Author's Note: Here's the next chapter of the Ghost, the Trickster, and Molly McGee.
First off, I'm sorry if I seem a little short on updates this week. A lot of stuff has been keeping me busy, so for now, I'm only giving you two.
Second of all, how great was that Loki season 2 finale. No spoilers, but I thought it was phenomenal.
The song featured here is a parody of "Fright of Their Lives" from Beetlejuice the Musical.
Enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.
Loki presented himself to Molly in her bedroom. He wore a fancy tuxedo with a white shirt underneath it. He also had a black tie that stretched down the middle of his chest. Molly looked at him with skepticism.
"What do you think?" Loki asked.
"Honestly, I'd say that's way too fancy for a cup of coffee." Molly said.
Loki dropped his face before snapping his fingers. A green wave washed over him changing the clothes he wore. He was now wearing a dark-green T-shirt and a pair of black shorts that matched a pair of sunglasses that materialized over his eyes.
"Now?"
"Mmm… Now, it might be too casual."
Loki groaned and snapped once again. His sunglasses disappeared and his shirt tucked itself into his jeans which replaced his shorts. Molly finally smiled at that.
"Ah. Now, that might be just right."
"Whatever you say, Goldilocks." Loki replied.
"I still can't believe it's finally happening!" Molly said excitedly. "You're finally going on that coffee date with Andrea. Feels like we've been waiting for this for weeks. Just imagine, you and Andrea starting off with a coffee date, then a movie, then a candlelit dinner, and the next thing you know, you're double-dating with me and my eventual romantic partner, and maybe…"
"I'm gonna stop you right there." Loki interrupted. "Let's just focus on this coffee thing."
"Right. Sure." Molly said. "I'm just excited. By the way, when you see her, you should tell her she's totes adorbs."
Loki shot daggers toward Molly. "There's no way in Helheim that I'm going to say that. I'm just going to buy two cups of coffee, sit at a table with Andrea, and tell her… 'I LOVE YOU'."
Molly widened her eyes in surprise. "Uh, Loki. As super romantic as it is, I think it might be a little sudden for a simple coffee date."
Loki shared her shock. He raised his hand to his own mouth. "That… That wasn't me. I don't know why I said that."
Molly's eyes widened more. "Uh, Loki, your eyes…"
"What about them?" Loki asked concerned. He rushed over to the mirror and screamed as he saw his reflection. He looked almost the same, but the black pupils of his eyes were bigger than ever. "My eyes! They're so… so…"
"So cute!" Molly finished.
"How is this possible?!" Loki panicked. "This can't be…"
Suddenly, Scratch flew in through the window. Like Loki, his eyes were large and adorable. "Molly, Loki, we got a problem! I…" He stopped when he saw Loki's eyes. "Ah! You too?"
"What is going on?" Loki asked.
"I don't know!" Scratch answered. "I was just about ready to scare Pete for my monthly Scare Report which is due tomorrow, but then, all of a sudden, I said 'I love you' for some reason! And that's not all! Check this out!" He held up his nose to expand his nostrils. Liquid fell out of each hole with many colors.
"Rainbows on demand?" Molly asked happily. "This is what we call the opposite of a problem!"
"But ghosts aren't supposed to be cute." Scratch said. "How am I gonna rack up scares if I barf rainbows every time I roar?"
"And don't forget Andrea. I have to meet her for coffee in three hours." Loki reminded. "How am I going to explain this to her?"
"Oh, yeah. Guess you are in a pickle." Molly realized.
"Yeah, an extra sour pickle." Scratch said. "Dill, not bread and butter. Make a note: that's my favorite kind of pickle. Feels like you should know that in case you ever want to surprise me with…"
"Focus!" Loki shouted before groaning. "How did all this happen in the first place?"
"Uh… Feels like this is a ghost issue." Scratch said sticking his hand into his stomach. "Yeah, a ghost infection or something."
"Does this happen to Asgardians too?" Molly asked.
"No," Loki answered, "But since Death tied me and Scratch together, whatever mystically inflicts him happens to me too. It's like when he cursed himself onto you and dragged me along for the ride. So whatever is wrong, it started with Scratch."
"In that case, I should probably call a doctor." Scratch said hitting buttons on his phone.
"There are doctors in the Ghost World?" Molly asked.
After Scratch finished dialing, he talked into his phone. "Yeah, hi. I'd like to make an appointment with the Doc. I'm kinda…"
"You are number 957 on the waitlist." An automated voice interrupted from his phone. "You'll be buzzed when the doctor is ready to see you. Buh-bye!" The call ended immediately.
