AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's time, it's time! Time for the Spooky Season. October has come, and we've got a special story here in Acts of Villainy for you all. Gather around your computer screens, put on your Silver Shamrock masks, and read. All witches, all skeletons, all jack-o-lanterns, gather 'round and read. Read the clash of two serial killers. Read.
And don't forget about the big giveaway at 9!
(also, breaking the Halloween III bit here for a moment, but this was the one I mentioned that constitutes a rating change from a T to an M)
DISCLAIMER: I own absolutely none of the properties you will see here. All rights go to their respective owners.
Acts of Villainy
Toko Fukawa/Genocider Syo vs. Michael Myers: Homecoming of Evil
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
HALLOWEEN AFTERNOON
"Ugh, this is why I hate these tours!" Toko couldn't help but think to herself when she finally made it back to her hotel room.
This was always the part the Ultimate Writing Prodigy hated the most about her job: The publicity tours. Especially now that she was all but a household name after her first novel took off. It wasn't hard to pinpoint why she detested going on these tours across the country to promote her newest work. Thanks to her not being exactly what society would call a 'people person,' she frequently found her brilliant mind occasionally screeching to a grinding halt with every question the press would give her. Coupled with her brain-wracking anxiety, it was obvious why she would usually allow her agent, a man named Kodaka, to take these questions and comments for her.
That wasn't the case when she made a stop at Chicago, however, when Kodaka came down with a particularly nasty cold. Because of this, Toko was now left on her own to power through the crowds, take questions from complete strangers, and panic about the faint possibility that some of them were total perverts ogling her and stripping her down with their minds.
And she hated it.
Every. Second. Of it.
As she continued to try and calm her frantic mind, she poured herself a glass of water from the bathroom faucet while reaching into one of her pockets pulling out two bottles of pills.
"Okay, okay, just calm down, Toko, calm down," she said to herself as she opened the bottles and placed a duo of pills in her hand. "You're done for the day. Just two more to go. Kodaka should feel better by then... If not, then another three days alone in Springfield... then in Haddonfi-NO! It's going to be okay. You can do this. Just... relax."
She looked down at the pills in her hand. One for her anxiety and stress from a hard day's work, while another was an allergy pill. One that was meant to keep her... other self at bay.
"Hey! Toko!" a voice inside the novelist's head suddenly shouted.
Speak of the Devil.
Not looking forward to the conversation she was about to have, an irritated Toko looked up at the mirror in front of her. She saw what most would assume was just a reflection of herself, but her purple pig-tails were undone, and in a fritz, a deranged look in her eyes from behind her glasses glared back at her, and her tongue seemed unnaturally long as it hung off of her mouth.
"It's been two damn weeks, and I'm goin' stir crazy cooped up in here," the reflection complained. "Was practically droolin' over the thought of skinning that cutie from the Sun-Times. When the hell are you gonna let me out again?!"
Almost defiantly, Toko responded by placing both pills into her mouth and taking a drink of her water to swallow them before she answered.
"When you start behaving like a functional and sane member of society, Syo."
This was, in fact, an alternate personality that lived inside the recesses of Toko's mind: Genocider Syo. In contrast to the quiet, meek, anxious writer, Syo was a loud, foul-mouthed serial killer responsible for thirty-seven murders now, most of which were anyone her deranged self found attractive. All it took was a simple sneeze or a loss of consciousness to bring her out, her spree usually ending in a bloodbath thanks to the trusty scissors she had hidden under Toko's dress.
Something that the Ultimate Writing Prodigy wasn't too keen on letting happen again, for obvious reasons.
"Ah, complacency's overrated, ya square," Syo stated. "There's more to life than writing some lovey-dovey bullshit about a fisherman, you know."
"Beats gutting someone up with a pair of scissors like a deranged animal," Toko countered. "Besides, you can't keep doing this forever. You might have gotten lucky with the law for now, but it's only a matter of time until they finally catch up to us. And in case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly keen on going down with you for your crimes!"
"Well, you know what you can't keep doing forever?!" Syo angrily shouted.
"What's that?!" Toko challenged.
"Keeping me locked up in here like I'm your prisoner!" Syo answered, tapping her fist twice against the side of her head to emphasize her point.
"Well... maybe not, but-but I can certainly try!" Toko yelled back.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, puh-leeeease," Syo mocked. "One of these days, you're gonna slip up, toots. Maybe you leave those pills of your's here in the hotel room. Or maybe you drop the last one down the drain."
Hearing all of this caused Toko to nearly dig her fingernails into her scalp as her breathing got deeper and she tried desperately to shut out her murderous persona's voice, but to no avail.
"Either way, I'm gonna come bustin' out no matter how hard you try," her other self continued, just to rub more salt into the wound.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up," Toko pleaded.
"And when I do, ooh-hoohoohoohoo."
"Shut up! Shut up!"
"I... am gonna be... HUNGRY!"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Toko finally screamed, slamming her fist onto the bathroom mirror as she did so.
The impact was enough to crack the mirror, causing Toko's reflection to distort before her eyes. Almost immediately, she regretted her outburst, both upon seeing the small cuts she inadvertently gave her knuckles as well as realizing this was certainly going to run her bill up substantially.
"Oh no," she said as she quickly grabbed a few bandages. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no."
"Isn't that, like, seven years of bad luck or something?" Syo's voice pondered, much to the writer's dismay.
Once she had dealt with the cuts on her hand, Toko noticed a small handheld mirror on the counter and grabbed it, once more seeing her other half in the reflection.
"Look, it's been a long day. I'm not in the mood right now," she explained with a tired sigh. "So PLEASE... just give me a couple of hours of peace and quiet, okay?"
Her bloodthirsty personality sighed as well before giving her reply.
"Alright, fine," she relented. "Don't wanna push you into having a heart attack."
"Thank you," Toko responded before placing the mirror down.
"I didn't do it for you!" Syo angrily informed.
With that, Toko turned off the bathroom light and began to approach her bed. As she did so, she walked by her hotel room's window, noticing something out of the corner of her eye. This caused the novelist to pause, curiously turning her head towards the window and looking down at the ground three stories below. The streets were eerily empty for the most part, the wind blowing the autumn leaves across the pavement. No cars passed by, and almost no pedestrians went about their day. It was easy to know why.
While the holiday wasn't basically banned here like it was in Haddonfield, Halloween in Chicago was still nothing like it was before the infamous massacre of 2018. Most trick-or-treaters would go about collecting their sweets during the day, and you rarely saw homes and businesses decorated for the occasion. Maybe you'd find a jack-o-lantern or two on someone's porch, but nothing extravagant like how most cities in America preferred to celebrate the day.
However, Toko could make out the shape of a single man standing on the walkway across the hotel. She could barely make out a mask he seemed to be wearing as well as a pair of coveralls, but other than that, the stranger was an enigma in terms of his appearance. The writer wasn't sure why, but something in the back of her mind was telling her that this person was staring right at her, analyzing her from the ground below as the dead leaves continued to blow past him. Locking onto her grey eyes, which only saw two black holes piercing directly into her soul.
A chill ran down Toko's spine as she looked down and took off her glasses, rubbing her eyes with her hands. When she put them back on, she looked down where the man stood again.
Only this time, no one was there.
"Now she's got me seeing things," she whispered to herself. "God, I need some sleep."
She turned her attention back to her bed before falling onto it, thinking maybe a quick nap would calm her nerves. She tried to shut her eyes and fall asleep but found herself struggling to do so. So, she turned her body to the other side, hoping that would help.
It didn't.
"Great, now I'm stressed out again," she grumbled in her mind. "Maybe some music can calm me down."
She reached over to the alarm clock next to her bed and turned the radio on, shuffling through several radio stations.
*static*
HAPPY HAPPY HALLOWEEN
SILVER SHAMRO-
*static*
-CERTAINTY OF SAFETY FEELS LIKE STABBING
STABBING IN THE DA-
*static*
-IT'S TIME FOR ME TO STRIKE AGAIN
TONIGHT, IT'S A HUNTER'S MOON!
*static*
LATE ONE NIGHT, WHEN THE MOON WAS TALL
THE MIDNIGHT MONSTERS HAD A BA-
*static*
-EASON'S DON'T FEAR THE REAPER
NOR DO THE WIND, THE SUN, OR THE RAI-
*static*
MISTER SANDMAN
BRING ME A DREAM
MAKE HIM THE CUTEST THAT I'VE EVER SEEN
"*sigh* Guess that's gonna have to do for now," Toko said before lying back down.
"Blech! Seriously?! This sappy crap?!" Syo complained inside Toko's mind. "And you say I'm a monster."
"What did we agree on?" Toko irritably reminded as she pulled the sheets over her body.
"Right... sorry," Syo replied hesitantly, realizing she was forced to endure the music that was still playing.
GIVE HIM TWO LIPS
LIKE ROSES AND CLOVER
THEN TELL HIM THAT HIS LONESOME NIGHTS ARE OVER
SANDMAN
I'M SO ALONE
DON'T HAVE NOBODY TO CALL MY OWN
PLEASE TURN ON YOUR MAGIC BEAM
MISTER SANDMAN, BRING ME A DREAM
Down at the hotel's lobby, the staff member running the front desk was coincidentally listening to the same song that Toko hoped would drift her to sleep, trying to pass the time during a rather slow day. He had looked down at his watch to check the time, unaware that someone had finally entered the building. By the time he looked back up, the sight of someone approaching him made him jump slightly in surprise. He was about to welcome him to the establishment when he finally got a good look at this stranger.
He was a tall, fairly built male wearing a mechanic's jumpsuit that looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks. It was covered in stains that seemed to be mostly dirt, but there were a few patches of red here and there. Strangely, he also wore a latex mask that covered his entire head. One that, at one point, was as white as a ghost. But years and years of neglect caused that white to fade and the material to crack and whither. Its brown, artificial hair was short and messy, and a portion of it even had what appeared to be burn marks. The stranger's eyes were an enigma to the employee, hidden by the shadows of the mask.
The hotel employee, at first, assumed this man was a robber of some kind. Then, he saw something in his right hand as he got closer and closer to the desk. A rusty kitchen knife that had dried up patches of red that matched the ones on his coveralls. Now, the employee believed he knew what this was. This had to have been some kind of prank by some drunk high school students looking to make a few views on the internet. With that in mind, he grabbed the front desk's phone to call security while the music continued to play from his radio.
MISTER SANDMAN
BRING ME A DREAM
MAKE HIM THE CUTEST THAT I'VE EVER SEEN
GIVE HIM THE WORD
THAT I'M NOT A ROVER
THEN TELL HIM THAT HIS LONESOME NIGHTS ARE OVER
"Yeah, real fuckin' cute, pal, but I've seen this shit before," the employee said as he dialed the phone. "Got no idea how many bozos came here dressed like that freak last y-"
The stranger didn't allow him to finish his sentence. For once he finally reached the desk, he swung his knife right at the employee's neck, slicing it open. A look of shock and pain overtook his eyes as he dropped the phone and realized that this was no sick joke he was dealing with.
