The chill of October had come over the Magical World, meaning it was time for Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween to fill the park with pumpkins, treat trails, and special events hosted by the villains. Gabriel and friends always took time to dress up for the event, and this year was no different. Team Dream Keeper had decided for this year's theme to be Marvel heroes, with Gabriel as Moon Knight, Jasiri as Black Panther, Brooklyn as Daredevil, Lena as Scarlet Witch, Lop as Gamora, Sisu as Shang Chi, and Randall as Loki. Rocket would have joined them, but he was busy on a mission with his Guardians team.
"Here's to a night of heroism and candy!" Gabriel said, his friends giving their own cheers as well.
"Yes! I can't wait to try out all the different sweets here at Avengers Campus," Sisu exclaimed.
"I hear that they've brought in all kinds from different parts of the Marvel universe," Lop mused. "Wakanda, the Quantum Realm, Knowhere… I even see Aunt May over there handing out candy to the kids. Though she looks older than I remember…"
"Oh, that would be the Rami version of Aunt May from the Tobey Spider-Man movies," Brooklyn recognized. "Since both Tobey and Andrew version of Spider-Man were in Far From Home, they can cross over into the Magical World now."
"Sweet. It's always the old ladies that give out the best goods," Lena grinned.
As the gang went around Avengers Campus getting treats and occasional tricks, they soon came to the California Sanctum, where Doctor Strange had set up various magical artifacts for guests to look at. All of them were carefully chosen by Wong to be non-hazardous to guests, of course, but it was a way to get an up-close look into the world of magic and mysticism. One of the people working there was a skittish-looking gentleman dressed in a nice suit, almost like a museum curator.
"Hm, that guy looks familiar…" Sisu said.
"I can't put my finger on it, but I agree," Lop nodded.
As the group looked around, Jasiri stopped in front of a mural that looked like it had been taken off of a wall of an Egyptian pyramid. It depicted a jackal-headed man standing next to a scale with a heart in his hand, an ibis-headed man standing off to the side holding a scroll, and at the feet of the jackal-headed man sat a strange monster with the head of a crocodile, the mane and front of a lion and the hindquarters of a hippo.
"Whatcha looking at, Jasiri?" Gabriel asked.
"Just admiring the art here," the hyena replied.
"Oh, I think I know this one. It depicts the weighing of the heart ceremony in Egyptian mythology," Gabriel said. "See, that's Anubis weighting the heart of a recently deceased pharaoh, and that's Thoth recording the invents in the Book of the Dead. And sitting below them is Ammit the Devourer. If someone's soul is weighed heavier than the Feather of Maat, it meant they had lived evil lives and their soul is fed to her."
"Doesn't Logan have Anubis as his patron?" Sisu asked.
"Something like that? I think it's more like Anubis lets Logan use his powers ever since Logan used that jackal necklace," Gabriel said. "Besides, being the true host of a god is no joke. Just look at Moon Knight and how hard he has it managing Khonshu."
The they admired the artwork, the mural started to glow and ominous green color, before suddenly exploding into green smoke. The gang covered themselves to block the debris, looking up after the fact to see that a sinister figure was standing where the mural used to be. She was a tall crocodile goddess with long banded braids flowing down her back, with a black dress with gold accents and mummy wrappings around her arms and snout.
"Ah, it's finally time for my return!" the goddess laughed. "The souls of the damned will soon be mine to consume!"
"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Brooklyn declared, the gang all getting into battle positions. "Whoever you are, we'll take you down!"
"You don't know who I am?" the goddess scoffed. "I am Ammit the Devourer, and the world is mine to judge. Harrow may have failed me, but I have no need of him as a host anymore."
"She doesn't look like the Ammit in the mural…" Randall pointed out.
"That's because this is the Marvel version of Ammit from the Moon Knight show," Gabriel said. "She went on a crusade to judge people before their deaths and Moon Knight and Scarlet Scarab had to team up to stop her. Randall, Lena, Brooklyn, the three of you are at the most risk here to get your souls devoured, so you go keep civilians out of harms way. The rest of us will hold her off until-"
"But I tire of heroes like you," Ammit said, cutting Gabriel off. "Prepare to be judged!" And with a crocodile hiss she lunged at the raven, Gabriel quickly putting up a magic shield to protect himself.
"Hey! Get off of him!" Jasiri shouted, calling on her own magic to attack the goddess with her illusionary animals. Sisu stayed back and used mist to put up and obscuring cloud around the area while Lop pulled out her lightsaber, surprised when the blade didn't pierce Ammit's skin.
"I don't think a goddess cares much for your laser sword," Sisu said nervously, giving a yelp as Ammit went after her.