"Okay. Zero stars for customer service." Scratch said. "How am I supposed to get my scares done in time? Loki…"
"Don't look at me." Loki said pointing at his eyes. "I've got the same problem you have."
"But aren't you magic?" Scratch asked. "Just make all that stuff go away or something."
Loki sighed. "Well… I'll see what I can do." He snapped his fingers again, and after a flash of green, his large eyes disappeared and his normal eyes returned.
"Oh, it worked? They're gone?" Molly asked.
"Well, no." Loki said. "I just used my illusion magic to make it seem like I'm normal. They're still there, but to you, they look the same as ever. Unfortunately, it's taking all of my concentration to hide something this mystically adorable, so there's no way I can help with your scares, Scratch."
"Drat. Back to square nothing."
"You know, I could do your scares for you." Molly offered.
Loki and Scratch stared at Molly with their anime eyes. They paused for a second before bursting out laughing. Molly wasn't amused by their chortling.
"Hilarious." Scratch said. "Have you gotten funnier since we started hanging out? I'm rubbing off on you, 'cause that was… Oh, you're serious."
"Molly, I mean this in the best possible way, but there is no possible way for someone like you to be scary on purpose." Loki said.
"What do you mean 'on purpose'?" Molly asked.
"Well, remember when you became aggressively obsessed with exposing Andrea's cheat at the school charity?" Scratch asked. "That actually scared me, but you were delirious at the time. Not to mention, you insist on kissing each of your stuffed animals goodbye even when you're running late."
Molly gasped as she opened up a nearby chest and pulled out entire arms full of stuffed toys. "How dare you! Smooch time is a time we make, not a time we take!" She then turned to kiss all of her toys quickly.
"Disturbing, but that's not what we need." Loki said. "Sorry, Molly, but some people are scary and some people are not, and unfortunately for you, you fall under the latter. You're all sugar, but no spice."
"What?" Molly asked. "I have so much spice, chili peppers tremble in my presence! They're all 'Oh no! It's Molly McGee! Her extreme level of spice makes me self-conscious about my own spiciness!'"
"Not convinced." Scratch said.
"Oh, I'll show you, boys! I'll show you!" Molly said before leaving, but not before kissing her stuffed animals one last time.
The trio headed out to the park and hid themselves behind bushes. Scratch and Loki both raised a pair of binoculars to each of their eyes looking around at the people who were minding their own businesses.
"I'm feeling it today." Molly said pumping herself up. "The spice is flowing."
"We'll see about that." Loki said. "Before anything, I think a few scaring lessons might be in order."
"Scaring lessons?" Molly asked. "How hard is it to just float around and say 'boo'?"
"First of all, I find that offensive." Scratch said. "There's more than just being scawy." He suddenly realized his cute way of saying something. "Scawy. Scaaaawyyy. Oh, man! This thing is affecting our voices too!"
Loki felt his throat and spoke "Scawy. Well, that's just perfect." With a dismal look, he snapped his fingers and a green glow covered his throat, but his eyes flickered green briefly revealing his eyes again before changing back. "There's only so much of this cute sickness I can cover with my magic. Molly, are you ready to learn how to scare?"
Molly let out a breath. "Okay. Let me have it."
Loki:
Okay. Let's get you scaring with ghouls
But first, let's go over a few rules
I will not tolerate any fools
Now, let's give you the basic tools
Sneakiness like you're nowhere
Grace to glide on through the air
Not to mention, the willingness to scare
Take it from me, one of the most feared of the gods
I struck, attacked, wrought terror
Then, we have you. I admit, we have impossible odds
We've got a lot on our plate
But hopefully, we're not too late
Come on. Let's try to intimidate
Like that little baby
That's a surefire maybe
Loki pointed across the park where a small baby was being cradled by his mother who was sitting on a bench.
"You want me to scare a baby?" Molly asked. "No."
"It's the easiest thing to scare, Molly." Loki said. "Look, it's not even that hard. Just snap your fingers in front of him and let his fear do the rest."
Molly turned back to the baby with an uneasy feeling. "Okay. Get ready for true terror, little diaper guy."
Molly jumped out of the bushes and sneaked over to the baby and his mother. She made it behind the bench and creeped upward. She raised her fingers and snapped them above the baby causing him to cry. Molly apologized immediately and hugged the baby until he stopped crying.
"There it is." Scratch said.
"Okay. So I got off to a bit of a rough start." Molly said returning to her friends. "But I did get a babysitting gig for next weekend."
Loki shook his head before continuing his song.
