"How're we looking, Jude?"
The doe sighed as she applied more makeup to Jack's face. "It's almost there. I just don't know why you wanted ME to help you." It was Halloween, and all throughout the Hopps household, every kit was putting the finishing touches on their costumes before they headed out to the town square for trick or treating. As was custom, at least two of the older kits had to accompany the younger ones, and this year, it was Jack and Judy's turn. The two of them were currently in the bathroom, with Judy helping her younger cousin with his outfit.
Jack's head tilted in confusion, nearly causing Judy to mess up. "Why wouldn't I ask you for help?"
"Because you know I'm no good with makeup," she said, adding some more to the sponge and dabbing around Jack's eye. Judy sighed as she added, "You just HAD to pick one of the guys from KITS…"
Jack just shrugged. "I'm pretty sure it's like a rite of passage for musicians to go as them for Halloween at least once in their lives."
"Yeah, but you could've also gone as the guy from Guns N' Rodents; just needed to get you a top hat and sunglasses."
The buck seemed to consider this and said, "Well, in for a penny, in for a pound." Judy rolled her eyes. "Hey, at least I chose the easiest one, right?"
"…There's that," the doe agreed, finishing up the star around her cousin's right eye. She stood up to examine her work. "OK, I think that should do it."
Jack stood and immediately turned to look in the mirror. He smiled at what he saw. "Hey, that looks great! Thanks!"
Judy smiled as she checked the time. It was nearly quarter to six, and she still needed to get ready. Luckily, her costume was already set to go. "OK, I need to change; see you in a few minutes." Jack gave her a thumbs up, still admiring himself in the mirror. The doe left the bathroom and headed to her room to change. A few minutes later, Officer Judy Hopps left and went upstairs to wait. She sat down on the couch, watching some of her siblings move around her, still grabbing things for their outfits. Judy was about to pull out her phone to pass the time when-
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
Her ears perked up and her eyes shot to the door. 'Trick or treaters already? And this far out?' Confused, she checked the time on her phone and saw that it still wasn't late enough for trick or treaters yet. Another knock came, and this time, Judy stood and went to answer the door. Once she opened it:
"Trick or treat! Now give us your candy."
Judy wasn't sure what she was expecting when she opened the door, but Nick and Skye standing on the other side was definitely not it. She smiled and laughed when she saw her friends from the city.
"Hey!" the doe reached out and gave both foxes a hug. "What're you guys doing here?"
"We're here for your candy, now give it," Nick answered, holding out his paw expectantly.
Skye nudged her brother, laughing. "Just thought we'd come out and celebrate Halloween with you guys. Is that OK?"
"'Is that OK-' Yes, it's OK!" Judy answered excitedly. She then froze as her ears dropped behind her head. "Wait, does your mom-"
"Yes, Mom knows we're here," Skye answered.
"Yours, too," Nick added.
"OK, good," Judy sighed in relief. She then let the two foxes inside the house, closing the door behind them. As they stood in the entry way, the gray bunny took a good look at Skye's costume, which consisted of a black suit, tie, trilby hat, and sunglasses. "So, what're you supposed to be?"
Skye smiled and posed before she said in an over-the-top Chicatgo accent, "It's one hundred and six miles to Chicatgo; we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses." At the doe's blank stare, Skye dropped the pose, looking a little disappointed. "I'm Elkwood! From The Blues Brothers?"
"…I…haven't seen that movie…" Judy quietly admitted.
"WHAT?!"
Nick just chuckled and patted Skye on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure Jack will get it."
"He better," the vixen grumbled, taking off her sunglasses and putting them in her front pocket. She then turned to the doe in front of her. "Nice uniform, Jude."
"Thanks! You look nice, too," Judy said, making the sharply dressed fox perk up. She then turned to Nick, who wasn't wearing any costume; instead, he was just decked out in jeans, a T-shirt, and a red flannel jacket. "Nick, how come you didn't go as anything?"
"What're you talking about?" the todd answered, smirking.
Judy saw Skye roll her eyes and grumble something along the lines of, "Oh, Dog, here we go…"
"What?" Nick asked defensively, putting his paw over his heart.
"How come you're not wearing a costume?" the doe specified.
"I am wearing a costume, and I think it's plenty scary."
"…OK, explain?"
Nick's smirk grew even bigger. "I'm a child that grew up in the twenty-first century, raised by twenty-first century media, culture, morals, and ideals, who, once I'm old enough, will be part of a generation that will be running the world once the grownups are too old and frail to do anything to stop us."
"…Shit, that is scary," Judy said softly.
"HA!" Nick let out, turning and pointing to his sister.
"Oh, come on!" Skye groaned out. "It's so lazy!"
"You're just mad that you didn't think of it first," Nick playfully accused.
"That is…TOTALLY not the point."
Judy was about to say something when Jack suddenly walked by the entry way and saw her. "There you are, everyone's ready to head out…" He trailed off when he saw Nick and Skye standing next to her. He smiled and said, "Hey! What're you guys doing here?"
"We're here to celebrate Halloween with you guys," Skye answered, smiling as well. "Nice costume."
"Thanks!" Jack stopped and gave the vixen a look over. After a beat, he asked, "Elkwood from The Blues Brothers?"
"THANK YOU!" Skye exclaimed, throwing her paws up in the air prompting a laugh from Nick and Judy.
"You're one of the guys from KITS, huh?" Nick asked Jack, gesturing towards his makeup and guitar. "Nice."
"Thanks, I got the makeup from the dollar store," the buck said as he struck a pose. "So, how do I look?"