As Team Dream Keeper worked to keep the goddess from getting away, it was clear that she was on a different power level than they were used to. They weren't used to having to battle against literal gods! It was then that help arrived in the form of two newcomers: a man in an all-white suit and mask with two sticks for weapons, and a familiar lioness with a golden bracer on her arm.
"Take this!" Vitani shouted, using her roar to push Ammit back.
"You… You have the power of a fellow god," Ammit realized, looking at Vitani with surprise. She then growled as she saw the man in white. "And Spector. How annoying it is to see you again, since it was you that killed me last time."
"Uh, Marc didn't kill you as far as I recall…" the man in white said.
"I'm pretty sure it was Jake that did that," Gabriel recalled.
"Who's Jake?" the man asked.
"Not important!" Ammit shouted. "It will be tiresome to deal with you now… I will be back!" She disappeared after that.
"Well that's concerning…" Lop said with a frown. "Thank you for the help Vitani, Spector."
"Oh, um, I'm Steven, actually. Steven Grant," the man in white said. "Or you can call me Mr. Knight while I'm in my avatar state. Sorry about the mess…"
"Well Mr. Knight, this night just a got a whole lot more interesting, and not in a good way," Sisu said. "How the heck did an evil goddess come back to life like that?"
"To be fair, villains come back all the time in the Magical World," Gabriel pointed out. "Still, it is concerning that Ammit is still on her soul devouring crusade. We'll need to deal with her, and since she doesn't have a host this time around we can't exactly kill her like that happened with Harrow…"
"I was just in the area when Bast contacted me through my bracer to come here," Vitani explained. "If we're dealing with a god-level threat, I think I can help with that."
"If only we could trap her in an ushabti. Then we could lock her away and not have to worry about her coming back," Mr. Knight said.
"An ush-what?" Jasiri questioned.
"It's a statue used to trap the spirit of a god inside. The Ennead used it as their go-to method of imprisoning gods that didn't agree with them," Gabriel explained. "Man, if only Logan was around at the moment. His Anubis powers would surely be able to put Ammit in check, seeing as in mythology Anubis is the master of Ammit."
"Well luckily you do have the Goddess of Cats and the God of the Moon on your side right now," Vitani said, her bracer flashing as Bast appeared at her side.
"Indeed, and I intend to help you capture Ammit once more," Bast promised. "With Vitani's help I'll even be able to track where she disappeared to."
"Then we have no time to waste," Gabriel said. "Jasiri, you're with me. Our magic is the most on par with these guys. Lop, Sisu, you two help protect the civilians with the others."
"On it!" Sisu and Lop said, running off to join Lena, Brooklyn, and Randall.
"Now then, dear Vitani. It's time you embrace your full power," Bast said.
"This better not hurt…" Vitani muttered as she let Bast imbue her with her full power. The lioness let out a roar as she body shifted, becoming anthropomorphic as she gained golden armor on her arms, legs, and chest, with the rest of her body being covered by a bodysuit with panther spots going down the sides. Two daggers appeared in her hands as she flipped them around. "Weird, but I can roll with this."
"I think you'll need Marc's help for this part more than mine," Mr. Knight side. He concentrated as mummy wrappings went around his body, his suit transforming into the costume of Moon Knight. "Steven told me what's going on. Let's go put down Ammit, for real this time."
"What was that all about?" Jasiri asked as the quartet ran off to find Ammit.
"Moon Knight has multiple personalities: Steven Grant is Mr. Knight, Marc Spector is Moon Knight, and the secret third personality is Jake Lockley," Gabriel explained. "Remind me to show you the Moon Knight series sometime. That'll explain it better than I can."
[***]
Ammit had traveled pretty far, having left Avengers Campus and gone all the way to the new San Fransokyo Bridge in California Adventure. Vitani used her enhanced speed to cut Ammit off, giving another roar to push the goddess back from crossing the bridge.
"We're stopping you here, Ammit!" Moon Knight said.
"Oh how cute it is that you think you can stop me," Ammit chuckled. "You had to seal me away inside my host last time to have a chance to stop me. And now that I don't need that limitation, I'll just-" She suddenly stopped and gave a gagging noise, spitting out a golden substance from her mouth. "What… is that…?"
"Blood of the gods…" Gabriel said. "Huh, I thought only the Greek gods had golden blood, but I guess you learn something new."
"If she can bleed, it means she's not as powerful as she thinks she is," Vitani said. "Let's restrain her, now!"
Vitani and Moon Knight jumped into action, using their weapons to battle against Ammit, clashing them against her claws and tail. Jasiri and Gabriel provided support with magic, Jasiri using her powers to create distractions while Gabriel summoned strands of light to try and tie down Ammit's limbs from moving. The goddess roared as she battled against them, but it was clear that trying to fight a battle from all four sides was disorienting for her.
"Is it just me, or does this seem a bit too easy?" Jasiri asked.