Loki:
Whatever it takes to make them all shiver
You need to find the right person to make quiver
Make them believe
That you'll leave
Before they receive moooooore
If you think you have potential, let's find it
But scaring is conviction, and you must get behind it
Keep your eyes on the goal
Scare your target out of their soul
Just a roooooaaaaaar
And you'll scare like you've never scared before
The three looked behind the tree to find a teenage boy walking along the path while on his phone.
"This one will do." Molly chuckled. "Texting while walking, are we? This kid deserves a scare."
As soon as the kid made it to the tree, Molly jumped out from behind it and roared out at him. However, instead of screaming, the kid grabbed Molly's wrist and threw her overhead slamming her to the sidewalk.
"I took seven weeks of judo!" the kid shouted. "Come at me!"
"I surrender." Molly said waving a white flag. The kid walked away allowing Scratch and Loki to help Molly up.
"You're supposed to scare him, not the other way around." Scratch said.
"Let's try something else." Loki said before continuing his song.
Loki:
Let's talk classic scares
Scratch:
Ghosts are a classic
Molly:
Or a bad day for hair
Loki:
Let's try another trick
Like maybe a vampire
Molly:
How would that look
Scratch:
Doesn't matter. People tire
Of them since those romance books
Molly:
Maybe a psychotic clown
Loki:
That does get around
Scratch:
Not sure how that sounds
Loki:
Ooh. A zombie could work
Get some ketchup
Replace your arm with a bone
Put some green paint on
And put on a dead aroma
Molly followed Loki's instructions and put on a lot of zombie makeup. With this disguise, she approached a pair of girls and began her scare attempt.
"I'm a zombie, hungry for brains!" Molly moaned out. "And I'll use those brains to get my associate's degree in social work so I can better my community!"
Watching from afar, Loki slapped himself in the face.
"Aw, take our textbooks." One of the girls said handing her book to Molly.
"Good luck." The other girl said doing the same. She and her friend walked past Molly while Loki and Scratch approached again.
"You can't give every monster a sympathetic backstory, Moll!" Scratch said with a very, very squeaky voice.
"Okay, so I shouldn't try the single mom spider trying to feed her four thousand babies?"
"No." Scratch answered.
Loki groaned stepped away a few feet from Molly with an exhausted look. His spell kept glitching showing parts of his body that were cute, such as his big eyes, his high voice, and his colorful light show before returning to normal.
Loki:
I was once feared
And now, look where I am here
Teaching scaring to a girl who doesn't have what it takes
"Hey!" Molly said.
Loki:
Seriously, how hard is it
I thought it would be explicit
But it turns out even I can make mistakes
"Hey!" Molly repeated.
Loki:
WHY THE HELHEIM AM I RELYING ON THIS GIRL
THE MOST UNFRIGHTENING PERSON IN THE WHOLE WORLD
NOT EVEN ABLE TO SCARE AN INFANT…
"LOKI!" Molly shouted. "You know I'm right behind you when you're singing that, right?"
"Yeah? Well, that was a soliloquy, so you're the one being rude."
Loki:
Whatever it takes to make them shiver
But that's impossible even with the lessons I give her
Molly:
Hey! I can still go on if you give me a chance
WAIT AND SEE
Loki:
GAH! WHY DO I EVEN TRY
IT'S SUCH AN IMPOSSIBLE CHOOOOOOOORE
TO HAVE HER SCARE LIKE SHE'S NEVER SCARED BEFOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE
SHE CAN'T SCARE LIKE SHE'S NEVER SCARED BEFOOOOOOOOOOORE
BECAUSE SHE'S NEVER SCARED BEFORE
UGH
"Loki's right, Moll." Scratch said. "Look, you tried, but at this rate, my scare report's getting done. I'll have to fake my report. I've done it before. I can do it again."
"No!" Molly shouted. "I can do this! I'm scary! It's you two! You're always backseat scaring, distracting me! I just need… space! That's it! That's the problem."
Suddenly, Scratch's phone rang. He pulled it out to check his screen. "Well, lucky you. The Ghost Doc's ready. Let's go, Loki."
"If you think you can scare before we get back, Molly, be my guest." Loki said checking his watch. "Oh, boy. Only an hour left before I meet Andrea. Let's do this quickly."
"On it." Scratch said opening a portal. He and Loki jumped in.
Scratch sat in a patient's seat with Loki standing right beside him removing his normal desguise. The Trickster tapped his foot impatiently looking around the office he was in. It was a standard issue doctor's office with a counter, cabinets, a scale, a hazard bin, and an X-ray monitor which showed a silhouette of a ghost. It wasn't long before the doctor floated in.
"Okay, you two. What seems to be the… OH! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU TWO? You're—ugh—adorable!"
