Author's Note: At last, we're at the penultimate chapter of the season 1 events. Next week, we will get to the final weekly update before I move onto the next Young Avengers story I update on a regular basis.

The next chapter will be full of excitement, including a certain surprise involving Death.

The song featured here is a parody of "Feel Like a Million" from Kronk's New Groove.

Enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.

Loki woke up in a good mood. He didn't have a care in the world. He had no idea how downhill things were going to get before the day was over.

The trickster god headed downstairs seeing the McGees gathering around Pete's phone. "What's going on?"

"Loki, you won't believe it!" Molly cheered pulling her friend in on the family huddle. "You know that video campaign we made the other day?"

"You mean the one promoting wind?" Loki asked.

"Yeah. Turns out, it worked." Pete said. "Credit to you, Molly. You are bringing jobs back to Brighton."

"What about me?" Scratch asked slipping out from underneath the couch covers. "I wasn't even paid for my very important role of 'wind'."

"What about me?" Loki asked. "I was the one holding the camera phone to Molly."

"I told you both, you get paid in hugs." Molly said wrapping her arms around Scratch and Loki.

"You're gonna squeeze some wind outta me if you keep this up!" Scratch said before deflating. Molly released her friends. "Well, that's called 'too late' now, isn't it?"

"We'll just call it a group effort." Molly said. "And now, we've got a whole day of celebration. Factory ribbon cutting at 10, then the parade, then the ice cream social…"

"Parade, candy, and ice cream?" Scratch asked with an excited smile on his face. "Let me just clear my schedule, and voila!" He held up a calendar page. "It was already empty. Who knew?"

"I did." Loki said just before a blue vortex appeared above him and another one appeared above Scratch. "Oh, boy. Another surprise summons from Death!"

"Oh, come on!" Scratch shouted being forced through. "Why do they always call when I'm about to have fun?"

"Once more onto the breach!" Loki said as he and Scratch disappeared into the portals.

"Be back in time to power the wind float!" Molly called out before the portals closed.

Loki and Scratch dropped in the meeting area in front of Death and the Ghost Council. They both brushed themselves off after getting up.

"Listen, not that I'm complaining, Death," Loki said, "But since I have a flesh body now, I would probably be more comfortable if you had some kind of mattress or pillow to catch me when I…"

He stopped when he noticed Death's expression. Her eye sockets narrowed and her mouth was flat. She tapped her bony fingers rapidly on the table.

"Uh, is everything all right?" Scratch asked nervously.

"You tell us." Lucrecia said.

"Are you even scaring anyone on Earth?" Sir Alister asked.

"Of course." Scratch said. "Check my Scare Reports. It's all there in black and white, and sometimes a little bit of mustard."

"Then why is Brighton no longer generating fear?" Bartholomew said summoning the skull-shaped meter with Brighton's name on it. The needle edged closer to the green side.

"It's teetering dangerously close to joy." Grimbella said.

Death stopped tapping her fingers. She took a deep breath and leaned closer to the table looking down at the two. "Loki, when I assigned you with Scratch, I was under the impression that the fear coming from Brighton would skyrocket. After all, you're a professional. You brought fear into the hearts of every living thing across nine different worlds. I thought that one tiny town would be easy for you. And yet, here we are. As it turns out, joy has been rising ever since you were brought to Brighton. Care to explain why?"

"Uh, can't think of anything." Loki lied thinking of Molly. He looked over at Scratch who had the same thought.

"Well, in any case, I am displeased." Death said. "No one has made me mad in centuries, and I'd hate for you to break that streak. So to ease everyone's minds, we will be calling in a specialist to get to the bottom of this."

"A specialist?" Scratch asked. "What kind of specialist?"

Death raised her fingers and snapped. Suddenly, a purple, female ghost appeared right next to Scratch and Loki.

"Hey! Scratch, is it? And you must be Loki. I'm a big fan. The name's Jinx. Look, I want you to just chill, breathe deep, and center yourself, because together, me and you two, we are going to get to the bottom of this whole 'joy' thing."

"Um, who is this?" Loki asked.

"This is Jinx." Death introduced. "She's our number one Joy Hunter. If there's a source of joy anywhere in Brighton, she's guaranteed to find it and settle the matter one way or another."

"It's true." Jinx said. "I don't want to get all braggy and all, but…" She grew large and monstrous. "I ALWAYS FIND MY JOY!"

"Oh, good." Scratch said nervously. "We're gonna have some fun, then."

"So much fun." Loki repeated.

The next portal brought Loki, Scratch, and Jinx back to Brighton, in front of the McGee house.