"Yeah, I can sense that. Something is clearly up with Ammit," Gabriel nodded. The raven jumped over a tail swipe from Ammit before landing back on the ground, calling on one of his light ribbons again and charging it with lightning. "I've never tried to do this before, but: Dragon Thunder!" He snapped the ribbon straight out like a whip, wrapping it around Ammit's snout and zapping her with electricity.
"Nice move, Gabriel!" Vitani complimented, using her daggers to pin down Ammit's hair.
"Impossible… You are all mere mortals…" Ammit said, grunting as the lightning coursed over her body.
"I didn't know you had Dragon Thunder," Jasiri said.
"Well I've been trying to get back in touch with my roots, and Mom sent me over a memento from home," Gabriel said, pulling out a necklace depicting a bird in flight from under his collar. "I wanted to expand my dragon powers, and this necklace gave me the idea to channel the Thunderbird and gain the power over lightning!"
"Don't tell Tomada about your connection to the Thunderbird or he might get jealous," Jasiri chuckled.
"Fools… shut up and fight me…!" Ammit shouted, snapping the ribbon off of her snout and roaring.
Moon Knight gave her a fierce uppercut before tossing his crescent boomerangs at her, pinning her arms to the ground as she fell. Vitani jumped on top of Ammit and snarled, Bast's power giving her the strength to hold the goddess down.
"Now we have you, Ammit," Vitani said. "All we have to do now is seal you away. You got an ideas on how to exactly do that, Moon Knight?"
"I think Steven might," Moon Knight said, switching back to Mr. Knight. "Right, well then, I think that the Dream Keeper might be able to help with that. I've heard you're Fantasia power can do many things, so maybe it can help with sealing Ammit away?"
"I can try…" Gabriel shrugged. He held out his hands towards Ammit, chanting as he let his magic wrap around her.
"No… I will not be sealed away again!" the goddess shouted.
As Gabriel chanted, his suddenly shook his head and stepped back a bit, cutting off his magic. "Gabriel, what's wrong?" Jasiri asked.
"It's Ammit… I could feel her body starting to fail her," Gabriel replied.
"What? But she's a goddess, how does that work?" Vitani questioned.
"I think whatever method she used to come into the Magical World without a host had some unforeseen drawbacks," Gabriel explained. "If I had to guess, she only has a limited amount of time here before her body will give out."
"So… Ammit is dying?" Jasiri gasped.
"No, impossible!" Ammit objected, only to suddenly cough up more golden blood. "I had heard this night was one of villains… is this magic only keeping me alive for this night…?"
"Good for us. You'll only cause more trouble if you're around," Mr. Knight said.
"Is it wrong that I almost feel bad for Ammit?" Jasiri asked. "I mean, she is a villain that tried to take over the world, but even other villains here in the Magical World can live with the rest of us, even the dangerous once. To see Ammit dying here is kinda… sad."
"I don't need your pity, mortal," Ammit said, coughing again.
"Ammit, why did you turn evil? In the mural you looked content to be with Anubis and Thoth weighting the hearts of those that had passed on," Jasiri asked.
"It was the Ennead. They became stricter as to what the gods could do and took Anubis and Thoth away from me," Ammit growled. "I wanted to judge the souls of the damned, no matter if they had committed their sins yet, so in the absence of Anubis and Thoth I went on my own crusade of justice. They sealed me away and when I returned once more- well, you know what happened then."
"We stopped you," Mr. Knight said.
"It almost sounds like you did it in part of having your closest friends in the pantheon taken away from you," Jasiri said. "But still, taking those before their time is wrong, Ammit. It disrupts the Circle of Life, and I think without Anubis and Thoth around you lost your true way and become more like a demon than a goddess."
"Not like it matters now. All you have to do is keep me restrained until sunrise and I'll be no more," Ammit muttered.
Jasiri looked at Ammit once more before turning to her boyfriend. "Gabriel, the other gods here in the Magical World are combinations of their other interpretations, right?"
Gabriel nodded. "Right, like how Anubis is his Kane Chronicles self, as well as the one from Marvel comics and Gargoyles. Same with Zeus, being the Hercules version, Percy Jackson version, and the Marvel version."
"Well, what if Ammit has been torn apart from her other selves?" Jasiri said.
"You mean that the Marvel Ammit is cut off from the other versions?" Mr. Knight asked in shock.
"…There is an… emptiness… in my being…" Ammit muttered.
"Well, there is an Ammit in the Kane Chronicles as well, though she's more of a pet for Osiris if I recall," Gabriel said. "Still, I did find it strange that Ammit is normally neutral at best when the Moon Knight version is fully evil… Where are you going with this, Jasiri?"
