Hi everyone, welcome back to another exciting chapter. This is one chapter in the prologue arc that I've been wanting to write for a very long time as it will help establish something very special that will have a lasting impact on the story going forward. All I can say is… read this chapter, and you'll see what I mean.

With that being said… let's get started!

Onward, to the Sleepover!

"Okay, remember your order of operations, Luz." Marcy explained to her as they both sat at the kitchen table of Marcy's house with a multitude of textbooks and notebooks in front of them. "Solve the parentheses first, then the exponents… Here's an easy way to remember it all. Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally."

"So, multiplication comes before division? I thought it was the other way around." Luz said.

"It's inter-changeable, depending on the equation itself." Marcy answered.

"Ugh, why are the harder parts always done first?" Luz complained as she let her head fall onto the textbook in front of her.

"Come on Luzura, finals are next week. Algebra and Biology haven't been your best subjects." Marcy reminded.

"I know, I know." Luz waved off. It was true, while her writing and reading classes were easy for Luz, it was her math and science-based classes that were difficult, mainly because of how boring they were. There wasn't any form of creativity involved when solving the problems or learning anything. Marcy quickly volunteered to help Luz with studying, being a straight A student herself, and Luz was more than happy to accept. She wouldn't want to make her mom mad for failing two classes.

"I'm at least starting to get the math down, it's at least somewhat simple compared to all the complicated stuff in Biology." Luz said before leaning back against the chair she sat at. "Who would have thought our bodies could be so complicated?"

"It's not that hard when you figure out the basics." Marcy said. "Think of it like how Moku fights in Dragon Claw. All that Ki flows in and out of him like air does for us. It passes through our lungs and into the bloodstream, just like how his Ki comes from the area around him and into his body to fuel his own power… so he can unleash his titular kamahamawave! Ha!" She threw her hands out like she was mimicking a famous attack move from a well-known anime.

While Luz did seem to get that much at least, her smile faded slightly. "Hey speaking of Dragon Claw… you heard about the author passing away, right?"

Marcy's enthusiasm died down as she sat back into her chair. "Yeah… Even Anne and Sasha are bummed about it. They loved that anime."

"It wasn't just an anime though…" Luz began. "It was a legacy! A foundation! Dragon Claw brought anime to western audiences! It inspired pretty much every Shonen anime that followed and even several western cartoons! If it weren't for that… who knows where we would be?"

"Yeah… I'm already working on making a video to showcase the best fights the anime ever produced, starting from the original show, to Z, to the recently released Super." Marcy said. "It's not only gonna be awesome… but a true homage to the legacy that was left behind."

"That's going to wait until the end of finals, young lady." A stern female voice said as an adult woman walked into the room. She was Taiwanese and bore a striking resemblance to Marcy, baring the same olive skin and shiny black hair that was only slightly longer than Marcy's. She wore a pink shirt with a golden bracelet over her left wrist with a blue dress that went down to her knees and white sandals. "You're grounded, remember? The only reason I'm even letting you have a friend over right now is because it's a study session."

"Ugh, Mom!" Marcy complained.

"Don't give me that tone! You walked straight into a path of hundred snakes that escaped from the zoo, outright ignoring the keepers trying to direct us away from that, because you couldn't take your eyes off your video game!" Mrs. Wu scolded.

Luz winced as she remembered seeing the breaking news alert on her TV. She spat out the ramen she was eating and shouted 'Marcy! NOOO!' She wanted to say something in agreement with Marcy's mom as she herself nearly had a heart attack when she saw that and was beyond relieved to know she was alright.

"Sorry… I was in the zone…" Marcy said to her mother.

"You being 'in the zone' can be good at times, Marcy." Mrs. Wu told her in a more lightened tone of voice. "I admire your focus, it's certainly done you wonders at school. But you need to be more aware of your surroundings. I just don't want you getting hurt."

Marcy sighed slightly. "Okay Mom… I'll try harder."

Mrs. Wu smiled before looking at the other girl in the room. "Sorry you had to hear that little bit of drama, Luz."

"It's okay, don't worry about it." Luz assured. "Thanks again for having me over, Mrs. Wu. I know Marcy's grounded, but I really need her help with finals. Algebra and Biology aren't my best subjects."

"So long as it's just school, it's fine." Mrs. Wu said. "But if you need to stay over longer, you could join us for dinner. If that's alright with your mother, of course."

"Mom's going to be working all day today at the vets, so it's fine." Luz smiled. "If it's not too much trouble, I'd love to stay for dinner."

"No trouble at all." Mrs. Wu promised. "Noodles are easy to make in quantity."

"Hey uh, what about Dad? Is he gonna be back in time for dinner?" Marcy asked.

Mrs. Wu's smile faded. "I'm sorry Marcy, but your father is working overtime tonight."

Marcy looked in a mixture of surprise and disappointment. "Overtime? Why? Is he behind at work?"

"No, the opposite actually. He's trying to get ahead." Her mother answered. "He says if he can get his current project done sooner, it'll give him more time to work on the deal that his company has been doing."

"Oh… I see…" Marcy looked slightly in disappointment, something her mom quickly noticed.

"Marcy, I know sometimes it feels like your father puts more attention into work than us." Mrs. Wu told her. "But it's very important, and the money he gets from it…"

"I know, I know." Marcy quickly said, raising her hand slightly. "I get it. I just wish he'd take a break… not just to spend time with us, but so he doesn't work himself to death too. That is a real thing by the way, it's a common thing among workaholics."

Mrs. Wu smiled humorously. "Marcy, trust me. Your dad is the furthest thing from a workaholic. But, I do see your point. If he gets too in deep, I promise to pull him out. You know how he can't resist my charms?" She winked to her daughter.

"Ew! Gross!" Marcy cringed, causing Mrs. Wu to laugh while Luz struggled to hold back her giggles.

"Okay, I think I've embarrassed you enough. I'll go get dinner started, let me know if you need anything else." She said as she left and went into the kitchen.

Marcy sighed, pulling her hood over her head. "Sorry you had to see that, Luz."

"No, no, it's fine." Luz pushed back her laughs one last time. "So… your dad works a lot?"

"Yeah. He's head of the software development for this one company that's working to get built-in AI for electric cars." Marcy explained. "It's really cool."

"I heard about that. My mom loves the idea of electric or even those possible hydrogen cars that people are talking about." Luz said. "But she doesn't want an AI driver. She says she's worried about it malfunctioning, getting into an accident… and possibly hacking into a nuclear missile facility and starting the nuclear robot holocaust."

"Huh, didn't know your mom was into that movie series." Marcy comment.

"She said she watched the first two growing up, which were the best in my opinion, before we got into all that alternate timeline stuff." Luz replied.

"Yeah, I agree. But enough of that, time to get you started with biology." Marcy got them back to their studies. "But since you brought it up, maybe using the robotic endoskeleton as a reference can help you understand all the different bodily systems…"

As they went on, Mrs. Wu happened to hear the tail ends of their conversation in the kitchen as she filled a pot with water. It was nice to see Marcy making a new friend. For most of her life, the only real friends she had were Anne and Sasha, not that Mrs. Wu disliked them or anything, despite them constantly getting into trouble, Marcy never really made any attempts to reach out to other people and meet new friends. But she liked Luz a lot, and maybe Luz could be a way for Marcy to step outside her comfort zone, and even her own inner fantasy world, and talk with new people. Her husband had talked a bit about the new deal that he was trying to get into at work, and one direction for it involved the possibility of relocating… Though Mr. Wu hadn't did say that nothing was set in stone yet, hence why she hadn't said anything to their daughter at this time, best to wait until they had confirmation; it did make her somewhat nervous. Marcy's been friends with Anne and Sasha for years, and was only just making new friends with Luz, it would be a shame if suddenly… she had to move away.

One Week Later

Finals were done for the semester, and the four girls had met up near the football field outside with their report cards as they compared their final grades for the semester.

"Whoo! Straight As baby! Heck yeah!" Marcy pumped her fist as she showed her report card which was filled with nothing but As.

"I got three As and three Bs." Sasha said before groaning.

"Hey, Bs are good, right?" Luz asked.

"I got a B in woodshop because 'nunchucks are too violent'." She said with air quotes. "They have a class filled with enough stuff to put anyone in the emergency room for crying out loud, but they're upset over something as blunt as baseball bat when the guy next to me made a freaking baseball bat for his final project? Lame."

"Yesh, sorry Sash." Anne said. "What about you, Luz? How'd you do?"

Luz gave a cheeky smile as she showed her own report card. She had As in World Literature, Creative Writing, and in Spanish. She had Bs in American History and Algebra, and a C+ in Biology.

"I passed all my classes!" Luz exclaimed proudly.

"Nice, Luz." Anne pointed to her congratulatory. "Figured you'd get an A for writing. What'd you do, write an Azura essay?"

"The final project said we could compare any story we wanted to the Homer's Odyssey, and Azura's got an odyssey all her own." Luz answered.

