Pokecharms Halloween RP! All Hallow's Eve

[Dwayna DragonFire]

"I am Edward," he acknowledged with a slight nod of his head. "I am pleased that My Lady has mentioned me to some of her friends." He smiled his pink, friendly smile towards Brendan, fidgeting all the while. Some underlying emotions were causing him to move involuntarily, most of which he didn't quite understand yet.

Just then, his aural sensors picked up the rhythm and tune of what was referred to as a 'slow song', and his fidgeting stopped immediately as his visor turned a bashful red. He slowly turned to Dwayna, who seemed to be lost in some memories but soon turned to look back at him curiously. Edward opened his mouth but felt lost for words for the first time in his life, as if his non-existent breath had been stolen from him.

Dwayna seemed to understand just what he wanted - like she always did - as she held out a hand towards him to invite him to dance with her. He timidly reached towards it and gently touched a finger to her skin, feeling her hand encompass his and pull him closer to her. He could not deny her when she grasped his other hand and put both gently on her hips, placing her hands around his shoulders in the standard 'slow dance' positions. Edward's sensors went a deeper red than before as they began to sway together to the music, getting closer as they rotated around the dance floor.

He found himself thinking that nothing could ruin this moment, and little did he know that Dwayna thought the same.

 

[Sem]

OOC: Righty, Zacky's online capabilities have been incapacitated so he gave me the go ahead to move the plot along. Weeeeeee

BIC:
The party was still in full swing, with people hanging out, meeting others, and generally just having a good time. No one knew that anything was wrong until people in the middle of the dance floor began to scream, backing away from a being that was manifesting itself there. The bright lights that were centered on the dance floor flickered and dimmed, casting the already dark castle into a deeper darkness. The music stuttered and skipped before dying out completely, leaving the DJ completely clueless.

People screamed all the more at the failing lights and music, but that was all the noise there seemed to be now. The yells and cries echoed off of the stone walls. A mass of darkness had gathered in the middle of the dance floor, colored a black so deep it made people back away, thinking they would fall into it. The darkness shaped itself into a hunched shape that towered over even the tallest Charmsian by at least a foot, effectively allowing anyone in the room to see it. Tendrils of shadow streamed out from where the shadow had rooted itself into the ground, snaking and writhing around the floor. To larger tendrils appeared near the top of the mass, looking like arms with massive claws. Finally, a pumpkin emerged from out of the abyss and settled itself on top of the figure. It was a jack-o-lanturn, and its mouth, nose, and eyes were now the brightest things in the room, glowing with a warm orange light. The pumpkin head looked around with a hollow expression at first, but the face changed it's expression. If Sem had to put a finger on the expression he would say it was a mix of disgust and arrogance.

"... Nice costume?" Lysis muttered to herself and those nearby, putting a hand on the hilt of her cutlass. Something definitely wasn't right. Sem, Lysis, RX, Z-I.M.D.A.S, and Chadwyck were all in the middle of the dance floor, where the mysterious new individual appeared. The five of them along with several others formed a loose ring around the shadow-beast, giving it a wide radius.

"Well," the pumpkin muttered. It was a deep voice, and sounded as hollow as the pumpkin from which it came. "Guess I should introduce myself to you... fine people," he continued with a glare. "My name is Jack Hallows, and we're going to do things a bit differently tonight."

"Who does this guy think he is?" somebody in the crowd said.

Jack ignored the question, though focused for one moment upon the person who had said it and smiled a bone-chilling grin. Fear seemed to emanate from the creature, and the more his presence lingered, the stronger it became. "You all simply love to celebrate this holiday. Love to dress up as silly characters and be 'scared'. Representations of fear are littered all over this place. Corpses rotting out front, lightning flashing over this dark castle, fake webs everywhere filled with ridiculous little plastic spiders. Fake blood splattered on the walls, ghost holograms wandering the halls, the occasional blood curdling screams. Does this all really scream fear to you people?"

He waited, scanning his silent audience. No one said anything for a moment.

