Will's Halloween Adventure By Ardweden "Halloween is coming, the goose is getting fat..." Will stopped his moping to turn to the object of his annoyance. "Put another treat in the old man's hat," the ant continued to sing. "Shut up! I have enough on my mind trying to find a costume; I don't need to be bothered by your noise!" William yelled at the insect. The ant blinked and immediately began groveling. "Yes, Great One. So sorry; it won't happen again." "Yeah, well, go away." The ant ran away as fast as he could, glad he didn't anger his god too much. William sighed and clutched his head again. "What's the matter?" Delphia asked sweetly as she walked up to her husband. "Halloween's only a day away and I don't have a costume yet," Will complained. "Why don't you be the pink bunny you are last year?" "Because it's dumb, and it's not fitting for the Lord of the Ants and leader of the TMF." Delphia huffed. "I think the bunny costume is very cute. If you have such high standards, then go shopping with the rest of your TMF friends. See if I care!" She grabbed the bunny costume and walked into the sewing room, slamming the door behind her. "If I had such high standards, why did I marry her?" William asked himself, in a voice too low for Delphia to hear. He held his key and concentrated. *Dannysmartful, transport me to Teshi. I want to go costume shopping with the rest of you.* Will's key glowed black, and he vanished in a flash of light. Delphia started to shorten the bunny costume. Will reappeared in the city of Teshi. Triangle Square, to be exact. "I'm glad you decided to join us," Dannysmartful said. William nodded and looked around. Halloween decorations covered every shop in the square, and right in front of the TMF stood the Mondo Costume Shop for Your Halloween Needs, the largest costume shop in Ineckey. In the background, he heard Ardweden and Cherden arguing, which was typical, unless Delphia was there. Then they'd both argue with her. "I say we trick or treat in Chicagle," Ardweden said stubbornly. "Teshi would have more goodies," Cherden replied equally as stubbornly. "Chicagle." "Teshi." "Chicagle!" "Teshi!" "CHICAGLE!" "TESHI!" "How about Viti-Alamin?" Nephadia suggested. "Stay out of this!" Ardweden and Cherden shouted in unison. Will and Dannysmartful looked at the three quarreling girls. "Um," Will began. He really did need a costume. Dannysmartful walked up to them. "Why don't we trick or treat in all of those places? I can just teleport us." Ardweden and Cherden's mouths dropped open. The first to recover, Cherden said, "I still say Teshi has more goodies." "But Chicagle has better ones." The rest of the TMF sighed and led the arguing pair into the costume shop. Once inside, Cherden and Ardweden immediately stopped arguing and looked intently at every costume, remarking to each other how clever or stupid each was. Dannysmartful screamed and ran to a costume-less corner of the shop, because all the costumes were so scary. Nephadia wandered aimlessly through the racks, while Will just stood in the doorway. Finally, Will got tired of standing in one place and looked at the costumes, never finding the one he wanted. He continued wandering until he found Nephadia. She was inspecting a butterfly costume and a fly costume. "Yes, I know the fly costume has suction feet, but the butterfly's prettier," she said, admiring the blue and gold wings of the costume. She rolled her eyes. "What if we need to climb a wall?" she asked incredulously. "Pepper, you know we'd have Ardweden do it and throw a rope down for the rest of us." There was a pause, and she frowned. "If she's not with us, we'd have Cherden grow vines for us to climb up." Nephadia stopped, listened intently, and sighed. "You're right, it's your costume too. Here, I'll get both costumes, cut off the fly suctions, and sew them on to the butterfly. And don't start with me, Pepper! You know I sew better than you do." Will quietly walked away from Nephadia. If he didn't know any better, he'd say she's schizophrenic. Actually, she was forced to share her body with her twin, Pepperalki. Or was that the other way around? While William was pondering Nephadia and Pepperalki's predicament, he vaguely realized that he wasn't in the costume section anymore. He saw Dannysmartful huddling in the corner. "Have a costume yet?" Will asked. "Yes, I had one made. I don't know why I'm here; it's so scary. Some of those costumes can suffocate people, you know," was the reply. William sighed and walked back to the costumes. At midnight, he still didn't find one, even though the rest of The Magic Few did. "It's one in the morning. Why don't we get some ice cream and go to bed?" Ardweden suggested. Nobody argued with her, not even Cherden. Ardweden always insisted it was one in the morning, thanks to her subconscious. It was like she lived in her own separate time zone. The TMF left the shop and were pondering where they should eat when Cherden was rudely shoved from behind. