Operation: SCARY, Part 1

Chapter 1: This Is Halloween

Nightmare Land

The morning sun was rising over the mid-space realm of Nightmare Land. Actually, Nightmare Land didn't have a technical sun, but it was morning nonetheless. The monstrous citizens of the town were up and about, all piling into the Fear Factory which belonged to their renowned king, Darkrai the Second. As everybody piled through the town, the Nightmare citizens sang a song.

Boys and ghouls of every age

Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

Come with us and you will see!

It's our town of Hallo-weeen!

The citizens all gathered into an auditorium, taking seats as lights lit up upon the stage. Customer Service sat at a piano, ready to play, as Darkrai's form appeared in the center, alit by a spotlight as he took a bow, a cane in his right hand, and a top-hat on his thin head. He tilted his head back up as he began to sing.

"Friends. It is, with great honor, that I say, Thank you all for coming. Today. Most joyous of all days. No one would want to miss, This most momentous of all days… Today.

"Erm… couldn't I think of anything else that rhymes with 'day'?" the king asked, flipping through a list of words. "Um, anyway!" He tossed the list away as he began walking back and forth upon the stage on his stubby legs.

"Today. Is. Halloween! Everybody make a scene! Trick or treat 'til the neighbors die of fright! For tonight! Is the one night a year, To go spread our fear. Without having worries of humanly queries. No nightlights, no stuffed bears. Not even full moon! We're FREE to roam the Earth! To nighttime from noon!

"Eh, Customer?" The spotlights shown onto Darkrai's assistant, who began to sing and play his piano.

"That's right there, Big Boss! This day, we cannot have loss. As kids eat candy and hurl, We put them in a scary swirl! And all, their, dreams, let them see, What this holiday MEEEEAAANS!"

More spotlights shone upon the stage, making Jar Jar Blinks' presence known to the audience as he began to dance around the stage.

"Hewwo. Good day. Can me-so come to play? Weally? I can? Well, le's get down to hand! I-sa… Me-sa named Jar Jar Blinks! I-sa goes with Da'ky, drinks the milky, scares the kiddies, until dey hardly dinks! I! Am! Me-sa Blinks, cannot dinks, and play tidily winks! I here to party… Ha'ween wit' you!" He jabbed fingers toward the audience. "And I has a dead body, too!" He held up the headless skeleton of Legion.

"Jar Jar!" Darkrai yelled. "I told you to get rid of that thing 20 years ago!"

"Awwww." Jar Jar was disappointed.

Meanwhile, deep within the dark dungeons of the factory, Oogie Boogie hung by his "wrists" by a chain from the ceiling, dangling over the floor as a row of hanging skeletons beside him bounced back and forth on his sides. He held an aching scowl as he listened to the singing.

"Well, well, well. What have we here? Nightmares and human children… having fun and cheer! They 'noy me. They ache me. I don't know which is worse. I might just split a seam now… if I don't die… from a headache FIRST!"

Oogie's head swelled up, until-

POP!

Up on stage, Darkrai continued to sing and dance. "We must be slick, Go out and trick, All the kids we can! But not to harm, It's really a charm, the fear across the land!"

Customer raised a finger and spoke, "But should anyone be forgetful of this one, little splendor… They must know, before they go, and see they remember…"

Everyone's eyes widened as they all moaned eerily.

"Oooo…" Darkrai moaned.

"Ooohhhh!" followed Customer.

"Ooooo…"

"OOOooo." Jar Jar moaned.

"Oooo-ooohhh…" the Nightmares chorused.

Darkrai raised his cane in the air and announced, "I'M THE NIGHTMARE KING!"

Quahog, Rhode Island

The morning sun rose over the town of Quahog. Crystal Wickens lay asleep peacefully in bed, awaking as the sun shone on her through her window. The purple-eyed woman opened her eyes, smiling with joy as she pushed off the covers, getting out of bed and pushing her window open, resting her arms on the windowsill as she stuck her head outside. She breathed in the cool autumn air through her nose as brown leaves continued to drop from the trees outside. The woman danced around her room in her bare feet and began to sing.

"Halloween, Halloween, Would it be all right? If a single grown woman took interest in your delight? Ever since I was a girl, This was my favorite day in the world! Every night, I'd bring fright, as I dress like a little witch." The woman threw off her nightgown and began dressing in her regular clothes, still singing and dancing. "I'd pretend to go flying through the night, Taking candy like a little…"

She spared a glance toward the camera and said, "Well, you get the drift." She sighed and continued,

"Ay, but alas, I'm afraid I'll have to pass. As every year now on this date, I go on patrol with me mates. Nolan as Sandman and I take watch up from the skies. But with hope and being lucky, the bad guys don't feel so plucky, and I can do like in the old days and rejoice my childish ways!" She smiled happily.