As blood began to coat the desk and he started to cough up more while he desperately tried to stop the bleeding, his attacker walked up to his backside and firmly grabbed his hair. Before his victim could scream, the assailant smashed his head onto the desk with such force that it caused his skull to crack audibly, several teeth to be knocked out, and even his lower jaw to be dislocated.
This process was repeated several times, a dent forming in the poor man's forehead that grew larger and larger while his jaw dislodged further and further to the point where it was practically hanging on by a thread. The desk was now almost completely painted red as both his neck wound and head would continue to gush out more and more blood. The entire time, the song continued to play. It and the crunching of the employee's bones were the last things he heard.
SANDMAN
I'M SO ALONE
DON'T HAVE NOBODY TO CALL MY OWN
PLEASE TURN ON YOUR MAGIC BEAM
MISTER SANDMAN, BRING ME A-
Several grueling seconds passed before the intruder finally ceased his onslaught, bashing the now deceased employee's head onto the radio, smashing it to pieces, before allowing the corpse to slump onto the desk. Now, the only sounds that were heard were the dripping of fresh blood from the stranger's knife and his breathing, muffled thanks to the mask that he wore. With no one having been unfortunate enough to witness this horrific murder, he wandered off deeper into the hotel.
Meaning that no one else inside the building was the wiser... that he had come home once again. [1]
"*sigh* Nope, not helping," Toko grumpily relented as she switched off the clock's radio. "Damn you, Syo."
"Try putting some Butcher Babies on," her murderous persona suggested. "Helps me sleep like a baby."
"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not you," Toko sharply reminded.
"Okay, sheesh, just tryin' to help over here," Syo responded. "Turn the TV on, then. Maybe there's somethin' on that'll even bore you to death."
"Alright, guess it's worth a shot," Toko admitted as she grabbed the remote.
*click*
"-dia Break. You give us three minutes, and we'll give you the world."
"Good afternoon, and welcome to Media Break. I'm Casey Wong with Jesse Perkins. Top story: Illinois. The bodies of a family of three and a twenty-one-year-old man were discovered inside the family's home located in the suburbs of Chicago. Theresa Allen, her husband, Roger, their eight-year-old son, Jeremy, and a young man hired to babysit him, Haddonfield resident Corey Cunningham, were viciously murdered soon after the parents, we're told, arrived back home following a Halloween party last night."
A sense of unease already overtook Toko as the broadcast switched from the newsroom to an aerial shot of the Allen residence, most likely from a helicopter, Jesse taking over for her colleague.
"Officials have ruled out the possibility of a murder-suicide carried out by Cunningham after first responders found his headless body in the home's attic, his head, sources tell us, having been likely stomped to a bloodied pulp by the killer's foot. Jeremy, we've been informed, had died of blunt force trauma to his head after being thrown from the third-story railing while his parents were stabbed to death near their son's body.
"The killer is reportedly still at large, and though Chicago PD refuses to comment on potential suspects, many are already beginning to believe that this was the work of none other than Michael Myers, who had been missing for two weeks now after managing to escape custody from the Global Justice Network. [1] Of course, it didn't take long for residents of both Chicago and Haddonfield to spread these rumors of Myers' return, and with this being Halloween, the anniversary of both his 1978 and 2018 massacres, and the murder of his sister, Judith Myers, back in 1963, it is likely that-"
The screen suddenly switched to another channel, one that was airing a presentation of 'The Thing from Another World,' all the while a now visibly shaking Toko placed the remote next to the alarm clock.
"I knew it was a bad idea to come here on Halloween," she said to herself as the movie continued to play before her, showing the titular creature set ablaze.
"What's the matter? Scared the Boogeyman's gonna getcha?" Syo jokingly asked inside the author's head.
"I made the mistake of scheduling a tour through Illinois on Halloween while that psycho's still on the loose, so yeah, I kind of am!" a slightly panicking Toko admitted, the roaring of the monster on her television screen not helping to calm her down.
"Ah, don't worry, ya scaredy cat," Syo responded. "He ever shows his ugly mug around here, you got the best bodyguard out there to keep you safe. Me!"
"Purposefully let you out?" Toko asked. "Hmph, not even if the world was ending."
"Suit yourself," Syo relented. "Just don't come cryin' to me when you have a knife sticking outta your chest."
"It's not going to come to that," Toko stated as she looked out her room's window. "Chicago's a big place. What're the chances he'll even bother to come here anyway?"
The dead heap of one of the hotel's chefs slumped onto the kitchen's dishwasher, his skull cracked open and portions of his brain seeping through the seams. Michael watched his latest victim die whilst holding onto the blood-drenched metal meat tenderizer he had used to carry out this heinous deed. With one chef now dead, the Shape dropped his weapon to the floor and turned his attention towards the other, who was screaming at the top of her lungs as she cowered into a corner, being unable to try and escape with the babysitter murderer so close to the door.
As he slowly began to make his way to her, the chef frantically got onto her feet and grabbed the nearest tool she could use to defend herself: A meat cleaver. Once Michael was close enough, she swung the cleaver towards his neck, only for him to step back and knock the tool out of her hand before tightly grasping her neck. Michael lifted her with little force as she thrashed about in a vain attempt to free herself.
The chef now his captive, the masked killer began to make his way towards the kitchen's stove, where a pot of water was currently boiling. His victim continued to kick and scream to try and loosen his grip, but it was to no avail, and before she knew it, her face was forced directly into the scalding hot water. Michael held her down at the bottom of the pot while ignoring the burning pain that coursed through his hand as the chef, no doubt in agony, flailed about for several seconds before finally falling limp. Once he knew she was dead, Michael pulled her head out from the pot, revealing several third-degree burns and peeled portions on her face.
He tossed her corpse aside and began to exit the kitchen, walking into a nearby open elevator. One press of a button caused the door to close and for him to ascend towards the third story, on the prowl for victims as his brain continued to issue the one command he was compelled to follow.
KILL
Outside, a GJN van screeched to a halt just outside the hotel. The instant the wheels stopped turning, the passenger door flew open, and out came Laurie Strode. The survivor of both of Michael's bloodbaths across Haddonfield had been busy since he had escaped GJN custody. Namely, in joining up with the GJN via a think tank of fellow survivors of 'slashers,' as they were dubbed. [1] While she did assist when needed, it went without saying that the one who murdered several of her friends, her son-in-law, and even her daughter was her White Whale. And the instant a GJN squad was found murdered in the outskirts of Chicago, followed closely by the Allen family and their son's babysitter's deaths, she knew that evil had made his presence in Illinois once again. As such, she was immediately called in to follow the Shape's trail of bodies across the city to try and find him.
However, she wasn't alone in this new attempt at putting the Boogeyman down. As she dashed into the hotel, the driver of the van exited her vehicle and followed close behind. This was Sidney Prescott. A survivor of five incidents in Woodsboro, California involving one or more killers adopting the persona of 'Ghostface.' A string of mass murderers that, starting with Billy Loomis and Stu Macher, were inspired by the various slashers of the past and the cheap, exploitative Hollywood productions that followed in their footsteps, hoping to profit off these tragedies. While there wasn't exactly a leader, per se, of this think tank, most believed that Sidney fit that role, thanks to her experience with just how many brushes with death she managed to survive, as well as being an expert in all the 'rules' of surviving a slasher attack. Because of this, in spite of rumors of a new Ghostface springing up in New York City, she was hand-selected by Dr. Director herself to assist Laurie in bringing Michael down. And after making a few calls to her husband and children to ensure they were safe, she was off to Illinois to help end the Boogeyman's reign of terror.
Not long after Sidney exited the van, a black 1971 Plymouth 'Cuda drove into the scene, parking itself next to the van. The driver-side door opened, revealing a recent addition to this group: A former ice cream truck driver known only as Reggie. Reggie was a bit of an oddball compared to most members of the think tank. While most of them had usually confronted some maniac in a mask, he had confronted what he had described as 'a Tall Man from another dimension, looking to spread his evil across reality.' Fortunately, given the state the world was currently in, it didn't sound as farfetched as one would believe, and he was brought on as a weapons expert. He accepted the position so long as he could continue his hunt for both the Tall Man and his long-lost friend, Mike.
Both of them, Sidney carrying a pistol while Reggie armed himself with a shotgun, ran inside the building after Laurie had done so. Almost immediately, their eyes fell upon the staff member's mangled corpse, Laurie standing next to it with a fire in her eyes that could only mean one thing.
"He's here," she deduced.
"Oh, wonderful," Reggie stated with sarcasm laced in his voice. "He could be anywhere in this damn place!"
"Then we'll have to comb through each of the building's floors and make sure he can't escape again," Sidney concluded. "I'll take the third floor. Reggie, you're in the second. Laurie, you stay here on the ground floor. If any of us spot him, radio the others, and we'll gang up on him."
She then loaded an ammo clip into her weapon before saying one last sentence.
"Let's go kill this son of a bitch."
With that, both she and Reggie sprinted towards the stairs. All the while Laurie pulled out a knife from her pocket. The very knife she used to ambush Michael in her compound back in 2018. The one she kept with her for one reason and one reason alone.
To plunge it into Michael's black heart.
Back up on the third floor, a housekeeping maid made her usual stroll down the hotel hallways, cleaning up any now empty rooms while their occupants were away. After cleaning several rooms, she had made it to the second-to-last door before the elevator at the end of the hall, knocking on it in case someone was inside.
"Housekeeping," she said.
Inside the room, Toko jolted slightly in a panic before realizing who was actually on the other side of the door.
"Uh, n-no, thank you, I'm fine!" she called out.
"Define 'fine' for me, cause I seriousl-" Syo attempted to counter.
"Shut. Up," Toko gritted through her teeth.
Knowing someone was occupying the room, the maid pushed her cart towards the final room in the hall, stopping just outside the door.
"House-" she attempted to announce while knocking.
However, upon so much as lightly tapping the door, it began to creep open, perplexing the maid. Thinking that the lock must have been malfunctioning, she pushed the door open further to make her way inside, only to stop before even taking one step, freezing in absolute terror when she saw what awaited her inside. It was a man, laying on a now blood-soaked bed with his throat slashed open while Michael plunged his knife into his chest again, and again, and again without any sign of stopping. That was until he finally noticed the maid.
Shrieking in terror, she attempted to bolt towards the door to the staircase, only for her to stumble onto her cart and fall to the floor, allowing Michael to march towards her and grab her by the leg. The maid desperately tried to crawl away from the Shape, only for him to stomp his booted foot onto her leg, snapping several bones like twigs in the process. Screaming in pain, the maid, sadly, could do nothing before Michael began to pierce her back with his knife.
Toko could barely hear the screams bleeding through the walls, both bewildering and unnerving her. Against her better wishes, she got up from the bed in her room and made her way towards the door, opening it just as the film playing on the TV reached its ending.
"Every one of you listening to my voice, tell the world, tell this to everybody wherever they are... watch the skies. Everywhere. Keep looking. Keep watching the skies."
Once she was in the hallway, the writer turned her head towards her left just in time to see Michael pulling his knife out of his victim's lifeless corpse. The very sight of the Boogeyman just a few feet away from her caused Toko's skin to pale, her blood to run cold, and for her to back away in absolute, unbridling terror, heaving heavily as she did so. This, in turn, caused Michael to hear her, sharply turning his head to face her, piercing her soul with his black eyes.
