Chapter 4 Heading Out

It was time! It was finally time!

Lemmy adjusted his costume in the mirror, all while that statement played on repeat in his head. The time that only came once a year, the time that would ultimately lead to pleasure and fun, was finally here! Halloween night was tonight!

He was going to have so much fun! The others were all getting ready with their costumes as well, prepared to head out on a merry little romp. Lemmy giggled as he pulled his candy bag out of his hammerspace. It was orange like a pumpkin, and it had a jack-o-lantern face drawn on it in sharpie. What's more, it was covered in golden glitter. This bag was pretty enough to bring Lemmy joy.

He grinned a toothy grin and put the bag back in his hammerspace before admiring his reflection one last time. "Who's a pretty kitty?" he asked himself in a sweet talking voice. He pointed straight toward the mirror. "You are! You are!"

"You know, under the right circumstances, this can be interpreted as narcissistic."

Lemmy stopped and rolled his eyes. "It's not narcissistic. It's the truth. I am a pretty kitty!"

Ludwig chuckled, shaking his head as he did so. "Well...at least you're honest."

Lemmy laughed, his insides feeling like they were being tickled. "Yes. Very." He approached his brother, who was situated on his bed with a book. He looked comfortable, but that was beside the point. "Are you sure that you don't want to come with?"

Ludwig nodded. "I'm sure."

Lemmy sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Okay. I mean...well, I'll at least save some candy for you."

Ludwig smiled. "Thanks, Lems." He directed his attention back to his book. "You're very sweet."

Lemmy perked up and chuckled. "I'm as sweet as sugar but far less fattening!"

Ludwig rolled his eyes, sporting a smile as he did. "Yep. We all know this."

With one more laugh and one more wave towards his older brother, Lemmy made his way toward the door. He admired the orange and purple decorations aligning the walls of the hallway. Tinsel sparkled, lights twinkled like stars. Jack-o-lanterns glowed near and on the windows, their fire appearing a ghostly blue. This gave the hallway an eerie vibe.

Lemmy stopped to admire the fire. Ludwig himself had been responsible for lighting the lanterns, and he had used his pyrokinesis in order to do so. Even when he was "too old for this stuff," Ludwig still managed to find a way to contribute to the holiday.

Lemmy sighed. He refused to believe that there was an age where you were too old for Halloween. It was a holiday for all ages; it had to be. You could go trick or treating if you wanted to, gosh darn your age. Ludwig just needed to realize that sometime. If he wouldn't, then Lemmy would make him believe it! He would make him believe it, darn it!

"Happy Halloween, Master Lemmy!"

Lemmy jolted out of his own head and grinned at Shelldon, dressed up as a vampire. "Happy Halloween, Count Shellcula!"

Shelldon laughed. "You know, you are the first person to actually make a joke like that. Others who saw this costume were confused as to what I was supposed to be."

Lemmy blinked. "You're kidding!"

"I'm not." Shelldon laughed. "At least I can take comfort with the knowledge that you of all people are smart." With that, he walked away.

Lemmy laughed. "Yeah." He started walking toward the staircase, but before he could get there, he stopped. "Hey, what do you mean by 'you of all people?'"

Unfortunately, Shelldon was gone. Well, this might have been a good thing actually, as it allowed Lemmy to brush off the comment and make his way down. He slid down the railing, laughing like a loon. This was awesome! Screw what anyone else said!

He skipped the rest of the way to the entrance hall. He passed by a lot of people, all dressed up as various mythical creatures from ages passed. Lemmy loved all of those costumes. The only one he didn't like was the one that Tailspin wore.

"Hello, Master Lemmy!" Tailspin held a magnifying glass up to his eye. "Guess who I am!"

Lemmy's breath caught in the middle of his throat. He swallowed a lump. "Shell...Shellock Holmes?"

"Yep!" Tailspin laughed as he flipped the magnifying glass in the air, catching it like a pro. "I'm the greatest detective to ever live!"

Lemmy directed his attention toward the floor. "That's...great." He didn't call attention to it, but he went out of his way to swiftly creep away from Tailspin. There was just some territory that he didn't want to explore.

As soon as Halloween was over, he was going to invite his siblings to the cremation of the Shellock costume in the lab.

Finally, he got to the entrance hall. When he did, he gasped at the sight. His siblings looked awesome! Their costumes...they were eye catching without being eye bleeding.

"Woah!" He bounced over. "Talk about style!"

"Thanks!" Larry did a pose, for he was dressed up as the famous Elvis Koopley. "We wanted to stand out tonight.

"Indeed," said Wendy, who was dressed up as Koopapatra. "Its an ancient tradition, dressing up for Halloween, and we wish to...well, you know."

"Oh, I do!" Lemmy looked over at Iggy, giggling as he did so. "Iggy, are you wearing eyeliner?"

Iggy, who was dressed up like a pirate captain, scrunched up his brow. "It is part of the costume, Lemonade!"

Roy, who was dressed up as a police officer, chuckled and placed his arm around Iggy's shoulder. "Well then, maybe you should have chosen a new costume, cause that looks lame-O!"

Iggy glared at Roy. "Said the guy who has his police hat on backwards."

Roy blinked before letting out a growl. "Screw you." he adjusted his cap.

Lemmy giggled and turned toward Morton, who of course was wearing a Rainbow Mare costume. "This is going to be epic! I just know it."

"Mmhm," Morton said. "Honestly, I'm just doing this because I didn't get to go to that Rainbow Mare convention last month. Don't want to let this costume go to waste."

"Smart!" Lemmy said with a giggle. Right at that moment, the door opened, and in stepped a figure dressed up in a gray cloak. They had a scythe in their right hand, and their face was covered in shadow. Lemmy's heart jumped into his throat.

"AHH! IT'S THE GRIM REAPER!"

The others were just as frightened. Larry even got behind Iggy and pushed him forward. "Here, take my brother; I'm too young to die!"

"Larry!" Iggy exclaimed.

Thankfully, the grim reaper just laughed. "I'm not here to kill you guys." They removed their hood, revealing Roy's girlfriend, Celia, underneath.

Roy put his hand to his chest. "Oh, thank the lumas." He went up to her with a smile. "You really had us there, Cee!"

Iggy nodded. "Yes. You did." He flashed Larry a glare, who chuckled nervously.

"Sorry guys," Celia said. She smiled. "I didn't want to miss this."

"Oh, I know!" Lemmy exclaimed. He took a step forward. "It's going to be awesome! All seven of us, going out and getting candy to eat!"

"I don't know," said Wendy as she eyed Celia's costume. "We might get restraining orders with the costume Cee decided to wear." This got a blush from the koopa human hybrid.

"Eh," Lemmy said with a wave of the hand. "We'll be fine." He grinned and pointed toward the door. "Come on, everyone! Let's-a go to Stonebrim!"