"Heck yeah, she does!" Marcy agreed.

"But you're celebrating over getting a C?" Sasha questioned somewhat skeptically.

"Hey, Biology was one of my harder classes. That last exam felt like it was going to kill me." Luz said. "But thanks to my fellow nerd here…" She pulled Marcy in. "I was able to pass!"

"See? Biology isn't hard. You just gotta find your own way to learn it." Marcy smiled. "Congrats, girl!"

The two nerds shared a hug before Luz addressed the only other girl who hadn't revealed her own grades. "What about you, Anne? How'd you do?"

"Feast your eyes on this." Anne proudly showed her own report card, but compared to all the others, it didn't seem all that spectacular. She had a C- in Biology herself as well as World Literature, solid Cs in Algebra, World History, and French, with her best grade being a B- in Culinary Arts.

"Wow… not a single A." Luz was rather surprised, not just at Anne's grades, but the fact she seemed happy with it. "And you're okay with that?"

"Hey, I passed, didn't I?" Anne asked. "My last report card in middle school had a couple Ds, but those were considered passable back then, so I'd say it's an improvement."

"I guess but… I was in the same History class as you. It wasn't that hard." Luz pointed out.

"Hey, Biology was your Achilles' heel." Anne retorted. "So long as I pass, that's fine with me."

"Uh… okay if you say so." Luz commented. Once again, she was reminded of how lazy Anne was, particularly when it came to school. Granted, school wasn't exactly her idea of a good time either, but the fact she had actual friends around this time, one of which helped keep some bullies off her back, made it more bearable and easier for her to work. But, if Anne seemed content with it, then that was fine.

"So, we all passed this semester! And we got a week off till the next one begins, so let's celebrate!" Marcy suggested.

"And the best way to celebrate something like this… is with a sleepover." Sasha said.

"Heck yeah, baby! Whoo!" Anne cheered.

"Oh my gosh, I just realized…. This will also be our first sleepover with Luz!" Marcy revealed.

"Hey, yeah. You're right Mar-Mar." Anne realized as well as she looked towards Luz, who simply looked away with embarrassment.

"Well, my first sleepover. Period." Luz rubbed the back of her neck, causing all three girls to wince slightly, even Sasha.

"Right. Friendless background." The blonde remembered before smirking as she pulled Luz in close. "Well don't worry, Luz. The sleepover queen and her royal subjects got you covered. We'll get you fluent in the art of slumber partying before you know. Ready girls?"

"Pajamas! Junk food and gossip galore!" Sasha, Anne, and Marcy all sung together. "Pillow fights! Movies, and tearing up the dance floor! And listen up, cause this I won't repeat… never, ever, go to sleep!" All three laughed.

Luz herself couldn't help but laugh at that. "Okay… that's good."

"And the best way to break it all in, is to have it over at your, place Luz!" Sasha pointed to her, much to Luz's own surprise.

"Wait… Really? You guys want to come to my place?"

"Well, we've never been." Sasha answered. "You've always been to our places, it's only fair."

"It's true." Anne agreed.

"Yep." Marcy nodded as well.

"Yeah… sure, okay." Luz was already getting excited. She was having her friends over at her house. Sure, she'd have to talk to her mom about it, but she seemed to like all her new friends so she was sure she wouldn't say no. "Yeah! Alright! I'll talk with my mom so we can set a date!"

"Atta girl." Sasha patted her on the head, causing Luz to smirk as she playfully pushed her hand away.

"And now… onward!" Marcy quickly stood up on a bench for dramatic purposes. "To our first sleepover with Luz… Woah!" She slipped on the bench and almost fell over with Luz and Anne quickly catching her.

"Holy crap…!" Sasha fell back in a startle.

Two Days Later

After several phone calls between their respective parents about planning and setting it all up; Anne, Sasha, and Marcy were allowed to attend their planned sleepover at Luz's house. Though Anne's parents were somewhat disappointed with her final grades for the semester, they still allowed it, on the promise that Anne tried harder for the next semester. The three girls were dropped off at the Noceda residence with their bags over their shoulders, the blonde of the group knocked on the door, to which Camilla answered.

"Hello girls, come on in. Luz is right downstairs." She led the girls inside.

"Thanks for having us, Mrs. N." Marcy said.

"It's no problem, I'm just glad to see my daughter making good friends." Camilla answered as she opened the basement door and led them downstairs.

Luz already had everything set up in the spacious basement from a table with chips, drinks, and candy, a television was also set up with some bean bag chairs alongside the couch.

"Guys, hey! Got everything set up!" Luz said excitably.

"Dang girl, you really went all out here." Sasha commented, looking impressed at the display she had set up.

"Only the best for my BFFs!" Luz proclaimed. She wanted to set up such a display that she hoped would really impress her new friends and was happy to see that she had met the quota if Sasha was impressed.

"Alright, I'll let you all get settled." Camilla told them. "Enjoy yourselves and let me know if any of you need anything. Try not to be too crazy though."

"No promises, Mom." Luz joked as she saw her mother walk back up the stairs. "Alright, so what do you guys wanna do first?" She asked the girls. "Like I said, first real sleepover so…" She didn't want to openly admit that she didn't know what to do, but they were quick to pick up on it.

"Don't worry Luz." Sasha pulled her in with a look of confidence. "Just follow my lead and have fun."

"Enough talk, let's get our sleepover on, baby!" Anne declared.

"Wahoo!" All the girls cheered.

From that point forward, they began a montage of fun and jubilation. Sasha had pulled out her X-Sphere console and plugged it into Luz's TV, signing all the girls on for a four-player game session of Ring World, where gunfire and explosions lit up the screen with the volume turned to maximum. The girls each held a controller, while also digging into the giant bowl of chips that was lying in-between them and stuffing their faces.

"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" Anne, Marcy, and Sasha all chanted as Luz chugged down a two-liter bottle of soda before she threw the empty bottle to the ground and flashed a pair of rock-on devil horns as the other girls cheered before Luz herself gave a loud burp. She quickly covered her mouth and blushed in embarrassment, right before Anne chugged down some soda herself and gave a burp herself, causing them all to laugh.

"Gotta scoop it!" Anne said as she dug a chip into the salsa to get as much as she could and ate it all in one bite. "Scoop it!" She repeated the process once more.

"Ha! Royal straight flush!" Sasha put the cards down to reveal her hand, while all the other girls had lesser hands themselves, prompting the blonde to claim all the candy they had bet and put in the center of the table. "Read em and weep, baby!"

Marcy took the time to hook up her laptop onto Luz's television and played a certain video she had made that depicted a well-known character from anime delivering his titular attack.

"Kama… Hama… HA!" The character threw his hands out to blast a mighty and powerful energy blast to obliterate his alien adversary.

Marcy sniffled as she stood up straight to give a salute. "We salute you, Akira Toriyama!" She said as she stood along with Luz, Anne, and Sasha as they all saluted as well. "We salute you!"

After two hours of partying and fun, all four girls laid on the floor in the basement with content smiles on their faces as Sasha burped.

"Not bad for your first sleepover, Luz." The blonde congratulated. "As the sleepover queen… I'd say you're almost at royal status yourself."

"Hah, almost?" Luz asked in a playfully challenging way. "What do I have to do to get in all the way?"

Sasha sat herself up. "There's just one last thing you gotta do…"

"Whoa. Sasha, are you sure?" Anne asked as she and Marcy also sat up. "Is she even ready?"

"Is anyone ever really ready, Anne?" Marcy responded.

"Ready for what?" Luz sat up, only to have the lights all turn off as Sasha held out her phone under her face, with Anne on her right and Marcy on her left, to project a light for dramatic purposes.

"The Scare Dare Challenge!" All three girls said dramatically. "Oooh." They waved their fingers in front of their own faces.

"What? Is this like truth or dare?" Luz asked.

"Ha! Truth or dare was during our parents' time, this is for the next gen." Sasha said. "Girls, explain." She commanded with the snap of her fingers.

"The rules: one of us comes up with a scary dare and we all have to do it!" Marcy stated.

"But, whoever bails first gets their name added to…" Anne began as Marcy reached into her own bag.

"The Book of Losers!" Marcy pulled out a one subject notebook that had the words 'Book of Losers' written in red marker.

"And once your name is in the book of losers… it'll be there… forever!" Sasha revealed in dramatic fashion.

"Forever!" Anne added in the same manner.

"Forever!" Marcy said even more dramatically, using her own phone light under her face once again.

Luz blinked a few times before responding. "I'm in!"

"Whoa, just like that?" Anne questioned. "These Scare Dares are no joke, Luz."

"Puh-lease." She waved off. "You didn't think I could handle your parents' green Thai curry, but I managed."

"True." Anne admitted.

"If this means I'm part of sleepover royalty, then Scare Dare me up!" Luz declared.

"Ooh, once again your inner daredevil emerges." Sasha smirked. "But let's see you back up that talk."