KILL
"What was that about 'Oh, Chicago's a big place! There's no chance he'll come here!'?" Syo pointed out. "Offer's still on the table if you let me out."
"N-No way!" Toko refused as Michael began to make his way towards her.
"Ugh, then run, stupid!" Syo angrily instructed.
"What?!" Toko asked as the Shape came closer and closer to her.
"RUN!" Syo shouted.
That single word finally snapped Toko out of her fear-induced trance, allowing her to flee in the other direction as fast as her feet could carry her. Michael did not so much as pause, however, giving chase to the novelist while still tightly holding onto the handle of his knife.
Once Sidney reached the third floor, she wasted no time kicking the door open, pointing her pistol forward as she did so. Her eyes were immediately greeted by the sight of the dead maid, followed soon afterward by the corpse she discovered before meeting her own end. It wasn't a sight that was alien to her, having survived multiple Ghostfaces back in Woodsboro on top of the slashers she and her fellow survivors had apprehended. But just because she had bore witness to such bloody atrocities didn't mean she was used to them. Still, she was able to steel her nerves, focusing solely on bringing Michael down before he claimed more lives.
The survivor of the Woodsboro massacres crept down the hallway slowly, her eyes on the lookout for where the Shape could be hiding.
"If anyone's hiding here, killer or not, you've got five seconds to show yourself!" she declared, pointing her gun down the empty hall.
Seconds ticked by with no response, prompting Sidney to be on high alert as she listened closely. She then took a left turn, though not without checking if there was anyone down the right hall. Suddenly, she heard the sound of something falling over inside a broom closet right next to her. She instinctively kicked it open, pointing her gun at Toko's head as she cowered inside the closet, a fallen mop lying next to her.
"WAIT, WAIT, DON'T SHOOT!" she pleaded, her hands in the air.
"Keep your hands up!" Sidney ordered, not lowering her weapon as she did so. "What are you doing in here?!"
"I-I-I-I'm trying to hide over here!" the writer explained.
"I told you to come out!" Sidney pointed out.
"Are you crazy?!" Toko argued. "I'm not coming out when there's a-OH, MY GOD, THERE HE IS!"
Feeling that someone was indeed behind her, the slasher survivor quickly turned herself around, only for Michael to grab her right hand and push it out of the way. This caused Sidney to fire a round into the wall instead of her intended target of the Shape's head. She attempted to shove Michael away, much like she would normally do with Ghostface, but he wouldn't so much as even budge. Michael then tossed her down the hallway like a ragdoll, causing her to drop her weapon as she slid across the floor harshly. Seeing an opening, Toko sprinted out of the closet and away from Michael as he began to approach Sidney, his muffled breathing getting louder and louder as he inched closer to his target.
Sidney quickly crawled towards her gun, but just as she reached it, Michael promptly kicked it away and grabbed Sidney by the back of her jacket before shoving her face-first against a nearby vending machine. She then headbutted Michael's forehead just as he was about to repeat this action, allowing his grip to loosen and for her to escape it. Unfortunately, she was unable to locate her gun before Michael stepped towards her, prompting her to grab her cell phone and dial Reggie as she ran as fast as she could.
"Third floor!" she informed once Reggie answered. "He's on the third floor!"
"Laurie!" the former ice cream truck driver shouted down the staircase. "Sidney found him! Hurry!"
The survivor of the Shape's murderous rampages didn't need to be told twice, for she instantly approached the staircase the moment she heard Reggie's voice echo out of the open doorway, knife still firmly in his hand. However, as an added precaution, she smashed a glass case containing a fire axe, grabbing it before she ascended the stairs.
As he continued to breathe through his mask, Michael prowled the halls to try and find Sidney after she had escaped. His black eyes analyzed his surroundings, carefully trying to find an open door to somewhere she could have taken refuge. Once he came to a division, he slowly turned his head to his right, seeing absolutely nothing. Then he turned to his left, noticing one door in the hallway crept slightly open. The moment he noticed this, the butcher of Haddonfield began to make his way towards it, knife turned downward before grasping the knob with his mangled left hand. He pushed it open, anticipating Sidney to jump out at him...
...only to find a vacant room instead.
He was about to turn around when Sidney, who had crept up to Michael after quietly leaving one of the rooms in the right hall, smashed a lamp against his head, praying that the trap she had laid out would work. The lamp broke into pieces as the disoriented Michael stumbled into the room before Sidney tried to tackle him to the ground. All this did, unfortunately, was give Michael the chance to grasp her by the throat tightly and march out of the room, pinning her against the wall in the process.
Sidney, gasping for air, realized just how ill-prepared she was for a force of evil like Michael. Her past encounters with the various Ghostface killers made her used to whomever was behind that mask of hate was but a human. One she could easily turn the tides against in a physical altercation. But Michael was anything but human.
As Laurie herself said over four decades ago, he was the Boogeyman.
Michael, as he continued to strangle the life out of Sidney despite her best attempts to free herself, raised his knife up, intending to drive it through her chest and leave her to bleed to death on the wall. Thankfully, before he got the chance...
"Hey, Shatner!"
Hearing both this and the pumping of a shotgun prompted Michael to sharply turn his head to his left, immediately seeing Reggie barreling towards him with his weapon pointed right at his head. But before he could shoot his weapon, Michael released his grip on Sidney to grab the barrel and veer it away, causing it to blast a hole in the wall instead. Michael then pulled Reggie's shotgun out of his hands and bashed the end of it against his chest, causing him to fumble backward before the weapon's barrel was smashed against his head, knocking him unconscious.
It was then that a brave security guard tried to bash his baton across the back of the babysitter murderer's head, but Michael didn't so much as even flinch upon the weapon making its mark. In response, the masked killer turned to face him, shoving him onto the floor before he even had a chance to call for help. Once he was on the floor, Michael firmly placed his boot on the guard's stomach to prevent him from escaping. He then raised the shotgun in his hands over his head, barrel first, before plunging it downward with such force that it not only broke through his chest cavity and obliterated his heart but even broke through the floor below him. A spurt of blood escaped the helpless guard's mouth as he bled to death before his killer's eyes.
Michael wouldn't have long to take in his latest kill. Sidney, who made her escape to track down her weapon, began to open fire on him, a bullet making its mark on his back. He let out a muffled grunt before turning to face a now visibly enraged Sidney, who wasted no time firing again. The bullet pierced Michael's shoulder as he fought through the pain he was, no doubt, in to get closer to Sidney, who now pointed her pistol at his forehead. Much like Reggie, however, she wouldn't get the chance to bring the boogeyman down for good, thanks to him shoving her away from him. This caused her to fall over, slamming the back of her head against a doorknob, which knocked her out as well.
With the two slasher survivors now unable to hinder him further, Michael was about to finish the job when he noticed a nearby broom closet with its door creaked open slightly. Believing that someone else was about to try and get the drop on him, he ignored both Sidney and Reggie for now to go and investigate.
"This isn't happening," Toko frantically whispered to herself from inside the second broom closet she chose to hide in, her hands on the sides of her head. "This isn't happening. This isn't happening. This isn't happening!"
"Toko, seriously, what's it gonna take for your dumb ass to let me out?!" Syo chided as her other self continued to wallow in her despair. "If he gets to us while you're crying like a baby, you're not gonna stand a chance! And in case you don't know, you go, and I'm gonna go with you!"
"I c-can't!" Toko answered. "You're not gonna be able to control yourself! You're just gonna-!"
"HE'S GOING TO KILL US, YOU MORON!" Syo shouted inside the writer's head. "What do I have to do?! Find a way to pinky swear with you that I'm not gonna kill anyone else?!"
Before Toko could continue on with this argument, the door suddenly swung open, revealing Michael as he stood before the Ultimate Writing Prodigy, the force of his opening of the door being so great that it caused it to break off the hinges.
"Oh, fuck!" Syo exclaimed whilst Toko merely screamed in fright.
She, again, attempted to make a run for it, only for Michael to grab her by the throat and pin her to the back of the closet's wall. She tried to force herself out of the Shape's iron grip, struggling to breathe as she did so. It was at that moment that she stared right into the eyes of the evil before her as he continued to breathe heavily out of his mask. Seeing such blankness, compounded by the haunting mask he wore, was enough for Toko to pass out in terror, her body falling limp as it was still being held above the floor. In response, Michael allowed her to fall motionless to the floor, raising his knife to finish her off.
Suddenly, the feeling of something being driven into his back was felt, followed by someone grabbing him by his coveralls and throwing him out of the closet. Michael immediately started getting back on his feet when he saw who attacked him: A vengeful and enraged Laurie Strode.
"Took you long enough to come back, Michael," she growled as she picked the axe she had swung onto Michael's back off the floor. "I've been waiting for this every day since you escaped. Now... it's time to put the Boogeyman to bed..." She tightly gripped the handle while Michael simply tilted his head to the side, as if this woman whose dreams he had haunted for over four decades was nothing more than another body for him to stab.
"...PERMANENTLY!"
With an unbridled fury unmatched, she charged towards the Shape, going straight for his neck with her axe, only for him to grab the handle once the blade was mere inches away from making its mark. He harshly pulled it out of Laurie's hands and tossed it away, only for her to quickly pull out her knife and slash it across his chest. This earned her a muffled grunt from Michael as she went in for another. Unfortunately, Michael was prepared this time and grabbed her arm before smashing his forehead against hers. Laurie stumbled backward against a wall before Michael stormed towards her, lunging his own knife towards her chest. Thankfully, the older woman was able to step out of its path, causing the blade to drive into the wall itself.
Taking advantage of this, she grabbed a broom near Toko's unconscious body and smashed it against Michael's head, breaking it in two. She then drove the broken end against the killer's chest as if it were a stake, but this only caused her opponent to fall on his back. Not wanting to give him a chance to get back up, the enraged Strode grabbed Michael's knife from the wall and, practically roaring in sheer anger as she did so, drove it deep into her target's chest. Sadly, this did little to sway the masked man, as shown by him raising his upper half and forcing Laurie off of him, easily pulling the knife out of him as he did so.
His weapon reclaimed, he managed to get back on his feet before Laurie grabbed her own blade and attempted to go for his neck once again. However, Michael countered by grabbing her by the throat and turning towards the other end of the hall, hurling her several feet away with ease. Laurie attempted to get back on her feet, only to feel a surge of pain coursing through her entire body, causing her to fall back to the floor. This allowed Michael, once he reached her, to firmly plant his boot onto her neck, pinning her down and choking her at the same time. Coughing and struggling to breathe, the former babysitter tried to force Michael's foot off of her but couldn't so much as budge it.
Mustering as much strength as she could, she firmly kicked Michael's other leg, causing him to stumble back and allow Laurie to free herself. Unfortunately, this victory was short-lived. For the moment she tried once again to swing her knife towards the killer's throat, he was able to grab her arm, the blade just inches away from making its mark. Michael then swung her against a wall, causing her head to slam against it before he grabbed her by her hair and slammed her head onto the wall a second time, causing her to drop her knife in the process.