The Brotherhood's Hideout

"YO-HO! YO-HO!" The Candy Pirates danced to accordion music as Stickybeard sang. "Halloween's the best date for me and me mateeyys! Every year we take candy from ALL the little kiddies! We sail through the night, goin' from house to house! And all me pirate swabbies show off every fancy blouse!"

The Candy Pirates each exposed their blouses underneath.

Knightbrace sang with disgust, "Blech! Halloween is so disgusting. Every single pair of teeth, gets ruined by rotten candy! That really makes me seethe!"

Count Spankulot followed, "OH, cheer up, Knightbrace! Why, for my race, Halloween is sacred! We scare the little kiddies out of their LACEEES!"

York Household

Dillon York kicked open the door to his room and excitedly dashed down the hall and down the stairs. "Halloween is finally here! My favorite day of the year! And as soon as I get my costume! I can join in the fun that comes after NOOON!"

Nolan and Danika watched their son sprint out the door. "Whyyyy is everybody sinnngiiing?" Nolan asked.

"IIIII don't know, it's quite intriiiiguiiing." Danika replied.

"It doesn't matter nonetheless, no way my son is going to miss-"

"-His favorite of all holidays, where, at the end, he gets in a haze."

Sector W Treehouse

"'Tis another day I go-a soaring through the skies!" Fybi dashed into her bedroom closet and jumped out, her angel wings now dressed in bat wings as she wore black clothing. "Dressed like yonder bat! Who wouldst hath thought of that?"

"Goin' Mister Frankenstein!" Anthony sang.

"Pretty little ragdoll!" Sally followed. They were each dressed in their respective costumes.

"Cool polar bear." Harvey dressed as a polar bear with sunglasses.

"And a lovely little angel that soars across the air!" As Aranea danced out, dressed like an angel, wearing a white, flowing dress and Greek sandals, she looked up as Fybi looked down at her, the Nimbi looking angrily.

"HA, thou thinkst thou can stealst my act? Pray, watcheth thineself lest thou be bitten by a BAT!"

KND Moonbase

Cheren Uno stood atop his throne, overlooking the Moonbase bridge as he dressed as his ancestor, Link. "Kids Next Door all around! Let's take this party above the ground!"

Panini Drilovsky hopped around him, dressed like a certain pink bunny-rabbit. "Hoppin' on little bunny feet! As I wait for lots of treats!"

Mason and Haruka Dimalanta dashed in; Mason dressed like a tiger while Haruka dressed like a dragon. "We do the Yin-Yang thing!" Mason started.

"Showing off that bling!" Haruka finished.

Zach and Maddy Murphy then entered, Zach as a tiger and Maddy as a dragon. "Time to party as little monsters!" Zach started.

"'cept we're not really-"

However, the two danced their way to Mason and Haruka, the two pairs of siblings studying the others' same outfits.

"…Well, one of us is gonna hafta change." Zach said.

"We aren't changing!" Mason refuted. "We're descended from an actual Yin-Yang Spirit!"

"Shyeah. An EVIL spirit." Maddy replied.

"Whatever. Me and Haruka aren't changin'."

"Besides, I fit really well in the dragon outfit!" Haruka smiled.

"That's 'cause our dad was a dragon one time." Mason replied.

"Ugh. Metahumans." Maddy complained.

"Ah, crud! Mad, I left my favorite candy bag down at our house."

"We were going trick-or-treating, anyway, we'll get it when we go back to Earth."

"I can't leave it at home! What if our dog goes in it?"

"Ugh. Fine." With that, Maddy begrudgingly led her brother back to the hangar.

Cleveland, Virginia

Groups of children all piled into a single small shop as a red-haired man in a purple garb and a sparkling grin on his face handed masks out to many boys and girls.

"This is the holiday I make all the greatest sales! My Happy Little Mask Shop, it never fails!"

As Leanne Andrea stepped up to buy a mask, she took notice of a strange, heart-shaped mask that was decorated with spikes around the edge, and had a dark coloring, sitting on a back shelf. "Hey, Mister, how much for that mask back there?"

The Happy Mask Man turned around, his eyes widening with shock. "AAHH!" he ran over and covered his hands over the mask. "Th-That one's not for sale, little girl!"

"Ah, come on." Lee Andrew whined, stepping up with some cash. "I have 5 bucks."

"NO! Buy something else!" he yelled with anger in his eyes, though still keeping his grin.

"Okay, sheesh! Give me the skull-faced one." With that, Lee handed over the cash and bought the mask, while Leanne bought a creepy black, shadowy mask. As the Grayson kids left the shop, their shadows, Ash and Damien, glanced back toward the strange mask on the shelf, thinking it looked very familiar.