"So, what's the dare, Sash?" Marcy asked.

"I've got an idea, but first... Luz, what's the scariest place in your hose?" Sasha inquired. "Maybe that closet back there?" She pointed to the closet door next to the laundry machine.

"Nah, that's the furnace room and it's way too small for all of us." Luz answered before she began to think. After a few seconds of pondering, an idea came to her. "Well… there is one place. It's not in the house exactly, but it's technically our property."

"What is?" Sasha asked.

"A little bit past our backyard and near the forest in the back is this old house." Luz explained. "It looks kinda creepy even in daylight, but I've never went in it myself."

"An old house, huh?" Sasha considered it. "And you're sure nobody's there? No crazy serial killers who stuff their victims severed body parts in the walls or anything?"

"Nope, totally abandoned." Luz assured.

"Yeah, I think so too." Marcy agreed. "If there were any parts of deceased people in there, wild scavenger animals would be attracted to the smell of rotting flesh and people would find out."

"And no police have shown up to confirm anything like that, so I'd say it's safe." Luz added as well.

"Ugh, TMI, guys." Anne cringed in disgust.

"Sorry." Both Luz and Marcy apologized.

"Alright, let's see this second house of yours, Luz. And let's see if it truly lives up to the necessary standards of a Scare Dare." Sasha said.

Night had already fallen, and after taking a moment to make sure that her mom was asleep, Luz led the girls out the backdoor and into the backyard. Despite it being dark out, there was enough moon light for the girls to see where they were going.

"And here we are." Luz said as she and the others stood before the old house she had told them about.

It was an abandoned two-story building with fading white walls and a brown roof, with several holes in said roof, covered in moss and other plants. There was a door in the middle of the front with two broken windows on each side of the door. Four pillars held up a portion of the roof over the front of the house, but the one on the inner right was broken.

Opening the door, which gave a loud and eerie creek as it opened, the girls got a good look inside. It appeared to be a living room of sorts that was littered with scattered papers, an old fireplace on the right and a torn up armchair in the left corner. There was also an opening that led deeper into the house where one could see a stairway that led upstairs.

"Man, Father Time really took a baseball bat to this place." Anne said as she and the girls all walked inside. "Kinda house is this anyway…?"

"I don't know but it's pretty old." Marcy said as she picked up one newspaper that was barley readable. Taking out her phone for extra light, she saw the date in the corner. "Some of these papers look like they're from the seventies."

"Yeah, I never really went inside here." Luz explained. "I asked my parents about this when we moved, and they went to city hall about it. Nobody really knows who had this place before, but there's a historic committee in town that says it shouldn't be torn down, thinking it's one of the first buildings ever built here. We're talking like colonial era…"

"Luz, we don't need all the historic details." Sasha stopped. "But I'll admit… this place definitely has haunted house vibes." She looked around a bit. "Okay. Yeah, this will work just fine."

Anne happened to stick a bit closer to the front door when she heard a noise coming from outside. Action on curiosity, she looked out the doorway and around the corner to see there was an owl perched on the corner of the patio. This owl had brown feathers with a lightly tanned belly and large yellow eyes.

"Hoot." The owl gave its signature call as it looked at Anne curiously.

"Huh… hey guys, there's an owl out here." She brought their attention as all of them came outside to see the owl for themselves.

"Hoot." The owl repeated, almost like it was giving a greeting.

"Huh… You know, I think I've seen that owl before…" Luz recalled. "It flies around the area a few times, but I never got a good look at it."

"Its nest must be nearby." Marcy said. "And since their nocturnal, it makes sense that we'd see one now."

"Hoot."

"Awe, you know, he's actually kinda cute." Anne smiled, kneeling a bit closer to the owl's level, though it did back up slightly, it looked at the girl with a curious expression. "Hey there, little guy."

"So, is your nest nearby?" Luz also asked with a smile as she kneeled with Anne. "You got any female owls waiting for you? Maybe some cute little owlets?"

"Hoot."

"Are you getting ready for your great migration?" Marcy asked, kneeling with Luz and Anne as she smiled as well. "Ready to make the big flight down south before it gets cold here? Cause owls, like other birds, do not like the cold. But what am I saying? You're an owl, you already know that?"

"Hoot?" The owl seemed rather confused by that question.

"Alright, enough is enough. We don't need any this thing crapping on us while we're here." Sasha stepped forward and past her friends. "Come on, get outta here. Sho! Or whatever!" She waved her hands at the owl.

"Hoot." The owl spread its wings and flew away.

"That was kinda mean, Sasha." Luz told her.

"Yeah sure, owls might look cool. But birds crap everywhere." The blonde replied. "We should probably check inside and make sure we don't sit on any bird crap or anything." She said before walking inside, prompting the others to follow.

However, Luz was the last one to enter, but before she did, she looked out and up towards a nearby tree where she spotted the same owl from before, perched on a higher branch as it looked down at her inquisitively. Luz smiled and gave the owl a wink before walking in to join her friends.

"Okay, what's the Scare Dare this time, Sash?" Marcy asked as all four girls sat together in the middle of the old house's living room, all their phones laid out in front of them and their lights being on to provide some illumination.

"This time, we're each gonna tell our scary story." Sasha explained. "We'll take turns and tell whatever story we think is the scariest. With the ambiance of this place, it should make it even creepier. And whoever runs away scared, gets their name added to the Book of Losers." She took out the aforementioned book for emphasis again. "Anyone wanna back out now before we get this Scare Dare on?"

"Nice try Sasha. But if any of us leave now, we'll get our name added, right?" Luz challenged.

"Alright, you didn't take the bait, Luz." Sasha nodded with approval. "But let's see if you can last the whole time."

"So, who's going first?" Anne asked.

"Here…" Marcy pulled out a bundle of sticks. "The old classic drawing straws. We'll go by whoever draws the longest stick to the shortest one."

Each of the girls reached into the bundle and pulled out one stick. Marcy had the longest, Anne had the second longest, Sasha's stick was the second shortest, while Luz's was the shortest of all.

"Alright, I'm going first." Marcy said as she brought her phone's light up to her face and put on a scary voice. "Get ready for… 'The Tale of Doctor Marsenstine'!"

The Tale of Doctor Marsenstine

A storm raged outside an old castle as inside, a young woman that bore a striking resemblance to the current storyteller was clad in a white lab coat with black rubber gloves and goggles over her eyes as she worked on a series of machines that were attached to the walls all across the room. And within the center of the room was a flat table that had a humanoid figure laying on top, covered in a thick white sheet with cables connecting from the ceiling to the head of the figure that continued to lay under the sheet.

The woman looked outside through a window to see a flash of lightning. "Ha ha! The storm is here! It is time!" She laughed maniacally as she pulled on a huge lever on the floor.

Outside, a large lightning rod extended from the roof the castle and deep into the raging storm cloud that formed just above the castle.

"With the magnificent power of this storm, I, Doctor Madeline Marsenstine, shall harness nature's ultimate power and achieve the great feat in the history of science! The power to create life!"

As she made her proclamation, a lightning bolt had struck the rod, sending an electrical current through the rod and into the attaching cables, which led to the figure on the table. The figure's body twitched and flailed before the electricity had run its course.

Doctor Marsenstine watched with anticipation, taking off her goggles as the figure underneath the sheet remained motionless…

Until she heard a breath.

The figure slowly began to sit up, the sheet falling off to reveal what seemed to be a tall female with pale skin that was stitched together every which way and metal screws in the side of her head with long black hair.

"She's alive! Alive! ALIVE!" Marsenstine proclaimed like a mad scientist as her creation tried to stand up, but almost tripped when she set her feet on the ground. "Whoa, whoa, take it easy girl. You literally just came to life seconds ago. Gotta crawl before you can…"

The female creation groaned loudly as it instinctively set one of its hands on the metal table to maintain its balance, but ended breaking off a huge piece of it by doing so.

"Whoa… your strength is three times that of a normal human! Amazing! And you have quick reflexes, almost on instinct!" Marsenstine praised as her creation stood up straight, standing well over twelve feet tall. "Welcome to the world of the living, my beautiful creation. I am your maker! Doctor Madeline Marsenstine!"

"Ma… Ma…" The figure spoke.

"Already speaking? Your intelligence is remarkable! And since you were born of lightning… I shall call you Athena, named after the daughter of Zeus!" Madeline declared.

"A… Atha… Atha…" The figure now known as Athena tried to pronounce her own name.

"Atha… that's a good nickname too. Easier to pronounce." Madeline said. "Well Atha, it's now time for you to do what you were made to do… and that is…!" She began in a dramatic and seemingly dark tone. "…Help the people of my struggling town in making their lives easier!" She revealed in a bright and optimistic tone.

"Ahhh…?" Atha looked in confusion.