Afterward, Michael proceeded to force Laurie to look him in the eyes, forcing her to see the black emptiness that lay behind the mask. It was then that Laurie came to possibly the last realization she ever wanted to come to. Years of preparation for the boogeyman's return, driving her family apart, subjecting them and the town to an unprecedented reign of terror, leading to the deaths of her daughter and son-in-law, and finally getting her chance to put all of her trauma behind her by sending the one responsible straight to Hell, all lead to the one conclusion she hoped would never come to pass.
She couldn't kill him.
She could never put an end to such evil.
And now, not only were more people hurt and killed by this monster, but soon, Allyson will have lost the only person she has left in her life: Her grandmother.
All because she stubbornly believed she was to be the one to bring this evil force down.
Fortunately, it seemed that fate would be on her side for the first time in God knows how long. Right as Michael was about to drive his knife through Laurie's heart, he felt a sudden sharp pain in his back that caused him to let out a muffled grunt before dropping Laurie to the floor. She quickly scurried away from Michael before turning her head towards someone who stood behind him.
Someone who had just plunged a pair of scissors into his back.
In retaliation, Michael quickly turned around and blindly swung his knife towards his attacker, only for her to leap backward to avoid it and land several feet away from him. By now, Laurie was finally able to get a good look at her savior. Surprisingly, it was the young woman Michael was strangling just a few minutes ago, but something seemed different about her.
Namely that her tongue, almost inhumanly long, hanged out of her mouth, and she had a crazed look in her eyes behind her glasses.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA! Oh, it feels so good to finally be free! Free! Free at last!" Toko, or rather, Syo, suddenly shouted. "Oh, it's great to finally not be cooped up in that square's head for once!"
Of course, Michael said nothing in response. He instead tilted his head curiously as the madwoman continued.
"Gotta admit, Mikey, I'm a bit of a fan. Almost makes me feel bad about what I'm about to do to you... Almost, that is. HeheheheheheheHAHAHAHA!"
She then pulled out four pairs of scissors from her dress, crossing her arms as she did so as she locked her eyes right at the fellow killer before her.
"I don't even care that you're some old fucker in a cheap mask. Normally not my type, but I've been so itching to gut someone up that I'll make an exception just for you! 'Sides, you know how much clout I'd get from being the one who put Michael fucking Myers in his place?!"
It was at that moment that Michael began to make his way to the still-ranting Syo.
"IT'LL MAKE ME A GODDAMN LEGEND!"
Rather than run from the evil that approached her, Syo instead elected to sprint toward Michael before he could even comprehend what was happening. This resulted in the scissor-wielding killer jamming a pair deep into his shoulder before swiftly evading his rust-coated knife and leaping over his head, landing behind him. She wasted no time rapidly slicing the blades vertically through Michael's back, cackling with psychotic glee as she did so. She was so wrapped up in her work though that she couldn't stop Michael from elbowing her in the face with almost enough force comparable to being struck by a car.
As she stumbled away, dizzy from the blow, Michael, still with her scissors in his shoulder, turned around and grabbed Syo by one of her pigtails, pulling her back to him. He used his free hand to pull the scissors out of his shoulder, allowing a trail of blood to trickle down his jumpsuit. He then drove the tool into Syo's own shoulder, causing her to yell out in pain. Thankfully, before the Shape could go for another blow, his adversary grabbed the scissors by their handles before backflipping in a manner that caused her foot to crack Michael square in his lower jaw. This, in turn, caused him to release his confiscated weapon, allowing it to return to its rightful owner.
"Gonna have to try harder than that if you wanna get me with my own skissors, ya washed-up bastard!" she stated as she landed back on her feet.
She attempted once more to get close to Michael, but he was much more prepared this time, as evidenced by him picking up the corpse of the security guard he had slain earlier and tossing it towards Syo. The serial killer, however, was able to react in time by sliding under the corpse on her knees, causing it to fly above her. Then, once she slid close to Michael, she sprung up into the air, slamming her knee repeatedly against his side. Michael attempted to retaliate by swinging his knife towards Syo, only for her to easily dodge it before harshly kicking him in the back, causing him to stumble towards an empty room's door, causing it to break off of its hinges. Syo then grabbed another two pairs of scissors from her dress and dashed towards Michael just as he got back up. She began to slash her blades wildly, laughing as she did so, each cut causing the butcher of Haddonfield to take a step backward. The masked killer attempted to cut her down each time, but she was much too quick and nimble for him to make his mark.
This continued for several seconds until Michael had, unbeknownst to him, reached an open balcony, tripping over it. In one last attempt to add another victim to his ever-growing list, he grabbed Syo by the throat, pulling her as he began to fall. Thankfully, this only caused her head to smash against the metal railing, which knocked her out and caused her body to fall onto the floor. Michael, on the other hand, fell a full three stories before his back crashed on top of a parked car, causing the roof to dent greatly and all of its windows to be shattered.
As Syo continued to lie unconscious, Laurie, knowing full well that such a fall wouldn't be enough to kill Michael, cautiously approached the sleeping young woman, being extra careful to not awaken her. She had bore witness to the entire fight after being unintentionally saved by the writer's more homicidal self, watching as this seemingly normal and meek person stood up to a man that most would describe as evil incarnate.
Meaning that, though the chance was slim, perhaps she might be the one destined to slay the Boogeyman. And the former babysitter knew that she had to take advantage of this situation quickly.
Back down with Michael, several stunned bystanders began to gather around the car, one of them even pulling out his phone to record the scene, all while the killer lay motionless atop the wrecked vehicle.
"Holy shit, is that...?" one of them questioned as he slowly approached the body.
Suddenly, as if to answer his question, Michael quickly pulled his upper half up, causing him to come face to face with the now horrified bystander. Before he could run, Michael had already grabbed him by his hair and shoved his face into the shards of one of the broken windows, some piercing through his neck. Blood instantly began to cascade out of the wound before Michael pushed his head in a motion that caused the shard to open up more of his neck. The other onlookers had enough sense to quickly run away in a panic, screaming in terror while the Shape, unphased by the fall he had sustained, got back on his feet and began to walk in a seemingly random direction, leaving his victim to bleed out as the command rang through his head once again.
KILL
Toko immediately felt her head throbbing with pain the moment she awakened, her vision slightly blurry as she tried to remember what just happened. All she could remember was peering into the eyes of that masked madman before passing out, no doubt causing Syo to finally be released once more. Fearing what her psychotic self had done, she attempted to get up and make a run for it, only to find herself failing to get up from the chair she was seated on. At that moment, she finally began to feel something cold and made of metal on her wrists, causing her to hyperventilate when she realized what was wrong.
Someone had handcuffed her to the chair.
"You know, there are two different kinds of evil," a voice across from her stated.
Nearly jumping out of her skin in fright, the panic-riddled author looked up to see Laurie seated herself, leaning her chair up against the wall as she observed her with a neutral, almost blank expression on her face.
"There's the evil that exists as an external force. Something that threatens the well-being of the tribe. Survival? It depends on understanding, awareness, and fear of a physical threat to our daily lives."
All Toko could do in response was stare back at the person who, no doubt, was the one who placed her in this predicament in utter bafflement, confused as to what she was going on about.
"Then there's the other kind of evil. The kind that lives inside us like a sickness. Or an infection. Some could argue that it's more dangerous. Because we might not know we're infected until it's too late."
"Listen, I-I-I-I don't know what you're talking about," Toko attempted to plead as her heart began to race. "I-I-I'm jus-"
"You're someone who falls into the latter in most ways... yet you know that you're infected," Laurie bluntly interrupted. "Don't you, Toko?... Or is it Syo that I'm speaking to right now?"
"Shit, the jig's up!" Syo, now equally as panicked as the author she shared a body with, shouted. Said body now with cold sweat coursing down her neck as it's breathing quickened and grew heavier.
"The GJN's been keeping tabs on Genocider Syo's killings all across Japan, and it didn't take long for us to determine that she and Toko Fukawa were one and the same," Laurie explained. "Frankly, I should be bringing you in right now."
"P-P-Please, you have to understand," Toko, who was on the verge of having an anxiety attack, begged. "I-I-I-I never asked for any of this! I-I've been trying to keep her locked away! I never-!"
"But I'm not going to," Laurie finally admitted.
"I-Wait, what?" a perplexed Toko questioned. "...Why?"
"Well, I guess you could say you're not the only one in this room that's fucked up, for starters," Laurie answered with a chuckle. "But the main reason is... because I think we can help each other."
Now that she finally began to calm down, the writing prodigy could finally get a good look at this woman, causing her to finally realize her identity.
"...You... You're Laurie Strode, aren't you?"
The former babysitter merely answered with a simple nod before speaking once again.
"Haddonfield wasn't always the way it is now. It's hard to believe, but there was a time when it was a peaceful town. A quiet little town where nothing exciting ever happened... but that all changed when one Halloween night, over four decades ago, evil had come home. An evil that manifested inside a normal six-year-old child who murdered her sister and returned to kill again. To take our dreams and turn them into nightmares. And once it was all said and done, they locked him away in his prison... all the while I locked myself in mine.
"And then, as I predicted, in spite of planning for it, forty years later... he came home again. What followed was one of the worst killing sprees in this country's history. One that ravaged my community... and took the life of my daughter."
Many dark and sorrowful memories came back to her in an instant, forcing her to wipe her eyes as the day she was forced to bury her own daughter played out in her mind.
"We tried to lock him away again, but the damage was done. The town never dared to celebrate Halloween again, and truth evolved into legend. During those two years he was imprisoned again, despite everything we did to move on, even demolishing his childhood home, people began to search for motive or meaning... which caused them to look into the shadows for their own boogeyman. The people of Haddonfield descended into a plague of grief, blame, paranoia... It was Michael's masterpiece. The suffering he had caused became an infection... crossing onto people who never even crossed his path. People began to fall victim to him without him so much as lifting a finger.
"And then, one night, as the town continued to turn on itself... he escaped again and vanished. Resurfacing once more on Halloween. And the moment he did, I had decided... 'no more.' Both myself and Haddonfield could never truly move on from his evil so long as he breathes, and I was going to be the one to put an end to his reign... or so I thought."
She turned her gaze down to the floor, remembering her latest encounter with the boogeyman before continuing.
"The truth is, Toko, that I had been so blinded by fear, consumed by vengeance, that I nearly allowed myself to get killed by that monster. I had almost caused my own granddaughter to lose the only family she had left after he had taken her parents and her boyfriend away from her. Simply put, I've been damaged by that man one too many times, both physically and mentally. And that's not even accounting for the fact that, well... I'm not getting any younger. So, I had to weigh my other options. This task force wasn't going to cut it. What happened not too long ago to Sidney and Reggie proved that they were ill-prepared to confront Michael, and I damn sure wasn't about to let Alyson go down the same path I did.
"...And then I watched as you stood up to him, and it got me to wonder... What if the only way to kill a monster... is with another monster?"
"...You... You WANT me to let her back out?!" Toko exclaimed, hardly believing what she had just heard.
