know, I've experienced my fair share of crazy ghosts in my afterlife, but you crank that up to, like, a bazillion or something."

"For once I'm agreeing with Scratch on this!" Molly added as she began to panic.

The darkness focused their efforts to bring Nancy down, and the more the troubles progressed the further she fell into her own never ending despair. Everything about her spirit filled to the brim in concentrated sadness to the point when nothing about her matter. They desired to usurp the apex much to all of the falling forces that they steamrolled out of the way. All forms of defense failed her as the sanity dripped into oblivion for the decimation of her emotions. Only one final lock set between takeover and sane, and it rattled like the deadly hiss of a lethal snake. Whatever it took to finally break the last bits in her…

"Then you should have let me have what I wanted and left me alone when you had the chance." Selene stated to the other two. "Out of everyone to impress you chose VERY poorly, and you displayed such PERFECTION in your roles that the quality speaks for itself. Take this as a learning experience for your futile futures, for you decided on your new fates the moment our eyes met. You caused everything, you intertwined with a being like me, you messed up, and you brought all of this onto yourselves. YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER CROSSED PATHS WITH ME."

…she painted the truth.

ALL of it began from that accident.

If the overjoyed tween just left her alone that fateful day then everything would have stayed on track to where her life never hung in the balance of someone that cared less about her safety. She ended up with a body covered in frosting and ever since reality desired her complete demise. The utter actions of one single naive girl lead to a fate worse than the end, and all of the excess fluff meant nothing to the real problem at hand. All of the statements brought her way about how the possibility of her reversal stayed true only served as the red herring necessary to possibly leave her sanity in check, but all of the glitter and sugar served to cover all of the wrong traits. Her life now rested with Brighton's clown and she completely left her in shambles as if the accident was only a slap on the wrist. Out of all of the supposed "good deeds" she performed throughout the whole town, she left the one person affected the most to the wolves. None of it mattered as long as her captor worried about herself and everyone else, but NOT the one that suffered from her captor's OWN HANDS. Responsibility affected everyone around the friendly facade, but when it came to the SPECK in her hands she ended up as the ONE exception. She called everyone a friend and did everything she could to help them out…

…

…

…

They were never friends to begin with.

…

…

…

SNAP.

As the emptiness took over, Molly's ectoplasm immediately shot forward and snatched Nancy from behind. A portion of her consciousness stayed awake which allowed her to capture the unfortunate occurrence when it happened, but unlike the previous times nothing she performed pulled her out of it. Because everyone else kept their attention on the sheer panic of what Selene wanted out of them, everything about Nancy went completely unnoticed while the girl herself couldn't escape from the sticky mess. Even as a wraith separated from her body, the surface of Molly's spirit left next to no chance of movement in any capacity, which stirred all of the fears in Nancy's head into a swirl of terror that made everything worse. It dug all of the brimming yellow into the tiny ghost's sorry self while the girl herself failed in every capacity. The cap atop of the bottle shook as the ectoplasm swallowed her midsection and headed straight for the top, and the further it went the more pressure rose inside. Her tears changed into streaming fountains while she stiffly waved her arms as they became next on the menu. The evils clutched her chest and sliced at the top of the bottle endlessly when only her head remained above ground. Her cheeks swelled, her spirit gravely consumed, and soon the yellow passed over her nose and partially her eyes. She suffered.

…and everything came forth.

…

…

…

The Ghost World changed forever that day. Everyone that lingered in the endless void perked up in one way or another the moment passed through their senses. Even the buildings and residential areas resonated and reverberated. The purest of forms that once ghosts heavily desired became known throughout every inch of the void. Reactions varied, and yet they understood what happened. To think something of that caliber existed hit all of the ghosts as if they just acquired an extremely late birthday present, and yet they already knew what set inside under the ribbon. Molly extruded overwhelming joy as a ghost, and yet the familiarity also brought something straight behind. Not even the Chairman's overpowering presence before Molly blew him to smithereens stood at the same level, and yet everyone knew regardless about the fact. From that moment forward, everything in the world of the undead felt the highest of it far beyond the likes of what they knew beforehand…and yet they never understood where all of it came from.

It alone shook the others still in their own panic and left them almost stunned as it impacted them hard. Before they even knew what their senses picked up, their attention instantly turned over to the small dot against Molly's spectral chest where they witnessed the shrunken girl as the ectoplasm of the joyous spirit sucked her inside. From there Molly tried to break free from her constraints, but the reinforcements behind everything Selene put into the capsules left her helpless. She watched in horror as the one she promised to cure completely disappeared into her endless void of bright yellow, and it even gave off one final "schlup" before her own spirit ate her up. Molly's ghostly self completely consumed Nancy's own spirit against her will, something that went against everything her personality dictated.

"Nancy? NANCY!"

She only managed to find one final glimpse of Molly's worried face until the ectoplasm completely consumed her. From there all forms of outside communication ceased while the area around her shifted. After she went into a large mansion that contained all of the features of a typical doll house, the next place ended up as nothing but endless yellow of bright and happy vibes. Luckily for her, as a ghost she required no oxygen to live, but even then it almost felt like she just plunged into an ocean at certain points. As she floated along in the emptiness of yellow, the calmness and relaxation prodded at her spirit as if she became the enigma of foreign territory. From that point she had no idea where she ended up, especially since Molly's spirit basically ate her after lots of failed attempts. It almost made her sick to think about, although even she knew ghosts lacked bodies. No organs or glands passed by her sight, even if she had her guesses around a possible stomach region. How such an incomprehensible state of affairs lead to her basically getting sucked straight into Molly completely eluded her, and yet she already wanted out. She already found herself in Molly's body before after an accidental possession from Scratch, but for her to get stuck inside Molly's being stooped to a new level she wanted no part of. Her suffering dropped her far past the negatives, and even then she fell into the depths of no mans land from the inside of Molly's spirit.

She made her wild hunches of around a couple of minutes as she continued further and further into Molly's ghostly form until the forces around her seemed to slow down a bit. Once all movement ceased she finally found the ability to move again, but it became short lived. If given a little more time she would have glanced around the endless warm yellow void for a potential exit, but reality had other plans. Before she could even comprehend anything, all of the negativity from before rushed back through her and sapped away at her energy. What once became her will to move evaporated as her ghostly spirit stretched out which destabilized her form into a flat mesh. She only contained an ounce of strength left in her as she saw her spirit fall apart into all of the yellowness deep inside the depths of Molly's spectral being.

Everything went black as her spirit disappeared into the ether.

---

Nobody expected such an incident until it unfolded before their eyes. Their senses went into complete overdrive until the entire occurrence ended, which utterly shocked them beyond disbelief. Even Selene, the one who sparked the whole dilemma with the dolls in the first place, found it hard to speak after what unraveled. Nothing prepared them for quite possibly the one incident that shook the entire Ghost World by the knees, and even after all of it they wanted to believe none of it happened. An entire swirl of emotions all across frequent palettes coursed through all of them until the closure, and even then it still lingered in their heads. For something to knock someone like Molly or Scratch into a heap it required something beyond comprehension far over their comfort zone, and after everything that happened they never felt the same. Descriptions became unnecessary, because they never wanted to revisit those moments ever again.

Their astonishment overtook them for astronomical amounts that they never noticed the odd corrosion that went on around Molly. The tentacles that kept her in place weirdly wriggled around in place before their color changed to dull gray. Soon after they fell back and shriveled up as if someone drenched them in acid rain, which freed the young tween from her hold but didn't end there. The inner parts of the doll where Selene bound her slowly suffered the same fate, to where they changed into a bland gray color then faded away. It spread to the rest of the doll, and soon after the hulking pillar of steel and young girls' dreams collapsed downward until it sagged into a heap of indefinable gray mass. No extra effort became necessary when it also spread to Scratch's trapped doll, which freed him as well and corroded the doll into the same gray pile. Selene never bothered to react accordingly since she tried to comprehend what just occurred before her very eyes, which failed her for the most part. For Scratch, he felt something in him as he floated up to check on his best friend, for he still cared for her deeply.

"…Mol? Everything…okay?"

Molly struggled to find the correct words, as the aftermath of the ordeal left a number on her. It shook her up, and her usual joyous attitude never showed up, which was extremely rare for her.

"I…I don't know…" Molly said while very distraught. "Nancy…she…and how I…"

Her almost hurt just to speak. To think something of that magnitude graced its presence across the entire Ghost World sounded preposterous, and yet they went through all of it up close. The Chairman never came close, and he dictated the ghosts' ways of afterlife from his presence alone. Such a happening, in its purest form, brought ghoulish reality on the brink of completeness, and not even Molly could possibly match it alone.

…if she still existed in the first place.

She never got another chance to think further as her ectoplasm throbbed and reverberated all over like shivers in the cold. Certain parts of her spirit went numb while she found it harder and harder to breath over time. Eventually he breath shortened to such minute levels that she choked on her own breath and went into a large coughing fit. Her will to stay afloat dwindled until she fell to the floor barely able to hold herself up. At that point her normal active nature sapped away and left her to her knees, or at least where they should end up if she had a body, which caused Scratch to hang around close by in case of support. However, he never lasted for more than a couple of seconds once he heard Molly as she hacked and coughed to deafening decibels that forced him back. If she still had any bones in her body they likely would have broken down into dust from the sheer amount of drainage that coursed through her transparent ghost. While pain never flowed through, whatever occurred in her carried just as much weight, or even worse, that knocked her into peril range.

Finally, after most of her willpower sucked away into nothing, the most apparent sign that something wasn't right reared its ugly head. What once emanated from the bright and happy spirit of the ecstatic tween fell lower with the color to match, which took away one of the major strengths she wielded to completely set the records straight with the Ghost World.

"No, no, no! Molly, uhhhhh, just hold it together! You've dealt with negatives before, so I know you can handle-"

One loud and menacing groan from the one he considered his closest friend completely shut him up as her face dipped toward the floor and covered her face. All of the happy lucky yellow and vibrant glow slowly blacked out as her arms wobbled to the frequent coughs that shot out of her mouth. She almost seemed to heave out nothing but air as her lights across her spirit dimmed until nothing remained. Ghosts couldn't get sick on account of their "dead" status, but from whatever Molly went through it sounded like such a fact needed an immediate rewrite. Her spirit actively worked against her and made sure she understood that someone like her never automatically maintained perfect invincibility of forces against her. As a very twisted form of replacement for her exuberant and high energy yellow color, the weak and wrecked Molly ended up in a rather dull and plain gray nobody would have ever associated with her in any capacity. She hardly stayed afloat with her hands against the ground, but after the most excruciating process that nobody understood she instantly fell silent. Between both Selene and Scratch, nobody wanted to check up on her and yet someone needed to after everything they saw and heard. Something serious happened to Molly, and everything displayed left foreboding signs as if they warned everyone.

Get any closer and you'll get what's coming to you.

While Scratch got the memo, he still wanted to check up on her just in case. Molly didn't move from her spot, and yet he still floated up to her because he cared for his best friend. Everything told him to run away and hide, yet he went against them for the sake of her.

"Errrrrmmm…Mol? Everything…okay now?"

The dull and dreary gray of her ghostly self rubbed Scratch in all of the wrong directions. She didn't look up and kept her eyes to the ground below, all while the uncertainty waved throughout the room. What normally floated around as a cheery and happy specter completely changed into a low audible muttering image in a shadow of her former self. Sobgoblins, another type of ghost, drained happiness from their presence around others, and even they usually never left their victims in a state like what Scratch saw in Molly at that moment. No process became necessary, because something else performed the damaging actions for them and managed to take down even the joyous one that saved the Ghost World…with no extra efforts.

For a while she refused to speak up, so Scratch started to back up a bit. However, after a few more moments…

"I've went through so much before I arrived here…"

Her voice shook and quivered in a manner almost unheard of from the girl named Molly McGee. While she contained her dosage of sadness in the back of her mind, it never became the forefront of her personality. The signs alone unnerved Selene and Scratch and yet they knew Molly had more to say.

"I've seen and experienced so many friendly faces, and I loved everything that passed through my sight. So much culture and life filled my eyes, and I never got enough of it. While the spotlight never passed over to me, just the fact that I was at those events made me happy. All of it…made me happy…"

While her face still remained concealed from the angle, the other two could see a couple of drops that fell from Molly's face, which painted the scene in a different light.

"My life never hit any road bumps at any point, and I fully expected such facts to stay that way…until that FATEFUL day. Never had my life went into a complete downward spiral, but reality always desired my head. Everything would have STAYED THE SAME for the better, and yet they sought out ME as the punching bag. Why…did I have to deserve such…CRUELTY?!"

The floor under her started to undergo the same corrosive treatment given to the huge steel dolls from earlier. It wobbled and wiggled as the damaging gray grabbed hold of the wood and spread across the room. It eventually formed into an expanding circle that continued around her like it completely ignored the one who caused it, and yet it didn't end there. Molly still kept her head toward the ground as the drops became more frequent, which painted more and more signs that told everyone to run or risk their complete demise.

…which Scratch refused against.

"Mol, we know something happened to you, but if you could tone it down a notch so you don't catch everyone's attention-"

He never finished once he noticed Molly as she groaned disturbingly once again and even held her forehead at one point. Nobody saw her next points coming.

"You…you…caused…EVERYTHING!"