"What the hell do you care?" Lysis asked him. "I don't know who you think you are but you've got a lot of nerve crashing this party." She wasn't afraid, just annoyed. This guy was being way too serious when he should be having a good time - and he gave off a vibe of arrogance that didn't particularly rub her the right way..

"Fool," the monster replied, ignoring her statement as well. "All of you are fools! None of you have the tiniest of inklings of what fear truly is. Let me tell you - none of this idiocy you have yourselves surrounded in even compares." His form stretched even higher as spires of inky black burst from his back, taking the shape of web-less bat wings. "This is what separates me from the rest of you. I know all that is true fear - I am true fear - and all of you will be powerless in the face of true fear. I am the superior being in this place - bow down to your master."

Zacky, who had stood listening by the buffet tables, had heard enough by this point. "I'm done listening to this asshole," he said as took hold of his sword, Flammadeus and held it firmly in his hands. Fire shout out of his mouth as he let loose a roar, lighting up the room as he charged forward at full speed. Charmsians barely had time to stumble out of his way as he stampeded towards Jack Hallows. The blade burst into flames as Zacky drove it straight into Jack's chest, where his heart would be - not that anyone in the room thought that Jack Hallows had one.

Jack Hallows didn't seem particularly fazed by the impalement. The sword stuck out of his back, still on the fire, but the flames weren't harming the creature's body at all. Jack smiled again and grabbed onto Flammadeus' hilt and forced it further into his body, putting his face mere inches away from Zacky's. "And what are you afraid of, hm?" he asked. In one quick motion Jack had one of his monstrous clawed hands around Zacky's throat, lifting the young man up into the air. "Aaha, I see now..." he said with a chuckle after a moment. The arm elongated, holding the fire-manipulator further away. The sword, still firmly in Zacky's grasp despite his situation, slid out of the monster's body as Zacky was held away from Hallows' body. There was a large hole left from the sword, but it was quickly filled in by more darkness.

Sem knew that is was not good, and he needed to do something, but the safety of the rest of the Charmsians came first. Just then Zacky was thrown all the way across the room, where he crashed into the stone wall and crumpled to the ground.

"Well, after that remarkable waste of time, let me continue," Jack said, turning back to face everyone else. "If you refuse to recognize me as your superior, then I will simply have to show you. You will know what true fear is - and I will be the one to show you." Hey waved his arms and from his body flew out dozens of dark shapes. They bore simple faces - two holes for eyes and one gaping hole for a mouth. They were spirits, and they all headed for the Charmsian closest to them. Screams erupted in the hall as the spirits attacked the members, phasing themselves through the bodies of the members before hanging suspended in the air for a short time. They became shapeless, as if preparing to morph into another creature.

Lysis went into action immediately, drawing her antique sword. She focused her telekinetic energy into the blade and swung at one of the spirits that was heading directly for Sem. She swung at another and then another, cutting them cleanly in half. But that didn't kill them. They simply reformed and went back at the duo with more ferocity. There were simply too many, and after a moment both of them felt a severe chill as spirits passed through their bodies. Sem wasn't affected by the cold, he liked the cold, but the sensation of the spirit passing through his body was different. It was nothing like physical cold.

Both spirits were no where to be seen, but that wasn't important. The room was in a panic. People were screaming wildly and there was no order - only chaos.

Before the shades could take new shapes Jack Hallows cast them out of the castle, ordering them to attack the city. "I challenge you to go out there and face your fears, infidels. You are the only person who can conquer your fear, and if you fail... well, try not to think about that," he said darkly. "Conquer them and perhaps you'll have chance against me. I will prove myself to be the superior being, and if I am currently not, then I will fight the superior being..." As he said this there was a powerful pull of gravity towards his body as it imploded into itself and vanished completely, leaving a dumbfounded group of Charmsians in its wake.

Almost immediately the screaming returned and panic ensued.

"Sem, what do you want to do?" Lysis asked the otterfish.

"We need to get everyone to stay where they are. If they go out into the city on their own who knows what will happen to them..." Sem replied, trying to get a grasp on the situation. The screaming only got louder, however, as it seemed that some of the spirits had returned, chasing people out of the castle in the form of their worst fears. "No! Come back!" Sem yelled after them, but to no avail. More spirits came in unimaginable numbers and began to fill up the castle. It would be impossible to stay. "Get them out!" Sem said then, saying the exact opposite of what he was saying just moments before.

