Six days later…
True to their word, Lucy's siblings did everything they could to help out with her maze. With their spot at the festival booked and their costumes complete, all that remained were the decorations. And what Halloween would be complete without jack'o lanterns?
"Hey Luce," Lynn called, "Check out our pumpkins? Whaddya think?"
"Hmm," the goth girl strolled over to the carving tables and observed her siblings' work, starting with the jock's. "More blood here."
Next was Lola's, "Few more gashes on this one."
Lana's, "Knock out a tooth,"
Lincoln's, "add some more molasses to those scabs,"
And finally Luna's, "dampen the head wounds."
The rock star chuckled, "Halloween's kinda crazy with a spooky little girl like you."
"Totes," Leni piped up, having finished hanging up black curtains (thankfully, Rita hadn't discovered the fate of her green ones), "I'm so glad Mom finally let you do your haunted corn maze!"
"As am I," Lucy agreed. She wandered over to Luan, who was working on the entrance sign for the maze. "Fantastic work Luan," she congratulated, "Just the right mixture of corn and gore."
"Aw shucks!" the young jester said, "It's just something I cobbled up together from a kernel. Oh! Yes! A triple!" she laughed and did a little dance in celebration.
Her siblings responded with a groan and a tossed pumpkin to the head, though this did little to dampen the jester's spirit.
"I'd expect more support from my " pump-kin!" she laughed from inside the pumpkin, "Get it?"
Lucy face palmed "Sigh…" Reminding herself to make a "no puns" rule for the maze, she turned to address all her siblings. "Thanks for all your hard work, guys. This is goanna' be the best Halloween ever. I'm so excited."
Her face even showed a bit of emotion before going back to its typical grim state.
Lincoln turned to face the audience. "Trust me," he said. "She's excited."
"Jack-o-Lincoln! Do you copy?" Clyde's muffled voice came from Lincoln's pocket. "Speaking of the best Halloween ever," Lincoln explained, fishing his walkie-talkie out of his pocket. "Clyde and I have some pretty big plans, too. I copy, McBride of Frankenstein. Meet you at the rendezvous point in fifteen. Over."
Once he'd left the room, Lucy turned to face the others. "Okay everyone," she said. "We've only got a few hours left till nightfall." She pulled out her clipboard. "Let's see. Lanterns? Check. Fake blood? Check. Lisa, is the maze ready?"
"I checked in with our generous farmer this morning," the young genius replied. "My drones have done their job. 20 acres of fresh maize, ripe and ready for festivities."
"Good. Luna, what about lights and speakers?"
"I got Chuck hauling them in," the rocker said. "He'll have them up and running in no time." "Good. How about your costumes?"
All the girls (plus Rita) nodded.
"Excellent. Let's get these lanterns in the van."
In the attic, the laughter had started up again. A spine-chilling cackle that was soon followed up by a voice. "Come, my loyal subjects. It is our time again."
With a thunderous boom and a flash of light, eleven entities formed in the darkness. Transparent and made of misty light, they hovered in the air like ghosts and spoke with deep, human-like voices. Leading them was Dormus, the god of fear.
"Welcome everyone," he spoke in a cold, raspy voice. "Welcome back to the mortal realm. It's been hundreds of years, but my reign of terror can finally return."
As if on command, the ten spirits quickly bowed down to their leader. "What is your bidding?" one of them asked.
"Years of imprisonment in the spirit world have made us weak," Dormus explained. "but we shall soon be stronger than ever. The humans are about to celebrate Halloween and a young girl has asked me to make it the most terrifying."
"You plan on fulfilling her request?" one of his minions asked.
Dormus chuckled. "Indeed." He hovered over to the attic door and peaked out, watching the Loud sisters as they came up the stairs and headed for their rooms to get into their costumes.
"And I have the perfect plan."
Lisa stood on her window, wearing the upper half of her kangaroo costume and measuring the sun's decent with her protractor. "Seven minutes till sunset!" she squealed in excitement. She leaped off the window and jumped into the lower half of her costume. Thanks to her ingenuity, the suit had built-in springs, allowing the toddler to hop around like a real kangaroo, minus the physical effort.