"Obviously!" Scratch shouted. "Why do you think we're here, Doc?"
"And whatever's happening to Scratch is happening to me too since we're tied together!" Loki said finally in a cute voice. "AH! I hate this! What's going on? And please, hurry. I have something to do in an hour."
"Well, if the cause originated from Scratch, let's see what the trouble is with him." The doctor said. She placed a stethoscope on Scratch's chest. "Okay, good. No heartbeat." She then pulled off Scratch's hand and held it to her ear before placing it back. "Okay, that's odd. Something's flowing, but it's not misery. Let's take a closer look."
The Ghost Doc opened Scratch's mouth up and looked inside. She gasped loudly as she found a beautiful field of happy butterflies, laughing flowers, trees playing ball, and a dancing volcano which shot out a rainbow with dogs. She pulled her head out of Scratch's mouth with the most horrified reaction.
"Oh, I see. Your internal misery levels are at an all-time low. It's all puppies and rainbows in here. I'm afraid this is serious. The two of you have been infected with… JOY!"
Loki's eyes widened remembering all the times he spent with the happy Molly McGee and going along with all of her enhappifying schemes.
"Please, Doc!" Scratch shouted. "Tell me there's a cure!"
"There is." The Ghost Doc said ripping out a paper from her prescription pad. "You two must find your fear!"
"Find our fear?" Scratch asked. "That's like the vaguest thing I've ever heard."
"What does that even mean?" Loki asked.
"It's quite simple." The Ghost Doctor said. "Joy is the natural enemy of fear. That's why it's looked down upon by the Ghost Council. In order for a ghost to be rid of all the fear that's affecting their appearance, they have to replace it with fear. So in order for Scratch to be back to normal, he must find something that scares him more than anything." She proceeded with opening a portal. "Well, onto my next patient. Total hypochondriac, always scaring herself. You know what I mean? Bye-bye."
After going through the Ghost Doctor's portal back to the living world, Loki and Scratch started thinking. Loki quickly snapped his fingers to cover his cute features, but this time, it didn't cover much.
"Finding fear." Loki said. "Scratch, what are you afraid of besides an empty pantry?"
"I don't know" Scratch replied. "I'm a ghost. Being dead doesn't leave much for us to be afraid of."
That's when the boys noticed the screaming kids running past them. They turned and saw Molly McGee wearing a dinosaur costume which was modified to look like a monster. Although, she was covered in sand and stomping around toward the curb at the edge of the park. Everyone who saw her screamed and ran.
"Wow." Scratch said. "Guess Molly really did get scary without us."
"Though it looks like it was an accident, it's still good work." Loki replied before noticing something. "Wait, Molly?"
Molly didn't stop tripping over her feet when she reached the curb. She stepped off and walked to the middle of the road where a large garbage truck was heading toward her direction. Scratch screamed as the truck tried to stop, but it was clear it wasn't going to stop in time.
"MOLLY!" Scratch shouted suddenly changing back to his normal self. "I'M COMING, MOLLY! I'M COMING!"
Without question, Scratch flew across the air as fast as he could. He was fast as a bullet as he made it to the road and lifted Molly up out of the truck's way just before it hit her. Loki watched as Scratch carried her back to the park ground.
"Whoa. You saved me, Scratch." Molly said with a sigh of relief.
"And more than that! You're back to normal!" Loki said. "I wonder if…" He snapped his fingers to drop his disguise, and much to his delight, nothing changed from his disguise. He was back to normal too.
"Woo-hoo! We're back, baby!" Scratch cheered.
"The Ghost Doc said you had to find your fear to erase the cuteness." Loki said. "Seeing Molly in danger must have done it."
"Aw. That's sweet." Molly said hugging her friends. "Wait, so what you're saying is, in my own way, I'm scary after all, huh?"
"Uh, yeah. Sure." Scratch said. "Terrifying."
Loki checked his watch. "Well, it's only fifteen minutes until my date."
"Well, don't let us stop you." Molly said. "Get going."
Loki nodded with a smile and headed out of the park.
Andrea stood in front of the coffee shop with her eyes glued to her phone. She looked at the time and lifted her head up to look around. Much to her delight, Loki caught up to her.
"Hey, Andrea." Loki said.
"Hey, Lukas." Andrea returned. "You ready for our date?"
"I mean, if you wish to call it that, sure." Loki said with a slight shade of red in his cheeks. "It just seems a little cute to be calling it that, and I've had a lot of cute things going on with me today."
"Well, I like cute things." Andrea told him. She tapped Loki's nose before heading into the shop. Loki smiled and followed her in.
Long story short, it was a coffee run that neither of them would forget.