Lysis drew her pistol and fired her single shot into the air in an attempt to get everyone's attention. "Everyone leave the castle asap!"

"Don't go off on your own!" Sem insisted, but so many of the Charmsians had already gone there was no knowing what they would do. He sighed, looking over at RX, Z-I.M.D.A.S, and Chad. "Let's get out of here..." he said, his voice echoing off the stone walls of the castle as the spirits multiplied.

OOC: Righty, hopefully I got Jack down to even remotely close to what Zacky had envisioned xP Anyway yeah, feel free to start tackling your fears people - just don't make it too easy.

 

[Kerauno]

Kera could barely hear anything over the screaming in his ears. Kaitlyn was screaming bloody murder at the top of her lungs, tears streaming down her glittery face. He snatched her purse from her wrist and stuffed it in her mouth, muffling the sound.

She promptly spat it out and screeched, “What are we gonna do?! What are we gonna do?! What are we gonna doooooo?!!”

“First off, Kaitlyn,” Kera said shakily. “Shut up. Second of all, we are getting out of here.” He grabbed her by the hand and dragged her through the dense, chaotic crowd. Kaitlyn was still sobbing hysterically, and Kera was trying not to scream himself.

Suddenly, Kera fell face-first onto the floor. In the chaos of the moment, many chairs had been overturned, and he had tripped over one. Kaitlyn’s hand slipped from his, and he saw a bright light as his face hit the floor.

He got up unsteadily and stumbled around. He felt his chin; it was wet and warm; he was spurting blood, but he didn’t care. He had to find Kaitlyn. She shoved his way around, trying to find the girl. He glimpsed her standing away from the crowd, crouched down and clutching her knees.

Kera shoved toward her and shouted, “Kaitlyn, what are you doing? Get out of here, it’s not safe!” She seemed to not hear him. She just sat there, rocking on her heels and muttering under her breath. Kera ran up to her and grabbed her by the arm. She promptly screamed and slapped him on the face as hard as she could.

He stumbled back and looked at her with pure shock. She was now standing and clasping her shoulders and crying as loud as possible. What is wrong with her, Kera thought. He marched up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her firmly.

“Kaitlyn, get a grip on yourself! If we get back home, we’ll be safe. Please, just cooperate with me.” She said nothing, but looked around wildly. Her wide blue eyes rested upon him and she stammered weakly, “K-Kera? Is that you? I-I can’t see anything... it’s so dark...”

Kera was puzzled; the room was fairly alight with the fires burning, but she seemed sincere. She couldn’t possibly be blind. What could be wrong with her?

Suddenly, he felt a chilling sensation pass right through him, but it was nothing like he’d ever experienced before. He’d felt the below-zero temperatures of the Yukon Territory; but this was colder, if possible. It was so cold it almost burned.

Kaitlyn bawled louder. “Someone, please, turn on the lights! It’s too dark!” Kera grabbed her by the arm and pulled her through the crowd, the cold feeling still numbing him to the core. He felt an uncomfortable prickling on his skin, like a million ants crawling across it.

He shoved himself and Kaitlyn against the wall near the restrooms. She sank to the floor, still crying. Kera gripped the handle of his dagger, Nightmare; he had the strangest feeling he would be needing it. He suddenly felt something tickling his neck. He swung around, his dagger glinting fiercely. He found that it was only a cobweb. He shuddered, the prickling feeling returning. Kaitlyn’s noisy bawling pulled him from his thoughts.

“K-Kera, where are y-you? I can’t s-see... H-help me!” Kera took her hand and lifted her up. Her bawling decreased in volume. She stiffened and stuttered, “Wh-why is it so hot in h-here?”

Kera looked at her puzzlingly; he did not feel warm in the slightest. The coldness was still inside him. But then, he felt what she felt; a searing pain on his back, like someone was holding a torch to it. He spun around, holding Nightmare out in front of him.