"Look at the village I live in Atha." Madeline turned her creation to the nearest window as the storm began to clear and reveal the village that seemed to be of early medieval design. "It's a nice place to live, but it has been around for a long time and is in desperate need for repair. The roads are bad, the buildings need to be strengthened… I tried using my inventions to make their lives easier, but some just aren't ready for that sort of advancement yet. But you…" She looked at her creation with awe and praise. "With your incredible strength and growing intelligence, we can at least help with the labor and slowly open their minds to the ways of science! We can help so many people. You can help so many people."

"Ahhh." Atha seemed to understand as she smiled. "He… help… help… pe… people…"

"Yeah, help people. So, let's go help some people! Whoo!" Madeline cheered.

"Whoo!" Atha mimicked her creator's enthusiasm.

The roads in the village were filled with so many potholes that it was hard for horse-drawn carriages to come through. But that would soon be fixed as Madeline led Atha into the roads, the creation of science carrying bags of a mud-like substance, which she poured into various potholes and Madeline was quick to smooth them over. In a matter of minutes, the roads were fixed.

A bridge that led out of the town and over a ravine was on the verge of falling apart, but the tall Atha was able to help lift her creator up with her enormous strength as Madeline quickly repaired the damage with nails and a hammer.

The process was repeated across town as Atha helped with the heavy lifting and Madeline with the precision in her repairs. Homes and buildings were quickly fixed as people all over town came to watch as the scientist and her beloved creation do their work.

When it was mid-afternoon, the village looked good as new with Madeline standing proud, hands on her hips, and her creation mimicking Madeline's posture.

Madeline took a deep and content sigh. "Ah, nothing like a good hard day's work. Right my beautiful creation of science?" She praised her creation and patted her on the back. "I'd pinch your cheek, but you're so dang tall."

"Atha… do good…?" Atha asked.

"Atha did great!" Madeline praised. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Ma… ma…!" She hugged her creator in a comically bone-crushing hug.

"Yeah… love you to…" Madeline winced.

"Ugh, what is that thing?" Both turned around to see several villagers looking at them in disgust.

"It's another work of that recluse."

"She always lives in her castle working on some of her crazy contraptions."

"That tall thing is so ugly. It's probably her work too."

"The judge says we should stay away. Her work is apparently blasphemous."

Madeline groaned in annoyance. "If only everyone else can be so open minded." She then noticed Atha looking away. "Atha…?"

"Atha… Thing… Atha… ugly." She muttered.

"No, no, don't listen to them." Madeline gently pulled Atha down to her level. "Sure you look different, but that doesn't make you bad. Those people don't know what they're talking about. As far as I'm concerned, your perfect just the way you are, Atha."

That caused the creation of science to smile. "Mama… love Atha… Atha love Mama…"

"And Mama loves you too."

"Um… excuse me…?" Both had their attention drawn by a little girl who slowly approached them. "Were you the one who fixed my house?"

"Why yes, Atha did help fix your house." Madeline smiled as she patted her creation on the back.

The little girl handed Atha a flower. "Thank you." She smiled before walking away.

Atha looked at the flower in her hand with curiosity and surprise. "See?" Madeline drew her attention. "You already made a new friend. You're good, Atha."

However, a rock was thrown at Atha's head. "Get out of here, ugly!" The one who said that and threw the rock was one of several boys.

"Yeah, nobody wants a witch's monster here!" Another boy said as he and all his friends threw rocks at both Madeline and Atha.

"Knock it off!" She scolded the boys. "Atha don't…" She tried to talk to her creation, only to see that she was already crying. Atha then ran away with tears in her eyes. "Atha! Wait!" She tried to chase after her.

"Marsenstine!"

A look of irritation formed on her face, recognizing the voice as the young scientist turned around to see an elderly judge with a pair of armored guards by his side.

"You have gone too far this time!" The judge pointed to her accusingly.

"I don't have time for your political charades, judge." Madeline tried to walk away, only for the judge's guards to block her way as they crossed their spears in front of her.

"I have tolerated your blasphemy for far too long. But now, you have done the unthinkable and created a demon! Only God has the ability to create life! Anything else is witchcraft! After so many years, I see you for what you are, a witch! And you shall be judged and treated as such! Take her!"

"What?! No!" The guards grabbed Madeline. She struggled, but they were quick to restrain and tie her hands behind her backs. "Let me go! I'm not a witch! All my work has been to help this village! My home! Just because I don't attend your church doesn't automatically make me bad!" Her protests were largely ignored as she was dragged away.

However, the startling scene was being witnessed by the little girl from before who quickly ran off in a certain direction.

Meanwhile, Atha sat underneath the bridge that she and her creator had repaired, curled up as she held her legs close to her body and cried. "Atha ugly! Atha monster! Nobody loves Atha!"

"Atha! Atha!" She heard her name being called and turned to see the little girl running up to her. "Your mama's been taken by that mean judge! She's in danger!"

"Mama… in danger…?" Atha was surprised before looking down in sadness. "Mama in danger… because of Atha… Atha monster… Atha should not be here…"

Suddenly, the little girl wrapped her tiny arms around Atha's legs, surprising her. "Atha not a monster! Atha save my home! Atha hero!"

She looked to the girl emotionally. "Atha… Hero…?"

"Yes, Atha hero! And Atha's mommy need Atha's help!" The little girl told her.

Standing up, Atha had a look of determination in her eyes. "Atha save Mama!"

It was nighttime as the town's populace had all gathered together at a stage in the middle of the village. The judge, with a torch in hand, and his guards stood close to a wooden stake as Madeline had been tied to with timber gathered at the base.

"People of God's village, for years I have tried to warn you of this witch and her work with the Devil!" The judge began. "But divine justice is long overdue! We shall burn this witch and send her back to her unholy master before we hunt down her pet! But first…" He turned towards Madeline. "…If you wish to repent, pledge yourself to God and he may just show you mercy. Renounce your blasphemous ways!"

Madeline glared. "I will never renounce science, work that can help people! And Atha is not a monster! You are! A politician who uses the name of God to get what he wants is even more devil-like than all the people he prejudices against just because they don't attend your church! And…!" She was silenced as a rag was stuffed into her mouth.

"The witch has refused to repent! And now… she will burn… AHH!" Suddenly the floor of the stage he was on exploded outward as Atha emerged and crawled her way to the top.

"You not hurt Mama!" Atha declared.

The guards tried to lunge their spears at her, but Atha caught both of them, wrenched them from the guard's hands and snapped them with just a flex of her wrist. She gave a terrifying roar to the guards, who quickly ran away screaming. Atha then went to the wooden stake and tore the rope off to free her creator.

"Mama… not hurt…?" Atha asked as Madeline took the rag out of her mouth.

"I'm fine Atha. Thank you." She smiled as she caressed Atha's cheek, who smiled towards her.

Suddenly, Atha cried out in pain as the judge had lunged his torch into Atha's back. But this only irritated her as Atha turned around and slapped the torch from the judge's hand. She picked him up by his collar and the judge looked more than a little terrified.

"Bad man hurt Mama! Atha hurt bad man!" She was ready to pummel him, but Madeline quickly stopped her.

"Atha, no! Don't stoop down to his level! Be better than him, because you are better than him, regardless of your origin." Madeline told her.

Atha then put the judge down before roaring at him, causing him to run away and scream like a little girl.

The townsfolk all gathered only looked in confusion, wondering what was about to happen next. The little girl had managed to work her way to the stage and climb up to join Madeline and Atha.

"These nice ladies helped fix my house! The fix the roads and bridges!" The little girl said. "That mean judge was the bad one! He tried to hurt Atha's Mama, he was the bad one!"

This seemed to convince a majority of the townsfolk as they all talked among each other and then began to cheer.

"See Atha? You are good." Madeline smiled to her creation. "And no matter what politicians or any religious individual says, it should not deter you from who you are, and that is my beautiful, strong, and helpful little girl. You've made Mama proud." She kissed Atha on her nose.

Atha cried tears of joy as she picked up both Madeline and the little girl, put them on her shoulders as the town continued to cheer and praise their hero.

"ATHA GOOD!" She cheered as loudly as she could.

"…The end." Marcy finished her story.

Anne and Sasha gave her blank stares while Luz clapped. "Alright, nice story Marcy. I loved it."

"Awe, thanks Luz." Marcy smiled.

"That was kinda like a mix of Frankenstein and Notre Dame." Anne pointed out. "Not that I didn't like it or anything…"

"But it wasn't scary." Sasha's eyelids lowered. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I loved how you took a jab at our current system…."

"Yeah, religion and politics do not belong together." Marcy waved her hands.

"Agreed." Anne nodded.

"Here-here!" Luz raised her fist.

"But these are supposed to be scary stories and there wasn't a single scary moment in that story." Sasha pinched the bridge between her eyes. "Anne, you're up. And please tell me this one is scary."

"Oh don't worry, it's plenty scary." Anne began before coughing to announce the title to her story. "It's called…. 'The Cat'!"