"Do not sweat this, boys." Jinx said. "We'll get your town back in a fearful state in no time."

"Yeah, great." Scratch said. "I'd love to wrap this up ASAP. Though I'm still not sure there is any joy here. Loki, do you know any joy?"

"Nope." Loki shook his head. "Not an ounce of joy anywhere within a hundred miles."

As if on cue, the front door of the house was kicked open by the ever-smiling Molly McGee. "Wow! What a glorious day!"

"What was that?" Jinx asked.

"Nothing!" Scratch lied turning Jinx's attention away from Molly. "You know what? I know just the place to start looking for that joy!" He quickly pushed Jinx away from the McGee house right as Molly caught up to Loki.

"Loki, what's up?" Molly asked. "You two are going to miss the ribbon cutting."

"It's a long story." Loki said. "Look, just carry on without us. Scratch and I have to take care of a real pest." He ran off before Molly could say another word.

Scratch and Loki brought Jinx to the park where she held a scanner over the slightly trash-filled river. While she did that, Scratch laid on a spare tire with cucumber slices over his eyes.

"Hold on a second." Jinx said. "You think joy is coming from here?"

"Absolutely." Scratch fibbed. "You know how kids love swings."

"Yeah, no." Jinx said before turning to Loki. "What about you, Loki? You're one of the cleverest minds in the universe. Surely, you must have some idea where we can find the joy."

"Believe me. If I knew, I would tell you." Loki said.

"Jinx, I'm gonna level with you." Scratch said acting nervous. "I… may… have exaggerated slightly on my Scare Reports. I got a little behind on my scares, and I fudged… a little bit."

"Good thinking, Scratch." Loki thought to himself with a growing smile. "If she thinks the cause of the rising joy is a lack of effort, she might settle on it and go away. It'll certainly be better than her finding out about Molly."

"Oh, you get a little fudgey with the reports, huh?" Jinx asked. "What about you, Loki? Surely, you can't be as cheaty as Scratch, right? You must have made some effort, wouldn't you?"

"Well…" Loki struggled to come up with an excuse until he found one. "The thing is, when I first came to Brighton, Scratch and I agreed that he would take lead."

Jinx raised an eyebrow. "You? Give someone else the lead?"

"I mean, it makes sense, don't you think?" Loki asked. "I mean, Scratch knows the lay of the land, and he has more experience in the professional scaring business than I do. Plus, if I took the lead, then I would likely go overboard with my magic, and that would attract Asgardian attention. We already had a few close calls since I arrived, so it was probably best to follow Scratch's lead."

"I see. That does make sense, I guess." Jinx said. "So Scratch lies on his reports and Loki just enables it. Well, I think we can let this one slide."

"Right. That's all this joy thing is. Me being lazy a bit." Scratch said. "I mean, we could drag you all over Brighton, but you're a busy ghoul. You've got places to be, spirits to see. Right?"

"Yeah, I do." Jinx said. "But hey, I'm here. And how often do I get to Earth. Answer: never. So might as well flip every tile while I'm here."

Loki turned to Scratch and struck the side of his head with his hand. "Big mouth."

"Have you seen our many abandoned storefronts?" Scratch asked as he and Loki lead Jinx down a long street with lots of closed businesses on the sides. "I've slacked a little bit, but still plenty of negativity. Nothing to worry about." He stops at a miserable man named Todd. "I mean, look at this guy. Zero spirit. It's like he has no soul."

"Yeah, he's hideous." Jinx said. "But we're not looking for overall negativity. We're looking for something specific: fear. All we're seeing so far is an absence of all emotion, and we ghosts need to make humans afraid. And as you know, joy is the enemy of fear. If there's fear here, it's my job to hunt it down."

"Maybe… it's a false joy." Loki said. "You know, like the whole town is so scared, they've gotten used to it."

"Right. That's gotta be it." Scratch said. "False joy. How's that?"

"I don't think so." Jinx responded. "After all, we haven't been getting any fear from this place at all."

Loki groaned. "Why does it matter that much anyway?"

Jinx glared one of her eyes over at Scratch. "Scratch, have you told Loki why fear is important?"

Scratch stared blankly without thinking of an answer. "Um… Yeah?"

"I always just assumed it was a career thing you ghosts made for fun." Loki said. "I mean, I heard that humans are naturally afraid of ghosts, but I always read it as some kind of stereotype."

"Okay. I see this is a learning moment for you." Jinx said. "Look, ghosts scare humans."

"Yeah." Scratch said.

"And those scares generate fear."

"With you so far."

"And that fear feeds Lady Death."

"Right, I… WHAT?!"