"You could say I'm willing to let loose the lesser of two evils," Laurie answered. "And in exchange, if Syo manages to kill Michael, I'll make sure the rest of my team doesn't bring you in. You've heard news reports about the GJN gaining custody of many of Michael's fellow serial killers, haven't you? Hannibal Lecter, Jeb Sawyer, Ricky Chapman, hell, they even managed to drag Victor Crowley out of his swamps."
"Well, yeah, b-but I-" Toko tried to confirm.
"I know exactly where they're taking them," the survivor of the Shape suddenly stated. "And while I'm not authorized to tell you what kind of prison it is or where it's located, you'll have to trust me when I say that it's not exactly the place you'd want to end up locked up."
"*sigh* Okay, let's pretend for a second I'm considering your offer, Miss Strode," Toko replied. "Syo says that the last she saw Michael, he was in a freefall three stories high and heading for a parked car. There's no way a man could survive-"
"A mortal man couldn't have survived such a fall. That much you're right about," Laurie interrupted. "Just like how a mortal man couldn't survive an entire compound being set on fire... Michael Myers is not a mortal man. He could just walk out of such a fire as if Hell itself spat him back out. To make the people of Haddonfield know that even Satan would not have him. Half of Haddonfield's fire department learned that the hard way... So what makes you think a fall would so much as even phase him?"
"...Well, I..." Toko attempted to reason, finding it hard to argue with the older woman's point before she spoke up once more.
"In fact, as we speak... he's out there. Looking for his next victims like a hawk searching for its prey."
The cashier of a craft store inside the nearby Cook County Mall was at her wit's end with the woman berating her, counting the minutes til the store could finally close for the night. Said woman was, unfortunately, a regular at the store, frequenting it to try and see if their Christmas ornaments had been in stock, only for her to be enraged that the Halloween decorations hadn't been phased into the clearance isles yet. Of course, it couldn't be helped that they were an establishment located in Illinois, meaning that it was tough for them to sell anything to do with the now-tainted holiday. But, naturally, this wasn't exactly a customer who would listen to any reason that even remotely hindered her and resulted in her not getting absolutely everything she wanted.
"This is ridiculous!" she practically screamed at the cashier, who had to resist the urge to ring her neck just to get her to shut up. "You shouldn't even be selling any of this Satanic garbage in the first place! Not only is it bad for business, but you're all practically BEGGING for the Lord's wrath upon all of you!"
The cashier was about to finally snap and risk getting fired by telling her to get the hell out, only for her to notice something approaching the scene that nearly caused her heart to stop.
"I wanna speak to your manager!" the psychotic woman furthered. "It's obvious you're some lazy piece of shit who doesn't give a damn about her customers! Probably some grooming, tranny queer on top of all-!"
Fortunately, before she could say anything else that exposed her obvious bigotry, a mangled-up hand reached around her and covered her mouth, a second hand jamming a rust-coated knife deep into her neck before she could react. Almost immediately, the attacker released his grip, allowing the woman to fall to the ground and bleed to death, revealing Michael to the mortified cashier. She and several shoppers and workers ran in a panic, one foolishly trying to make it past the killer and towards the exit. Sadly, he wouldn't make it. Michael was easily able to grab him by the collar of his shirt before placing both hands on his head, snapping his neck like a twig.
Amidst the chaos, several people quickly and frantically began to dial 911 on their phones.
As Toko continued to mull over Laurie's words, the latter's phone began to ring, prompting her to pull it out of her pocket. The number didn't display who it was, but the former babysitter knew who was on the other line and accepted the call.
"Laurie, what the hell is going on down there?" Dr. Director's voice demanded on the other side. "I'm trying to reach Sidney and Reggie, but they won't answer!"
"We found him," Laurie bluntly answered. "They're still alive, but they need medical attention. I've already called an ambulance over. They should be here shortly."
"And Michael?" Director inquired.
"Gone," Laurie, now in a slightly irate mood, answered. "I told you so many damn times they weren't ready to face him, but you wouldn't listen."
"You can berate me later, Strode," Director cut off. "We've intercepted dozens of 911 calls coming from Cook County Mall. All of them claim Myers was spotted in the building and has likely already killed several people. Evacuations are underway, and I'm sending several squads to surround the perimeter."
"You do that," Laurie requested. "I'll stay here with Sidney and Reggie for now... Go get that son of a bitch."
"Can do," Director replied before hanging up.
Once their conversation was over, Laurie put her phone away and shifted her focus back to Toko, who no doubt heard everything.
"The mall's half a mile away," she stated. "But the clock's ticking, Fukawa. Make your choice."
"You're SERIOUSLY debating with yourself, Toko?!" an angry, confused Syo shouted inside the writer's head. "Isn't this what you wanted?! A clean slate so we can walk free?!"
"No! I-I mean, n-not like thi-!" Toko yelled, noticing Laurie's eyebrow raise upon hearing that. Instantly, she began to correct herself. "Uh, I'm... I'm talking to her right now, just so you know."
"Of course," was all Laurie replied with, allowing her to continue this bizarre conversation.
"Yes, she's offering a clean slate, Syo, but you clearly missed the part where we have to kill someone for us to get it! And not some random guy on the street this time, either! We're talking about Michael Myers here! You saw what that madman was capable of firsthand. It's suicide!"
"Look, it's either that or being dragged off by whatever prison that old bitch is talking about. You and I both know you wouldn't last an hour in prison! At least fighting Michael gives us somewhat of a chance to walk a free gal."
"Oh, don't you pretend this is about protecting me, you psycho! You just want another shot at him for bragging rights!"
"I am not!... Oh, okay, maybe a little, but look, just cause I get a bit antsy to come out and have to keep butting heads with you for a bit of freedom once in a while, I... I-Oh, goddamnit, this is gonna sound so cheesy! I... don't wanna see you get locked away just cause your other half turned out to be a total fuck up. There! I said it! Okay?!"
Those words surprised Toko. Not because of what exactly was spoken but because she could feel the sincerity in the serial killer's voice. Despite her being a gutter-mouthed, rude, crude, psychotic murderer, it seemed that she genuinely didn't want the persona she shared a body with to suffer for what she's done.
"Besides, I ain't exactly too keen on being thrown in a cell myself! So... whadya say? Wanna give this fuck up a chance at righting a few wrongs?"
A heavy sigh escaped the writer as her decision came to her. One that she couldn't believe she had come to in spite of everything that's happened the past hour or so.
"Okay," she said to both her other self and Laurie. "I'll do it."
"HAHAHAHAHAHA, THAT'S THE SPIRIT!" Syo cheered as Laurie rose from her seat, pulling a key from her pocket. "You won't regret this, Toko, I promise!"
"The GJN should arrive at the mall any minute now, and they'll have it under lockdown in no time," Laurie explained as she freed Toko from her cuffs. "You'll probably have to sneak your way inside through the anchors."
Toko nodded in compliance, rubbing her wrists as she got up and made her way towards the hotel room door.
"And Toko," Laurie suddenly spoke up, forcing the novelist to stop and turn to face her. "...Tell Syo to make it hurt for me."
"Hoo-hoo, no problemo!" Syo replied while Toko opened the door and exited the room, now forced to come face-to-face with an unspeakable evil once more.
"If you're just tuning in, we have breaking news out of Cook County," the anchorwoman reported from Alyson's TV. "Reports are coming in from Cook County Mall that there is, what officials have described, 'an armed and dangerous perpetrator inside the building.' Evacuations are still underway as several squads from both the Cook County Police Department and even the Global Justice Network are en route to the scene as we speak. Now, we would like to state that the following rumors are just that. Rumors. But eyewitnesses who managed to escape from the mall have claimed that this was the work of none other than Michael Myers."
Hearing that name once again nearly caused Alyson's heart to stop as memories began to flood back to her. Of a masked shape whose rampage across Haddonfield was legendary. One who had, before her eyes, murdered her boyfriend. Who later, as she was carted away in an ambulance, killed her mother.
Instinctively, she stopped preparing herself some dinner, not obligated to ready any candy for trick-or-treaters thanks to the curfew in effect, and grabbed her phone, quickly dialing the one person who Michael had caused the most grief.
"Yes, Alyson?" Laurie's voice asked at an equally rapid pace.
"Are you seeing this?" her granddaughter responded in a slight panic. "It's all over the news!"
"I saw," Laurie answered. "Keep the house locked tight and do not go outside for any reason. Cook County might not be very close to Haddonfield, but we both know that's where he's heading, and I don't want you taking any chances."
"What about you?" Alyson questioned. "You're not going to-"
"I'm not, don't worry," Laurie cut her off. "But I'm caught up in something else right now. I can't say what it is, but I'll try and get back to you as soon as I can."
"What are you-?" Alyson tried to ask, only for Laurie to hang up her phone, much to her irritation. "Damn it, Grandma." She then stuffed her phone back into her pocket and turned the TV off, trying to get her mind off of Michael as she went back to making her dinner.
Toko wasn't sure how, but she was easily able to slip through the barricades and make her way into the mall's S-Mart anchor, her eyes being greeted by pure pandemonium. Shoppers making a mad dash for the doors, some even shoving each other to try and get ahead. One went as far as to push another into a shelf of tools, causing it and the items to topple over. And, to top it off, it seemed clear that Michael had already made his way into the store, as evident by a few dead bodies lying on the floor in a pool of their own blood. The sight nearly caused the meek woman to faint on the spot, but she was just barely able to keep her composure, knowing that she needed to time what she was about to do perfectly.
A few deep breaths later, she began to speak to her other self.
"Okay... ready, Syo?" she asked.
"Uh... might wanna wait a couple of minutes," Syo admitted as a young man dashed into the store from a distance. "Ooh, that hunk over there's gonna keep me distracted. I'm already salivating over the thought of slicing his intestines out of-"
Then, all of a sudden, Michael emerged from the store's changing room, placing a hand over the man's mouth before he could scream before he was dragged inside, no doubt to his doom.
"...Oh, well, that fixes that!" Syo said in an eerily cheery tone. "Okay, now I'm ready."
"*sigh* I cannot believe I'm actually doing this," Toko admitted as she grabbed one of her pigtails. She then proceeded to brush her hair along her nose, not taking very long for her to sneeze before passing out onto the floor.
Meanwhile, Michael burst out of the changing room. Behind him was the corpse of the man he ambushed, the wall behind him practically painted red with his blood. One rather unlucky woman just so happened to pass by the room just as Michael emerged, resulting in him grabbing her by her ponytail and tossing her with little effort into a rack of shirts. His black eyes locked on her, the Shape slowly began to step towards her, readying his knife to finish her off when...
"DAA-DA-DA-DA-DAAAAAAA!" a... familiar voice suddenly shouted, prompting Michael to quickly shift his head towards the source. Sure enough, there, standing at the store's hardware department, was Genocider Syo, scissors already at the ready. "Attention S-Mart shoppers, never fear! Your friendly neighborhood psycho killer is here to save the day!"
Said shoppers seemed to pay no mind to their 'savior,' as evidenced by them running past her throughout her proclamation, to which Michael once again tilted his head curiously at the fellow serial killer.
"So, Mikey, you ready for round 2?!" Syo asked. "Cause I sure as shit am! But this time, only one 'a us is gonna leave this mall alive! And guess what? It probably ain't gonna be you! AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!"