The hyena looked at him with determination. "I think someone needs to help remind Ammit of who she used to be, that she doesn't need to rely on her evil side to live. She can be Ammit the Devourer but do so for justice and only consuming the souls of those that lived wicked lives. And I think, as a believer of the Circle of Life, I can be the one to help Ammit appreciate humankind once more."
"What!? You'd let this crazy woman possess your body?" Mr. Knight questioned.
"…When I first met Bast, it was because Sobek was causing trouble in the Nile due to how strict the Ennead had been," Vitani spoke up. "I think a lot of the gods have been neglecting humanity because they've forgotten their roots and feel jaded about not being worshiped anymore. I partnered with Bast so she can see what it's like to be among mortals. I think Jasiri might be only something, and I trust her to be a strong enough soul to keep Ammit in check."
"I trust Jasiri as well, Vitani," Gabriel nodded. "If this is what you want to do, then I'll support you as well."
Jasiri nodded, before looking to Ammit. "Fool, you think this will "fix" me in some way?" the goddess scoffed.
"No, but it will hopefully remind you of who you truly are," Jasiri said. She closed her eyes and reached out with her magic to Ammit, her necklace glowing as her illusions gathered around the goddess. Gabriel helped out with Fantasia, and soon Ammit's body glowed with power that was sucked into Jasiri.
The hyena queen gasped as her body shifted, her muscles becoming tighter with power as her clothes changed into those of Ammit, a scale-like black dress with golden bracers on her arms and a snake belt around her waist, mummy wrappings going around her upper jaw and arms. Jasiri's hair grew longer as a green streak went through it, her eyes opening wide as they turned reptilian.
"Jasiri? Are you okay?" Gabriel asked, approaching her with caution.
"I'm still me, Gabriel," Jasiri assured him, flexing her hand and looking with surprise as her claws were much sharper than before. "I can see the souls of others now, and I feel like my illusion magic is expanded… Now my animal summons are actual spirits of the past."
"Well I can at least say that the makeover is pretty nice," Gabriel laughed. "I never thought I'd see you take on a villainess look."
"Evil is the fashion of the season," Jasiri joined in the laughter.
"And what of Ammit?" Mr. Knight asked.
Jasiri focused and released her goddess power, returning to her normal form and attire as the spirit of Ammit transformed into a green bead on her necklace. The goddess appeared from the bead, now taking on a form more akin to the mural with a crocodile head, lion's mane and front and a hippo's hindquarters.
"These feelings… am I… whole again?" Ammit gasped, looking at herself. She then focused and transformed into her anthro crocodile form. "But I do still have this body as well. I haven't felt this way in a millennium…"
"You better be on your best behavior while you're with Jasiri, or else me and Gabriel will have some words for you," Vitani said as she returned to her normal form.
"I think we can trust the Dream Keeper and his partner to watch over Ammit, my beloved," Bast chuckled, giving Vitani a kiss on the cheek that made the lioness blush.
"Well then, I guess our job's done here," Mr. Knight said. "Good work, team."
"We've gotta get back to the others before the night ends. We still have so much candy to get!" Gabriel realized. "Vitani, do you want to come with us?"
"Sure, why not?" the lioness shrugged. "Bast and I haven't gotten to have some fun together in a while."
"What is this candy you speak of?" Ammit asked as the gang made the walk back to Avengers Campus.
"It's sweet little treats that you get by going door to door," Jasiri explained. "I bet it'll make you want to eat candy over souls once you get a taste!"
"We'll see about that, mortal," Ammit said.
Author's Note
For our first Halloween story, we get a god-filled event as Gabriel and friends fought Ammit from "Moon Knight"! That show is one of my favorites from the MCU so getting to have Moon Knight/Mr. Knight appear as well was super cool. Vitani and Bast also appear from the Valentine's Day chapter, with Vitani getting to show off her new powers and form gained from her girlfriend. The suit that Vitani gets in her Bast form is inspired by how Bast's human form appears in the "Kane Chronicles" book series.
One thing about Moon Knight I found interesting was how Ammit was depicted as fully evil and Anubis not showing up at all aside from being one the gods trapped in an ushabti during one scene. In the actual mythology Ammit is more of a simple beast than a goddess, so I came up with the idea that the MCU version of her character had been separated from her other selves here in the Magical World. Jasiri has offered to help the goddess regain her other selves by becoming her host, so our favorite hyena has gotten a new boost to her powers.
Gabriel also shows off a new ability, Dragon Thunder! The Thunderbird is one of my favorite mythological creatures, so I wanted Gabriel to get some lightning powers of his own to use. The necklace he got from his mom is based on one I have in real life, and also ties into my own partial Native American ancestry as well. Hope Tomada doesn't get too jealous of Gabriel having thunderbird power!
Next Chapter: We go to the Gamesphere to see Ray and the Dragalia Guild on their own spooky adventure. Will they survive a Halloween party when it gets crashed by some fierce kombatants?