The instant she finished her face instantly flipped upward and faced the two ghost in one of the most depressing images of all time. Scratch knew Molly when she felt sad, but never to the degree seen as a dull gray entity. Tears completely poured down her face like waterfalls while her eyes barely stayed open from the torrents built up. Thousands upon thousands of wrinkles circled around her face in more places than one, while the front of her hair drooped down from all of the wet tears over her. The once purely joyful girl shattered into a complete mess more than anything she expressed before, which for Scratch sent some very deadly foreboding messages. He witnessed not just a single fit of sadness, but a massive tantrum of tears and sorrow. Ever since she moved to Brighton for the most part she remained relatively upbeat and happy. While she expressed deep sadness on several occasions, none of those times compared to what he saw unfold as she completely broke under the roof of a doll loving ghost. No ounce of bright vibes glinted in her soggy face, because the complete flip side usurped everything in her mind for some much, MUCH worse. No amount of Sobgoblins could have drained someone to her degree far beyond the scales, because even they had limits to how much joy and happiness they could sap away. Just the sight of her terrifyingly negative state hurt his eyes in a manner that almost forced him to turn away, and yet he couldn't leave her alone to the deadliness that coursed through her.

Molly achieved not the lowest of the low, but beyond to infinity. Nothing else existed in her but sadness…BEYOND the term and everything about it.

The saddened husk of a girl aimed her crying eyes while fountains of tears drenched the floor.

"Why did you do this to me?! Everything progressed perfectly down the line, and then YOU showed up! You could have just LEFT ME ALONE so I can go on with my normal life! Did you WANT to smite my innocence and shatter my dreams?!"

The corrosion across the floor extended to the outer reaches of the room and spooked Selene a bit to where she backed up even more, which Scratch went against. At that point he had no idea if he spoke to Molly or Nancy, although he leaned more toward Molly since he still saw her ghostly spirit. Even so, she spouted complete nonsense that didn't faze Scratch since he knew Molly wouldn't outright call him a monster that changed her life for the worst, especially after her first day with him. She still needed him more than anything to put sense back into her head.

He hesitated at first, but he eventually replied…with slight confusion.

"What? What are you talking about? Did you eat a bowl of onions or something? You know full well that I never made your life that way in the-"

"Don't dismiss what you did! You know FULL WELL about what I went through!" Molly retorted as the tears poured harder. "Your appearance lead to the WORST experiences ever! I could have blended in with everyone else, only to NEVER see the light again! I didn't deserve the HARSH punishments provided by YOUR actions!"

Molly wailed even louder which rang throughout the room and provided Selene and Scratch some ear splitting headaches. The room already ended up engulfed in all of the gray from Molly which left nothing untouched. Her completely depressing meltdown left the others in shambles, and yet not enough for Scratch to back down.

"Mol, do you even hear yourself right now? I'm not one to act as the voice of reason or anything, but I've never done something greatly harsh to you! Sure, I may have messed with you a few times, but never to the-"

He saw Molly in a different light instantly after that moment. Not only had Molly interrupted him again, but in a way her personality would NEVER resort to. Despite her ruined and saddened demeanor beyond anything he'd ever seen, Scratch still stayed close and wanted to comfort her in any way possibly. As much as he wanted to not undergo such a task, he eventually concluded on a big hug to start everything off. He already felt some large tears across his ectoplasm from the sheer volumes Molly cried out, but they never deterred him away. She taught him after all that hugs made everything better, and he also learned about it first hand on many occasions when she nearly provided death grips from her own choking holds. While he loomed in close and prepared himself, because Molly seemed too caught up in her own endless gloominess he thought he would easily get one in for free…which immediately became DEAD wrong. Even though he already was dead and basically felt no pain on the outside, such expectations lead to one of the worst mistakes in his afterlife. Once he opened up his arms for a hug he sealed his fate, for Molly retaliated in one swift motion. One moment he openly expected to get in, the next he reeled back with some slight red across his ectoplasm. From then he realized the Molly he knew and loved took a back seat for someone else, and the noise resonated through him like an ear worm. Whether Molly or Nancy pulled the strings, none of it mattered. The urgency to get Molly back to normal rose to greater heights by the second and required attention.

Molly needed help.

Despite her hurtful action against Scratch, Molly still cried her heart out at every second, although as a ghost she completely lacked one, and eventually hovered down toward the floor. She never acknowledged what she did was wrong and focused more on the state Scratch supposedly left her in after…whatever came up in her messed up head.

"I can't move on after what you did! I'm nothing! Just a few MINUTE actions lead to my fate as permanently sealed! I can't live normally anymore! YOU…RUINED…MY…LIFE!"

From her infinite sorrows to the wrecked gray scenery, it seemed like it would have ended there if not for one final change that shook the Ghost World to the core. She clearly held the power to do so as a wraith, if the incident with the Ghost Council didn't completely send the message, but in the total opposite mindset she clearly sent signs that she could completely send the Ghost World into the worst state imaginable. Selene and Scratch alone understood the foreboding ramifications if Molly broke loose now, and yet they couldn't compare themselves to her capabilities since she stood at a greater level than any of them.

…and then she started to grow.

They initially didn't pick up on it until a few seconds later where they saw Molly over twice her normal size. She paid no attention to them though and still grimly cried endlessly as her head reached for the ceiling. Her hands expanded to where they could crush boulders and her arms reached some of the tallest buildings in the world of the living. The sobbing spirit's tears nearly filled up the room and soon enough even the large pink table Selene conjured up became minuscule compared to Molly. The large auditorium like room almost filled to the brim with the ghost girl and an endless lake of tears below, which Scratch and Selene had to avoid from below. Scratch even managed to avoid getting crushed by Molly's massive hands and fingers as her sadness continued. The table didn't share the same luxury though, as the ever growing ghost girl inadvertently crushed it under her massive presence. As much as Selene wanted to get back at her for it, once Molly's presence almost completely took up the entire room, even with the scope akin to a sports stadium, she realized her afterlife carried more importance. Right as the ghost of Molly grew to hit the walls and ceiling she left only a few inches between Selene and Scratch, and the flood of tears above and below didn't help. Eventually, Selene couldn't take it anymore and rushed on over to the one open window and escaped, who Scratch followed close behind. Apparently Selene lifted the hex at some point, possibly when the situation turned grave, which provided Scratch the means to get out before the sobbing ghost of Molly flattened him like a pancake. Too bad their troubles only just started.

At that point it became incredibly difficult for Molly to move, even through her eternal crying, and part of her spirit even filled up other rooms of the house. The kitchen never had a chance when Molly's bottom half enveloped everything and the upper rooms broke down under the pressure of her gargantuan fingers. As her fit of sorrow took over the building, her influence of dull gray struck every single nook and cranny which corroded them away bit by bit. Of course Molly's growth took priority over everything inside, as before most of the objects faded Molly's spirit broke through and destroyed them as her scope expanded further and further. The ghost of the once lively and happy girl grew so much that eventually the massive house couldn't fit her, which culminated when the walls finally shattered and the ceiling fell to rubble. Everyone below watched in surprise once the giant crying ghostly face of Molly McGee shot right out of the house's top before her lower half eliminated the walls. She completely destroyed Selene's abode and never paid attention when it happened since her mood basically fell beyond the normal scale. The normal sized ones below her required a few extra moments to catch up, but once the realizations hit they freaked out and zoomed away for cover. Whether they stood out as hitodamas or regular ghost, the once popular hot spots around the ghostly Shibuya district emptied as pandemonium ran throughout the open streets. From the standards set in place, it almost seemed like another giant monster movie hit theaters and Molly ended up as the kaiju on a rampage. Even so, everything escalated almost instantaneously once the giant saddened ghost girl became the center of attention to the public

…and yet she still continued to grow.

"I'll never have a normal life ever again! Why must reality hate me like this?! I DON'T DESERVE THESE PUNISHMENTS!"

Her size expanded rapidly while her tears flooded the streets. The hitodamas never extinguished upon contact though, so they remained intact…for the most part. The buildings though didn't share the same amount of luck, for either Molly's growing ghostly self completely destroyed everything that came into contact with her, or her waterfalls of tears drenched them into soggy messes. As she stretched into the stratosphere, the grayness from before also stretched across the land. All forms of color instantly changed into colorblindness, which also spread the corrosion as well. Objects sagged downward and tilted at weird angles, while some collapsed completely. She sent the entire section of the Ghost World into a ruined zone, and the undead felt the effects as well. The speeds that the grayness went at eventually caught up with multiple crowds of hitodamas and ghosts, where they also lost their color and suffered a more drastic change. While corrosion didn't happen to them, whatever emotion they currently felt quickly fell to the wayside and ended up replaced with some of the most dreary sorrows ever conceivable by the average person. They drooped and fell as their faces drained of energy until they existed as a complete miserable mess, which caused some to not want to do anything anymore. They flatly fell across the ground stiff and still, if the floods of tears didn't reach them yet, while some just hovered in place endlessly like they never had it in them to act any further. Everything about such personalities disappeared completely once the gray struck, and soon after they cared less about everything other than their static existences. Their faces never changed even as they flowed down the deep rivers of tears that fell down Molly's face. As if her ghostly powers didn't provide the context already, the infinite green void also failed to carry an immunity once Molly hit the size of small mountains. Streaks of dull gray rainbows filled the air and burst into amalgamations of abominations brought by her endless misery. Dogs and cats that would normally display complete adorableness from Molly's powers instead appeared as gloomy and drained counterparts that slowly waltzed around for victims like zombies. Because everything the gray touched sapped anyone of their personality, most of the time when a loose gray rainbow hit a stray hitodama or ghost it pushed them back but didn't affect them. They already had their emotions sapped and kept nothing left behind. Soon after even dull unicorns and butterflies littered the streets and caused even more distraught chaos to everyone in the specific part of the Ghost World. The green void fluctuated and crackled as Molly's spirit grew bigger and bigger, and once it reached a fever pitch gray blotches formed in droves which covered anything not their color. If it continued, what once stood out as green would fall into the depths of nothing but gray. It also indicated that Molly's utter misery reached other parts of the Ghost World, which spelled pandemonium over to those regions as well. Molly's powers as a wraith already eclipsed ghosts by a wide margin, but after one single negative change it shot even higher over everything. She couldn't handle them…and neither anyone else in the Ghost World.

Luckily, Scratch saw the writing on the wall and bolted further than most until the particular ghostly Shibuya region ended up as a speck in the distance. He lost Selene in the crowds as he escaped, but after all of the betrayals and twisted game he cared less about her than anyone else. However, at the progress Molly's uncontrollable crying went and the grayness that extended further and further along, even he knew that not much time remained before even he would find himself immeasurably dull and bland. Already some regions close by the chaos fell to the sadness and lingered in no man's land of plainness, misery, and flooded tears. The conjured animals even appeared more frequently and sapped even more away from the regions close by, which only fueled the storm of gray in the void that usurped the green faster and faster. Out of all the spectacles brought by all of the chaos, he still clearly saw the specter of Molly in her terribly negative state, and she only became more apparent as she grew to larger heights. The region she tarnished first only stood at a portion of her size by then, and with no end of her growth in sight the clock ticked down. If no one did anything fast, the Ghost World would no longer exist in its normal state and Molly would practically take place of the green void.

He already had a grave look on his face from everything that happened so far.

"While I'm still completely dumbfounded as to HOW, now I have to worry about the WHEN!" Scratch exclaimed as he crossed his arms. "One moment I'm sipping tea, the next I'm watching Molly's giant ghost self take over the Ghost World! Can't a ghost like me find ANY amount of time to rest in peace? At this point I'm going to rest in pieces!"

Even with his anger towards the circumstances, even he understood now wasn't the time. Molly's wails of sorrow rang through his head so much that he took out his brain at one point just to keep it steady for a few moments from the resonating shakes. He placed it back into his cranium once most of the rumbling faded, even if it only temporarily patched the slight trouble.

"Shoot! Can I even do anything about this? Molly clearly has more power in her than anyone else here, and she considers me the culprit behind her problems now! I can't match HER and clash with HER! Grrrrn, from one hopeless situation to another! Maybe I should just leave this problem to someone MORE capable-"

"And leave your best friend to rot? I don't think so!"

As if a ghost getting spooked sounded ironic, Scratch nearly shot upward from the voice and turned around to face whoever spoke up. However, nothing showed up in his sights. He floated a bit in confusion before he heard it again.

"I'm right here, you know."

Before he even knew what occurred, Scratch quickly reached behind him where he instantly picked something up and held it up in one of his hands. Lo and behold, Selene's most trusted doll showed up in the nick of time, which stirred some confusion in Scratch but not too much. If he didn't know any better he probably would have found himself more scared at the sight, but after the fiasco with Selene anything from her pretty much failed to impress him too much.

"Oh, you're that one doll Selene cherishes over everything else." Scratch said.

As if he took ventriloquism as a profession, "Twila" spoke in a rather off sounding Scratch voice while the ghost himself performed the speaking and movements similar to how Selene did it.

"Yup. You got that right! I guess I can leave the introductions aside then. How'd you know?"

"Your caretaker made sure I remembered from all of her visits. Pretty hard to ignore the ONE other ghost in your territory muttering about the next best doll outfit after all!"

"Oh, right. She LOVES to mull over the details like last year's turnip festival." "Twila" responded.

"Don't remind me." Scratch said before she switched gears. "Am I going to have to ask the obvious or not?"

"Nah. No need to." "Twila" answered. "I hitched a ride on your back as you got away."

"Ohhhhhhhkay." Scratch said while slightly creeped out. "Now explain why you decided to come to me specifically, because honestly I really want to get away before the Ghost World collapses."

"Twila" gave Scratch a nasty dead eyed stare while she crossed her arms.

"Yeah, I'm not buying that for one second."

"What do you mean, crazy lady? Of course I want to escape before I'm next!"

She just continued to stare at him endlessly.

"And I'm still hearing all of your excuses. Suffice to say, I KNOW when someone stretches the truth, and you clearly have the acting skills of a high school play. Do you REALLY want to get out of here and leave your friends behind?"