"Uh, probably?" Toko sneered inside Syo's mindscape.
"Ah, I'm bein' generous to him," Syo reasoned as Michael began to march towards her. "Whadya want from me?"
"'Definitely' would've been a nicer choice of words," Toko countered.
"Alright, alright, now pipe down!" Syo yelled as Michael got closer and closer. "I gotta concentrate on gutting this dickhead!"
Michael made the first move, swiping his blade down towards Syo, only for her to nimbly duck under it and slam her elbow against her opponent's side. The masked killer stumbled slightly as Syo went in to try and slice his neck with her scissors. The blades would not make their mark, thanks to Michael grabbing both of her hands before forcing them away from him. Then, whilst holding onto her right hand, he lunged her towards a group of mannequins, her body knocking them over like bowling pins. Fortunately, Syo was easily able to get back up and dash towards her target once again.
It was clear that Syo was the faster one, easily able to evade Michael's knife as he continued to slash it toward her, even getting several quick slices and jabs with her own weapons. However, what Michael lacked in speed he certainly made up for in strength and durability. Despite all the punishment his body was subjected to for over forty years, the Boogeyman's thirst for murder never wained. All he had to do was find the perfect moment to strike, and it could be over in a second.
Once he got a clear shot at Syo's chest, Michael prepped his knife yet again.
"Duck! Duck!" Toko pleaded.
"Huh? OH, FUCK!" Syo exclaimed, jumping several feet back before Michael's blade could pierce her heart. She landed almost gracefully at the hardware section, quickly pulling several shelves over to try and block Michael's path as she made a tactical retreat to come up with a new strategy. "Nice call, bookworm. Ya know, you and me might make for a helluva team once this is over. Just you and me scissoring the shit outta everyone we see!"
Realizing the unintentional innuendo she made caused her to stop pulling shelves down and place her hands on her cheeks as she started to blush.
"Oh, oh my, did I really just say that? Oh, dear, how embarrassing! HAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"
"Can we focus on trying not to die for right now?!" Toko snapped.
"Buzzkill," Syo muttered before looking around at the various tools that surrounded her, picking up a sledgehammer. "Let's see if a little smashy smashy will do the trick."
No sooner had she said that did Michael finally round a corner to reach his intended victim, only for her to leap into the air, twirling as she did so, causing the hammer to bash itself across the Haddonfield butcher's head. The blow was powerful enough for Michael to stumble backward, toppling over another shelf in the process. Toko went in for another blow, but Michael was much more prepared this time. He quickly grabbed a buzzsaw blade and tossed it like a frisbee at Syo, causing it to cut deeply into the back of her right hand. She immediately reeled back in pain and dropped the hammer, granting Michael another chance he was more than willing to take. One backhand was enough for Syo to fall flat onto her back before Michael raised his knife for the kill. Thankfully, Syo was also quick to react, as shown by her grabbing a power drill and pressing the trigger, digging the rotating drill deep into Michael's left leg. This caused the Shape to fall onto his right knee and for his attacker to get back up and flee just before Michael swung his knife towards her direction.
Still unwilling to let his prey go, Michael got right back up and turned towards the direction Syo fled towards. Though she was nowhere to be seen, the babysitter murderer looked down at the floor, seeing droplets of blood that more than likely came from her hand wound. Knowing that following this trail would lead to her, Michael began to walk down the path, his breathing being the only thing heard around the now-empty S-Mart.
He continued to follow the trail of blood until he had found himself out of the S-Mart and into the second floor of the mall itself which, much like the anchor, was already evacuated. Likely thanks to Cook County Mall not being a fairly popular place to shop. Looking around the various paths and walkways, he eventually found one that led to a vacant toy store. Deducing that that was where Syo was hiding, Michael slowly began to make his way inside.
The blood trail seemed to stop just past the entrance, forcing Michael to stop walking and gaze his black eyes across the store, trying to spot any hint of Syo's violet hair or dress while listening closely for any sound she could make. An eerie silence overtook the scene as the Shape resumed walking down one of the paths. He paid no mind to the colorful stock meant to lure children's eyes, for the Boogeyman cared only to claim the life of this insane woman who dared to fight back against him. As he continued to try and locate the scissor-wielding maniac, a sound echoed through the air, causing Michael to instinctively shift his head towards the source.
"Mike's got all his fingers, skissors go chop, chop, chop," Syo's voice, oddly, began to sing. "If I miss the spaces in between, his fingers will come off."
The Shape pinpointed the source of Syo's singing was behind a shelf full of Good Guy dolls and immediately began to walk towards it... oblivious to the fact that it was Syo, this time, who stalked Michael. Once her target went on the move, she carefully started shifting from the isle behind the masked killer while singing her little tune to a microphone that was wirelessly connected to a small karaoke machine hidden behind the shelf.
"And if I hit Mike's fingers, blood will soon come out. But all the same, I play this game 'cause that's what it's all about!"
"Remind me to never walk into a karaoke bar when it's allergy season," Toko sighed.
Syo ignored her other self's comment, focusing on Michael as he inched closer and closer to the hidden machine. As he did so, she pulled out a pair of her scissors and readied herself to jump out at the masked killer once he realized her ploy. But she may have gotten a bit too excited, as evident by her elbow accidentally knocking over a Turbo Man figure off the shelf, immediately causing her sadistic grin to fade as her eyes widened.
"Fuck, no, no, no, no!" she whispered as she tried to catch the boxed figure. Sadly, she was just a hair too late.
"It's turbo time!" the figure let out the instant it hit the floor.
Unfortunately, this didn't go unnoticed by the Shape, who stopped his advance towards the shelf. He let out a few muffled breaths before turning his body to where Syo was hiding.
"Ah, shit, new plan!" was all she could say while instinctively grabbing the figure from the floor and tossing it at the Shape. "Catch!"
"You can always count on-" was all the Turbo Man figure said before Michael bashed it away with such force that it caused it to break into several pieces.
"CHAAAAAAARGE!" Syo screamed as she dashed towards Michael.
Before the butcher of Haddonfield could react, Syo tackled him into the shelf of Good Guys, knocking it over and causing her opponent to drop his knife before plunging her scissors at random parts of his body with almost no rhyme or reason, hoping to slice a vein or puncture one of his vital organs.
"WILL YOU JUST FUCKING DIE ALREADY?!" she screamed as she readied her weapon for another blow.
Michael reacted by placing his right hand over where Syo was about to stab him next, resulting in them piercing through it, earning the scissor-wielding killer a muffled grunt. Pulling his hand and, by extension, Syo's scissors away from her, Michael now went on the offensive, kicking her off of his person before getting back up and pulling the scissors off his hand. He then dropped them and bent down to reclaim his weapon. All while Syo reoriented herself and pulled out two more pairs of scissors from her dress. The Shape began to advance towards her, stepping over the dolls the two of them inadvertently knocked over.
"Hi! I'm Chucky, and I'm your friend to the end. Hidey-h-!" one of them let out before Michael crushed its head with his boot.
Syo tried to throw one of her weapons at the Shape as he stepped closer to her, only for him to easily evade them. She pulled a second pair from her dress and tossed it as well, only for the same outcome to transpire. Michael then readied his knife for the kill yet again.
"Welp, that didn't work," Syo, now starting to feel a bit uneasy, admitted.
"You have a new plan?" Toko questioned.
Before she could answer, Michael raised his knife and was about to bring it down upon Syo's face, prompting her to grab a nearby Chip Hazard figure from a rack of Commando Elite figures and shield herself with it. The knife easily broke through the plastic casing, only to stop once it was but an inch away from Syo's eye.
"Yeah... RUN!" she shouted before quickly darting towards the exit while Michael pulled his weapon out of the figure and slowly gave chase.
Seeing that Michael was tailing her, Syo reacted by jumping onto the side railing, nearly falling to the first story in the process. She then lept up, grabbing onto a Halloween banner before pulling out a pair of scissors.
"Wha-What are you doing?!" a dumbfounded Toko asked in a panic.
"Desperate times, desperate measures!" Syo answered before slicing at the banner.
As she planned, the banner began to swing her towards the other side just a split-second before Michael could grab her leg. Unfortunately, before she could reach her intended destination, the banner began to tear, thanks to the strain it was now in, causing her to start falling.
"Oh, gimme a fucking bre-!" the serial killer tried to yell, only to fall through the roof of a kiosk.
Witnessing this failed attempt at escaping him, Michael looked down to the first floor from the railing. His evil hues saw Syo lying on the floor of the damaged kiosk, groaning in pain and struggling to get back on her feet. Then, all of a sudden, a bright light from above caught the Shape's attention. The masked killer looked up to the sunroof, seeing a police helicopter hovering over the mall with its searchlight on, no doubt trying to pinpoint where he was. Seconds passed before Michael lowered his head back toward the kiosk where Syo was lying...
...only for him to discover that she was nowhere in sight.
Syo managed to make her way to the food court of the mall, hiding behind the counter of a burger shop while holding onto her bruised side. She breathed heavily as she cleaned the blood off the wound in her hand, almost as if she was starting to panic. Something that Toko could easily tell as she observed everything from within her mindscape.
"You... You're scared of him, aren't you?" she accused.
"NO! I'm-!" Syo shouted before quickly covering her mouth, not wanting to draw Michael's attention. "I'm not."
"You sure are acting scared," Toko pointed out. "Little late to realize you've bitten off more than you can chew, though, now that we're stuck in this godforsaken mall with an unkillable serial killer!"
"I'll figure out a way to kill that fucker! I-In fact, that's-that's exactly what I'm trying to do! I-I'm just trying to think up a new plan! Can't do that with some geezer swinging a knife at me and a bookworm who won't shut the hell up!"
"Uh-huh. You keep telling yourself that, you scaredy cat."
"HEY! I ain't no scaredy cat! I'll have you know that I am, in fact, a big, brave dog!"
"Well, thanks to your ego, the Boogeyman's gonna get this 'big, brave dog.'"
Now, for once in her life, it was Syo who began to dig her nails into her head, looking like she was on the verge of an anxiety attack.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
"He's gonna get you! He's gonna get you!"
"SHUT UP! SHUUUUUT UP!"
"He's gonna get you! He's gonna get you!"
"NO HE IS NOT!"
"The Boogeyman's coming!"
A shadow began to loom in front of the cowering mass murderer, a clear sign that the Boogeyman had heard her screaming at herself and had come to make good on what Toko had told her.
...But rather than panic further, Syo angrily grabbed a kitchen knife.
"I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S A FUCKIN' SCAREDY CAT!" she declared as she jumped to her feet and spun her body to face Michael, driving her blade deep into his shoulder before he could finish her off.
The Shape let out a muffled gasp once the blade pierced his shoulder but was unable to retaliate thanks to Syo uppercutting him in the lower jaw. This caused Michael to stumble backward for a bit before advancing towards his intended victim, who had already fallen back into the kitchen. Noticing that the fryers were left on by the workers, thanks to how hastily the mall was evacuated, she promptly grabbed onto the handle of one of the baskets as Michael got closer to her.
"Ya want fries with that, asshole?!" she exclaimed before swinging it out of the fryer, causing boiling hot grease and oils to splash onto the Shape.