He dropped the weapon; it had suddenly become searing hot, but that’s not why he had dropped it. Sitting in front of him, was a spider. But it was not a mere garden spider; it was a ten foot tall Black Widow, gnashing its lethal pincers. But not only was it enormous; it was on fire.

Kera stared up at the spider, its eight intelligent eyes looking back at him hungrily. Kera’s eyes widened with fright as he whispered “Help me.” Then he proceeded to scream the loudest, shrillest scream he had ever screamed.

(OoC: Okay, so, most of you may know what I'm afraid of; flaming spiders. I'll let you all guess what Kaitlyn's afraid of. I just need to set the stage for the fears and what-not. Bai~)

 

[Dwayna DragonFire]

((OOC: WARNING. This post may be morbid for some viewers.))

BIC:

Suddenly, everyone's happy moment was crashed as screaming arose when darkness began to fall upon them more rapidly then it should have, and a gigantic jack-o-lantern popped it's head up out of the blackness. The being looked to be disgusted with the lot of them, and went into a typical villainous speech of explaining exactly why. His reason was much more sinister then Dwayna expected when she heard the entire thing, the creature wanting to strike fear into people's hearts.

"I'm detecting massive amounts of negative energy from the creature," said Edward, already deeply concerned. "It looks to be about ready to expel all of it's power. By my calculations, the creature should attack us... on a spiritual level." That is when Edward's expression dropped for the first time in his life at the realization of the magnitude of this situation.

It was all too late when his prediction had indeed come true and spirits of pure negative energy manifested as they passed through the bodies of the living. A spirit made it's way through himself and Dwayna as well, and a new feeling rushed throughout him as he suddenly felt... cold. It was an impossibility the way he had been built, it was not-

His train of thought stopped and he watched in mortified horror as Dwayna screamed out louder than she ever had before. The limbs that he had lovingly crafted for her were crumbling away to dust, also an impossibility because of the metals involved. He ran to catch her, but turned her over in his arms to only see the cold stare of dead, empty eyes.

Meanwhile, in Dwayna's perspective, everyone's screaming multiplied as their skin started to melt off of them, the flesh burning and crumbling into nothing but bleeding muscle. She fell to her knees at the horror of everyone she loved dying, not even bothering to look back in Edward's direction as her worst fear unfolded in front of her eyes. She screamed as loud as her lungs would allow her and felt anger, sorrow and fear swell within her heart. Who was evil enough to cause such torture and terror, such destruction?

A familiar, haunting cackle filled her ears, and she looked up in positive fear into striking purple eyes peering out from short, black bangs and a face that looked all to much like hers. It couldn't be... Dwayna thought somewhere incoherently amongst the chaos, She's long since dead! The Androids made sure of it! Thinking of such things made her think of Edward, but she could not bare to turn her head away as the slow grin spread across the face of her ultimate evil... her superior. She clutched her arm in pain as she vividly remembered how this woman had taken them from her, and in that moment she knew everyone would be lost again. She would be lost again.

Her loved ones lost their lives again to the one they called her alter-ego... to the one known as Violet.

 

[Chadwyck]

Lysis had dragged Chadwyck out onto the dancefloor, the place that he had been trying to avoid; he wasn't an exceptional dancer in any way. Still, swing dancing was something that he actually enjoyed and, surprisingly, he knew what he was doing. Somewhat. They were busy dancing, the term used lightly as it was more Lysis moving gracefully and Chadwyck trying to remember whether it was right, left, right or left, right, left. Either way, he pulled it off convincingly.

The young man didn't notice the pool of darkness forming nearby, he was too engrossed in paying attention to his own feet than anything else, and it wasn't until the screams started that he snapped back into full awareness. Just in time to see the monster forming beside them. Chad and Lysis fell in line with Sem, RX, and Z-I.M.D.A.S., they were the closest to the new individual; who happened to be a jack-o-lantern that could talk and even change his facial expression. He was unnerving, and his way of speech was so wrought with disgust that Chadwyck nearly couldn't take it. He wanted to shut the great monster up, but found himself too engrossed in what it was saying.