Scratch couldn't believe the situation he found himself in. His current attempt at escape from his demise became halted by a plastic doll owned by a psychopathic ghost that talked him down like someone with a conscience. It sounded so completely stupid that it only could have possibly happened to him and nobody else. After all of the hassles up to that point he wanted nothing more than some relaxation time…which Molly almost never gave him from her attitude alone. Such idiocy and power all at the same time…and the forces of reality kept him in the center.

Even so, he still decided to play along just to get the whole thing over with.

"Well, when it comes to situations beyond my control sometimes you have to call it quits and run like hearing someone giving away free tickets to an amateur night. When you find yourself and someone you care about lingering off the same cliff, sometimes you have to let your friend go or else both of you will perish. Harsh, but true!"

The doll still glared at him and never took her eyes off of him.

"Scratch…do you know why I stick around with Selene despite her outlandish personality?"

Scratch rolled his eyes.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe because she cherishes you over everything else?"

His blatant sarcasm dripped from his words which "Twila" caught onto rather quickly.

"I'm acting serious here. If you don't feel the same way then maybe I'll continue to pester you until the gray DOES catch us."

"Ugh, fine." Scratch answered after a slight groan. "Why DO you still stick around that crazy jerk?"

"Twila" got up close and personal when she waltzed up and got up to Scratch at point blank range in all of her plastic glory. Scratch felt some shivers down his back from the sight of her dead eyes and smile before she pulled back and responded.

"Because I make her happy and care for her being."

Something tugged at Scratch's chest at that moment. It almost felt like a slight pinch in the gut, and he didn't know what it meant at first. Just so he could get some answers, Scratch addressed the doll again.

"You…actually care for that crazy ghost? Yeah, I don't buy it."

"I speak the truth." "Twila" responded. "Sure, she may have a bit of a deranged exterior at face value, but once you get through she really shares the same feelings like everyone else. Most of the others she comes across don't typically stay for long enough to figure it out, so she cast a hex over her abode just to keep everyone inside long enough for them to understand."

"Wait. I thought she said she did that so nobody steals from her collection." Scratch said.

"She eventually came up with that stance after it kept failing to work in her favor." "Twila" responded. "Dolls became her only escape after she couldn't find anyone that wanted to call her a friend, and despite what it did to her mental state…I still stayed by her no matter what. I know she would do the same for me if I even found myself in that kind of trouble…and I'm nothing but plastic if you couldn't tell!"

She kept hammering the points in as her true intentions dawned on him. After everything he stated, the most obvious fact remained buried and kept attempting to break free. Despite everything that held it back, Scratch knew better. He saw what occurred in that time frame and any attempts against it never had a chance. While his intentions seemed cruel, he valued his afterlife and wanted to never risk it.

He stayed silent for a few seconds before he answered back.

"Okay, I get it. Yes, I know I'm leaving Molly back there, but if you've seen what she's capable of I pretty much can't do anything against it. Of course…you can also see it from here too."

"Yes, I know about that." "Twila" said. "Even so, do you really consider yourself that helpless?"

"Umm, what do you mean by that?" Scratch asked. "Of course I can't match her! Do you WANT me to spontaneously combust from lollipops and rainbows shoved up my butt? I don't think so!"

"Yet you don't consider your powers just as capable?" "Twila" said. "Look at you. You've gone from scary ghoul confident in his skills to an utter wimp that doesn't believe in himself! You're probably the closest being in reality to Molly, and after everything she went through you HAVEN'T picked up on a skill to cheer someone up? Come on, for you should know about it by now!"

At first she spouted nonsense to him, but as the seconds passed it slowly became apparent to the ghost. While it seemed like no one could ever match match Molly's gleeful abilities and powers, she only got that way from her overwhelming amount of joy that always triumphed over misery. Because she pretty much felt that way on a daily basis in came as no surprise that she broke the power scale when she took on the Ghost Council. Scratch may have shirked common emotions before, if he somehow managed to rile himself up to a similar amount he might have the capability to get up close without annihilation on the spot. He even understood a bit about it too, especially after one incident where he filled himself up with happiness, and yet he still needed a method to possibly calm her back to her normal personality. Luckily for him, no such thinking cap carried such necessities to conclude on something, and it instantly came to him once he thought of some of the most comforting moments during his times with Molly…

"Wow, uhhhh… The awkwardness shot up to, like, a thousand or so. I'm getting talked down to by a DOLL and now I just realized that I'm the only one to possibly fix this. Am I…losing my mind or something?"

"I don't know, but Molly doesn't look that great back there." "Twila" said. "She sucked up Nancy like a bowl of candy, and now her attitude will literally tear apart the fabric of the Ghost World if you don't do something."

Scratch almost completely forgot about the shrunken midget at first, which caused him to look back at the weeping destruction behind him. Molly still continued to grow as the dull gray extended further and further along, which caught even more places and sent them into miserable messes.

"Yeah, I'll have to do something about all of this. As much as I want to get out of here…I can't leave a friend behind. Say, how do you expect-"

Scratch turned back around toward Twila for one final question, but immediately he noticed that she completely vanished from his hand like she never existed in the first place. He floated and stared almost completely dumbfounded at what he just went through as part of him became convinced that he hallucinated the whole thing, and yet it didn't last for too long.

"I've been hanging around that stupid ghost for far too long." Scratch said to himself. "I'll have to bleach my eyes after all of this nonsense…"

With that said, Scratch once again set his sights on the troubles back with the gigantic saddened Molly. At that point he couldn't tell exactly how far up Molly expanded beyond the size chart, but she pretty much became the biggest ghost in existence as she inadvertently sent waves of sorrow across the Ghost World. He probably didn't have much time left before the Ghost World fell completely to her, and yet only a few minutes ago she still expressed her infectious happy smile. Weirdness beyond his normal knowledge as the green in the void disappeared to the blank gray rapidly until it barely stood out.

Only with Molly could something like that occur.

Scratch groaned a little under his breath as the ominous stretching gray raced toward him, and yet he needed to traverse through it in order to reach Molly…and Nancy if she still existed somewhere in her. He held back the massive urge to roll his eyes as he knew what he needed to do.

"Molly owes me big time for this."

Without a moment any further, Scratch charged head first into the gray that nearly took over the Ghost World. The instant the color enveloped his entire spirit the effects hit him immediately. As if someone completely turned off all instances of positivity, what once became unwillingness ran off for mercy as all of the negativities took hold. It almost felt like someone immediately flattened him with a miserable sledgehammer and pressed him against all of the dreariness and unhappiness built up in the world, which left him as a droopy terrible mess. He couldn't help but gravely frown while his arms went limp and his eyes mirrored all of the drained hitodamas and ghosts also caught in the overpowering clutches of a very unhappy Molly. The hopelessness sunk into him once he saw Molly's looming ghost self as she poured tears upon the helpless spirits endlessly, for he knew the type of power she wielded as a wraith. The utter sorrow that surged through left him bolted to the spot, as the need to move for any type of attempt to save the Ghost World wriggled under the intense weight of the terrible tragedies of sadness. Molly completely bound him into submission and left him as nothing but a husk of empty sorrows, which left next to nothing behind.

…at least on the surface level.

His sight failed to break through the fogs of misery no matter how much he narrowed his eyes, and yet something deep within never stopped muttering whispers. While his initial thoughts concluded on some slight breezes, as it constantly hummed in the background it finally caught his full attention. Throughout all of the murky gray something barely stood out, and yet Scratch couldn't see it in full at first. He pulled away multiple hard sheets that gained weight the more time passed, which left next to no room for error if he wanted to reach it. No matter how much gray obstructed his path, he squeezed through every single one almost out of breath, since the margin remained thin to possibly trek through. His nose probably suffered the most punishment, as it more often than not barely kept a slightly larger scope that left him to pull it out on multiple occasions. However, despite all of the setbacks he still made it through like an expert, although the sight of what caught his eye confused him when he finally got to it. Nothing but a small pea sized light that slowly diminished as the seconds passed showed itself before the ghost, but as he loomed in closer some slight warmth coursed through him. A closer look revealed something he never knew he had in him, although a "sickness" from a previous incident brought some familiarity with the concept. If his had to guess…

"Wow, uhhh… I never thought I still had some in me after I basically ingested helium." Scratch said. "Maybe I always had some after all? Eh, I can't think about it too much right now. This might be the only chance to rescue Molly! Oh, ummmm, and also Nancy, I guess."

He took a deep breath and rubbed his hands before he made his decision. In one fell swoop, he grasped the light and held onto it as much as he fingers could hold. At that moment, the light touched his very being which provided all that he needed to stay content. The gray still affected him to an extent, but as long as he held the light he wouldn't fall to the same dullness everyone else felt.

He stayed whole.

Even though he found himself back to his normal mood, he still found more troubles down the line. Thousands of ruined and dull creatures rained from the sky while Molly still grew in the background, and he needed to get to the ever growing ghost quickly. As the gray around him sapped away at his emotions, he rushed through the streets between struck hitodamas and ghost while he narrowly avoided cats, dogs, and even the occasional koalas. They nearly ganged up on him at various points, but due to their dreary natures from Molly's gray Scratch found it easy as he squeezed through every time. The last amount still in him repelled the grayness to an extent, and yet he still felt like most of it sapped away by the second. He needed to act fast.

He almost exhausted himself in the end from the last few turns, but after all of the flying around he finally made decent progress and reached his destination…where his target seemed like she eclipsed planets. His entire sight line of sight filled to the brim with nothing but the saddened Molly as she cried her heart out. He couldn't even find the perfect angle to fully witness the entirety of her face from how huge she became. She practically replaced the green void the Ghost World usually displayed, although the gray probably took most of it over even though he couldn't see it, while her eyes changed into the sun and moon overhead. The dull gray of her ectoplasm darkened what stood out behind her, almost like a hall of colored windows, while her tears expanded to where just one drop enveloped entire regions of the Ghost World. The rounded enclosures of her arms surrounded continents while her fingers encompassed whole mountain ranges and civilizations despite her lack of a body. Scratch already saw a dose of what capabilities Molly maintained as a wraith, but when she broke the boundaries it basically changed the entirety of another dimension into her own domain.

"She's going to get me to say it at this point…" Scratch said as he gazed at the titanic Molly. "Oh, sweet baby corn…"

Sorrowful rainbows and animals still rained from above which provided Scratch less than a second to act, which limited his thought process. In certain ways it reminded him about how Molly loved to act as her mind lagged behind, which happened on more than one occasion. When she didn't devise schemes to "enhappify" Brighton, she usually acted on her own accord just to get things rolling quicker…which often ended in worse situations. While a bit annoying to experience day in and day out, he had to admit it got him active more than his typical lazy schedule. In many ways it balanced them out, which he appreciated, although the addition of Nancy wobbled the scale a bit. His afterlife would have stayed stagnant if Molly never showed up in his life, and Nancy added some much needed spice to the mix…that he still hadn't fully understood yet.

Scratch wasted no time as he rushed through the void upward so Molly could see him, but due to her massive growth that still continued it took a decent amount of time at best until he reached her face. The volume of her cries in conjunction with the country sized tears made his efforts more and more difficult and possibly would have shattered his eardrums if he still had any. Her ghostly spirit continued to expand by the second while her sadness shook the entire landscape of the Ghost World, which Scratch aimed to solve. However, right before he could attempt to shout and get her attention some very strong winds pulled him inward. While subtle at first, once they picked up in speed he lost all control as they dragged him in…right toward the infinite depths of Molly's mouth. Scratch turned around for one last attempt, but it became futile at that point as the whites of Molly's teeth passed overhead. From all of her constant crying she unknowingly sucked Scratch inside from one deep breath, and as the endless landscape of her tongue zipped under him, the endless darkness loomed in the distance where he won't escape.

"Mol! Mol! Hey Molly, calm down for a bit! You'll have me for lunch if you-AAAAAAH!"

He needed to act fast and instantaneously as he slowly saw the darkness settle in until it nearly blinded him after he noticed that Molly closed her mouth for a brief moment. While he came up with a rather unorthodox idea, because he could barely see it left him guessing on one specific spot blindly. As the winds pulled him even deeper into the cavernous spelunking trip through Molly's maw, he felt a slight dip that meant only one thing. From there it became now or never, so right before the surface disappeared below, Scratch yelled and leaped upward at one particular angle. He got a rather sticky conclusion when he found his head buried in something rather bulbous and slimy, which he held firmly onto to as he pulled himself free. While he managed to get most of himself out at first, the instant he touched his face…he realized he left it engraved in the surface. Thankfully it only required a few extra tugs before he placed all of his features back onto his spirit, even if some still felt somewhat sticky. For once he managed to pull through on his own, and all while he lacked visuals.

Light poured inside as Molly opened her mouth again, and when that happened Scratch found where he ended up after his blind maneuver. While not the most optimal of places, it still saved him from certain doom in the end. He noticed instantly that he stayed stuck near the bottom of Molly's uvula.

"Scratch…you lucky specter." Scratch thought with a smile.

If everything went well, he just needed to wait for a very brief moment until one certain occurrence showed up for the taking. He crawled upward toward the middle for a better position, which covered him further from head to toe in saliva, but at least he no longer needed to worry about an accidental fall. Just one specific moment and he would go for the next part of his plan, although the grotesque sights of the inside of Molly's mouth almost made him hurl on several occasions. Her growth reached such stratospheric heights that several sports stadiums could fit across her tongue and still have room for extras. The gray roof of her mouth served as a malformed sky of sorts while entire countrysides littered the surfaces of her teeth, where each one supported dozens of small villages. One false move though and they risked getting skewered by the row above them, almost like a shower of massive moons on multiple collision courses. One clash of her incisors spelled doom for everything underneath, where Molly wouldn't forgive herself if it ever happened. The sky ultimately opened up near the back where the darkness lied, and anyone unfortunate enough to traverse there never came back. The large dangle above served as a warning to never come near, but Molly always earned extra snacks for anyone that failed to listen. Just the sight of what would come spooked Scratch as he held on for his dear afterlife, for the last thing he wanted to become was a crumb for his best friend's appetite. He knew Molly never considered Scratch as something on the menu, and yet the stance on certain civilizations would have ended up as such under certain circumstances. He liked Molly's infectious smile from the outside, but on the inside only one misstep was required for the ecstatic tween to unintentionally swallow him whole. Molly had no idea how humongous of a titan she grew to, and she still gained height by the second.