Despite the pain any normal person would be feeling right now, Michael still managed to reach Syo and grab her by the neck, tossing her back to the counter with ease and knocking over a cash register in the process. Once again, he began to approach her, only for her to pull out two pepper shakers from her pockets.
"Pocket pepper!" she said, tossing the two of them right at Michael.
One of them managed to make its mark on the killer's forehead, causing some of the pepper to go into his eyes, blinding him, and allowing Syo to grab the cash register she had knocked over and swing it at him.
"Here's your change!" she jested while smashing the register against the side of Michael's head.
The impact caused several coins to burst out of the device and for the Shape to stumble towards a wall, smashing against it before falling to the floor. Giggling sinisterly, Syo promptly pulled a pair of her scissors out, ready to finish this fight, when she felt some particles of pepper make their way to her face. More specifically, much to her horror, to her nose.
"Oh, for God sa-AH-CHOO!" was all she could say before Toko found herself back in control of her body.
The first thing the novelist saw was Michael raising his lower half upright, turning his evil gaze towards her. Toko found herself, once more, being completely frozen by the power of the Boogeyman's black eyes. She backed herself to the counter as Michael got back on his feet and approached her, grabbing her by the neck and swinging her against the wall before she could run.
Once more, she felt the feeling of being strangled of all signs of life, trying desperately to free herself. At that moment, she noticed that she was still holding onto one of Syo's scissors. Knowing the choice he had to make, Toko closed her eyes tightly, not wishing to see what was to come, and plunged the scissors into Michael's blind left eye. Blood immediately began to flow as Michael gasped out in pain, backing away with the blade still in his socket while Toko fell to the floor.
"Aw, your first stab wound! Gotta admit, not bad, not bad at all," Syo complimented in a tone not unlike a mother's response to her child's first words. "Oh, I'm so proud of you!"
"Oh, shut up," an unenthused Toko retorted as she picked herself back up.
No sooner had she done that, without warning, the scissors she stabbed Michael with flew by her, inches away from her cheek. The blades plunged themselves into the wall, and Toko found herself frozen with shock. Then, she turned her attention to Michael, who was already approaching her once again, blood trickling out of where his left eye once was and down his mask. Acting quickly, Toko turned back to the counter, leaping over it and back to the food court before grabbing a chair and tossing it towards her pursuer. Michael, however, swiped the chair away from him and continued giving chase.
"Toko, quick, lead him back to S-Mart! I got an idea!" Syo requested as her other self ran across the food court, Michael following her every step.
"It better be a good one!" Toko replied as she heeded Syo's words and headed back towards the anchor.
It wasn't long before Michael made his way back to the S-Mart where his and Syo's confrontation started, catching a glimpse of Toko making a mad dash inside. The Shape slowly walked past the merchandise that surrounded him, his breaths echoing through the empty storefront as he honed in on his surroundings, trying to pinpoint where Toko may have gone. He eventually found himself back at the store's hardware department, walking past several shelves when he heard something in the wind.
The sound of someone clearly in distress, sobbing to herself.
"I can't..." the voice whispered. "I can't do this! Someone, please, help me!"
Turning towards the source of these cries, Michael finally noticed Toko cowering near a display of several power drills. She appeared to be in a fetal position, her hands on both sides of her hair as she seemed to realize the direness of the situation she was in. Having found his target, Michael began to approach her, pointing his blade down as he readied himself to bring it down upon her back...
...failing to notice that he stood in front of several canisters of propane.
All of a sudden, Toko's head swiftly turned towards the Shape, her long tongue and devious grin revealing all.
"Gotcha!" Syo shouted, lighting a match as she did so.
It was only now that Michael noticed the sound behind him. The sound of one of the canisters hissing propane. But it was much too late for him to do anything about it, for Syo had already thrown the match at the display of cannisters before sprinting away. The gases ignited instantaneously, causing the canisters to go up in a fiery explosion that caused Michael to be flung several feet across the department. His body crashed into a rack of screws and nails, knocking it over as portions of his outfit had begun to ignite.
Back outside the mall, the crowd that gathered outside the perimeter gasped in horror as a massive fireball erupted from the S-Mart roof. The police officers quickly instructed the civilians to get further away from the scene as they began to call the fire department. All the while a GJN agent spoke to several snipers that were positioned around the building and in the air.
"Any sign of Myers?" she questioned.
"Negative," one of the airborne snipers answered from within the helicopter he was aiming from. "The smoke's starting to build up. Any moment now, this whole goddamn mall's gonna go up in flames!"
Michael was easily able to put the small flames out but was struggling to get back on his feet for once, the punishment he had endured finally starting to catch up to him. Before he could do so, Syo had already kicked him harshly in the face, causing him to stumble onto his back.
"I do a pretty good impression of you, don't I, Toko?" she asked her other self, almost oblivious to the fire that was spreading across the store.
"No comment," Toko blankly answered. "Can you just finish the job already?"
"Oohoohoo, with pleasure!" Syo gleefully answered, readying a pair of hedge clippers she had confiscated.
Unfortunately, Michael was able to react just in time, grabbing Syo by the leg and pulling her down to the floor. He then got back up and tried to stab her, only for her to roll out of his knife's path and cut the hedge clippers deep into his leg. This caused Michael to fall to one knee as blood began to pour out of the wound whilst Syo lept herself back onto her feet. She then slashed one of her scissors upward, cutting Michael's chest and slicing his chin before trying to go for the killing blow. Michael, however, grabbed Syo's arm, her scissors just inches away from his heart, and headbutted her away from him.
Though disoriented, Syo still tried to slash her scissors at Michael, but the masked killer was able to easily dodge them, even swinging his own weapon at her arm, deeply cutting it in the process. Syo yelled out in pain as she instinctively grabbed onto the wound before finding herself evading Michael's knife right before it could slice her neck open. Noticing a weedwhacker nearby, the scissors-wielding killer grabbed it and used it to block Michael's knife before smashing him across the face, causing him to drop his blade.
With her opponent now without a weapon, Syo didn't give him a chance to reclaim it, as evident by her grabbing a hammer and striking the side of Michael's head with it. This caused the babysitter murderer to fumble even further away from his weapon, granting Syo an opportunity she had been waiting for. She tossed the weedwhacker into a burning lawnmower and pulled out another pair of scissors. Laughing hysterically, she charged at Michael before he could come back to his senses, scissors in one hand and hammer in the other. A series of brutal slashes and hammer strikes followed as Michael, now finding himself on the defensive, backed himself against a wall before, with a mighty thrust, Syo drove her scissors deep into his chest and bashed the hammer across his face. This caused Michael to slowly slump down against the wall, finding himself unable to summon the strength to get back up.
Syo, however, wasn't quite finished. Wisely not wanting to take any chances, she then plunged two more pairs of scissors through both of the Shape's hands, pinning them against the wall before placing two of her fingers against the freshly made stab wound in his chest.
"Betcha never thought this was how it was gonna end, eh, Mike?" she asked. "Not gunned down by a buncha pigs, not killed by that old hag, Laurie, nope! Just little 'ol me, Genocider Syo, slicing and dicing you up and leaving you to burn!"
Naturally, Michael said nothing. He only continued to breathe his muffled breaths as he grew weaker and weaker from losing more and more blood. As he did so, Syo stood back up and began to write something with his own blood.
"And that's something I want the whole fuckin' world to know once the Sun rises!"
When she was finished, the words 'bloodbath fever' were etched on the walls just above Michael as he continued to bleed. This was Syo's calling card she wrote as she carried out her murder sprees. And would be used to tell the people of Haddonfield who had slain the Boogeyman. She then backed up and observed the scene, feeling a tear trickle down her face as she took everything in.
"Isn't that just the most bea-yu-tiful goddamn thing you ever-?!" she commented.
"Syo, fire, FIRE!" Toko suddenly interrupted.
"Huh?" Syo responded.
Only now feeling the heat behind her, she turned around to see the fire she had started had spread its way through almost the entire store and was now beginning to seep into the mall itself.
"...Ah, shit," she said. "Now I'm gonna be stuck with the bill if they ever catch me." She then turned back to Michael and the state she had left him in, staring at him for a few seconds before shrugging. "Oh well, can't go back now!"
"SYO, I MEANT WE NEED TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" Toko screamed inside her mind.
"Ah, right," Syo replied. With that, she began to make her way towards one of the S-Mart's emergency exits, which miraculously hadn't been engulfed in flames, but not before turning her head to look at the Shape one final time. "Happy Halloween, Michael! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH-*cough* *cough*."
Realizing the smoke was starting to get to her, she quickly made haste towards the exit, all while Michael could do nothing but watch. Still growing weaker and weaker with each passing second, his black eyes were able to see Syo exiting the building right as a support beam fell onto where she once stood, followed by several more as a portion of the store began to completely collapse.
That was the last thing Michael saw before completely losing consciousness, while incoming sirens were the last thing he heard.
COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS
NOVEMBER 1st
The Sun illuminated a partially destroyed Cook County Mall once it rose to start the new day. By then, firefighters had managed to finally get the fire extinguisher, allowing them to advance towards the damaged structure. News outlets were on the scene to report to the masses what had transpired while the police and crime scene investigators interviewed several witnesses. As this was going on, a lone woman, donned in a coroner's uniform, pushed a stretcher that held a bodybag that likely contained a corpse inside.
Noticing this, the GJN agent who had directed the snipers last night ceased directing her fellow agents and approached the woman, immediately showing her her ID.
"Jamie Akkad, Global Justice Network," she introduced, causing the coroner to stop right in front of her. "We've been called to this location to investigate reports that Michael Myers was spotted in this area."
"Then you have little to worry about, Ms. Akkad," the coroner stated as she began to unzip the body bag. "Take a look for yourself."
Sure enough, Agent Akkad's eyes were greeted by the sight of Michael's mask, now burnt further than it already was, while his eyes were closed and no breaths could be heard. It seemed that this time, the evil that plagued an entire town was finally dead.
"Excellent," Akkad stated. "Well, if you'd just surrender the body to us, then we'll be on our way."
"I'm afraid I can't do that," the coroner denied.
"And I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice," Akkad firmly informed. "Michael was under our custody when he escaped, and we nee-"
The coroner silenced her by handing her a sheet of paper.
"Agent Akkad, you're the one who doesn't have much of a choice," she retorted. "I'm not with Cook County's coroner office. I'm with Haddonfield's."
"And what is... what is this?" Akkad questioned as she looked down at the paper.
"The last will and testament of one Samuel Loomis," the coroner answered. "Per this will, it is stated that, in the event of Michael's death, his body is to be transported back to Haddonfield and immediately cremated. You'll find that it is state-approved, in case you were wondering."
Reading through the late doctor's will confirmed the coroner's words, meaning that the GJN was in a tough situation. They did have the authority to veto Loomis' will and take the body, but the publicity and possibly legal repercussions could prove too much trouble than gaining custody of a dead man was worth.
"Akkad, let her go," Doctor Director suddenly ordered through the agent's COMM. "It's not worth it."
"Yes, Director," Akkad replied before directing her attention to the coroner. "Make sure there's no trace of that bastard left."