It wanted to show them true fear, and in the pit of his stomach Chadwyck knew that it was only too capable of doing so. Zacky, on the other hand, didn't seem content to continue listening to the monstrous monologue of fright and attacked the beast straight on. Which didn't seem to do much other than annoy the creature, who sent Zacky reeling through the air into a wall.

"Bastard..." Chadwyck muttered glaring at Jack Hallows. Anything that was going through his mind was wiped out after that, however, as spirits began to rush toward the 'Charmsians throughout the great hall. Lysis went into action; so Chadwyck figured that he may as well give it a shot as well. He held a hand out to either side, forming two short blades of blue flames. He managed to fend of several spirits, halving them as they approached. Only afterward did he realize that they weren't disposed of, instead he had managed to surround himself; it wasn't exactly a great spot to be in.

He quickly calculated his next move before he noted that there wasn't really a next move to be made. All too suddenly one of the things had managed to invade Chadwyck's body, and he felt a cold unlike anything he had ever felt before. It was in his core, beyond the flesh and the bones, it was in his spirit. His entire being felt frozen. He was terrified for a brief moment, as his worst fears flashed through his mind, they were so vivid, so real; he was trembling, but whether from the cold or from fear he couldn't say.

Afterward the spirit had gone as quickly as it had come, flying out of the castle and into the city. Chadwyck couldn't shake the vividness of his fears, he was breathing heavily until he heard the gun shot. Lysis shouted, followed by Sem. Chadwyck was brought back to reality just in time to hear Sem suggest they all leave. "Yeah..." He began, looking around at the chaos and the fear that Jack Hallows had created, "Any idea where we should go? The whole city's going to hell." He commented hearing the shrieks and spine-tingling screams. And somewhere out there, he knew that his own worst fears were waiting for him.

 

[Dark Soul]

Everyone jumped as a deep, raspy voice was heard from behind the group. The source was quickly discovered though, as for one thing, the voice said ‘LOWER’ And directly after the voice was heard, Indie appeared, laughing at their shocked expressions.

While their hearts slowed down again, Tunduli and Toru were the first to greet Indie. Dark smiled at his ‘sheepy’ friend, who was one of the two geokinetics on ‘Charms. ‘Hey Indie, how you doin’?’ He asked.

Just then, Toru called out to them from the dance floor. Dark Soul and Tunduli followed him swiftly, and he saw Dwayna Dragonfire together with someone he recognized from one of her fic’s, one based on his favourite RP; Things of Myth and Legend. The person in question was Edward, a male Android; A robot with feelings. Near them were Brendan and Secad, who were also dancing together.
The music slowed down after the last note of Lady GaGa, and Dark Soul smiled at Tunduli. ‘May I have this dance, milady?’ He asked her with what he hoped was a Victorian accent.

Just then, the light flickered and the music stopped. He looked around, confused, as were all the others.
Suddenly, someone screamed- A shadow appeared on the middle of the dancefloor, and people ran from it, the crowd collecting near the edges of the room. Dark Soul grabbed Tunduli’s shoulder and gently pushed her back, away from the growing dark matter that was taking shape in the middle of the room.

The shadow grew, until it was way above every ‘Charmsian in the room. A pumpkin head appeared from it, and dark matter formed below the pumpkin that seemed to be the creature’s head.

A low, hollow voice vibrated echoed through the room. The darkness, as Dark Soul was not sure what kind of phenomenon he had to classify it as, introduced itself by the name of Jack Hallow. Jack started to rant about the not-so-scary items that were supposed to invoke fear who were all over the place. He still wasn’t sure whether this was some kind of joke or not- But he didn’t think so; Jack seemed to emanate fear in a way not even Dr. Oak did at his angriest moments.