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" she snapped. The man who shoved her nodded, looked around in fear, and ran away. "What are all these people running from?" a confused Ardweden asked no one in particular. "Maybe a giant smashing pumpkin?" Nephadia suggested. The TMF turned slowly around to see an enormous Jack O' Lantern, about thirty-six feet tall, merrily hopping down the street and smashing everything in sight. Dannysmartful paled and grabbed the costumes. "I'll guard the costumes and check his thoughts," he said hurriedly, and headed in the same direction as the frightened people. Will shook his head, expecting as much. He would run, too, but his power required him to be closer to the bad guy. It just wasn't fair! The giant smashing pumpkin continued hopping and bopping and smashing things in general when it reached the TMF. Surprised, it skidded to a halt. "Who dares defy the will of the Giant Smashing Pumpkin?" it boomed. Nephadia's eyes changed from brown to red. "We do, ugly!" Pepperalki declared. "The TMF! You're not gonna get away with smashing people's houses!" The pumpkin's eyes grew wide. "Oh! I'm so sorry. You see, people have lost touch with the spirit of Halloween. Children no longer run around playing tricks on old ladies, no witches truly fly..." The Jack O' Lantern let a giant tear roll down its cheek. *Actually,* Dannysmartful's voice corrected in the TMF's minds, *He just wants all the candy.* Pepperalki scowled. "No one takes my candy!" she screamed, outraged. She raised her key and blasted the pumpkin with fire. William pointed his own key at the pumpkin and added black lightning to the mix. Pepperalki laughed insanely. "One pumpkin, burnt and fried to a crisp. Just like Momma used to make." The pumpkin winced. Things were not going as planned. It popped its lid off, and a giant black panther hopped out of it. "Attack! Attack them!" the giant smashing pumpkin ordered it. Instead of attacking the TMF, the panther turned its great golden eyes to the fire. It stood, entranced, then quickly ran away, endangering everyone in its path. "We have to stop it, or it'll hurt someone!" Cherden cried. "Yeah, just do it quickly," Will yelled over the sound of his own thunder. He wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer. Cherden nodded, and she and Ardweden raced after the panther. "Can you stop it?" Cherden asked breathlessly. Ardweden nodded and sped up, passing Cherden. When she almost reached the cat, she concentrated and spread her arms wide, enclosing the panther in a cage of ice. Cherden walked up to the panther, her key glowing bright green. She reached out to the panther, her hands glowing the same color as she touched its fur. "There kitty. Nice kitty," she murmured. Will and Pepperalki were not having fun. After dodging numerous flaming candles and giant trick or treat bags, they decided to hide behind a block of rubble, shooting flame and lightning at the pumpkin. William was about to ask Dannysmartful what was taking them so long when he heard a familiar yell from down the street. Cherden and Ardweden made a grand entrance, riding on the back of the giant panther, using reins of ice to control it. The panther pounced on the pumpkin, throwing it off balance. "Now!" Ardweden shouted, as Pepperalki and Will threw everything they had at the pumpkin. Screaming, it exploded into enough pumpkin pies to feed Teshi for a year. After the smoke cleared, Dannysmartful appeared. "Yes! I knew you guys could do it!" he said happily. He handed everyone's costumes back. "Why don't we skip the ice cream and go home? I don't want to be around when the residents find out about the mess we made." The TMF agreed, and Dannysmartful teleported everyone home, sending the panther to Cherden's mansion, it being a safe haven for all cats. William's night was a restless one. Delphia still wouldn't talk to him, and he didn't have a costume. After tossing and turning, he finally fell asleep, and dreamed.