"Excuse me?" Loki asked equally as confused as Scratch.

"And when Death goes hungry… Oh, things get bad. Flow of Failed Phantoms bad. How could you not know this, Scratch? It was in your Ghost Orientation."

"Yeah… I slept through some of that." Scratch admitted. "Most of it. Fine. All of it."

"Wait a minute. Back up. That can't be right." Loki said. "I've spent most of my early life in the Asgardian libraries. Scroll after scripture after tome. Many of them reference various legends of Death, and not one of them says anything about her feeding on fear. Sure, the smell of it is intoxicating for her, but she doesn't need it to survive. She doesn't even hunger."

"Sounds like those books in Asgard need a serious update." Jinx said. "That's always been the way things are. That's why Death created the scare system nearly eighty years ago."

"I see." Scratch said nervously. "So I guess we keep searching for this joy then, huh?"

"Yes." Jinx said eagerly. "And trust me, as soon as I find it, I'm cutting it off from its roots.

Jinx:

Our fair Death must satisfy her hunger

By feeding on fear

Ghosts must serve but, but look around

There's nothing here

You don't want to be banished to the Flow

And disappear

Help me to help you to help her

Scratch:

Help you to help us to help… who

Jinx:

JUST FIND THAT FEAR! Hehe. No pressure

So if there's an absence of fear

There must be joy

Loki:
And that's surely bad to have it here, right

Jinx:
Attaboy

Help this Joy Hunter out

To search and destroy

Help me to help you to help her

So let the hunt begin

Where, where, where

The joy could be anywhere

I will find it, I swear

So let's… enjoy the joy hunt

Don't blunder

It's happiness six feet under

I'll be raining down lethal thunder

'Cause I enjoy the joy hunt

The joy hunt

The joy hunt

The jooooooy huuuuuuuuuunt

Scratch and Loki followed Jinx as she combed through town darting her eyes everywhere. Whenever Molly was approaching leading the youthful marching band, the two did everything in their power to draw the Joy Hunter's attention from it. Still, nothing they did gave Jinx any indication that she should stop. She was still determined to find the source of Brighton's joy no matter what.

Jinx:

WHERE, WHERE, WHERE

THE JOY COULD BE ANYWHERE

I WILL FIND IT, I SWEAR

SO LET'S… ENJOY THE JOY HUNT

DON'T BLUNDER

IT'S HAPPINESS SIX FEET UNDER

I'LL BE RAINING DOWN LETHAL THUNDER

AND I'LL ENJOY THE JOY HUNT

ENJOY THE JOY HUNT

SO ENJOOOOOOOOYAAAAAAAAAAABLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLE

LET'S PULL THIS JOY FROM ITS ROOTS

Scratch, Loki, and Jinx stopped at the Brighton Hills senior center. They watched as a red chili exploded in the face of one of the old men.

"I just don't get it." Jinx said with a growing frustration in her tone. "Surely, we should've found the joy by now. Where is it coming from?"

Loki and Scratch widened their eyes just as Molly McGee came up riding in the passenger seat of an ice cream truck. It was time for the ice cream social. Out of panic, Scratch pushed Jinx through the senior home pretending to trip.

"Loki, I'll go get Jinx out of here." Scratch said. "Just stick with Moll so nothing happens to her."

"Sounds like a plan." Loki said as Scratch phased through the wall.

Once Scratch was gone, Loki turned to Molly and ran up to her as she climbed out of the ice cream truck.

"Molly!" Loki called out.

"Oh, hey, Loki." Molly greeted happily. "I was wondering where you were. Hey, do you know where Scratch is?"

"He's inside." Loki asked pointing at the building behind him. "Molly, you got to keep a low profile. Today is probably the worst day to hold a parade and an ice cream social."

"What are you talking about?" Molly asked. "You and Scratch have been acting weird all day."

Loki took a breath. "Okay. I have to be honest. Molly, Death is getting impatient. She's noticing all the joy you're bringing to Brighton, and she's getting upset about it."

"What? Why?"

"Because apparently, Death feeds on fear. And now, she's sending a crazy Joy Hunter to take care of any source of joy that's starving her, which happens to be you."

"Really? That's messed up."

"I know. Me and Scratch have been working tirelessly to keep her off your trail. I think she's about ready to give up, but it's a little hard to do with you showing up spreading rainbows and cartoon hearts everywhere."

"Sorry. I'll calm down until she's gone." Molly promised.

"She's gone!" Scratch cried out as he returned to the duo.

"WOO-HOO!" Molly cried out like a joyful volcano.

"You finally got rid of her?" Loki asked. "What happened?"