Lysis, who was with Sem, called out to him: ‘What the hell do you care? I don’t know who you think you are, but you’ve got a lot of nerve crashing this party.’ Dark Soul heard a very soft mutter of agreement.
"Fool. All of you are fools! None of you have the tiniest of inklings of what fear truly is. Let me tell you; None of this idiocy you have yourselves surrounded in even compares.’ Black wings sprouted from his back, looking remarkably bat-like. He was sure this wasn’t any good now, and he raised his hand; A diamond staff in the form of a lightning bolt appeared in his hands, the only weapon that Dark Soul currently had on him. Around him, he heard gasps, as this clearly indicated that he recognized Jack as something dangerous. Jack finished his rant with a declaration that he was the superior being here, and that they should all bow down to them.

Dark Soul twirled his staff around and started building up energy- but he didn’t get to releasing it and hurling lightning at Jack, because Zacky was the first one to react; He stormed at Jack with a long flame billowing from his mouth, and he couldn’t risk hitting Zacky with his lightning.

Zacky’s sword, Flammadeus, hit Jack right where his heart would have been. But nothing happened; The sword kept flaming but the fire didn’t seem to hurt Jack. Dark Soul groaned; There went one of the possibilities for him to hurt Jack. Jack just laughed and hurled Zacky across the room, against the wall.

Jack Hallows spread his arms and ghostly figures appeared from him; Grey figures with three holes for eyes and mouth, that flew straight at the ‘Charmsians. Quickly building up his energy and releasing it, Dark Soul shot two long rays of lightning at two ghosts, one of which was aimed at him and the other one at Tunduli. He expected the ghosts to disintegrate, but they just reformed and flew straight trough them. He suddenly felt cold. Really cold.

The entire room was in panic. Everyone was shouting and screaming, running about, it was utter chaos. Jack challenged them to go out and defeat their fears, and with that, he disappeared. More and more spirits appeared, and people started running towards the exit. He heard the sound of a gunshot, and a woman telling them to leave the castle.
Dark Soul turned to Tun, Toru, Indie, and the rest of his friends. ‘Guys, we have to get out of here! I don’t know what those spirits did to us, but it can’t be good…’

 

[Power Metal Maiden~]

Rain watched the shadow form in the middle of the floor, but she legitimately thought it was a joke made up by another member. She pointed at it, trying to get PokeKid to look. "That's so cool..look at those shadows..and WHOA! Look at the Pumpkin Head!" Rain was stunned by the fear the creature was generating just by speaking. Sure, he sounded threatening, but wasn't that part of the joke?

Finally deciding to shut up and listen after watching Zacky rush the thing to no avail, she slowly realized this was something to be afraid of. Rain shivered violently, trying to back away slowly from the shadow spirit that was coming towards her. It kept coming, before finally passing through her.

She gasped in fear, falling to her knees as she felt as if a million..tiny..little..legs where crawling all over her skin. Screaming, Rain wanted to reach for her friend, but she was frozen in place. Fear had paralyzed her, just as it always did whenever her eyes set sight on an arachnid. "Nick! Please, please get them off of me!!" She was sobbing, tears streaming down her cheeks. Blackness slowly came over her sight, she was blacking out from the extreme fear she felt. It seemed like no matter how much she cried, no one was coming to help. She couldn't even speak anymore, the sensation felt worse and worse every second. Inside, she prayed and she prayed HARD that Nick would help her.

 

[Brendan Savem]

Brendan grinned and gave Edward a thumbs-up as Dwayna led the dumbstruck android across the floor. Clearly these androids that Edward was one of were not your average human-lookalike robots.

“Do you want to dance?” Secad suddenly asked. Brendan looked back at the pyrokinetic to comprehend what she just said. In that moment, he saw a beautiful young lady with a lovely grin across her face, wearing a floral dress that blew gently without needing wind. In one instant, this figure of beauty was all he saw. In the next, the details that belonged to Secad molded themselves in. In that one moment however, he saw Secad in a different light, a way he hasn’t looked at anyone else before.

“Of course Secad. You can take this one out to the dance floor.” Brendan replied, those words caught him before he floated off into a dream and kept him in reality.

“Just watch your feet. I certainly cannot dance.” Secad advised.

“Then allow me,” Brendan said, raising Secad’s hand and taking it in his own, “to teach you how.” Brendan laid his hand on Secad’s hip and slowly led her around the dance floor.