"You have my word, Agent," the coroner promised before zipping the bodybag back up and making her way toward her van.
Once she had reached the van, she opened the doors to allow herself to push Michael's body inside... right past the dead bodies of two other coroners. Quickly closing the doors once the body was loaded, she observed her surroundings, making sure that no one saw the corpses inside the van before dashing towards the driver-side door and stepping inside. With the turn of a key, she stepped on the gas to cart Michael's body away...
...but it would not make it back to Haddonfield.
For once she was far enough away, the 'coroner' pulled away a face mask, complex enough to where it could only have been crafted by none other than Zartan, that concealed her true face. The face of one Mukuro Ikusaba.
...And she was bringing Michael's body back to her sister.
"We can now positively confirm that Michael Myers was inside the mall when the fire broke out and that he is confirmed to have died in said fire," a news anchor reported. "Michael Myers, of course, one of the deadliest serial killers in this country's history, responsible for dozens upon dozens of murders in Haddonfield, and now it seems that his reign of terror is finally ov-"
An unsure Laurie turned her attention away from the television in the hotel's lobby and towards the parked GJN van outside the building, where a now recovered Sidney and Reggie were waiting. One look in the former babysitter's eyes was enough for them to know what she was thinking.
"You don't think he's actually dead, do you?" Sidney questioned.
"...I can't be sure," Laurie answered. "Not after last time."
"Even after all that?" Reggie questioned. "C'mon, even he can't survive half a burning mall coming down on his ass."
"I'd think that too if he hadn't survived a fire once before," Laurie countered. "I guess all I can do now is... hope that this time... this time..."
She didn't finish her sentence. Forced to relive the nightmare she endured after setting her compound on fire once more.
"...Why don't you take a couple of days off?" Sidney suggested. "Go be with Allyson. Hold on to that hope and take your mind off of Michael. You know... enjoy life."
Of that thought, Laurie couldn't help but smile for the first time in what felt like forever to her.
"...I'd like that," she admitted.
"Come on, I'll drive you back," Sindey offered as she assisted Laurie into the passenger side of the van while Reggie made his way back to his 'Cuda.
Once Laurie was inside, Sidney felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Pulling it out, she found that she had received a text from Director herself.
Possible new killers to investigate:
"Art the Clown"
William Afton
Brenda Bates
Jack Schmidt and "Chance"
Paulo Ravinski
Dr. Albert Caine
Dr. Mary Agana
The Odet Family
"Dollface," "Pin-Up Girl," and "Man in the Mask"
Leslie Vernon
The "Collector"
Robert Sawyer/"Chop-Top"
Mick Taylor
Ben Willis
"Father Murder," "Sister Dragon," "Sister Serpent," and the "Heads"
"John Carver"
"Pumpkinhead"
The "Leprechaun"
The "Djin"
Seeing her and the others' list get substantially larger prompted Sidney to sigh, always left surprised at just how many psychos this world could conjure up.
"Never a dull moment," she said to herself before climbing into the van.
Elsewhere, not too far from the hotel, Toko trekked through the sidewalks as many people were already bringing down the sparse Halloween decorations of the businesses that filled the city, some even already bringing out their Christmas decor. Whispers could be heard amongst the crowds. Ones of the fire at Cook County Mall and, more specifically, of the end of Michael Myers. Some refused to believe that the Boogeyman was truly slain, which was understandable, given how many times the people across Illinois were fooled into believing his evil was finally extinguished. Others gossiped about what could have possibly killed the Shape. Was it the fire? A well-trained sniper?
Or perhaps was there a mysterious vigilante who brought Michael down?
What they did not know, however, was that said 'vigilante' was walking among them, speaking on her cellphone to someone close to her from back home in Japan. Someone she was relieved to finally be able to talk to to calm herself after the madness she had endured.
"Makoto told me what happened over there," one Komaru Naegi said on the other side. "Are-Are you okay, Toko?!"
"I-I'm fine, Komaru," Toko informed. "Just a couple of cuts and a bit shaken, is all. Nothing serious."
"A couple of cuts?" Komaru repeated. "Did... Did you see him?"
"...I did," was all Toko could bring herself to answer.
"Oh, you have no idea, Komaru," Syo added.
"Thankfully, Kodaka managed to have the rest of the tour canceled for now, so once I get my things back from the hotel... assuming the police don't confiscate it, I'll be on the first flight back to Japan," Toko reassured. "I could... use a bit of a vacation."
"I'll say," Komaru replied. "Well, I'll be here once you get home, okay?"
"Okay," Toko acknowledged.
"Let me talk to her!" Syo pleaded.
"Uh, Syo says 'hi,' by the way," Toko stated.
"No, I meant let me actually talk-!" Syo protested.
"Okay, I gotta go. I'll call you once my flight lands," Toko interrupted. "Bye!"
With that, she hung up her phone, much to Syo's frustration.
"Ugh! I take it this means I'm going back to being your prisoner up here, huh?" she theorized. "Even after all we been through?!"
"Well... about that," Toko admitted. "After what happened with Michael, I've been... thinking..."
"Ooh, ya don't say?" a now interested Syo replied. "Go on..."
The novelist checked to make sure no one could interlope with what she was about to say, taking a deep breath before she continued with her proposal.
"Okay, so maybe that whole thing about you being my bodyguard wasn't... entirely a bad idea. And don't even think about saying 'I told you so.'"
"I'll save it for later," Syo promised.
"The world feels like it's getting crazier by the second," Toko furthered. "Alien invasions, metahumans running around, Kaiju attacks, and who knows what else. And, as much as I hate to admit it, there's gonna be a chance more Michaels might be on the horizon for the two of us. So, I want to cut you a deal. I'll start letting you out a bit more often-"
"YES!" Syo cheered.
"-under one condition," Toko finished. "No more killing people just because they're attractive."
"...Boo," Syo jeered.
"But... since your... appetites can't exactly be quenched without killing people, how about you instead focus all that bloodlust of yours on bad people?" Toko suggested.
"Hmmm..." Syo muttered as she mulled it over. "Don't suppose you're open to bargaining, aren't you?"
"Nope," Toko simply answered.
"...*sigh* 'Kay, deal," Syo relented.
"HANDS IN THE AIR, BITCH!" a voice suddenly rang from an alleyway.
Instinctively, Toko hid behind a dumpster and peeked her head out to see a mugger pointing a gun at a woman, shivering with fear while holding a purse. A purse that, no doubt, the mugger had his eyes set on.
"Everything in it!" he ordered.
The woman, not wanting to take a chance, reached into her purse while Toko narrowed her eyes in contempt for the one threatening her life.
"Bad guy?" Syo asked.
"Mm-hm," Toko confirmed.
"...Eh, could look better, but... could look worse," Syo admitted. "I can definitely do this."
Meanwhile, the mugger grew impatient as the woman tried to pull out as many dollar bills from her wallet as she could, breathing heavily with fear as she did so.
"Keep 'em coming, keep 'em coming!" he demanded as he positioned his weapon at her forehead.
Then, without warning, a pair of scissors knocked the gun out of his hands before a purple blur tackled him against a wall. The stunned mugger's eyes were greeted by Syo's psychotic hues before she plunged her scissors deep into his neck. She then splayed them out to open the wound even further, causing blood to pour out as the mugger began to choke on his own blood.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!" Syo gleefully cackled before grabbing the dying man by the shirt. "Now, in the dumpster ya go with the rest of the trash, buddy!"
With a mighty heave, she tossed the mugger into the nearby dumpster, causing him to fall inside and for the hatch to close, leaving him to bleed to death amidst several sacks of garbage and filth. Having added another victim to her growing list, Syo continued to laugh maniacally, clutching her sides even, when her other self spoke up.
"Syo, the woman!"
"Wha?" Syo replied. Wondering what Toko meant, she turned towards the would-be victim, who had turned completely pale with fright as she tried to comprehend what had just happened. Seeing this, Syo attempted to put on a friendlier facade, closing her eyes as she smiled at her, though with her tongue still hanging out.
It did not help.
"Oh! Sorry, I almost forgot," she said before skipping over to the woman's purse, which she had dropped the moment Syo ambushed her attacker. "Name's Genocider Syo!"
She then bent down and picked up the purse, handing it to the woman.
"Here ya go!" she said, going as far as to pat the frightened woman's head a few times to reinforce her intentions with... mixed results. "No need to say 'thank you.'"
With that, she lept up to a scaffolding and quickly scaled a ladder all the while the woman fell to the ground, fainting after having taken in this bizarre string of events.
Back with Syo, she had climbed up to the roof of the building she had scaled, observing the morning sky as it shined over the many skyscrapers of Chicago.
"Ya know, Toko, maybe this new schtick won't be so bad after all," she admitted. "We can be just like that Lethal Protector over in Norriseville!" [2]
"Uh, l-let's not get ahead of ourselves, now," Toko meekly suggested, now starting to fear this new life she had given Syo wasn't going to get them arrested. It was going to get them killed.
Any sane person would never wish to know what Michael Myers would dream of. And for good reason. For what else would one as evil as him dream of in the hellscape that is his mind but all the atrocities he had committed? All the people he had slain, the lives he had destroyed, the community he drove to madness. These were the only things he would reminisce about whenever he slept. It was all he was concerned with in the waking world, so what else would come to him in the dream world?
For hours, that's exactly what he did. Relive each gruesome murder and injury he delivered throughout his life. From his sister, Judith, all the way to the people he butchered at the mall just one night before. Then, he regained consciousness, ready to surprise whoever was unfortunate enough to come across his body, foolishly believing he was finally dead.
KILL
The same command came to him... right before he was cryogenically frozen in an instant. For that brief second, he saw that he was in some kind of futuristic laboratory that he did not recognize where, of all people, a young woman in a gothic Lolita outfit was sitting in a chair, bored out her skull as she, no doubt, waited for him to awaken. What he did not see was said woman's eyes widening as she heard the sound of Michael being frozen.
"Oh, did he finally wake up?" the woman, Junko Enoshima, said in an eerily cheery tone. "Hoo-fuckin'-ray! Thought you were actually dead there for a second."
Junko proceeded to rise from her chair and approach what Michael was now kept in: A cryo-stasis tube that enclosed itself once he was frozen.
"Sorry 'bout leaving you in the cold, Mikey, but I couldn't risk having you turn this island into a clusterfuck once you woke up from your little nap," she explained, not that the masked killer could hear her. Afterward, she clasped her hands with delight before continuing. "Anyway, now that my smelly sister managed to smuggle you here, I gotta see about getting a little side project for you going while I wait for Black Hat to approve my plans for Paris. Just gotta figure out where to drop my new harbinger of death into. More despair you can cause, the better, is what I always say. Ta-ta for now!"
The Ultimate Despair proceeded to happily skip her way back to the table she was seated in, all while Michael's black eyes stared unresponsively at her while she continued her scheming. And while whatever she had planned for him next was, one thing was sadly certain.
The Shape was not dead... and he will return.
"You can't kill the Boogeyman..."
-Tommy Doyle
[1] - As shown in the Infinity Verse MAX spotlight centered around Michael
[2] - The identity of which is shown in the Infinity Verse Spotlight centered around Howard Weinerman