"Siblings!" she called, hopping into the hallway. "Assemble! It's almost time for the annual ritual of deception versus confection; street name, trick-or-treating."
Lana and Lola walked out of their room, dressed respectively as Abraham Lincoln and the Statue of Liberty. "Four score and seven pieces of candy ago," Lana recited.
"Give me your tired, your poor, your delicious treats yearning to be in my tummy," Lola added. "Hmm," Lisa pondered. "Patriotic, but unlikely to generate maximum candy confections."
"Oh yeah?" Lola retorted. She and Lana tore off their costumes, revealing new ones. "We're also a mermaid and a pirate."
They tore those costumes off, revealing more. "And salt and pepper shakers," Lana added. "This way we can hit each house three times,"
"That means three times the candy."
"Yes, I am familiar with basic multiplication," Lisa said, rather unimpressed. "Your strategy is cute, but mine is far superior."
"Going as a kangaroo," Lana teased. "I doubt it."
"Kangaroo," Lisa corrected confidently, "plus baby roo."
On cue, Lily popped out of Lisa's pouch and cooed, dressed as a joey.
The twins' eyes lit up as they gush at the adorable sight.
"Precisely," Lisa explained. "That 'aw' factor will increase my candy revenue exponentially." In a hushed tone, she added excitingly, "And the best part is, she only has one tooth, so I don't have to share."
As aw inspiring as it was, Lola managed to free herself with a headshake. "Snap out of it Lana," she said, snapping her fingers in her sister's face before walking over and impatiently knocking on Lincoln's door. "Lincoln! Clyde! Get your butts out here!"
The two boys emerged, both dressed fancy British suits.
"I thought you guys were going as Ace Savvy and One-Eyed Jack," Lola said baffled.
"Uh, we are," Lincoln responded nervously. "We're Ace and Jack undercover, trying to crack the case of the missing crumpets."
"Boy, you guys really don't want candy, do you?" Lisa asked flatly.
"Yeah, you're right," Lincoln said. "We probably won't get much this year."
The two boys snickered. In reality, they were setting their sights on the private neighborhood of Huntington Manor, which was said to be giving out full-sized candy bars. A pair of wealthy boys from the street had recently left for the holidays and, due to their uncanny appearances to the two, Lincoln and Clyde were impersonating them to gain entry.
"Alright, let's get some candy!" Lola declared. "Has anyone seen Dad?"
They got their answer in the form of whimpering coming from the bathroom. They barged in and discovered Lynn Sr huddled in the bathtub.
"Everything's scary," he whimpered. "I don't know why everything's scary."
"Let's go, father! Chop chop!" Lisa ordered, irritated. "These candy bags won't fill themselves Though I am working on a prototype that will do exactly that."
"Uh sorry kids. I can't go," their father stammered, desperately trying to think of an excuse. "I think I've got the flu. Or the plague. Or a Charley Horse."
"Ugh, we go through this every year!" Lola groaned as she and Lana dragged him out of the tub and down the hall.
"I don't wanna! I don't wanna!" he wailed.
"Your Dad's doing better this year," Clyde muttered sarcastically.
The group made their way outside, an extremely frightened Lynn Sr in tow.
"Hey, where are you two going?" Lola asked, upon noticing the boys heading in a different direction.
"Nowhere," Lincoln piped up. "We, uh, just decided to go through the neighborhood counterclockwise this year."
"Seems like an odd, pointless choice," Lisa stated. "Much like your costumes."
Brushing off the comments, the two boys turned and started away from the group down Franklin Ave.
"Have fun, boys!" Lynn Sr called. He suddenly noticed something on his shirt and freaked out. "Ah! Spider web!"
"It's just a loose thread on your shirt," Lola said, plucking it off.
"Well, I guess I can't go trick-or-treating if my shirt's falling apart, right?" he asked feebly. Lola wasn't buying it. "Nice try,"
The twins grabbed and pulled their struggling father down the street, following Lisa and Lily. "Please don't make me go!" he cried.