Nightmare Land

This is Halloween, this is Halloween

Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!

Bug-a-boo, a horned monster with many eyes jumped up from beneath a bed. "I AM THE ONE HIDING UNDER YOUR BED! Teeth growing sharp and many eyes RED!"

Mr. Pettibone, a skeleton wearing a top-hat and holding a cane danced out of a closet. "I am the skeleton in your closet! Hiding so I don't have to pay that bank deposit!"

A family of vampires—a mother, father, and son, awakened from their coffins and sang, "In this town, we call home, Everyone hail to the Pumpkin Song."

Customer Service announced across the town via intercom, "IN this town! Don't we love it now, Everybody's waiting for the night's surprise, so-"

As a blue ghost cat was flying by a trash can, a white werewolf wearing blue pajamas jumped out and scared it.

"SCR-R-REAM, it's Halloween!"

"Grey and black and-" Yaridovich followed.

"-red and green!" Bowyer said.

"Oh, AREN'T you scared?" Harry asked.

"Oh, that's fine!" Scary Godmother sang.

Orson the Vampire used a guillotine to chop the head off a doll and sang, "Tender lumplings everywhere. Life's no good without a good scare!"

"That's our job-" Count Max said.

"-But ve're not mean." Countess Ruby followed.

"In our town of Halloweeen."

"In this town! Don't we love it now, Everybody's WAITING for the next surprise!" Customer sang.

"Great King Darkrai's gonna make you die from a TERRIBLE scream, so listen to our KING!"

The spotlights shone upon Darkrai on the stage as the Nightmare King spoke. "And now… ladies and gentlemonsters: the coup de grace to the greatest holiday in the world! I present to you, the greatest of all Nightmares, the true King of Halloween. MY SON! My own non-flesh and bone, the heir to my throne, who makes every Halloween the SCARIEST Halloween in history…" The Nightmare King stepped aside as a hatch in the floor opened behind him, the spotlights aiming there. "Please, give a nightmarish moan for…"

Everybody's eyes widened, and all began moaning again.

"Ooo-oooo…" Darkrai started.

"Ohh-ohhh…" the Nightmares followed.

"Oo-ooo-"

"OOO-WEE-OOOO!" Jar Jar screeched.

"Ohh-OHHHH!"

Fire exploded from beneath the stage, and Darkrai's prized creation, Jack Skellington, emerged from below. "I'M THE PUMPKIN KING!"

The whole of the Nightmare audience burst into loud cheers.

"Jack…" the skeleton turned as his creator approached him, "after another year gone by, it's always good to see you… Son."

"It's always a pleasure to return to my hometown, Father." The bone man smiled. "Now to give these ghoulies the show they've been waiting for!" The skeleton jumped down into the audience, making them all gasp with astonishment.

"WELL, I'm BACK, everyone's favorite Jack! No one can deny I am the best, I scream the EARS right off those pests! As I look forward every year, to spread all the kiddies fear! Every year on Halloween, I really want to make them SCREAM! For no woman or man-" He waved his hand toward some female Nightmares, who fainted instantly. "Can SCREAM like I can! As our great king's son, I deliver greatest fright, and by OUR GOD… I REALLY WANT TO GIVE IT ALL MY MIGHT!"

The Nightmare citizens applauded as Jack took several bows.

"Thank you, thank you." Darkrai spoke. "As always, our Nightmare Prince will be leading all operations in spreading fear to all children on Earth, and providing our fair city with enough Fear Energy to last us another year. And now, to help plan the Halloween after-party, the wickedest witch of the west, the Scaryyyy GODMOTHER!"

Smoke beams erupted from the stage as a red-haired witch appeared on stage, making a pose as she hovered a few feet off the ground with bat wings on her back. "Thank you, Darkrai!" the witch cackled. "No way I'd miss out on the most important holiday of the year. Ahem, now, as you all know, it's every Nightmares' responsibility to scare as many kids as you possibly can. I don't think I need to explain we're not supposed to eat or HURT anyone. But once we're all finished, we'll have a feast of Fear Energy prepared, and lots and LOTS of candy!"

"YAAAAY!"

"Ooh, we can't have Halloween without candy, now, can we?" Harry the Werewolf cheered.

"Not for you, Harry." Scary Godmother scolded as she glared. "You ate a whole chunk of our candy last year, you're only getting a few pieces today. And aren't you supposed to be hanging cobwebs down at the Fright Side?"

"Hmph." Harry 'huffed' and grumpily made his way out of the audience. "Always with the Scary Taskmaster force, isn't it?"