“It’s just a matter of feeling the music, and learning to move with it.” Brendan explained. “Once you’ve got that down,” Brendan then raised his hand high and moved it over Secad’s head, taking her into a twirl: a slightly clumsy one at that, “You can do just about anything.” Brendan continued to encourage and tutor her through each movement, and her own movements began to improve, to a certain extent at least. Brendan felt like he could bear her dancing enough to go on all night.

That is of course if things didn’t start getting out of hand. Just another Halloween for Brendan.

* * * * * * *​

It all started with the screams, then the shadows, and then Jack Pumpkinhead himself jumped out of an Oz book with a few threats for the Charmisians. It looked like the party’s grand finale at first. That was until it took care of the restless Zacky in a rather violent manner.

“Can’t be an illusion if it could do that. A scarecrow.” Brendan murmured, still puzzled by the intentions of the puppet master of this little show. However, as what happened next proved, they weren’t in the audience. They were starring in their own horror puppet show, Complete with their own spiritual puppet strings.

Brendan didn’t have time to react to one of the monstrous shadows passing through him. He and Secad were both near the middle of the dance floor. In fact, the only thing that separated him from Hallows was open air and a Sem. Unlike the other shadows however, this one didn’t pass through Brendan; it remained inside. And it hurt like hell. He didn’t know what the thing was doing, but it was giving him a major headache, as if it was throwing his memories around like pieces of junk.

"I challenge you to go out there and face your fears, infidels. You are the only person who can conquer your fear, and if you fail... well, try not to think about that," he said darkly. "Conquer them and perhaps you'll have chance against me. I will prove myself to be the superior being, and if I am currently not, then I will fight the superior being..."

Those were Jack’s parting words.

And then all hell broke loose.

The spirits took on a multitude of different forms, from snakes to frogs to spiders, and a few that seemed to disappear, or only were visible to those it permitted to see. Brendan looked up at Secad and struggled to speak through his headache.

“I clearly spoke too soon… We better go and get moving before-“ Brendan said, then his own fear became realized. His burning head suddenly became ice cold, and that coldness spread throughout his body rapidly. Brendan’s eyes widened as his body quickly became numb, and he could do nothing but watch as he paled and greyed. All the way until he looked like he was solid stone. Which, in fact, was the truth of it.

 

[Toru]

EDIT: Modified, Zacky came to the conclusion that I went over the top against Jack Hallows.

Finally, time for some dancing. The party's liveliness was dying a little, anyway. The Melodies of Lady Gaga suddenly morphed into a passionate, slow dance. Toru could only cringe really. A slow dance and he had no partner - ah well. Going solo was his thing though, so he didn't really mind. As he glanced around, Toru saw the majority of the Charmsians in a slow dance. He was glad everyone was enjoying themselves. Then suddenly, an elegant, female voice that appeared to be very young echoed through the Geokinetic's head. It could only be one person - The Earth Godess. Closing his eyes and focusing on her voice, he telepathically contacted her, drawing from her power.

*Toru... Toru!*

*Your Highness! What is the matter?*

*You need to get you and your friends out of the party. Now. There is a beast with an extremely powerful magical pressure heading your way! Watch out!*

*Don't worry, I'm sure it won't be that... MUCH-*

His mental connection with The Earth Godess was suddenly inerrupted; Toru doubled over in shock before what was a massive Pumpkin. The power coming from that thing was immense - insane amounts of power tried to dominate Toru, but he could just about stand up to the surges of magical density. The Pumpkin spoke down to Pokecharms, and demanded we accept him as a superior. Toru was confused over why this... thing would want to dominate Pokecharms, but there was one thing that was definitive - Toru wasn't going to let it happen. As he grabbed hold of his blade's handle, Zacky flashed in from nowhere and struck it in the heart. Well, that's what it looked like.

Mr. Jack Hallows wasn't destroyed. In fact, he didn't react at all, his magical pressures only got stronger, causing Toru to slowly start crouching again. Jack Hallows started to strangle Zacky. Was Jack Hallows really that powerful? Toru clasped a grip on his sword, but then realized that if Zacky can't take him down, Toru has no chance. In terms of skill, Zacky was a lot more talented in terms of swordplay, and his earth powers wouldn't help much now either. As eager as he was, he backed down from tackling the pumpkin man by himself, and instead roared at him, slowly standing back up and insulting him like the British lad he was.