The Cat

Anna, a Thai American girl with messy brown hair tied back in a pony tail, stood outside Saint Joe's High School, just causally looking through her smartphone when she heard her name being called.

"Hey Anna, over here!" The one who called her was a Caucasian blonde girl with all her hair loosely hanging out. On her left was a Taiwanese American girl with silkily black hair tied in pigtails. And on the Caucasian's left was a Latino girl with a pixie-cut hair style, wearing a purple and white striped shirt and black sweatpants.

"Oh hey, Sarah, Markie, Lucy." Anna greeted. "You guys ready to head home?"

"Oh, so ready!" The blonde girl named Sarah said as they were already walking away from the school and back home. "My god that test slaughtered me!"

"Yeah, I need to rest my brain for a week after that!" The Latino girl named Lucy agreed.

"I don't know, I thought it was pretty easy." The Taiwanese American girl said. "All it takes is just a little bit of effort and study."

"You lost me at 'effort' and 'study'." Anna said. However, the group soon came to a stop on the sidewalk as they gazed at their left to see an old house, which had an old man wearing sunglasses on a rocking chair in his porch. In the old man's lap was a black-furred cat that stared at them with its eerie yellow eyes.

"Meow."

The girls were rendered silently as they simply walked away with the cat continuing to stare at them. Once they rounded the corner at an intersection, they all took a huge breath of relief.

"Oh freak… that was close…" Anna breathed.

"Old Man Jenkins…" Markie said. "Yeah… he's the creepiest old man in town. He just sits in his chair all day and just stares at you. Not to mention that cat of his…"

"I love cats and other cute animals…" Lucy commented. "But that cat being in the lap of that creepy old man…" She shivered.

"Hey, I got an idea. Let's egg the guy's house!" Sarah suggested.

"Whoa! I know the guy's creepy and all, but does he really deserve that?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, it would take forever to clean, especially at his old edge. He might keel over from it." Markie added.

"It'll be fine." Sarah dismissed. "Besides, that guy's been creeping us and the rest of town for years. I'd say it's payback time."

"Yeah, let's teach that guy not to creep us out ever again!" Anna declared.

"Uh… okay if you say so…?" Markie and Lucy exchanged nervous glances a they both had a bad feeling about this.

Later that night, waiting till it was pitch black, the girls had returned to the old house that Old Man Jenkins normally lived in. The four stuck to the side of the old house with Anna glancing around the side to see if the porch was clear, which it was.

"Okay, looks like he's inside."

"Good." Sarah said stepping out as she pulled out a carton of eggs. "Let's put these eggs to good use."

"Sarah… I don't know about this." Lucy said. "This whole thing feels wrong."

"And… this place is even creepier at night." Markie shivered as she looked at the old house that seemed especially terrifying at dark.

"Then what better way to face fear then by throwing eggs at it?" Sarah handed them each a carton.

"Can't argue with that logic." Anna also had a carton out as she took out an egg. "Eat unborn chicken, fear!" She threw an egg at the house, which broke and splattered over the wall.

"Atta girl! Let's do it!" Sarah threw eggs herself. "Come on girls, let's do this!"

Once more, Lucy and Markie both seemed nervous and uncertain, but joined the girls regardless. Unbeknownst to them, as they continued to egg the house, there was a pair of glowing yellow eyes gazing down at then from a window on the second floor.

Later that night, after saying goodbye to all the other girls, Markie had went to bed and was ready to fall asleep. "I still feel kinda bad… but good that I got it out of my system at least." She curled herself up in her sheets as her bed laid next to the window.

However, the window slowly opened up, stirring Markie awake. "Huh…? Hello…?" What she saw next caused her to scream in terror before the window closed. When it opened back up again, Markie was gone.

The next day, Anna and Sarah both sat at a lunch table at school. "Gonna eat my sandwich… into a square…" Anna sang as she was eating her ham sandwich. "Cause if I spit along the edges, then I don't have to share…" She laughed as she took another bite.

"Gross." Sarah cringed jokingly. "Clever, but gross."

"Yeah, and they say I'm not talented." Anna said.

Lucy then sat at their table with a nervous expression of her own. "Hey Lucy, what's up?" Sarah greeted.

"Markie's missing!" Lucy revealed. "I went to her house to pick her up, but she wasn't there!"

"Maybe she left for school early." Anna suggested.

"Except that she wasn't in any of her classes!" Lucy exclaimed, looking even more scared.

"Markie playing hooky? Okay, that does sound weird." Sarah admitted.

"You don't think this has anything to do with what we did last night?" Lucy looked around in a panic.

"What? She was kidnapped by Old Man Jenkins? The guy who looked too old to even get out of his creepy chair?" Anna questioned skeptically.

"Yeah, she's probably pulling a prank or something." Sarah said continentally as she and Anne stood up from the table. "Talk to you later, Lucy!" She said as the pair walked off, leaving Lucy alone with her lunch.

Lucy began to eat a bowl of fried chicken until she felt something tap her foot. Glancing down, Lucy saw a ball of yarn at her feet, with a thread of yarn that led into a dark spot in-between two vending machines.

"Meow…" A pair of yellow eyes appeared in the darkness, causing Lucy's face to turn pale before she was suddenly ensnared by the yarn.

Lucy screamed as the yarn pulled her into the dark spot, where she vanished completely, leaving no trace, the glow of yellow eyes vanishing as well.

School got out, and Anna and Sarah were walking home by themselves. "Isn't it weird that we didn't Lucy or Markie in any of other classes today?" Anna asked.

"They're probably just trying to pull a prank on us." Sarah dismissed.

"You sure?" Anna asked again. "I mean… they weren't exactly thrilled with egging Old Man Jenkin's house last night…"

Sarah groaned. "Why is everyone so nerve racked over just a stupid prank? I mean we…" However, she and Anna then noticed that they were standing just outside the creepy house owned by the aforementioned old man. But unlike yesterday, Old Man Jenkins didn't sit with his cat on the rocking chair. But the door was wide open that led into darkness inside.

"Okay… this place is even creepier than it normally is." Anne looked more than a little nervous with even Sarah sweating.

"Yeah, I guess it is…"

A ball of yarn then bounced out from the front door, with a loose thread that led back into the house. The ball bounced off the porch and down the leading sidewalk before it came to a stop at the girls' feet.

"L-let's get out of here…" The shaky Anna said.

"Yeah, good idea." Even Sarah was in agreement.

However, right before they could leave, the ball of yarn suddenly shot it out ensnare its loose thread around Anna's ankles, binding them together and tripping her up. She was then being pulled in the direction of the house.

"Sarah! Help!" She screamed as Sarah grabbed onto her hands and tried to pull her friend back.

"Hang on! I've… Got… you…!" She tried with all her might to pull Anna back, but she lost her grip and Anna was pulled into the house with the door slamming shut right behind her, leaving Sarah sitting on the ground with wide and panicked eyes.

"Okay, yeah! Something is definitely up here!" She looked around for anything that she could use before spotting a trash bin near a house on the other side of the street, with a used baseball bat sticking out.

Sarah quickly retrieved the bat and went up to the old house, slowly opening the door to reveal the insides of the creepy house. Steeling herself, Sarah gripped the bat and walked inside.

"Hello? Anyone home?" So far there was no response as she walked in deeper, the door closing behind her. "Old Man Jenkins? I'm gonna give you to the count of ten to let my friends go, or it's gonna get really ugly! Even uglier than you are right now!"

An eerie orange light shined up from a stairwell that led into a basement, drawing Sarah's attention as she traversed down the stairs, tightly gripping the bat even more. But as she walked down, she heard the sounds of muffled cries and screams.

Upon entering the basement, where the only source of light was a furnace with a fire at the end, Sarah looked in shock to see Anna, Markie, and Lucy all bound together in yarn in the corner of the room with even more yarn wrapping over their mouths to keep them silent. Their muffled screams grew louder as they saw her, squirming and struggling in their bindings.

"Guys! Hang on, I'll get you out!" Sarah was about to move in and untie them when suddenly…

"No! You will join them!"

Turning around, Sarah gasped as she saw a certain old man, sitting in a rocking chair, with the black furred and yellow-eyed cat still in his lap.

"Old Man Jenkins?!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Not quite." The voice was not from the old man, but rather the cat in his lap. "Old Man Jenkins is nothing more than a husk I've been using as a guise." The cat's tail flicked off the sunglasses to reveal a pair of empty eye-sockets as the old man that had been sitting in the rocking chair was actually dead, much to Sarah's horror.

"What the hell are you?!"

"I am a Hellcat! A creature of the inferno!" The cat introduced. "I feed off the souls of mortals who are drawn here. And when you chose to deface your domain with your unborn birds, you disrespected me! And I do not tolerate disrespect! So now, you and your friends will be the next souls I shall feast upon!"