He stayed stuck to her uvula as Molly closed her mouth and gulped a couple of times that almost sent Scratch into the void below, but he bided his time as the saliva splashed around him. He only had one shot or else he'd become an extra appetizer for Molly lunch, and throughout all of the troubles he barely held on as his best friend almost had him.

"Come on Mol, just one steady burst…"

Below him he heard some really loud gurgling as if Molly always desired to have Scratch for dinner, and even he could tell she already started to get hungry. Never in all of his afterlife would he have ever thought he would end up on an unintentional spelunking trip inside the maw of someone like her, and yet it wouldn't last any longer if he stayed trapped inside. He scooted a but further down until he reached the very bottom of her uvula, and once he felt the warm air as it stirred underneath him he knew he didn't have much time. The winds picked up in speed as he saw the light once Molly's opened her mouth again, which began a slight countdown in his head. When his internal countdown reach zero, he closed his eyes and held himself tight as he let go of the dangling flab for below. He wholeheartedly expected to immediately get picked up by the rushing winds, but his spirit halted as they instantly slowed down again. Before he knew it, his entire spectral self found himself bound all over and squeezed while something continuously tugged him downward. One miscalculation spelled his demise that he instantly regretted.

Molly was going to eat him after all.

He forced himself not to cry, especially since he knew better, but the fact that he found himself dragged down into Molly's esophagus and down the hatch hurt to think about. She knew better than to consume someone she cared about, and yet she never intended it in the first place. It covered him from head to toe it stickiness before it pulled him completely downward and enveloped him in pure muscle. As she separated from her body a while back, to think Molly's ghost even had spectral organs in the first place completely threw Scratch for a loop as she gulped him down, and yet all thoughts halted once the reality of the current situation hit him. He couldn't hear a heartbeat of any kind at least, which he expected, and yet an abridged digestive system remained intact. Wraiths really had some weird traits that still eluded him, but he wouldn't have a chance to find out in his current situation.

He didn't know how long the muscles of Molly's esophagus tugged him down, but once the heat slowly turned up a few dials he knew what loomed under him. He heard some gastric bubbles and disturbing groans that ultimately served as the signs of his final destination. One splash and everything about him would evaporate in seconds, and the brief glimpses of pure green only made him struggle even more. He couldn't accept it. He didn't want to experience Molly's digestive system first hand, especially as a more powerful wraith and not human, and yet the muscles continued against him in every way. The path underneath opened up as his last chance of escape passed over him, which left him helpless as he plunged into the gastric acids below. She won. Molly consumed Scratch without ever knowing it.

…at least that's what he expected.

His miscalculation became spot on, but for a completely different case. Right as the muscles released him into the depths of Molly's ghostly stomach the winds picked up speed again. It completely caught him off guard as he suddenly found himself from inches away to the deadly acid to straight up and out. Her esophagus opened up further as Scratch shot straight up until he zipped and found himself right in the confines of Molly's mouth again. However, he never got a moment to breath when the winds blew him out again, but he ended up smacking the back of one of Molly's front teeth instead. He left behind nothing but a large blue sticky splat as the rest of the winds blew by him then settled down. His eyes reformed soon after followed by his mouth, nose, and arms, and while he felt glad to have avoided getting digested in Molly's belly he still knew why he floated up to her in the first place. Despite the experiences inside Molly's innards, at least in her ghost form, he failed to see any trace of Nancy. Wherever she ended up, at least she also didn't find herself as an appetizer to the giant ghost girl.

…at least he hoped.

As if he needed to speak his mind out, in a very literal sense, Scratch opened up his head like the lid of a pickle jar and pulled out his ghoulish brain, which also consequently took his eyes. He pointed at the organ with a deep frown.

"Next time you come up with a crazy idea, MAKE SURE IT'S FEASIBLE! GOT IT?!"

His brain squeaked and even sweated bullets before it hopped and nodded rapidly. With that said, he plopped the organ back into his head before he screwed his top back on.

"Now I understand how zombies feel. Even brain dead idiots need their smarts!"

The winds rushed at him again and pressed him against Molly's tooth, which served as a nice safety net so he wouldn't get completely blown out. As much as he wanted to get out of Molly's mouth before she consumed him again, he also wanted to stay close for her to notice him. She still grew by the second from her deep sorrows, and he needed all he could get for a chance of her expanding eyes to see him. Despite her accidental eating of him, he knew she never meant it. Any potential ideas to calm her down became a necessity at that point.

As the loud cries still rang through his head, Scratch grasped what little of the slippery tooth he could and climbed upward, which tired him out a few times, until he reached her gums. He held back the urge to heave from all of the mucky visuals before he grasped a part and pulled himself up. He waited a little for Molly's upper lip to come down before he went for that next which hoisted him further up. One outward climb later and he finally made it out in one piece from the dark pit of Molly's ghostly innards.

Still, he needed to grab her attention.

He hoisted himself up even further until he reached the near upper part of her top lip. Any further to the sides and he risked getting washed away by her mountain sized tears, and as she continued to grow they would also become harder to avoid. After his escapade inside her mouth, throat, and stomach he wanted no further part in explorations throughout his best friend, so he prioritized safety more than other traits. Just the sights of her planetary face gave him chills, and she could easily ignore him if things went awry. Her current mindset convinced her that he caused everything wrong about her after all.

He yelled as loud as he could toward the titan ghost girl above.

"Mol! Hey, Mol! Down here!"

Despite his attempt, she seemed unresponsive at first. She continued her sadness as her size expanded even further and the Ghost World fell further into gray dullness. At that point the green the Ghost World showed barely stood out among all of the gray stricken throughout the void as time winded down for all of the inhabitants.

"WHY DOES REALITY…HATE ME LIKE THIS?!"

As Molly's height and scope expanded he voice struck every last inch of the Ghost World, and it became somewhat known for its endless nature in the first place.

"Mol! Come on, I'm right here! You need to calm down!"

Her cacophony of sniffs, tears, growth, and cries covered most, if not all, of other noises in conjunction with her newfound scope. It almost seemed like a lost cause for anything to possibly reach her…but then Scratch noticed a few loose twitches of her eyes. She still wept endlessly to the detriment of the entire Ghost World, and yet the tiny ghost on her face saw the one sign through to her.

"Just hold it in for a second, okay Mol?! I can't help if I don't know what's wrong with you! Please, JUST GIVE ME A MOMENT BEFORE I FALL OFF!"

Her eyes twitched again, but no further signs became apparent for Scratch at the time. If she still truly hated him she likely also wanted him far away, probably to wander the endless void in solitude. He desperately gazed into her two giant planets for eyes as they poured tears everywhere while she shot gray rainbows of bland animals down below. Somewhere under all of the sadness lied the Molly he knew, and if only a single ounce remained he'll have a chance to possibly wring all of the dark clouds out of her head. He only needed the one push, and if everything aligned correctly…

He bit the bottom of his lip, and yet he noticed nothing he hadn't seen before. At that point he began to doubt that he made an impact into the thick shell of sorrow over her, but before he could attempt to call her up again something completely blindsided him. An enormous wall of gray smacked him right across the side and held him in place for a second before he suddenly found himself airborne once again. At first he had no idea what hit him, especially from all of the insanity brought by such powers beyond comprehension, but he got an eyeful once his spirit settled in one spot.

Molly no longer maintained a status of a titan, but a deity.

After everything brought upon her and the endless sadness that poured from every corner, calling her huge no longer served as a decent description. She enlarged even further than everything the dictionary listed under the correct adjective. Scratch couldn't even see beyond the infinite gray of her fingers to under him, although he still got visuals of the quickly diminishing green in the ghostly void, and he only witnessed a patch of gray in place of her galaxy eyes. At certain points he didn't know if he gazed at a gray wall or Molly's gray ectoplasm, although the winds of her breath provided signs to where he saw her mouth. He couldn't describe her any further since most of what he saw only ended up as pure gray colors and nothing else, although he knew that Molly may have completely covered everything in the Ghost World at that point. If so, it sounded like a miracle that she picked up his voice from her face, and yet his troubles wouldn't end there. He may have finally gotten through a bit to the deity that was Molly's in her ghost form, but he still needed to stir her back to her normal personality.

She could hold an entire planet in her hand at that point.

Almost immediately before he could speak, Molly boomed over him.

"CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY?! YOU MADE ME A FREAK! YOU WANTED THIS THE WHOLE TIME! I HAD A COMPLETELY NORMAL LIFE UNTIL YOU SHOWED UP!"

She nearly blew his brains out from the sheer power of her voice at her size, and yet despite her current status Scratch knew that her growth didn't have an end in sight. She would continue to grow unless he did something about it.

"I never did such a thing! If anything, you completely changed my afterlife when you moved-"

"YOU CAN'T MAKE UP EXCUSES FOR WHAT YOU DID! YOU MADE ME INTO THE LAUGHING STOCK OF THE CENTURY! YOU CARED ONLY FOR YOURSELF WHEN YOU RUINED MY LIFE!"

The void around them rippled and fluctuated while the small speck of floating lands below crumbled. Molly's uncontrollable ghost powers sent the Ghost World into a complete collapse and sent every specter into a panicked frenzy. Only Scratch stood in the way between their survival and utter decimation from Molly's sadness.

Scratch didn't know what kind of incident brought her to intense tears, but even so he couldn't ignore it. He thought of relatively minor incidents with Molly that may have triggered her destructive sorrows, and if one of those sent her into the negatives…

"…I guess we really think alike after all."

Molly still cried tears the size of continents, and yet something very subtle became noticed by Scratch's acute eyes. While they still poured out from her omnipresent ghost eyes, the rate at while they appeared seemed to have slowed ever so lightly. The uncertainty never left him, but if something touched her in that very moment he stayed on the right path. Her spectral fingers that could have surrounded mountain ranges tightened a little across his squishy body, but he paid no major attention when his friend required his assistance.

His eardrums nearly blew up again when the ghost of Molly, sized up like a deity, spoke up again after a couple of sad sniffs.

"I…I won't fall for a trick like that! YOUR LACK OF EMPATHY CONTRIBUTED TO MY HORRID FATE!"

"I'm speaking the truth." Scratch answered after he took a moment to clear his headaches. "You also made me feel like I've suffered the worst fate imaginable since we met. I…didn't exactly want to say anything about it…"

The tears lightly slowed down further while the void fluctuated again to the crying tween. While she still kept a firm hold on her tiny speck of a ghost, she seemed to have clammed up a bit after Scratch spoke up again. Her face didn't change in the slightest as she still expressed her endless sadness, but Scratch took her silence as an opportunity to explain his stance further. Every bit counted after all.

"I really hate to admit it, especially to someone like you, but I seriously thought the exact same thing when you arrived in my afterlife. I pushed it aside since more pressing matters kept it at bay, and yet it never left despite what my attitude may have lead to believe. At one point I considered my existence as nothing but a complete and utter joke after I accidentally cursed myself to you! I mean, come on! A ghost like me as a possible servant to a joyous girl like you? How can I NOT become the laughing stock of the undead?!"

"I'm still hearing lies through those teeth! THEY WON'T WORK! I CAN NEVER RELATE TO A MONSTER LIKE YOU!"

Her voice quivered and shook as entire oceans of tears fell from her eyes like a never ending downpour. Her ghostly pudgy fingers that held Scratch tightened ever so slightly, and yet Scratch focused his attention more on Molly than anything else.

"I'm telling the truth, I swear!" Scratch replied while he wriggled in her grip. "Your overzealous joy mixed in with your high energy completely contradicted my type of lifestyle! I almost couldn't accept the fact that you completely threw my afterlife upside down after all of your scheme, incidents, and situations that stirred Brighton over the misery numbers. As the days went by and your antics continued I wanted to completely pull my hair out and call everything off just like that, for I knew after you moved in my afterlife would never go back to what I once experienced. You brought so much to the table Molly, and for what seemed like forever I secretly wanted everything the way it was more than anything."

He felt Molly start to tremble soon after, and she began to whimper like he inadvertently broke her down terribly. She seemed like she lingered on the edge on the verge of another complete meltdown, the total opposite of her normal personality, and the endless space around her mirrored something similar. It rippled frantically as only a few spots of green remained, which appeared like the last legs before complete annihilation. If Molly underwent one more complete breakdown the Ghost World would likely fall with her, and her ghostly form had the immeasurable power to do it.

The inevitability of one final crying fit loomed over Scratch, but right before the bomb went off…

"…but then I realized I went down the wrong path."

The one sentence alone halted the last ounces of sadness required for complete destruction. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as her tears slowed down again, and soon after she set her blurry sights on the near microscopic speck bound in her spectral grasp. Scratch reeled her back in right on the brink of the end.

"Everything I thought I perfectly understood turned out as nothing but fabrications to keep me rooted to the wrong crowd. As I stayed around you when you come up with your next big scheme on a daily basis, something slowly stirred in me over time. In some ways, I guess I probably felt more like the midget after everything that happened to her. Even so, I later figured out that all of the future torture would never happen. You never once considered me as someone to always lug around and act like a personal butler of sorts. Despite my worries about ending up as the klutz of the millenium, especially from all of the circumstances surrounding me since you moved in, no matter what you always had my back. You pretty much much reinforced the notion when you rescued me from the Ghost Council…and ever since I've never looked back."