"Ahh, this Halloween is going to be glorious, I can sense it." Darkrai spoke as his son stood beside him. "With you, I can always expect the best. On Halloween, Nightmares are stronger than ever, and kids are faced with their greatest fears. By facing those fears, they eventually gain the confidence and courage to stand up to anything. Plus, a good scare is always fun. And above all things, the Spirit of Halloween must live on. Humans dressing in costumes, imagining themselves as something else, getting sick and barfing on buckets of candy, and of course shivering with fright. Take care of it, Jack." The Pumpkin King nodded as the Nightmare King drifted away.

York Household

After Nolan and Danika had come downstairs, their excited son dashed over to Nolan. "Hey, Dad! Um, I was wondering… if you aren't too busy, you wanna go trick-or-treating together? I was thinking you could dress up as Batman, and I could go as Robin."

"Hehe." Nolan chuckled. "Sorry, Son. Gotta go on another stakeout with Crystal and Yuki. You know how villains get around this time."

"Oh…" Dillon looked down with disappointment. His smile returned, however, and he looked up and said, "Well, it's okay. I can always go with Leanne and the others." They heard the doorbell ring, and Dillon scampered over to answer it. "Hey, Ms. Wickens!"

"Hey, Dillon." Crystal smiled, rubbing the boy's head. "Ready for Halloween?"

"Yep! Going as Robin! In fact, I gotta go see if Leanne's ready. Later!" With that, the boy happily scampered off.

The purple-haired woman had a seat on Nolan's couch and asked, "So, I guess we're all ready for another stakeout?"

"E-yep." Nolan nodded.

"Again, Nolan?" Danika asked, squatting down to his eye level. "This'll be the tenth Halloween you skipped with your son. He really wants to spend this day with you."

"I want to, Danika, but villains get really active around this date. The Candy Pirates, Affright and those other guys, like Holiday. There's just no resting on this date."

"But you hardly ever spend time with your son in general. Would it hurt to skip just one Halloween of staking out?"

"I'm all for that." Crystal commented, resting her feet on their living room table. "I wouldn't mind going out for a little tricking myself. I already got a certain somebody in mind." She smirked at the window, toward the direction of the Murphy household.

Nolan looked across the street to their house, watching as Zach was getting his tiger costume's butt chewed by their dog. "Gahh! Sparky! It's me! Gyaaahhhh!"

Nolan chuckled at this. "I think they already accomplished that themselves."

"Still, Nolan, you really oughta go with your son." Danika said once more. "He's excited now, but someday, he might get tired of Halloween. This could be your last chance."

"Sigh…" Nolan sighed depressedly, "Maybe…"

"Aw, do it, Nolan." Crystal smiled. "Batman was your favorite comic. You and Dillon'd look cute together, a little boy and his daddy. And not many kids take interest in their parents, you're lucky."

Nolan spared a glance to the door in the direction his son ran off, lost in thought over the women's words.

Fiery dungeon

Within the fiery depths of the Underworld, a lone shadowy figure stood before a magic cauldron. He watched the cauldron as visions of the Nightmares and the many Kids Next Door operatives sang in celebration of their favorite holiday. His pale-green eyes glared at the excited younglings, and his pure white fangs stretched into an evil smirk.

Breathing mortals, blood-filled necks

Soon to be mine down here in Heck.

Let them have their fun all upstairs

Because soon, they're doomed for a frightful scare.

"JACK O'Lantern…" the being angrily called out.

From the fires, a man in a white shirt, gardening gloves, a hat with a feather, and a jack-o-lantern head, stepped out with a sack of some unknown ingredients. His jack-o-lantern head was riddled with cracks, as it looks like he was broken and fixed together recently. "Patience, Dracy! A good prank takes time to perfect."

"Just hurry. The sooner we're out of this dungeon, the better."

Jack O'Lantern poured the ingredients into the cauldron and proceeded to stir with a stick. He then rose the stirring stick into the air, revealing it to be a silver scythe with a light-brown hilt, similar to the Grim Reaper's. "Ahhh… it's not the Grim Reaper's scythe, but it looks just as brilliant. This'll be enough to give those kiddies the ultimate scare." He said with a smirk.

"Very soon, the Nightmares will regret having ever banished me to this Hell. And this time… there will be no bats…"

"OH, no one likes bats, no sirree!" The jack-o-lantern broke into wicked cackles. "Ohh, just wait, Dracy! Once this prank goes through, this'll be the greatest Halloween ever! AHH HAHAHAHA! BAHH HA HA HA HA!" The shadowy man kept his devilish smirk as the pumpkin man laughed.

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Kids Next Door mission…

Operation:

S.C.A.R.Y.

Spooky

Creepy

Abominations

Roughhouse

Youth

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