That same ball of yarn had hovered just above the Hellcat, almost like it was controlling it telepathically. The ball of yarn broke apart and shot multiple strands at Sarah, who dove out of the way. She quickly got up and used her bat to smack away any threads that got too close, but found herself backed into a corner, near the furnace.

"Don't struggle little one! It'll be over soon!" The Hellcat sneered.

Sarah looked around desperately for any hope of salvation, even to the terrified looks of her still-bound friends, but she also spotted the flames from the nearby furnace as well, and then remembered she had a wooden bat.

A smirk formed on her face before she made a sprint for the furnace with the yarn strands chasing her. She stuck her bat into the flames just as the yarn ensnared her at her legs, pulling her up as Sasha pulled out the now flaming bat and slashed at the yarn, causing it to be set ablaze. Sarah was dropped on the floor as the flames followed the yarn all the way to its source before the entire thing was set on fire and burn to a crisp, much to the annoyance of the Hellcat.

"Grr! Foolish child! You will pay for that!" It leapt at her with claws and fangs out.

"Sorry, but I'm a dog person!" Sarah smacked her bat at the leaping Hellcat, sending it into the furnace.

"NO! NOOOOO!" The Hellcat screamed as it was consumed by the flames.

Sarah quickly made her way to her friends to untie them. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Anna said in relief.

"I told you egging the house was a bad idea!" Lucy pointed out.

"My first prank and I'm never pulling one again!" Markie declared.

"Agreed." Sarah nodded as all four friends shared a group hug of relief.

"…The End." Anne finished up her story.

"Alright, now that was scary. And I loved the fight at the end too." Sasha clapped with approval. "That blonde sounds like a real badass."

"Yeah, not bad Anna-Banana. I especially loved the idea of the Hellcat." Marcy said. "A bit of a twist since dogs are typically demons of Hell, like with Hellhounds and Cerberus…"

"But that was a nice and creative twist, especially with the old man's body." Luz added. "Nice story there, Anne."

"Oh, it was nothing." Anne didn't really expect such high praise from her storytelling, but she wasn't complaining. "Just bummed that didn't scare any of you."

"Yeah, well now it's my turn. And I've got some real horror for all of you girls." Sasha grinned.

"Buckle up Luz, cause Sasha ain't pulling her punches." Marcy playfully warned.

"Bring it on, baby!" Luz looked more than ready.

"Get ready… cause now it's time for 'The Slaughter Mall'!" Sasha announced.

The Slaughter Mall

A young blonde woman in her mid-twenties, who bore a striking resemblance to the current storyteller, sat at a table in the food court of a mall she and her friends were hanging out in. Including her, there were five people together. Two other girls, one was a brunet and the other was a redhead; and two boys, one having greyish blonde hair, and the other being African American.

The group seemed to be conversing among each other as everyone else around them was going about their usual business, until an announcement was made over the intercom.

"Attention shoppers, the mall will close in thirty minutes. Please make your final purchases and proceed to the nearest exit."

"Ugh, really? We just got here!" The redhead complained.

"That's what happens when you're the one driving, Millie." The brunette pointed out.

"At least I don't run every redlight, Barbie!" The redhead named Millie argued with the brunet girl named Barbie.

"Why is this place even closing anyway? All the other malls stay open twenty-four seven." The African-American boy pointed out.

"I heard they got some machine problems or something and gotta close down to save on power." The other boy assumed.

The blonde girl thought for a moment. "Why don't we find out for ourselves?"

All her friends looked at her in surprise. "Beatrix, what are you talking about?" Millie asked.

"I mean, let's hide out and wait for everyone to go home and we'll have all the mall to ourselves!" The blonde named Beatrix.

"But we'll be locked inside!" The African-American boy pointed out.

"Max is right, Bea. We'd get into some serious trouble." Barbie agreed.

"Oh, come on guys, where's your sense of adventure?" Millie questioned. "It's not like we're gonna starve or anything if they lock us in."

"I don't see anything wrong with it. It could be interesting." The other boy with greyish blonde hair said.

"Yeah, Joe's right. We've been playing it safe too long. It's time for adventure!" Beatrix took charge before pulling all her friends in. "We'll hide out in the bathrooms and wait for everything else to close down. And then… it's party time!"

Within the timespan of thirty minutes, the entire mall had been emptied, all its gates were shut and locked up. All that remained was the front door as all the lights were turned off with a pair of guards standing at the doorway.

One guard listened to something over his radio. "Got the final call. Mall's empty, we're locking up."

The other guard nodded as he closed the gate with him and his partner outside before locking it up just as nighttime had hit. "God, this place is always creepy at night. Sure, wouldn't stay here after hours."

Meanwhile back inside, stepping out of the bathrooms, the five teenagers looked around at the darkened mall as they each took out their phones to provide some illumination.

"Hello!" Max called out, but all that was heard was his echo throughout the empty building. "We're all alone."

"It's kinda scary…" Millie shivered.

"A little backbone, Millie." Barbie scolded.

"So… what do we do now?" Joe asked.

"What do we do?" Beatrix replied with a rhetoric question and a grin before putting on some pop music on her phone. "We party!"

Despite some fears from some of her friends, Beatrix and her group quickly found themselves enjoying the empty mall as they ran to every shop they could. Beatrix and the other girls went to various clothing stores to mix and match all types of styles together, while Max and Joe went to a sporting goods store to mess around with the bats, clubs, and various balls. They all went back to the food court and blurged into every kind of junkfood imaginable and even mixed up various foods, such Max putting cinnamon rolls in burgers and eating the whole thing while all his friends cheered.

After about an hour, while the girls were checking out another department store, the boys found themselves walking by an attached restaurant named 'Freddy's Kiddie Pizza!'.

"Oh hey, didn't notice this place before." Max said.

"Freddy's Kiddie Pizza? Lame." Joe commented as they walked into the darkened restaurant. It seemed like the place for little kids with various arcade games, wall decorations resembling spaceships and alien planets, and even a stage with an animatronic band. "My parents took me here when I was seven, I hated it. Especially that." He pointed to the deactivated animatronic band.

The aforementioned machines consisted of a large robotic teddy bear that was at the lead guitar, a chipmunk at the keyboards, and a bunny at the drums. Their design was supposed to bare a resemblance to some kiddie stuffed animals, but the robotic parts just made it look more than a little creepy.

"Yeah… those things do kinda creep me out. Let's get out of here." Max agreed.

However, just before the pair could turn around, they heard a cartoonish sound resembling a laughter on a kid's show. Their attention was drawn to the animatronic band that had suddenly turned on.

"Hello kids, welcome to Freddy's Kiddie Pizza." The bear on the guitar spoke robotically. "My name's Freddy! Me and my friends Eddy and Buddy are here to show you a fun time!"

"Let's throw down with some music!" The chipmunk named Eddy said as the band moved and cheesy music was played in the background, giving the bad impression of a band playing music.

"And remember, have a fun time!" The bunny named Buddy said.

"Who turned them on?" Max asked.

"Probably a glitch." Joe answered. "Like I said, machine problems. Let's go."

"Awe, leaving so soon?" Both boys stopped in their tracks as they turned their gaze towards Freddy. "But the party's just getting started!" His eyes turned red, as did Eddy's and Buddy's. They dropped their instruments and walked off the stage.

"Dude… is this a machine problem…?" The frightened Max asked.

"I don't know…! Stuff like this isn't supposed to happen… we don't just…!" Suddenly Joe was grabbed by Freddy, who opened his mouth to reveal all kinds of serrated metal teeth. Joe screamed as Freddy bit down and ate the boy alive, with Max watching in pure horror, even more so as blood leaked out of the cracks in his metal frame.

"Awe, how'd that kid taste, Freddy?" Buddy asked.

"Like chicken." Freddy laughed.

"I wonder what this one tastes like!" Eddy said as all three machines gave horrific metallic laughs.

Max screamed as he ran out of the restaurant, with the living machines chasing after him.

"HELP!" That scream drew the attention of the girls who had their arms filled with bags of clothes.

"What was that?" Millie asked.

"I think that was Max." Barbie said.

Beatrix followed the sound of the scream with Millie and Barbie right behind her. The three girls rounded the corner and looked to see the screaming Max running their way.

"Max! What the hell is going on?!" She questioned.

"Killer kiddie restaurant robots! They're gonna eat us alive!" Max yelled as Buddy hopped up in the air over him, just like a regular bunny. "We gotta…! AHHH!" His screams were cut off as Buddy landed on him, breaking every bone in his body and killing him instantly with a splatter of blood in all directions.

Beatrix, Millie, and Barbie all screamed in terror as they saw that.

"Ah shucks! I stepped on it! Now it ain't good no more!" Buddy pouted.

"Don't worry Buddy, we still got three more! And their girls!" Freddy said as he and Eddy caught up. "Girls always taste sweeter!"

"There's one for each of us." Eddy said as he looked directly at the terrified girls. "So, which one of you pretty little girls is ready to be a snack for this hungry chipmunk."