He didn't see any major breakthroughs in Molly's expression other than the slower tears, and yet she didn't speak up or interject in any way while he spoke. He didn't take it as a sign, but at least his hearing stayed intact instead of blowing out of proportions from the sheer power of Molly's giant voice.

For the next bit, Scratch almost couldn't find the words as he bound himself up despite the fact that Molly's humongous ghost fingers did the deed for him. If he hesitated any further though, he risked another complete breakdown from her and the final push for the Ghost World's elimination.

"I…I never expected anyone…to call me a friend…despite my predicaments. If anything I performed before offended you…to this level…I…I…"

He bottled himself up for a few seconds as his spirit held back the forces that banged against the door. However, he couldn't hold it back forever, and Molly's crying solar system sized eyes still kept their attention on him. She lightly groaned and shook which seemed like the final straw for a complete meltdown, but right before she could cry out again.

"Mol…I'm sorry for everything I did!"

He let himself loose and nearly broke down himself from all of the pressure built up, but even after such a reveal Molly didn't react in any way at first. Scratch took a few deep breathes for some comfort, which ended up cut short from Molly's grip on him, and yet he still couldn't hold back a few heartfelt tears in her presence. He managed to form a light smile in her direction, but everything else about him failed to respond after his long explanations exhausted him like nothing else. The amount of care and friendliness behind his words took more out of him than dozens of scare attempts combined, and his spirit could only hold so much. He still had a LONG way to go before it became the norm for him, especially since he spent most of his afterlife giving scares for the most part.

The multiple headaches Scratch obtained over the course of his explanations left him shattered enough that he never noticed the fact that Molly actually extended her arm out a bit further at first. He picked up the motions, and yet the comprehensions never occurred until a bit later when his head cleared. From his new angle he witnessed the biggest tween ghost girl in existence as she held him firmly in her massive hand and spread dull gray blandness over everywhere in the Ghost World. She sniffed and mumbled something inaudible while her trembling became more frequent. From there the cracks started to show, and it seemed like she would inevitably take the entire world of the undead down with her in one final sad crying fit. The fact that what once served as the joyous savior of the Ghost World now ended up as the miserable tween that destroyed it became one of the harshest forms of irony Scratch had ever seen, and yet he somewhat accepted it. If he would go down with anyone during his last days, Molly always stood out as the first pick…although he preferred her regular sized over being an astronomical sized wraith that could crush him with only one finger.

The endlessly saddened ghost of Molly stared at the speck in her hands for a few seconds before she slowly began to draw him in again. She shut her eyes and shook her head which caused some large gray bursting ruptures in the void, which confused Scratch for a second until something else became apparent. Once she opened her eyes, which poured more long waterfalls of tears, she fixated on him again before she slowly started to open her mouth, and from the angles given to him he concluded on one terrible fate. From there panic started to form underneath while he tried to wriggle free, but Molly proved to have greater strength than anyone else as a wraith and kept him bound to the spot in her huge ghostly grasp. He already dealt with his fair share of the young tween's digestive system and he clearly wanted no further part in her metabolism. If Molly wanted to swallow him again, she could do so as the deity sized ghost girl she was.

"No, no! Mol, please! You don't have to resort to that! I thought we were friends! Don't do it! Please Molly, DON'T EAT ME!"

She brought him closer and closer to her open mouth while her sorrowful expression never changed. After everything he said from the bottom of his soul, it never changed anything. The Ghost World would completely fall to her saddened powers, Molly would continue to grow further beyond everything, and Scratch would never see the light again. Never in his life had he thought that Molly always desired to have his head on a platter, and yet the darkness of her mouth told him everything. No matter how much he struggled, it changed nothing. The growing sad ghost girl won, and she determined his fate as her forever snack.

…

…

…

…but then he found himself against a different surface.

He closed his eyes just so he wouldn't see himself constantly chewed against her cuspids, but once his face smacked something else a different picture formed. He never found himself buried in the depths of never ending saliva or melted in any gastric acids, but against a cold sticky surface he knew all too well…especially since his spirit filled to the brim with it. He couldn't see her face or any further signs about where he placed him, but he didn't need them. She still kept him firmly between her fingers, and even though he still found them coiled a bit too tight around his waist none of it mattered. While stunned at first, once the details caught up to his brain the warmness in his heart told him everything else.

She understood.

As Scratch made contact against her chest, everything halted. For once, Molly's waterfalls of continent sized tears paused as she seemed to stare off into space for a few seconds. The unrivaled power she wielded as a wraith brought the entirety of the Ghost World into a standstill as her emotions took hold once more, and the gray rainbows and animals shot out of her ectoplasm all froze in place with her. Nobody understood fully about what just happened, and yet Molly dictated everything in the end. Her unbreakable shell of pure negativity suffered a blow at such a perfect angle that it cracked, and from there faint lights emitted underneath. To think someone actually managed the impossible, and all for the sake of his best friend.

"He…he…actually…"

The incredibly minuscule dot against her chest embraced the deity of a ghost girl, which covered next to none of her gargantuan spirit, and while he expected to serve as the only one to show positivity reality showed him otherwise. Before he even knew what happened, the entire bottom part of his spirit became smothered completely from one of Molly's enormous fingers, and while she likely intended to act as lightly as possible, at her size anything she touched basically equaled a strong hold. While not the strongest of holds, it pressed Scratched against her chest pretty hard, and yet he didn't mind. He saw the Molly he knew and adored again, and they sealed their friendship with literally the biggest hug in existence.

"…I love you Molly."

"…I…I love you too Scratch."

From there the world changed around them one final time. The gray that once coated Molly completely slowly faded as a better warm color resurfaced underneath, and as that happened a very faint aura kindled around both her and Scratch. The gray of the void fluctuated lightly a few more times before multiple section parted and revealed the recognizable green the Ghost World displayed daily. All of the ruined and ravaged sections of floating land slowly connected back and became whole once again, which also stirred all of the affected gloomy ghosts back into their normal personalities. Every building and structure destroyed in the process also formed into their original shapes, while the dull gray animals and rainbows around them slowly phased out of existence. Color arrived and replaced all of the gray to the delight of all the spirits below as all of the streets straightened back up for the specters. However, even though everything began to recover from the near destruction of the entire Ghost World, the size of the instigator ended up as the most apparent change. As the tears disappeared across her face and the areas that ended up flooded by them, what once floated as the biggest ghost girl in existence diminished as the seconds rolled by. As her bright yellow returned to her, her enormous size went further and further down at a steady pace until she stopped at her normal everyday height, all while she showed a heartwarming smile on her face. Before long, both Scratch and Molly landed atop of the roof of Selene's abode as they embraced each other in each other's arms and their aura remained strong. They had done it.

The Ghost World would continue to exist.

Crowds of ghosts from below cheered as their world survived a near collapse, while Molly and Scratch settled down a bit and let their feelings draw out a bit. It didn't last too long though, for some muffled noises stirred them back to the world around them. The two looked down toward their ectoplasms that touched as they hugged, which seemed like the spot where the sounds came from, which caused them to separate. The two floated back as they became astonished at what they saw, for they had never forgotten about the other one of the group despite her absence from the whole fiasco. She stayed stuck and dizzy in Molly's chest before the tween pulled her free and into her grasp one again, where she plopped down on one of Molly's ghostly fingers.

"Errrrm, errgh… I'm feeling so much pressure in my head…"

She clasped her cranium as a mammoth headache surged through, but Molly and Scratch cared more about something else on her.

"NANCY!" Molly exclaimed.

Before Nancy's head cleared fully, Molly instantly brought her in and gave her one of her signature hugs, which basically coated her more in the tween's ectoplasm more than anything.

"Mmmmph! Molly… Let loose a bit!"

"Oh, errrrm, sorry!" Molly answered before she hastily pulled her back.

Nancy shook off most of the excess ectoplasm from Molly before Scratch floated up.

"I'm still confused about what happened, but I'm glad you never perished." Scratch said to Nancy. "You okay?"

It took a moment for more of Nancy's headache to clear up, but once it did she tilted her head.

"Ummmm, I…guess? Did…something happen?"

Both Molly and Scratch cocked an eyebrow at her. One of the most horrific events just unfolded before everyone in the Ghost World, and basically everyone witnessed it at some point during the destruction. Granted, Nancy stayed stuck somewhere inside Molly during the whole ordeal, but that didn't mean she lacked insight into the situation. For all that they cared, she could have shared the same mindset at the time with Molly.

"Uhhhh, the whole Ghost World basically stood in the balance of a massive breakdown." Scratch stated. "It became impossible to miss!"

Nancy recoiled back a bit before she glanced downward and fiddled with her thumbs.

"Well, errrr, I…basically only remember getting sucked into Molly…then dissolved… Nothing else after that…"

She solidified her stance on the matter. Nancy knew nothing about the Ghost World on the brink of elimination. She only remembered the last few moments until Molly completely absorbed her, which stumped the other two but not before they received an earful from someone else. They would have to put their questions on hold for the one that pretty much started most of the problems in the first place.

"You…ABSOLUTE JERKS! You think you can just WALTZ out of my presence all happy and whatnot…after you BROKE OUT OF MY HOUSE?!"

A loose hand set atop one of the lips of the roof before the one doll loving ghost made her presence known atop the roof before the group. No other ghost understood completely about what truly happened other than the fact that Molly grew exponentially and nearly destroyed the entire Ghost World, but she stood out as the one exception…which didn't sit well for her. Her hair stuck around all over the place, probably from her escape when things got dicey, while her eyes pulsated red streaks like a crazy person. She apparently had a bone to pick for the three of them.

Molly and Nancy winced while Scratch appeared unfazed.

"Look lady, we just got done with the giant Molly occurrence and need the relaxation time." Scratch said. "Feel glad that you at least didn't lose your mansion, for I would kill to have certain royalties like what you live in!"

"I…have to agree with Scratch on that." Molly added. Nancy also slowly nodded her head in agreement while she stayed silent.

"Oh no you don't!" Selene responded as she angrily pointed a finger at them. "You don't just WEASEL your way out of my establishment all willy-nilly like that! The brink of extinction or not, I STILL OWN ALL OF YOU AND WON'T LET-"

"Relax Selene, for I think all of us need a break from all of the chaos today."

The sudden interjection perked Selene up a little while the others watched. She floated while a little confused before she reached behind her back and brought out the infamous doll that she never let out of her sight…despite the fact that Scratch somehow had her earlier.

"Not now Twila, for we still have some business to take care of." Selene said while she tightened a fist.

"While looking like that?" "Twila" responded with her hands on her hips. "Girl, you've overworked yourself to near exhaustion. Just call it quits for now."

"And let the most adorable dolls of all out of my grasp?" Selene replied as she frowned. "Yeah, I don't think so. I've put in too much work behind everything to just let them free. I won't accept defeat by the hands of-"

"Do you even hear yourself right now?" "Twila" interrupted. "You've gone head over heels ever since you set your eyes on that tiny girl, and quite frankly you've pretty much lost your marbles since. What happened to the Selene I know that appreciated what she already had?"

The anger across her face provided all of the signs of a ghost that set her priorities all over the place in an instant, which unnerved the others to an extent, and yet they saw her get talked down to by a doll of all things. Scratch could easily relate due to an incident beforehand, and yet he couldn't help getting baffled, along with Molly and Nancy, by everything he learned about her. While they couldn't completely judge her since they lacked a lot of details of her history and other traits, from the evidence they experienced they already concluded on a couple of guesses that they wished to keep to themselves. Selene certainly missed a few marks, and yet they couldn't take their eyes off of her.

As a few more seconds passed, they witnessed Selene snort some angry clouds before she let up a bit of her anger. The tenseness in her ectoplasm loosened before she rubbed her head a few times.

"Grrrrn, you know I have a soft spot for you. Have any other occasions where you want to pull that card? My patience can only last for SO long, you know!"

"I think you know what you have to do."

"What exactly do you mean?"

"Apologize and let them go."

Selene face instantly went straight while the others just glanced at each other and shrugged their shoulders. Even Nancy couldn't help but follow suit and shrugged her shoulders as well.

"You seriously went out of your way…just for that specific stunt. I went through SO much only for everything to come crashing down and-"

"Stop giving them the cold shoulder and just let it go! Apologize!"

Selene snorted angrily once again before she silently rolled her eyes and floated up to the other three. Once pinch of the forehead and shake of the head later, the ghost eventually provided what "Twila" wanted.

"Okay, okay! I know this won't change anything, but I'm sorry about what I did. I should have concluded that kidnapping wouldn't solve anything, and that the savior of the Ghost World always kept that speck in check. Urrrgh, this whole stupid situation STINGS!"

"Well, you did kind of start the whole thing…" Scratch said.

"Hey, go easy on her, okay? Feel glad that I got her to admit her wrongdoings in the first place." "Twila" stated. "Oh, and before I also forget, I'm also terribly sorry for my actions. While I basically just follow orders, that doesn't mean I lack a conscience."

"I think all of us just want to call it a day for now." Molly said before she addressed Selene. "Oh, and apology accepted. It's a start, but I think you learned your lesson. Even I understand when it's appropriate to admit fault."

Selene shook her head and pointed a finger at Molly.

"Don't think that I'm through with you just because of that stunt you pulled back there. I'm still miffed that you ruined my playdate and if I have to get that tiny girl again for my collection, well, you better have your eyes peeled twenty four seven. Just…just give me some time to think about what happened, okay? My head hurts and I-"

She never finished her sentence when some loud crunches hit everyone's hearing. Because they came in nearby, it only required one slight pivot to figure out what sounded out those noises. Of course, expressions fell flat once they saw the gluttonous ghost of the ground as he chowed down on some exquisite foreign food from a small box in his hands.

"Do you mind? I'm kind of expressing my feelings here!" Selene retorted.

Scratch quickly looked up with stuffed cheeks and splattered sauce across his face.