"Well, I kinda admitted to her how I've been too lazy to actually go through with my scares and promised to do better in the future." Scratch said. "She considered the matter closed and returned to the Ghost World."

"Oh, sweet baby corn." Loki sighed in relief. "Wow. Can't believe I actually said that."

"Sounds like you two deserve a reward." Molly said. "Let me treat you two with ice cream. And I've got a special Everything Cone with your name on it, Scratch."

"Molly, you get me." Scratch thanked as Molly walked off. He then noticed Loki's smile fade. "Hey, what's up?"

"Something's still wrong with this picture." Loki said. "Death feeds on fear? Since when?"

"I dunno." Scratch asked. "Why do you care?"

"It's just… something doesn't seem right." Loki said. "I've read every reference on Death in the Asgardian libraries. They were written by the greatest experts in the Nine Realms. A couple of them even talked to Death. And never—and I mean never—did they say anything about Death needing fear to survive. She's a manifestation of one of the cosmic forces of nature. It doesn't make any sense."

"Eh. Sounds like a tomorrow problem." Scratch said.

All of a sudden, a ghost portal opened up surprising the two. Jinx floated out to meet the two.

"You?! You're back?!" Loki asked fearfully.

"Yeah. Sorry." Jinx said. "Something's still bothering me. If you and Scratch aren't creating fear, I get why the fear numbers are down. But what I don't get is, why are the joy numbers up?"

The device in her hand glowed green as it pointed into the crowd of humans, directly toward the unsuspecting Molly McGee. Jinx smiled devilishly finally finding her prey.

"Aha! Well, here we go. It's this human girl, Molly McGee."

"Who?" Scratch asked feigning ignorance. "I'm sorry. I… I don't know what Molly McGoo is."

"Who wants sprinkles?!" Molly exclaimed loudly throwing sprinkles everywhere.

"Oh, her? I see." Loki chuckled with a cold sweat over his brow. "Well, thanks for stopping by, Jinx. Scratch and I will handle this situation and you can…"

"No, no." Jinx said. "Joy Hunter. That's why I'm here: to find the joy and eliminate it. Permanently." She pulled out a large, blue scythe with an eerily sharp blade.

"Eliminate joy?" Scratch asked with a sudden realization. "You mean, eliminate Molly?"

"Unless you've got some reason I shouldn't." Jinx said with a suspicious look. Neither Scratch nor Loki could give her an answer they knew she wouldn't like. "Okay, cool. Back in a jiff."

Jinx dragged her scythe across the parking lot. When she approached Molly, she gave her a wicked grin as she held her blade up ready to strike. Molly turned and screamed when she saw the evil ghost as she thrusted the scythe down.

"NO!" Scratch yelled as he got in the way. The scythe cut him in half instead of her, but he was able to pull himself back together. "Jinx, don't! Do whatever you want to me, but don't you hurt my best friend!"

"HA! I knew it the whole time!" Jinx said changing into her demonic form. She then turned to Loki too. "Loki, do you also consider this living girl your friend?"

Loki looked over at Molly and Scratch before taking a breath. He joined the two facing Jinx. "Yes! She's my friend, the same with Scratch!"

"So this whole joy audit was a setup?" Scratch asked. "Now, who's the tricky, deceitful liar, huh? Okay, technically, I guess all three of us, but still…"

"The living belong with the living!" Jinx proclaimed. "And the dead belong with the dead! You can't be friends! It's unnatural! And you, Loki! You shouldn't be friends with her either! She's so sweet and innocent, and you're supposed to be a heartless, cruel villain! That's your role in this universe!"

"Oh, shut up!" Loki exclaimed. He raised his hands and watched them glow green. "I've been wanting to do this to you since the moment we… What the?!" Loki's wrists were caught by a handful of rope which wrapped itself tightly. Once it did, the glow disappeared. "What's this? The troll hair rope?"

"I swung by the Enchantress' shack and picked it up before I came back here!" Jinx said. "Don't want you to magic your way out of justice!" She reached out her purple claws and grabbed Loki and Scratch. "Say goodbye, you two! Because you're both gonna spend eternity in the Flow of Failed Phantoms!"

She opened up a portal and went through. Scratch and Loki tried to hold on tightly to Molly, but her grip was too strong. They lost their grip and the two were pulled right through the portal crying out as they did. Once they vanished, the portal closed leaving nothing but empty air.

"Scratch! Loki!" Molly cried out, but it was in vain. There was no one to answer her. She fell to her knees feeling the dead wind blow in her hair.

Before, it was the Ghost, the Trickster, and Molly McGee. Now, it's just Molly McGee.