All three living machines gave laughs that sounded like mixtures of recorded cartoon characters and sinister demons and their red eyes glowed even brighter.

"RUN!" Beatrix pulled her friends away as they ran for dear life.

"I KNEW COMING HERE WAS A BAD IDEA!" Millie screamed as they sprinted through the empty mall.

"HOW ARE WE GONNA GET OUT OF HERE?!" Barbie cried out.

Beatrix spotted a carpentry store. "In there! Let's go!" All three girls quickly made their way to the store, Beatrix was in it first, followed by Millie and Barbie. They grabbed the metal garage-like door at the entrance and tried to close it, only for Freddy's metallic hand to reach out and grab Millie by her ankle.

"I caught me a fresh one!" She was pulled outside just as the door came down.

"MILLIE!" Barbie screamed, but the door was already shut and all they could hear on the other side was metal chomping flesh while some blood oozed out from the crack on the ground. "This is it… We're gonna die…" Barbie began to panic. "We're gonna die… we're gonna die… WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

Beatrix cut her off with a slap to the face. "We are not gonna die!" She told her as she grabbed her by her shirt and pulled her in close. "Look where we are!" She turned her attention to all the carpentry tools that laid on the walls throughout the store from hammers, to wrenches, to saws, and even electric tools like drills and nail guns.

"Those cheesy robots want dinner? I'd say we gut them like fish instead!" Beatrix proclaimed as she grabbed a sledgehammer. "Arm yourself, Barbie! We're trashing those robot rejects!"

A trio of metallic claws had squeezed in at the bottom of the door. "Nowhere to run, little kiddies!" Freddy laughed.

"We love a good game of hide and seek! Yes we do!" Buddy laughed.

"But now it's time for a lunch break!" Eddy said as the door was fully opened up, but the second it was, Eddy's head had been smashed in hard by a sledgehammer. The robot sparked and walked backwards. "Boy… do I have a killer headache…" The robot fell backwards as sparks and oil came out before it was rendered lifeless.

Freddy and Buddy looked to see Beatrix and Barbie standing tall and armed with carpentry tools like weapons. Beatrix had a sledgehammer and a circular saw in both her hands, while Barbie had a nail gun and a hatchet in the other.

"You guys are overdue for a maintenance check." Beatrix said coldly.

"Die robot scum!" Barbie called out as she shot her nail gun into the eyes of both Freddy and Buddy, causing them to back up.

"Hey, now that's not nice!" Eddy said before Barbie finished him off with a hatchet to the side of his neck to knock him down. She then got onto his body and slashed her hatchet down to completely decapitate him.

Beatrix found herself glaring dramatically at Freddy, a gust of wind blowing between them with some papers. Freddy flexed his metallic claws while Beatrix gripped her tools tightly.

"Awe, don't be scared little girl. Freddy's gonna take good care of you." Freddy said.

"Sorry, but I grew out of creeps like you." Beatrix gave a battle cry as she charged forward, throwing her hammer at Freddy, who caught it with one hand before slashing at her with his other claws, causing blood to come out from her chest before she lunged her saw into his face and turned it on, pressing it in as hard as she could before the saw broke through his head completely.

"It's time for Freddy to say… goodnight…" Freddy fell down before its head crumbled to pieces.

Beatrix took several deep breaths before she and Barbie sat back down back-to-back. "We are never shopping at a mall again." Barbie said.

"Agreed." Beatrix nodded.

"…The End." Sasha finished up with a proud smile. She looked to her audience to see Anne and Marcy were clinging to each other, and Luz had been listening intently the entire time.

"That story was messed up, Sash!" Anne said.

"Hey, that's the thing about horror. It's all about the blood." Sasha grinned.

"Is it?" Luz asked.

"Excuse me?" Sasha questioned.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, that was a great story." Luz granted. "It really felt terrifying at first… but then it felt more like an action movie at the end."

"So? I mean, look at Alien Hunter or all the zombie flicks that came out. Those have action in it." Sasha pointed out.

"But Alien Hunter's more evolved into an action franchise than horror, same for zombie movies, other than comedies of course." Luz said.

"She's kinda right about that." Marcy agreed. "Though there was that series with zombies in Korea, that was terrifying. And yes, there was action with swordfights and stuff, but it wasn't the sole focus."

"Yeah, your narrative did shift a bit at the end, Sasha." Luz pointed out.

Sasha's eyelids lowered in annoyance. "Alright, little Miss Fantasy, since you're next, let's see you do a horror story since you're so knowledgeable. And please don't make it about witches or magic, I know that's your thing."

"Hey, I just realized something…" Anne spoke to Marcy. "Luz is the last storyteller, and she didn't bail at any of our stories."

"Which means, she's avoided writing her name in the Book of Losers!" Marcy realized as well.

"And on her first sleepover too." Anne said, sounding very impressed.

"Alright, I do know one story…" Luz began. "In middle school, I was assigned to do a report on myth and folktale, so I wrote my own story with folklore elements in it. But it didn't do so well, so…"

"Luz." Sasha held up her hand to stop her. "We don't need the context, just tell us the damn story."

"Okay." She nodded before putting her phone's light under her face for dramatic purposes as she put on a sinister expression. "It's called… 'The Night'!"

The Night

It was a dark and gloomy night, so much so that the clouds covered the night sky and there was barley any moon light, mist blanketed the streets. But despite that, a lone figure walked along the sidewalk, clad in a dark hood. The mysterious figured strolled quietly through the streets before stopping by a house.

The figure turned and saw the house, and they second that they did, a faint glimmer of moon light just barely pierced through the clouds, revealing the lower half of the figure's face, that showed a smile as their fangs sparkled from the ever faint white light.

"Hello? Mrs. Rochelle?" The figure, now revealed to be female by the sound of her voice, spoke through the eerie silence as she stepped closer towards the door. "Can I come in?" She requested as her fanged smile only grew.

On the other side of the door was the aforementioned Mrs. Rochelle, an elderly woman who could only gasp in terror as she heard the voice from the other side of her front door. It was only then that she realized that she had forgot to lock that door. Panic and fear filled her body, sweat already pouring down her wrinkled face.

In a desperate attempt at salvation, the old lady tried to make a break for the door and lock it… but just as she did… the clouds cleared away to reveal the full moon.

Once that light shined upon the house like a spotlight, it no longer mattered. It didn't matter if the light touched any living being in that house, or even if it's only resident would lock herself in the basement. Nothing would stop the girl from getting in. The fate of the innocent was now sealed.

The girl's hand reached at the door on the outside and pushed it open. She took off her hood and presented a bag.

"Trick or treat!" The little girl smiled, hoping to not only get some candy but say 'happy Halloween' to her kind neighbor that she had known since she was a baby.

However, that sweet little girl's ecstatic smile turned into a look of horror and confusion as she saw something else entirely.

Mrs. Rochelle's body had changed. Her frame was now twice as large as before, her clothes were torn as she crew, dark grey fur covered her whole body, claws grew at her hands and feet. Her face lifted up to gaze her blood-thirsty red eyes on the frightened child in front of her, revealing the face of a werewolf as Mrs. Rochelle lost any sense of self-control and will power.

"Treat." The wolf growled sadistically as it leapt with open fangs at the screaming girl, just as the door slammed shut, sealing her fate.

Luz didn't even get a chance to say 'The end' as her audience was already screaming. Marcy and Anne clung to each other in a startled fright while Sasha also gave a startled yelp, backing away instinctively. But the blonde ended up stepping onto a lose piece of paper and slipped backwards, causing her to fall out the front doorway of the old house and outside.

"Whoa, Sasha! Are you okay?!" Luz was immediately by her side to help her up with Anne and Marcy right behind her.

"Fine… yeah… yeah, I'm fine…" Sasha said, still rattled from the story she had been told and pictured in her mind. "I'm… fine…?" That's when she realized something.

She was outside. She ran out of the house.

She bailed.

"I… I bailed…" Sasha muttered almost as if she couldn't even believe it. "I bailed…!" She turned to see all three of her friends. "And you all… didn't…?"

That's when Anne and Marcy looked towards each other as they came to the same realization. "She's right…" Marcy began. "Sasha bailed at Luz's story and… we didn't…"

"I never thought this day would come… where we'd outlast Sasha!" Anne stated in just as much disbelief.

"So… what does that mean exactly?" Luz asked.

"Dude! It means you won!" Anne proclaimed, much to Luz's own surprise. "You won the Scare Dare!"

"I… what…?" Luz did not expect this to happen. While she was very eager to participate in this event, she didn't exactly expect to win it.

"You won, Luz!" Marcy hugged her. "You won your first Scare Dare! Not only did you not bail at any of our stories, you told the scariest won! And even more impressive… you scared Sasha! We've never seen her scared before! Ever! That… that is talent, actually!"

"Seriously, I pictured it all in my head and I don't think I can unpicture it, any time soon." Anne said with an impressed smile. "Who knew such a sweet girl could be so terrifying? You got a real dark side, Luz."