"Hey, you know me and my tendencies with foods I haven't tasted before! I gotta say…this section of the Ghost World has good tastes!"

Molly went up for a closer look at the box, while she still held Nancy, then tilted her head at a certain decal plastered on the front.

"Scratch…where did you get that?" she asked with a slight quiver.

"Oh, I found it on the stairs in Selene's mansion as I escaped." Scratch said after he swallowed and helped himself to another onigiri.

Almost instantly, Selene's eyes opened a bit wider than normal.

"I…guess you fancy spicy food then?"

Scratch paused before he swallowed his next batch from the box.

"Errrrm, not particularly. Why do you ask?"

"Well, because all of the food in there was covered completely…in wasabi." Selene stated.

"Did you even read the order form next to it?" "Twila" asked as her blank face gave everyone creeps.

"Wasa…what?" Scratch asked. "Are you speaking nonsense or am I just going-"

Right before he could finish his sentence, Scratch instantly paused in place. At first the others didn't quite understand what stopped him, but as the signs came up they immediately knew what stirred in him. At first his cheeks swelled into large puffy balloons before some light tears formed in his eyes. Some light smoke wafted out of his mouth as he attempted to keep it closed, and what sounded like some brief chokes uttered out soon after. Finally, as if to solidify his grave mistake, faint images of flames appeared in his eyes as his body slowly lit up bright red like a thermostat, which became accompanied by some high pitched sounds akin to a steaming teapot. Eventually, even he could only take so much before a complete breakdown, and after all of the signs reinforced his actions everything burst out. Scratch comically shot out a long stream of fire that barely missed the others but sent him careening into the air while he yelled his head off. As he soon became a small blip in the horizon, a large explosion occurred and spread out into large flaming sparks akin to a firework. Several loud bangs erupted over the ghostly void and the large flames and sparks above everyone formed into a recognizable shape to everyone that called the ghostly Shibuya district their final resting place. One line upward, a straight line horizontally underneath, and two angled lines downward detailed something special only they specifically knew about, especially the hitodamas that stared in awe at the display.

The others also watched to varying reactions.

"Wow. I had no idea Scratch had it for eastern cultures." Selene said as the shape reflected in her eyes. "Of course he's a bit late, but it's the thought that counts."

"It also kind of fits after what happened." "Twila" said. "Remind me to ring him up for next year's Daimonji."

Molly and Nancy instantly turned to face Selene and her doll.

"You two talking about specific jewelry or something?" Molly asked as she tilted her head.

"Maybe she has…a large diamond in storage or something…" Nancy added.

Selene just glanced at them and disappointingly shook her head.

"You have a LONG way to go if you want to fit in around here."

---

Scratch made extra sure to pinpoint the exact location of where both he and Molly arrived in the Ghost World so they wouldn't have another "clueless Molly incident" and find themselves lost for hours on end. Once he determined the correct spot he conjured up a ghost portal where all three of them flew through and ended up back in the confines of Molly's attic room. Since the incident took most, if not all, of the entire day, by the time they got back night had already came and displayed through the large window. Lots of leftover cat decorations from Molly's daily plans still lingered around that required a bit of clean up, but she would handle that for later. Even though she still didn't have the privilege to go back to her own home yet, for once Nancy wanted Molly's place more than anything. At least with her house she didn't have to worry about any crazy ghost that desired to add her to her doll collection. She still hadn't gotten completely used to her new lifestyle under Molly's umbrella, but as time passed she slowly started to find some comfort. Nothing but a safe haven to finally kick back after another crazy scenario with the joyous girl and her ghost friend.

Scratch let out one deep breath as he closed the portal with the two ghost girls next to him.

"Phew! Another day, another series of crazy events to wrap my head around. I swear the midget became an occurrence magnet ever since we found her."

"At least we handled today like champs though!" Molly exclaimed. "Woohoo! Another incident in the bag!"

"I…guess you could say that…" Nancy added as the pitch black ghostly speck in the air.

Before the two girls floated back to their inactive bodies, Molly creepily floated close to Scratch and got up all close and personal with a cheesy snarky smile. Nancy just watched from the sidelines and couldn't help but lightly smile at her expression.

"Oh Scraaaaaaaaatchy, if you could somehow figure out a way to expand me again without shaking the world out of balance…"

Scratch slowly turned toward Molly and couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"You seriously have that thought in your head after ALL of that hassle back in the Ghost World?"

"I mean, the urgency kind of stirred the interest…" Molly answered. "Even so, just think about it! A giant joyous wraith of a girl on the prowl while everyone watches from below as tiny dots across the landscape! Come on, surely you can pull some strings to make me bigger again, right?"

Scratch didn't buy it.

"Yeah, I don't see that happening anytime soon. Living with you and your crazy schemes gives me migraines already, but to deal with you as a giant ghost? I'll basically never hear the end of it!"

To think Molly showed interest in going through the whole process again provided all of the signs of a naive girl with responsibility out the window. Of course, Nancy didn't know what happened and only heard of how terrible and dire the whole situation sent the Ghost World into the depths of annihilation. Even after all of it, Molly wanted to grow again as her excitement told her everything she needed to know. If anyone could possibly do it, Scratch became her best bet despite acting as the voice of reason for once. If he didn't cooperate she would find another way, for she always held a couple of extra ideas up her sleeve.

Part of Molly's smile faded in the process.

"You don't have to figure it out now, but sometime down the line I want you to figure something out…and I can hardly contain my excitement! Please Scratch, you have to give me this one solid, okay?"

Scratch nonchalantly rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Alright, alright, I'll try to look into certain curses. In the mean time, you always have the midget if you want to act-"

"THANK YOU SCRATCHY!"

Molly interjected his words prematurely and provided one of her strong heartwarming hugs in the process. Scratch nearly blew up like a balloon before she released her grip.

"I get it, I get it! Yeesh, watch the grip there!"

Molly recoiled a bit back and rubbed the back of her head in an embarrassed fashion.

"Oops, heheheheh. Sorry there buddy."

"None taken." Scratch responded. "Just get back into your body and do the same for the midget. I've pretty much gotten my fair share of both of you as wraiths for one day."

Molly and Nancy pretty much unanimously agreed on that front. Even though floating around as a ghost brought some level of enjoyment, after the incident with a gigantic ghost Molly it wore them out heavily. Even so, they couldn't just leave their bodies alone for too long, and if they wandered somewhere in their drained mindset where the wraiths couldn't find them it wouldn't go down too well. Nancy probably wanted her body back more than Molly, although she made a mental note in her head just in case. While she preferred to not separate from her body again, it the situation called for it…she'll go for it again. Both girls rather desired having a body than existing without one.

As for where they last left them, they needed no such thorough investigations to locate them. In fact, Molly's never left the bedroom in the first place. Right atop the sheets with her head in a pillow, the happy go lucky girl's body set with one of the most dead expressions aimed right at them. Just the mere sight of it gave Nancy chills, and she knew her body likely mirrored something similar. It barely even moved and just wallowed in its emptiness across the bed like her life completely disappeared in the blink of an eye…which sort of happened in a way. At least Molly got herself out of her cat outfit before Scratch separated her, which meant her body wore her normal clothes, even though Nancy never knew about it since Selene split her in the dead of night. Only one ecstatic spirit could inhabit the body and fit perfectly, while the body itself never cared in the slightest.

Molly and Nancy floated up to Molly's body while it sat in a sagging slump.

"Hey, if it ain't my loving body! Just got done with yet another incident, so what did you do today?"

Molly's body sluggishly glanced over to the ghost and spoke in the most deadpanned tone one could possibly utter.

"Erghhh…nothing really…"

"I kind of expected that." Molly said. "Anything else?"

"I don't care…" Molly's body responded before she tipped back and hit her head against the wall.

Almost instantly she slumped back into a dead heap, which didn't faze the others too much. While Molly could have put herself back into her body at any time, she still wanted to make sure the other miniature wraith had her body on standby before she sealed the deal. The three set their sights around Molly's body and the shelf close to the bed, since Molly usually placed Nancy there during the night, and performed their searches. Molly's body cared less about any extra searches around it and continued to sit around and…exist while the others did the work necessary. However, for whatever reason, none of them noticed anything remotely similar to Nancy's own loose body. Molly looked over her body and even searched her pockets, Scratch scanned the shelf thoroughly, and Nancy handled tight spaces Molly and Scratch couldn't reach. No matter where they search though, none of them could locate Nancy's body anywhere.

"Well…this is weird." Nancy said as she went into Molly's body's pockets and found nothing. "Wouldn't my body…linger near yours?"

"I thought so." Molly responded to the black speck in the air. "Find anything Scratch?"

The only normal ghost of the bunch pulled back from the shelf and shook his head.

"Nope. Nothing that resembled the midget in any way."

The three glanced at each other while totally confused about the set of circumstances, but once they settled down and listened for once something very faint hit their hearing. At first they couldn't determine the precise location, but after a few moments of extra concentration they nailed it down…and it nearly befuddled them. Molly's body stayed glued to the spot which required the actual Molly to move her over a little. Jaws dropped as they finally witnessed the dot of the timid girl's body when it suddenly appeared from right under the behemoth girl's own body. They received an answer as to whether or not she still lived when they saw her wriggle ever so slightly in a dreary and cold state, similar to how Molly's body acted. Both bodies lacked any sort of care, but it confounded the others as to how it happened in the first place. Still, they found Nancy's body at last.

"Okay, I know about the phrase 'falling behind', but not in the literal sense!" Scratch said.

As if on instinct, both Molly and Nancy zipped up to her for a better look. Just like Molly's body, Nancy's shared the same drained and weary face as she slumped across her back like she was dead inside…which sort of matched the situation to an extent.

"Oh my gosh! Nancy, I'm SO sorry for this!" Molly stated as she glanced at both specks on the bed and in the air.

Just to make extra sure Nancy's body still operated, Molly stuck one of her ghostly fingers out and gave the miniature dot on the bed a small poke, which, at her size, basically smothered Nancy's body completely. Nancy herself held her breath while her body sluggishly gazed up at the gigantic ghost girl and spoke in a similar deadpan tone to Molly's body.

"…I feel nothing…"

"I also feel nothing…" Molly's body added.

Both bodies collapsed back onto the bed and drooled endlessly since they lacked basically everything. They both stared at each other endlessly with their dead eyes and did nothing else but simply…exist. At that point it became obvious that they needed their souls back, which Molly and Nancy understood from the moment they set their eyes on them.

"While I want to know how I managed to sit on you without injuring your body in any way, I'd rather have my body back than figure it out." Molly said as she got up close to her body.

Nancy and Scratch floated back to give her some room while Molly's ghostly form prepared herself. After a few quick seconds, Molly performed a few deep breaths before she flew straight back into her body, and then the signs became immediately apparent. The dreariness and emptiness across her face instantly changed into the happy go lucky expression everyone knew and loved. The dull sapped tints of color across her body filled up until she glowed in her normal personality once more, and as life surged back into her she almost instantly got back on her feet in one valiant and eager pose.

"MOLLY HAS RETURNED TO THE LAND OF THE LIVING!" Molly exclaimed joyously with her knuckles on her hips.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I've seen it before." Scratch said while unimpressed. "Let's just get the midget back in and call it a day."

For once Nancy agreed with Scratch. The more she floated as a wraith the more she desired to have her body back after all. She would have flown over to her body the first chance she got after that moment, but before she could do so she suddenly found herself in front of Molly's planet sized head as the behemoth girl gazed down at her with her two white moons for eyes.

"You know, if you cut out all of the black and dreariness…you actually look kind of cute as a ghost! Heeheeheehee, I especially like your gray eyes and long ectoplasmic hair! While I could never replace Scratch, you easily fit as a VERY CLOSE runner up! I wouldn't mind if you somehow end up like this again!"

Out of everyone to possibly enjoy her appearance as a ghost, it came as no surprise to see Molly as the primary one. Even so, to hear that someone thought her form as a wraith stood out as something not the worst thing ever gave Nancy a little bit of comfort. As much as she wanted her body back, at least one person enjoyed her spectral appearance. She still preferred not to end up as a ghost for the most part, and she still hadn't gotten too used to all of the changes unlike Molly. It remained pretty high up on the priority list for someone like her, although her restored size stood at the highest point, and she mostly preferred Scratch for the role as the supernatural being of the group anyway. While as a wraith none would like her, although one stood out from the norm as genuinely interested.

Soon after the loose spirit of Nancy flew downward toward the giant bed until she hovered face to face with her body. Just her face alone sent chills across Nancy's ectoplasm, as she'd never seen herself in such a dead state. She hardly even moved from her spot and only occasionally moved her eyes toward the scenery around her. While she still stayed alive, her soul completely separated from her body which left behind a husk of a girl that waited to become whole again.

"…nothing matters…" Nancy's body said as it sat like a brick.

Nancy twiddled her fingers and reached out to her body at first, but then immediately turned back toward Molly and Scratch.

"Umm, how exactly…does this…"

"Oh, right! You haven't done this before!" Molly responded. "Just fly straight in! It's as simple as that!"

Nancy's mouth went straight while she slightly shook. For some reason she didn't think Molly completely told the truth and left out something important. Even so, she didn't have anything to gain from lying so the tiny specter believed her for the most part. She turned back around toward her body as it lightly groaned and moaned in a dull fashion, which eventually lead to Nancy's attempt. She took a couple of deep breaths and slowed her ectoplasm down before she went for it. She closed her eyes for safety and charged forward until she ran straight into her empty body, where she instantly felt changes. Almost immediately air poured into her lungs and the sense of feeling down below returned like it missed her for days on end. She still kept her eyes shut for the moment, but after a few seconds comfort slowly settled back in enough to where she could finally open them.

Never had relief hit her so hard than when she moved her legs again.