"Jeez, you're a bigger baby than Lily!" Lola cried. Grabbing her father by the collar, she pulled him down to her level. "Pull yourself together! There is nothing to be afraid of!"
"Greetings, father," Lucy popped in from out of nowhere, causing the group to gasp (or in Lynn Sr case, shriek). "Mom just wanted me to tell you that we're heading out for the festival. We'll be back by midnight."
"Oh please, take me with you," he begged, before the twins pulled him out of sight. "At least bring me a candy apple!"
'Sigh. Thank Edwin I didn't make him a part of the maze,' Lucy thought as she opened the doors to Vanzilla. The goth girl was dressed in her Grim Reaper cloak, complete with a fake scythe. Taking out a megaphone, she turned to face the house. "Okay everyone, time to go. Let me see you."
Rita stumbled out of the house, dressed in a torn and bloodied version of her typical outfit. She moaned and groaned in her best zombie impression. "How's that?" she asked, switching back to her normal voice.
"Hmm," Lucy said, "not quite there. I think we need to lose a limb." She produced a chainsaw.
Rita was horrified. "NO LUCY, NO!"
"Here Lynn," Lucy passed the prop to her sister. "Don't forget your chainsaw,"
Lynn, dressed in a dirty jumpsuit, a hockey mask, and umpire gear, took it and climbed into the van.
Turning her attention back to Rita, Lucy merely pulled her mother's sleeve up over her arm, tied it, and dabbed on some fake blood. "A little homemade blood and you're good to go."
Relived, Rita laughed, "You're a real pro, honey. I should have let you do this years ago."
"That's okay, Mom," Lucy said, "I'm just glad to finally get my chance. I'm so thrilled, I can barely contain myself."
Her face twitched, but once again, nothing happened.
"I know, honey," Rita said, climbing into the van. "I can see it all over your face."
Next out of the house came Lori, dressed in a red and black tight, Gothic dress. In her best Transylvanian accent, she hissed, "I literally vant to suck your blood," and headed for the van, but was stopped by Lucy.
"Hmm, you're missing something." She pulled up her megaphone, "Fangs, here!"
On cue, her pet bat flew in and landed on Lori's shoulder, causing her to scream.
"If you wanna' make it more authentic, he could bite your neck," Lucy suggested.
"No!" Lori snapped. "I mean, this is fine." She climbed in and took her seat.
Enter Luan. The prankster was dressed in a lab coat and goggles, with a dolled up Mr. Coconuts as her monster. She gave her best evil laugh.
"Hang on, Luan. Your monster needs more stitches," Lucy drew some onto the puppet's head. "That's sew much better!" Luan joked. "Get it?"
"There will be no puns in the maze."
Luan sighed as she climbed in.
Next to come out (or in her case, stumble out) was Leni, in her completed Marie Antoinette dress. In keeping with the theme, she had her head stuffed down her dress, hence the trouble walking.
"Looks great, Leni. But don't forget this," Lucy handed her a dummy of Antoinette's head.
Popping her head out, Leni gasped for air. She stared at the fake head in confusion. "Why do I have to look so pale?"
"You've just been decapitated," Lucy answered.
Leni pouted. "Well, I'd still put on some blush." Taking a deep breath, she hid her head and climbed into the van. Lucy put the dummy head on Geo's hamster ball and placed him in with her.
Finally, there was Luna. The junior rock star sported a painted black bodysuit, skeletal make-up, and a top head as she pushed out her pipe organ for the maze.
"Ready to rock, oh, mistress of the dark," she declared and played a few keys.
"Drop down an octave and try it in D minor. That's the spookiest key," Lucy instructed. Luna nodded, shoved her organ in the backs of Vanzilla, and climbed in.
With her cast accounted for, Lucy took her seat in the van. "Okay ladies," Rita said from the passenger seat (Lori driving since she only had one arm). "Are you all ready to scare the socks off everyone in town?"
"You bet we are!" everyone cheered in response as the van pulled out of the driveway.
"And so are we," Dormus hissed as he and his minions phased out of the attic and followed the van.