Luz gave a slight chuckle and blushed at their praise as she tried to put on a cool act. "Well… who doesn't have a dark side, you've just only caught a glimpse of mine." She smiled in a feigning sinister tone.

"Oh, I just got chills." Marcy shivered with a laugh. "And that story of yours… The details you put in…! Not to mention that twist! It may not have been as long as our stories… but it hit hard! You'd make a killer writer one, day Luz! Seriously, you'd give Stephanie Queen a run for her money and she's the best horror writer I know!"

Once again, Luz blushed at the praise she was given. "Well, I don't think I'm at her level yet, but yeah… Thanks… that means a lot guys."

"What do you think Sasha? Who knew our Luz had it in her?" Anne asked the blonde, but she looked concerned when Sasha didn't respond and kept her back turned towards them. "Sasha…? Sasha." Anne shook her by her shoulder, causing her to finally turn around. "Sash, are you okay?"

"F-fine… I'm fine…" Sasha tried to get her thoughts in order. "Just processing…"

"Processing our Luz having quite the dark side?" Marcy joked, pulling Luz in as she kept up her sinister and mischievous face.

"No… I mean… yeah. That came out of nowhere." Sasha replied. "I… I just gotta write my name down… in the Book of Losers…"

That caused Anne and Marcy's smile to fade as they only just realized that themselves. "Oh… right. You've… never wrote your name down in there, haven't you?" Anne pointed out.

"Wait, seriously?" Luz asked in surprise.

"Yeah… take a look." Sasha pulled out the Book of Losers and opened it, revealing Anne and Marcy's names written on various spots with drawings below each name, likely a symbol for each Scare Dare they lost. But as Marcy flipped through the pages, Luz could indeed see that Sasha's name was not on any of the pages.

"Wow… you guys have done a lot these Scare Dares, haven't you?" Luz wondered.

"And nearly all of these dares were Sasha's ideas." Marcy confirmed. "And now that I think about it… it only makes more sense now why she wouldn't be scared all those times. Guess there's a first time for everything."

"Give me that." Sasha took the Book, somewhat forcefully, and pulled out a pen to write her own name down. This dare was indeed her idea like many of the others before, and she bailed. She had to write her own name down, no matter how much she didn't want to. But she still couldn't believe it. For the first time… her name was written down in the Book of Losers and it would be there forever.

As much as she hated to admit it, she really underestimated Luz. She seemed like the type who'd be easy enough to scare. But not only was she unafraid throughout all their stories, including her bloodbath, she had told something that actually scared her! Next time, she would come up with a dare so intense that it would frighten Luz so that she could put her name in there too.

"Sorry you had to write your name down, Sash." Anne apologized.

"Forget it!" Sasha practically forced the book back onto Anne. "Let's just get inside. It's getting cold out here."

"Yeah, and maybe we can relax with a movie." Luz suggested.

"Oh, well if it's a movie you guys want… I brought the perfect one for us to watch!" Marcy said with a smile as the four girls walked away and made their way back to Luz's house.

However, as they walked away, none of them had noticed that same owl from before had remained perched on the tree branch and been watching all four girls as they shared their stories. But once it saw that they were gone, the owl flew around the old house towards a bag full of human junk. It picked up the bag with its talons and lifted it with a surprising display of strength, dragging it towards the front door of the old house.

The door closed briefly before it opened again, revealing a bright white light that shined throughout the doorway. The owl flew into the light with its bag of junk, which closed behind it.

After coming back inside and changing into their pajamas, the four girls reconvened in Luz's basement as Marcy had her favorite movie set up on the television for them, 'War of the Warlocks.' Luz was watching eagerly with a bowl of popcorn in her lap, Anne sitting next to her with some minor interest, while Sasha just laid sprawled out on the couch and was more interested in whatever was currently on her phone.

The screen showed the image of multiple medieval warriors, including knights, dwarves, and elves, all standing against a larger army of undead soldiers being led by a zombified leader.

"Your puny resistance stands no chance against my undead horde!"

"I know what you're thinking… The resistance stands no chance against the Lich King's undead horde!" Marcy said excitably, standing in front of them all with a blanket tied around her like a cape.

"Totally." Anne said, looking away, not particularly interested.

"But because of all his supposedly unmatched power, the Lich King overestimates himself. Right?" Luz asked, sounding just as eager as Marcy.

"Correct!" Marcy pointed to Luz dramatically. "And it's because of that arrogance, that the Lich King won't suspect the heroes sneaking into the castle and destroy the Crystal Crown of Tantamore!"

"Whoa, spoiler alert!" Sasha stated.

"Sorry, sorry!" Marcy looked away with an embarrassed smile. "It's just such a good movie…"

"Oh yeah, one of the best!" Luz agreed. "I've seen it like a hundred times! So, I know anyone can get carried away…"

"Guys, I'm joking. I don't actually care." Sasha said as she resumed looking through her smartphone.

Both Luz and Marcy blinked a few times before the latter appeared to breathe a sigh of relief. "At least I didn't ruin the second twist where it turns out…" Marcy was interrupted as a pillow as thrown at her face.

"Pillow fight!" Anne and Sasha both exclaimed, much to Luz's own surprise, but was quickly pulled in as all four girls laughed and threw all their pillows at each other before sliding to the ground in exhaustion. As they did, Luz happened to see a certain scene unfolding in the movie.

"Oh, we're getting to the best part!" She said, which also got Marcy excited.

"Come on guys! Guys…?" However, when they looked back, they had found that both Anne and Sasha had fallen asleep on the beanbag chair.

'Oh… you guys fell asleep… again…' Marcy thought dejectedly.

"Well, so much for 'never ever going to sleep'." Luz said aloud as she pulled a blanket from the couch and put it over the pair before turning her full attention to the movie.

Marcy was surprised to see this. She knew Luz was a fantasy lover just like her, but nearly every movie that Marcy had her friends watch, they fell asleep at one some point. But now… this new friend of hers was not only wide awake, but even watching the movie with excitement… it was both surprising and very heartwarming. Marcy smiled as she sat down next to Luz, who immediately quoted the next line that came from one of the characters.

"'You'll never defeat us, Lich King! Not while we have the power of friendship.'"

"So, you've seen this movie before too, eh Luz?" Marcy asked in a friendly manner, doing her best to hide her emotions.

"Yeah… one of my all-time favorites." Luz said before a sad smile formed on her face. "My dad even took me to see it when it first came out in the theater. So… it means a lot to me."

Marcy gave a slight gasp, remembering when Luz told them all about her late father. "Oh Luz… I'm sorry… I didn't know I…"

"It's fine, it's fine…" Luz quickly assured but her smile faded. "I've seen this movie a hundred times at least and… sometimes my mom watches it with me… but… I've never really had a friend to… enjoy it with."

She then felt a gentle touch on her hand and looked to her side to see Marcy giving a supportive smile as she held her friend's hand firmly. "Well, now you do."

Luz blinked a few times and then smiled emotionally towards Marcy before wrapping her arms around her in the form of a hug, which Marcy was quick to return, feeling exactly the same way. As much as Marcy loved Anne and Sasha, she knew that they didn't always like the stuff she was into… but now she had a friend who shared her interests. She had a feeling when they first met, but this moment right here cemented it for her. Marcy had truly found a kindred spirit in Luz, and suffice to say, Luz felt the same way.

The two then turned their gaze towards the movie, both their arms still wrapped around each other as they saw the beginning of the climatic final battle.

"We should totally write a War of the Warlocks-Azura crossover fanfic." Luz said.

"Agreed." Marcy responded.

Done.

Now this was the chapter I've been wanting to write the most in this prologue arc, Luz and Marcy bonding. The two hit it off on a high note when they first met, but now they're practically inseparable. They have so much in common and they couldn't be any happier for it. I am really enjoying their friendship right now and it's going to play a big role in my story when they finally cross between worlds.

But not only that, I also enjoyed writing the rest of this chapter, such as the shoutout to the unfortunate passing of the author of 'Dragon Ball' Akira Toriyama.

And of course, there were the stories that the girls all shared with each other. And for the record, Luz's story 'The Night' is not my own creation, but rather a part of the fancomic series written by Morningmark, who has done some rather amazing fancomics for 'The Owl House' series, so credit goes to them for that.

But… because of those stories, we are starting to see the foundation for some tension building. Sasha has, for the first time ever, written her name in the Book of Losers, having lost the Scare Dare challenge to Luz. We'll be seeing that tension getting a more central focus in the next chapter as Luz finally starts to see some of the negative qualities in the girls' dynamic, notably with Sasha and… just like Luz's relationship with Marcy, the one between Luz and Sasha is going to have an impact on both of them as the story moves forward.

Not to mention… we saw a certain owl for the first time.

I can't wait for you all to see what I have in store with the next chapter. So, until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there. Love you guys.