"Like a dollar store Paul Stagley," Nick answered, smirking. "And I mean that in the best possible way."
Jack rolled his eyes and was about to turn away when he stopped and took a long look at the todd. A moment later:
"A kit growing up in the twenty-first century?"
Nick looked at his sister, all smug. "See? Both of them get it."
Skye just rolled her eyes again as Jack said to Judy, "Anyway, everyone's ready to head out; everything good?"
"Yeah, go round everyone up," Judy answered. Jack walked back to the living room as the doe turned to the foxes. "You guys wanna come with us into town?"
"Yeah, sure!"
"Sounds like fun!"
A few seconds later, Jack returned with a small sea of younger bunnies, who all perked up once they saw Nick and Skye. "Alright, let's go."
"OK."
The group of kits left the house, with Jack, Judy, Nick, and Skye following behind them. "Oh, by the way, I told Aunt Bonnie that you guys are here, but she said that your mom already called ahead," the striped bunny told the foxes, though it sounded more like a question.
"Well, yeah," Nick said, giving a little smirk. "We're not two certain rabbits who decided to abuse a loophole on New Year's."
Jack shook his head, smiling. "You guys have no sense of adventure…"
Judy smiled as she, her friends, and her family walked down the roadway to the town square.
This was going to be a fun evening.
THREE HOURS LATER…
"You guys got any jawbreakers?"
Nick nodded as he reached into his bag of candy. "Here ya go," he said, tossing one over to Jack. The kits got back from the town square ten minutes prior, and were now in Jack's room sorting through their sugary treasures, trading them amongst themselves. "You or Carrots want my chocolate?"
"Yeah sure, I'll take some," Judy answered. Nick passed some to her, which she put in her pile. The doe looked around the room, which was lit only by a small lantern they had set up in the middle of the floor. Normally around this time of year, she and her family would start a campfire and tell ghost stories to each other, but due to recent rain showers over the course of the week, the wood was too damp to start, so they had to pass on it this time.
Judy shrugged mentally as she sorted through her goodies again. 'Who needs a campfire when you've got a lantern in the middle of the room?'
"Who wants these sour straws?" Skye asked, bringing out a pawful of tropical flavored sour gummies.
Jack looked over, confused. "You don't like them?"
The vixen shook her head. "They taste totally apathetic," she explained. "Not even like mediocrity, because that would imply that they at least tried to make them good and just landed at average. They taste like nobody cared."
Judy bit back an amused smirk. "So, you're trying to pawn off 'apathetic' candy to us instead?"
"…Well, uh, I mean," Skye stammered out, much to everyone's amusement. "you guys might enjoy them-"
"Nice try."
"No, thanks."
"You can keep your below average candy."
Skye pouted as she put them back in her bag. A beat later, she asked, "You guys know any good campfire stories?"
Jack shook his head, pulling his knees up to his chest. "Nah, not really. Brian knew some really good ones, but he's busy with school right now. What about you guys?"
Skye shook her head, but Nick seemed to perk up a bit. "I think I know one," he said.
"Oh, yeah?" Judy prompted.
The todd nodded. "Yeah, it's called 'Elevated Penance'. You guys know it?"
"This is the first I'm hearing of this," Skye said, turning to her brother, now curious.
"OK, so," Nick started, leaning forward with his paws out, "our story is set in an ordinary office building. A group of mammals enter an elevator: a salesmammal, an old lady, a security guard, and two young mammals, male and female. On the way up, it suddenly stops and the lights go out, leaving them stuck." At this point, both Judy and Skye were leaning forward as well, now invested in where the story was going. Jack instead furrowed his brow, as if in deep thought. "Now, everything is fine for right now, as the maintenance team is working on fixing it, but then the lights go out again, and once they come back on…BOOM!" Everyone jumped at the exclamation as Nick suddenly clapped his paws together. "The salesmammal is dead on the floor, slash marks through his throat."
"Wait, what?" Judy asked quietly, shocked.
Nick gave a grim smile and nodded. "One of the remaining four mammals killed them, but no one knows who it is. As you can imagine, everyone freaks out and swears that they didn't do it."
"Well, it has to have been a predator that did it, right?" Skye theorized.
"Nope," the todd answered, shaking his head.
"What? Why not?"
"Because everyone in the elevator is prey," Jack suddenly interjected.
Nick looked over, surprised. "Uh, yeah. That's why."
"And let me guess: the killer is actually the Devil?"
"How'd you know that?" Nick asked, stunned that Jack figured out the story.
"Because it's a movie already," the buck revealed. "Has the exact same set up, exact same cast of characters, exact same plot and plot twist; it's a movie already, dude."
Nick's ears and shoulders fell in disappointment. "…Really?"
Jack nodded his head. "Yeah. Where'd you hear it?"
"I got it from Finn, he told it to me last year," the todd revealed before adopting a scowl. "Didn't tell me it was from a movie, though…"
"…It's a good story, though," Jack said.
"Oh, yeah," Judy chimed in.
Skye nodded as well. "Definitely."
The room fell silent. A few moments later, Nick looked over to his sister. "Do they really taste that bad?"
Skye immediately reached into her bag and pulled the sour gummies out, tossing them to her brother. "Here, try them."
Nick opened a pack and tried a piece. A few seconds later, he said, "Yeah, these suck."
"Right?!" the vixen cried out.
Jack and Judy looked at each other before turning back to the foxes. "OK, now I've got to try this," Jack said, holding out his paw.
"Me, too," Judy agreed.
No more ghost stories were told that night, but the kits experienced something truly more terrifying:
Below average candy.