She wanted to scream with glee as she wiggled her toes but held back on account of Molly's and Scratch's presence. She reunited with her body and desired to keep it that way for the foreseeable future. While she mustered enough to show a very faint smile, she didn't have too much time before she found herself pinched from the back. Once she went airborne she realized Molly snatched her using only two fingers and soon after the giant happy girl plopped her right in the palm of her hand.

Molly's smile never left as she gazed down at the tiny dot in her grasp.

"There you go. Feel better now?" Molly asked.

"In terms of having my body…then I guess you could say that…" Nancy answered while she played lightly with her hair from nervousness.

"Yay. Both of you finally joined up with your bodies." Scratch said all nonchalantly before he changed topics. "Can we address the elephant in the room now?"

Molly instantly frowned in a cheesy manner at Scratch, and once the others looked down they could easily see why. In her other hand, the one not holding Nancy, she firmly grasped a round circular toy against her chest that just so happened to look like the respective mammal.

"Hey, I only bring him out when I'm stressed, okay?! We've clearly gone through a lot, and Mr. Fluffums helps simmer all of the built up steam! My therapist said so!"

As Molly's heartbeat accelerated through the roof, she rapidly squeezed the large pachyderm against her chest as if her life depended on it, which made it utter some dog barks…for some reason. She lukewarmly chuckled as one of her eyes twitched which creeped Scratch and Nancy out a bit, but didn't steer the topic off in another direction.

"I'm should feel more surprised, but then I remembered that it's you." Scratch said to Molly before he spoke up again. "Let's talk about the fact that the Ghost World almost completely broke because of…whatever happened back there."

Molly's pupils shrank considerably as she squeezed Mr. Fluffums again and again, which caused more dog barks to come out of it. Eventually, Scratch had enough and slapped the toy out of her grasp.

"Scratch, I need that!"

"Then you can also do it WITHOUT all of the noise!" Scratch responded.

Almost immediately, Molly clutched her chest for a moment before she pinched her forehead and sat on her bed. Her look of distraught sent waves across the room that the others understood to an extent, but didn't speak up about.

"Okay, okay, I get it! I have NO IDEA what happened back there! I don't think ANY OF US know! You feel the same too, right Nancy?"

Nancy sat down against Molly's skin while she held her knees and shuddered.

"No…not at all… Pure horrors…then nothing after that…"

"You made it clear earlier that you remember nothing after Molly…basically ate you up." Scratch said.

"But…but how was that possible?" Molly said. "Nothing like that ever occurred before. You think it has to do with both of us as wraiths?"

"Maybe, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing in the first place. My brain can only handle SO much until even I have to call it quits!" Scratch said.

"Well, uhhhh, at least it was only a one time deal, right?" Molly said rather tepidly. "Nothing else that horrible could have POSSIBLY occurred before that. Right? Uhhhhh, right?"

She brought the wretched dread back to Nancy in the most nonchalant fashion possible, at least to her. They went through all of the hassle in the Ghost World as it hinged on the edge of destruction, and they still never knew about the other near death experience only the tiny one knew about. After all of the crimson spewed out of her gut the moment still stayed fresh in her head, and from all of the pain built up she wanted to keep it bottled up just so nobody would share the same feeling. They wouldn't fully understand what she went through anyway, as only the stricken target understood the consequences behind all of it. All of the reminders painted the worst of the worst for the shrunken girl in more ways…

"I'm seeing the midget with that face again."

Scratch's sentence alone brought Nancy out of it. She shuddered and bound herself even tighter once the attention diverted back over to her, which enticed Molly to look down at the minuscule speck in her hand.

"Errrrm, what exactly do you mean Scratch?" Molly asked.

"Oh, nothing much. Just the fact that the midget displayed her rather constipated face in conjunction with a wiggling leg and microscopic pupils. Suffice to say, she knows something we don't."

He read her like a book and didn't even try. While Nancy also heard something similar the first time she met with the duo, she took it as a throwaway phrase and not something serious. She never actually noticed before that she also provided obvious signs toward certain actions and thoughts, although she focused more on her well being over any foreboding indications. Even so, she made note of it for later just in case, but that didn't place the spotlight away from her.

She watched as Molly's planetoid eyes squinted a bit at her before she spoke up.

"Scratch, don't automatically conclude on assumptions without their side of the story first. She's our friend after all."

"Gee, how obvious…especially from you." Scratch replied as he rolled his eyes.

Molly quickly shot him a glare then got back to Nancy.

"Still, because of Scratch's observations, do you know something we don't, Nancy? You can trust us with anything confidential, and I swear to NEVER leak it to anyone else! We have the MISSION Squad, after all!"

Nancy mumbled some light nonsense to herself while the giant tween herself happily smiled in her direction. After all that had happened to her over the course of her stay, she ranked Molly as one of the last to hold secrets securely, especially with her unrivaled excitement and overzealous attitude she expressed on a regular basis. Because of her attitude, Nancy pretty much accepted the fact that Katrina basically became the go to pick when it came to keeping secrets. Nobody tended to pay attention to her anyway, and if they did they most likely bolted at the sight of her…twisted tendencies. Even so, Molly and Scratch basically cornered her which built pressure up pretty quickly, and due to her size what they wanted out of her they would get. In the end, another tragic case arrived for Nancy as part of the inhibitors smitten across her body.

They finally forced her to crack, which caused a few tears to flow down her face. As much as she wanted to not bring that incident up again, they gave her no other choice.

"Molly…I…I saw everything…"

Both Molly and Scratch gazed at the speck while they cocked an eyebrow.

"Umm, I…don't quite understand that." Molly replied.

"That entire escapade…I witnessed all of it…"

"Yeah?" Scratch asked. "Out with it already!"

He undid the final lock that lead Nancy to burst out.

"I SAW EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED WHEN MOLLY INITIALLY WENT INTO THE GHOST WORLD! I COMPLETELY BLACKED OUT AND WITNESSED THE WHOLE INCIDENT THROUGH MOLLY'S EYES!"

She gasped for air and dug her head into her knees, as the harsh reminders ultimately became too much for her to handle. As she lightly wept to herself she couldn't keep her head up, while Molly and Scratch felt her sorrows even when she stood at a size comparable to ant food. Still, her revelations brought a bit of tension that they couldn't shake off.

Molly wanted a final conformation though.

"You…you witnessed me as I traversed throughout the Ghost World to save Scratch?"

"I'm…really not liking the sound of that." Scratch said.

Nancy stopped crying for a moment and sniffed a few times before she answered.

"Yes, I…saw the WHOLE thing through your eyes!" Nancy said as more tears fell down her face. "The moment you left through the portal…I hacked up a storm and lost so much that I…fell unconscious. I seriously thought I met my end from the extreme pain…but then the next thing I knew…I found myself experiencing EVERYTHING Molly went through. Her sight, touch, hearing, and everything in between…I went through ALL OF IT…even down to the final boop…"

The anxiety behind the reminders built up in her again that forced her to dig her head into her knees again. However, it didn't last long as some dog barks hit her ears which brought her head back up. She instantly noticed the once ecstatic tween as she continuously squeezed her plush Mr. Fluffums over and over like a makeshift medicine. Her look of distraught returned for a brief moment before Scratch grew annoyed again and slapped the toy out of her grasp once more.

"Scratch, I still need him!" Molly said.

"Then do it AFTER we get everything out of the way so I don't suffer continuous migraines." Scratch responded.

Molly slightly frowned again before she took a couple of deep breaths and got back to Nancy. Clearly she felt something similar underneath all of her happy vibes, and Nancy's explanation brought some of it out of her.

"I…I really don't know what to say…" Molly stated. "Ummm, errrr, at least you survived right?"

Nancy's distressed expression told her everything.

"Molly…I puked red. I hurled ENTIRE CUPS of red."

The tiny girl deeply sniffed before she wept silently to herself again. She put her head back into her knees while both Molly and Scratch stayed silent. She couldn't see their faces, but at that point she didn't care. They still went around in their normal sizes while one single girl stayed stuck to them at the most damaging height imaginable. Even as the speck in Molly's hand though, she took all of the punishments imaginable and couldn't do anything about them. In retrospect, she probably carried even worse luck than Libby, and she usually stood out in the town of Brighton as the unluckiest person there. Ever since she shrunk and found herself stuck to the one that started the problem in the first place, nothing but the worst of the worst occurred for her only. Molly paraded around all happy and joyful, while Nancy suffered the brunt of terrible fates placed on her.

At that point she expected Molly to stay silent, and yet she broke it anyway.

"I…I'm terribly sorry that happened, Nancy. If I would have known…"

"That kid probably suffered more unfortunate circumstances than anyone else ever since that cake incident." Scratch added. "In retrospect, you likely wouldn't have known about her pain as you zipped in to rescue me. If I can take anything from this though…that accident did more than just diminish her."

"I…sort of figured that out myself." Molly said with a slight quiver in her voice.

Nancy bitterly cried to herself and refused to lift her head from her knees. Everything stayed black and she intended to keep it that way. No amount of the obvious words quelled the sorrow left in her, and the more she wept the more she wanted her normal life back…which she knew was more than impossible from everything she'd seen up to the current moment.

It took a bit of time for anyone to speak up for a while, but then she heard Molly again.

"Hey Nancy, can you please look up for a moment? I have something important I want to say between the three of us."

She didn't know how she managed to pull it off throughout all of the sobbing, but the way she exchanged words in the last few sentences struck a chord of sincerity that stirred Nancy in a way to where her cries slowed. It certain ways it almost stunned her to hear something from Molly, but in the end her head slowly lifted from her knees and over to the heartfelt tween that kept her in the center of her palm. A few wrinkles under her eyes indicated that she also shared her sadness, although on a lesser scale, and a few glistens in her eyes, akin to times where she either gleamed with inspiration or fell into cutesy sadness, provided signs that she held back tears in the process. To think she could relate to the thirteen year old sounded like a fairy tale…and yet not too far-fetched at the same time. However, no matter what she desired her attention nonetheless, which Nancy understood and followed.

Nancy and Scratch stayed silent as Molly started.

"Nancy, you know I desire to make the world happy, right?"

Nancy sniffed then slowly nodded her head lightly.

"Then I guess you also know that I pretty much 'enhappified' Brighton into a joyful place, right?"

Nancy lightly nodded her head again before she wiped a few tears from her face.

"Well, I may have brought the best out of everyone since I moved her, and one could easily call it as a complete success from an outside view. I adore the fact that I helped so much that I'm considered part of the community at large, and it tickles me fancy to see everyone finally like me despite what I brought to the table in many weird ways. Even after everything that I set out to do, and eventually succeeded in the end…Brighton isn't fully joyful yet."

Both Nancy and Scratch glanced at her like she just lost millions of brain cells.

"Uhhhh, what? I fully thought the MASSIVE CROWD OF EVERYONE IN BRIGHTON IN FRONT OF YOUR HOUSE indicated your success with this town. You even got the old lady with a stink eye for oats there, and she usually doesn't open up to just anyone, you know!" Scratch said.

"Okay, yeah. I fully understand your point Scratch, and while pretty much everyone came together to show their appreciation for everything I did…one chunk of Brighton still remains unhappy."

It took a moment for the two to catch up with the times, and it required a few seconds until they realized what Molly lead on about. It should have became obvious, and yet it completely eluded them under their noses the whole time. Nancy lightly yelped and bound herself tighter to her knees, and yet Molly never steered her planet sized joyous eyes away from the tiny dot in her hand. While it made sense, she still appreciated any form of less attention on her, including topics of conversation. Of course, Molly never forgot that she existed, despite what her actions lead Nancy to believe.

"Yup, I can see it across your face. I'm talking about you, silly! Out of everyone that lives in this town, you still feel completely miserable after everything that occurred from that accident. I know I may have given others the attention they needed and placed their priorities on my todo lists, and yet I seemed to have completely ignored you. In all honesty, I've never forgotten about you in the slightest, and even though one of the factors of my supposed ignorance stemmed from others' problems that required my help…there was also another reason."

Nancy didn't like what Molly currently lead up to, and her nervous face painted signs she wanted to forget. Even so, she unleashed a minor explosive from her next point.

"Nancy…I still don't know how to cure your shrinkage."

Despite all of the loose shrapnel left behind as the dust settled, Nancy and Scratch kept some small amount of cover that softened the spontaneous combustion. Sure, they may have heard her state such a fact previously, but to hear that she made no progress since ripped a hefty clump out of their feelings. She really went for months completely clueless on the matter and just left it to the side while she handled others' problems. After everything she stated about how she always intended to change the shrunken girl back to normal size, she waited until the last possible second to finally come clean. The "MISSION Squad" could have been just a charade so nobody would have suspected anything and so Nancy stayed in a more positive mood…which didn't work. Molly really sucker punched Nancy and Scratch where it hurt, and she never intended to at all.

Scratch spoke up first.

"You…you actually went…for months…and learned NOTHING to help the midget out?! I know I'm the ghost and all of that jazz, but dang, you procrastinated to the extreme! Shoot, that's COLD…even for me!"

"I get it Scratch! You don't need to make this situation worse, okay?" Molly answered.

The hollowness in Nancy's body reached new lows to the point where she could barely find words to describe how she felt.

"But…but you said…"

"Yes Nancy, I'll admit that I screwed up, okay?!" Molly said as a light sadness rubbed off on her. "I put your problem on hold because I still haven't figured anything out and went about enhappifying Brighton as a way to continuously brush it to the side. It only took the incident in the Ghost World to suddenly realize that your problems may have more under the surface, and I can't help but blame myself for not figuring it out sooner. Combined with the fact that you went through so much during my rescue for Scratch…it hurts me as much as it hurts you."

From there the two heard Molly sniff a few times as if she tried to hold back tears, but soon after her other hand formed into a firm fist.

"But after all of those troubles…I just know I have to make up for my ignorance. Since the joy in Brighton reached new heights, I can now focus on different matters. While the town might already feel the greatest amounts of happiness imaginable, it still needs the one final push to pop the lid and release all of the joy built up…which means I need to fix you more than anything. If you give me another chance Nancy, I solemnly swear to look more into what happened to you and bring the MISSION Squad back into order. Your restored size will become one of my new top priorities and I'll even have Scratch remind me when I divert myself away, because…you're a friend too."

"Uhhhh, what?" Scratch started. "Since when did I waltz into this problem?"

Molly shot Scratch a brief leer before she got back to Nancy.

"So…how about it? I'll even perform the ever sacred pinkie swear of solemn promises with you just to prove how serious I am about our futures. Come on. You can trust me again, right?"

Nancy didn't know how to feel for the moment after Molly's brief essay on mistrust and promises. However, before she could think further she witnessed the young tween as she lifted her other hand and placed before her possibly the largest finger she had ever seen. To think that such a digit was a pinkie completely flipped the normal visuals one would associate with those parts, and Nancy lost so much height that she could even see the jagged edges of the front of her fingernail that almost made her sick. The loose pieces of skin also rubbed her the wrong way, and yet Molly's finger took up most of her viewing space. The giant girl really wanted Nancy to trust her again.

Even after all of her supposed dedication in her voice, Nancy still didn't buy it.

"Errrrm, well…" Nancy started. "You kind of…screwed up big time…to the point where I'm still uncertain."

Molly withdrew her finger and narrowed her eyes on the dot.

"Come on Nancy. I've learned my lesson, okay? What do I have to do to show that I'm ready to help you out now?"

Nancy twiddled her fingers for a few seconds before she glanced back up at the massive behemoth of a girl.

"Well…I usually don't bring this up often…but if you really want my trust…"

"Nancy, I'll do anything to show that I'll change you back no matter what." Molly responded.

"This will probably backfire instantly…" Scratch mumbled while he watched to two girls.

Nancy wiped away some more tears and sniffed up some clogged snot before she set her sights on Molly like she just got away with a major crime. Her suspicions didn't fully convince her that Molly had it in her, but if she really wanted to go for one special exchange she hadn't performed in years then Nancy didn't see why not she couldn't at least attempt it once.

For once in her lifetime, Nancy set the ground rules in place.

"Okay, then we'll do the trust rhyme…in conjunction with the hand gestures."

"Ummm, what?" Molly asked.

"Oh, my friend Katrina came up with it…as a form of absolute trust. Early on, before she took her…creepy hobby, she read this nursery rhyme book…and changed it up a bit as a form of deep trust. She even added her own motions, and while it may seem weird at first…it soon became standard between the two of us."

"That sounds…okay, I guess." Molly responded. "If I have to go through all of it just like her, then I'll do it. How exactly does it work?"

"Set me down…on your bed first…for you'll need both hands." Nancy said.

Molly understood almost instantly and nodded her head before she got on her knees and set her hand across the sheets to let Nancy off. Due to her size, the moment didn't go by immediately and required a few extra seconds just so Nancy could safely get herself off of Molly's fingertips. Once on top, the troubled tiny girl sat near the edge of the bed before she set her hands forward vertically with her palms forward toward Molly.

"Get it this same stance, ummmm, okay?" Nancy said.

Molly obeyed and went through the same actions while Scratch watched uninterested on the sidelines. Because her palms completely eclipsed Nancy's entire body, the tiny one basically couldn't see Molly's face at her current angle, but in the end it didn't matter. Time for the process to start.

"I know I'm not the most…visible, but follow my lead. Just…don't fall behind, okay?"

"Got it." Molly said.

With that said, the rhymes began as an upbeat tune stirred throughout the room while the girls exchanged claps between each other's palms, which almost became impossible due to Molly's scale compared to Nancy's.

The Little Bat and Ghost

Molly and Nancy: Ohhhhhhh, the little bat, bat, bat,

across the mat, mat, mat,

had seen a ghost, ghost, ghost

next to the cat, cat, cat!

He flew around, round, round,

across the ground, ground, ground

until the bat, bat, bat,

is who he found, found, found!

The two then flied, flied, flied

with lots of pride, pride, pride,

and they stayed, friends, friends, friends,

completely worldwide, wide, wide!

Molly and Nancy: (Stops their clapping briefly while laying their hands flat against the other's) Bats and ghosts go hand in hand as the world is their domain

So we'll speed things up and not break up to do it all again!

Molly and Nancy: (Resumes their clapping against each other's palms, but at an increased speed and tempo) Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, thelittlebat,bat,bat,

acrossthemat,mat,mat,

hadseenaghost,ghost,ghost

nexttothecat,cat,cat!

Heflewaround,round,round,

acrosstheground,ground,ground

untilthebat,bat,bat,

iswhohefound,found,found!

Thetwothenflied,flied,flied

withlotsofpride,pride,pride,

andtheystayed,friends,friends,friends,

completelyworldwide,wide,wide!

Molly and Nancy: (Stops their clapping briefly while laying their hands flat against the other's. They then stop singing and go into a static chant.) Up, down, left, and right,

Bats and ghosts go rule the night.

Separate, they writhe and wiggle,

But together, everyone starts to jiggle.

With the dark ablaze and people fasting,

Their friendship will remain everlasting.

Nancy and Molly took a moment to recompose themselves, which included a couple of deep breathes, before they separated their hands. Nancy had to redo her hair a bit since Molly smacked her across the face a few times, and even though she saw a bit of red for the most part she still sat upright. Scratch rolled his eyes from how stupid everything sounded in the process while Molly brought her hands down for a better look at the shrunken girl. She still showed her signature smile even after everything Nancy put her through.

"Wow! You really had my fingers moving like mad!" Molly said. "It actually brought a bit of nostalgic tears to my eyes!"

"Yeah, ummm, it requires some fast…reaction times." Nancy stuttered. "I'm surprised…you pinned everything down almost immediately."

"Hey, when you have a knack for learning fast everything sort of…clicks!" Molly said. "So, am I back in your good graces again? Can I start the MISSION Squad up again?"

Nancy mustered up a weak smile before she slightly glanced down then back up again.

"Well…I can't exactly go back on my word…after you went through the process. So…I'll take your word to figure things out again."

Almost instantly, Molly shot straight up and put two overjoyed fists into the air while her body flowed with happiness all over. Her smile widened and expanded while her eyes gleamed and sparkled in the moonlight, which nearly startled Nancy.

"YAY! I'M TRUSTED AGAIN!" Molly exclaimed. "You have no idea how happy I feel to know that I'm back in business! WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!"

"Yeah, and I'm taking all of this as unnecessary filler." Scratch said as he floated near Molly. "I can't go for two seconds without-"

"DON'T KILL THE MOOD SCRATCH!" Molly exclaimed while she briefly glanced at him in crazed happiness.

"Hey, I'm just setting the records straight here!" Scratch replied. "I guess that means I'm also getting forced along for these troubles, and out of everything I can possibly say…this might be our greatest challenge yet."

"I pretty much figured that out…the moment I found myself…like this." Nancy stuttered.

"No, not like that, midget." Scratch replied. "I hate to act as the bringer of bad news, but I don't think you two understand the MAGNITUDE of the whole undertaking ahead. Mol, you realize that whatever happened back there in the Ghost World…it took you down. Let that sink in. IT…DEFEATED…YOU."

It took a couple of extra moments for the girls to figure out what Scratch meant, and once they did their chests fell stiff while the worry across their faces intensified. After so many incidents that occurred in Brighton ever since Molly's arrival, she pretty much showed that her immense joy overcame everything to the point where she pretty much stood out as the most powerful girl in town where nothing stood a chance. She even wielded her joy to completely defeat the Chairman and save the Ghost World with no extra effort, which lead to her status as a wraith being the most powerful entity the specters had ever seen. Despite all of the signs that pointed to her as completely invincible, after the near demise of the Ghost World by her own hands they seriously questions all of their hard assumptions. It even used her own overwhelming joy against her in a way that almost destroyed an entire realm, and other than the fact that she consumed Nancy's own spirit against her will nobody understood what happened in that period. Nancy didn't even have any recollection after the moment Molly swallowed her spirit up, so she pretty much knew next to nothing to potentially help them out. Whatever the case, it showed that Molly may have maintained immeasurable powers, but, in a manner nobody would have thought possible, something else matched her and even seemed to have even more. For something to have used her wraith form as a puppet and almost eliminated the Ghost World with her own joyous powers turned against her it sent warning signs. If the circumstances aligned once again to where Molly could cause destruction once again…

"I…I never thought of it like that…" Molly said as her pupils contracted.

"Yeah, I'm just as freaked out and worried as you." Scratch responded. "Anyways, as much I want to dwell on it further I'm also getting quite dreary. If you two want to talk about it further, then wait until morning. Good night!"

With that said, Scratch formed a typical sleepy cap atop his head before he shrank himself down and headed into his small house. The two girls glanced at each other for a moment as chills ran down their spines, and yet they also felt the drowsiness settle it. Scratch had a point, and after a good night sleep they can talk more about it in the morning. Nancy pretty much understood the drill at the point and waited for Molly to set her hand down to place her on the bookshelf, but the giant girl hesitated at first. She still had something on her mind.

"Hey, uhhhhh, Nancy? Do you, ummmm, want to change things up for tonight?"

Nancy looked at her and tilted her head.

"Ummm, what do you mean?" Nancy asked.

"Oh, nothing much." Molly said. "It's just, well, we've gone through A LOT today and I know things haven't gotten TOO well between us, soooooo…"

Molly stuttered a bit on her own before she finally brought up the one point she wanted to say.

"Do you, uhhhhh…want to sleep with me tonight? I know it will put you out in the open where others can see you, but…I feel like both of us need comfort after everything that happened. I almost brought the entire Ghost World down without lifting a finger after all!"

Even Molly didn't know how to get the point across without lots of jitters and unnerving tensions throughout her body. For Nancy, if her mood never fell into complete misery the moment she found herself shrunk with Molly she probably would have taken the offer instantly. While she slept decently on the bookshelf, she wished she could sleep under the covers for once instead of rickety wood. In many ways she wanted her own bed back, and yet as long as she remained tiny none of those wishes would ever come true. She wanted to sleep alone in bed and AWAY from the instigator behind the sudden changes in perspective.

The two girls gazed at each other for a moment before Molly broke the ice.

"I can see it in your eyes. I thought I would have won you over after all of those months together, and yet… Even after winning you over in trust…you still don't like me?"

Nancy's eyes filled up slightly with tears before she curled up and barely lifted her head toward the giant girl that loomed over her.

"I…I can't let someone…who set off my shrinkage in the first place…into my close friend circle… Not after all that you have…stricken me with…even though you apologized."

She bound herself tighter in her arms and shook, as the truth hurt to talk about. She usually never resorted to hurting anyone, but after all of the punishments placed on her the moment Molly humiliated her a portion of her broke out. To her, she still saw Molly as nothing more than her captor that held the keys to her freedom, and she constantly dangled them over her head like she saw her as a toddler. Molly hurt her more than anyone else ever did, and even with the wide smile she expressed on a daily basis Nancy saw her as the monster she truly was. Nothing made up for the fact that she reduced her into nothing, and Nancy took the brunt of everything while Molly hoarded all of the benefits to herself.

Molly's mood dipped ever so slightly upon hearing Nancy's words.

"I…I understand." Molly said. "You've taken so much, and even though it still hasn't happened yet…you can take as much time as you need to get used to me. I've said it numerous times and I still stand by it. Even so, maybe a close sleep with me can soften us up a bit. I think both of us need some after everything that happened today."

She couldn't deny the last bit stated by Molly. After the Ghost World nearly broke they needed some time to relax and worry about nothing. Even though she clearly wanted some time to herself, the offer to not sleep on hard wood was too hard to not pass up.

"Well, uhhhh… Okay. Let's…just forget this happened in the first place…"

"I couldn't agree more." Molly said as she lightly smiled.

With that said, Nancy watched as Molly set one of her humongous hands before her so she could climb on. She laid it as flat as she could so Nancy wouldn't have to climb too much, and once the young eleven year old tiny girl walked onto Molly's fingertips the tween lifted her up. She used her other hand to pull the covers away before she set herself under them and kept Nancy in her grasp. The two girls glanced at each other one final time while the gargantuan one looked down upon the speck she kept close.

"Nighty-night, Nancy." Molly said.

"Uhhhh… Good night, Molly." Nancy responded.

After they exchanged their final words of the day, the lights went out and Molly brought Nancy close to her chest before she went to sleep. She inadvertently dug one of her fingernails into Nancy's scalp, but she let off after a brief moment. As for Nancy, her expectations placed her far off the beaten path and away from the pillow she had her mind set to. At first, she found it rather uncomfortable to have Molly's chest as a makeshift bed and her gigantic fingers as a rudimentary blanket, but the more time passed it soon clicked in her head as to why the huge girl decided on such a spot. While she held Nancy and bound her movement a little, the tiny girl felt her warm body heat that soothed her to the point where relaxation became inevitable. She also never appreciated how clean Molly kept herself as her skin maintained a silky smoothness that made it easier and more comfortable for Nancy, even with the set of circumstances. Combined with the fact that she could hear Molly's soft heartbeat close by and she basically provided Nancy the recipe for a calming and quiet sleep, almost as if she knew from the start that she would appreciate it. Before long, even the normally timid girl shrunken down to nearly any food soon fell asleep and began to count sheep by the dozens.

…and yet one still stayed awake for a brief moment near a window from his small doll sized house.

"I really hope you know what you're doing Mol…and Nancy. I'm really not liking where this is headed…"

Soon after, he shut the lights off in his own small house and went to bed himself.

The Ghost and Molly McGee!