"OI! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO ZACKY, YOU LITTLE BUGGER!"

However, Jack suddenly charged up energy before he spawned clouds of smoke, forming dirty, grey coloured spirits that flew around the ballroom and swooped down, into Charmsians. One of the spirits smashed through Toru, taking his sword with it. As it exited the ballroom, a loud scuttling sound could be heard on the top of the roof. Toru fell on the floor as Jack Hallows imploded in a poof of smoke. Toru suddenly became aware of Dark Soul, talking to the others as people ran in terror, their own fears manifesting before them.

"Guys, we have to get out of here! I don’t know what those spirits did to us, but it can’t be good…"

Toru didn't even respond. Instead, he hastily walked out to look for Foresharn outside, and then heard a scuttle and a high pitched hissing noise. He turned around, his heart beating even faster than ever before.

There was a spider lurking on top of the building. An absolutely massive spider. A yell of fear echoed through Pokecharms, as Toru fell backwards, his eyes welling up with tears, still locked on the massive, hairy arachnid with eyes only for Toru. This was a real nightmare.

 

[Secad MS]

“Then allow me,” Brendan said, raising Secad’s hand and taking it in his own, “to teach you how.” Brendan laid his hand on Secad’s hip and slowly led her around the dance floor. It was odd how suddenly he turned so suave, but the gerbil-lover liked it.

“It’s just a matter of feeling the music, and learning to move with it.” Brendan explained. “Once you’ve got that down,” Brendan then raised his hand high and moved it over Secad’s head, taking her into a twirl: a slightly clumsy one at that, “You can do just about anything.”

It was quite fun dancing, and she wasn’t breaking anybody’s shins! She could see why people thought the art was quite fun, and…what was that? Fog?

A black smoke drifted over the crowd, and screaming erupted.

“Why’s everybody screaming about fog?” Secad noted absentmindedly, until a tendril just gently brushed her face.

Suddenly it went black. She wasn’t blind, no, but it was dark, unnaturally dark. She began to become frightened, slowly at first, reaching out for others…but no one was there!

“Fi!” she called, voice wavering in barely controlled fear. “Fi? FI!” FI! FI! FI! she telepathically called, searching for her gerbil’s mind.

“WHAT?!” Secad screamed. It had been years since she was mentally single, with no one constantly with her. “I can’t feel you! Where are you?!”

And then she ran into something, something vaguely sharp and hard. She was twitching in fear now, not far from tears.

It’s concrete, Secad thought, rubbing her hands together, but feeling what felt like tree branches knock against them. Bu-but…in a forest? Crap, how did I get here?

Secad fell down, arms around her knees in a pseudo-fetal position. She was so frightened, no one was there, with no way to find them, and it was dark. She twitched, trying not to cry. Then, that was when the storm started.

The sky, or ceiling, or whatever it was flashed, a bolt of lightning signaling a storm. The thunder followed, rumbling dark and heavy. She still couldn’t see anything besides herself in the light of the bolt, but that view got worse as the heavy rain started, pounding on her fedora. Her dress got soaked, running the flower patterns on the skirt.

Secad was scared, totally alone, in the dark, with no one, not even Fi.

(OoC: Since this creature can’t make darkness for everyone, this is all implanted in her head, though she, on the outside, is visibly becoming wet.)
~@~

Fi was a bit closer to the creature of fear, so she heard its speech.

"I challenge you to go out there and face your fears, infidels. You are the only person who can conquer your fear, and if you fail... well, try not to think about that," the pumpkin beast said darkly. "Conquer them and perhaps you'll have chance against me. I will prove myself to be the superior being, and if I am currently not, then I will fight the superior being..."

Excuse me? The white gerbil thought, looking above her fireball transportation. A grey tendril touched her tail, snaking up her body, heading straight towards her red eyes.

Fi squeaked in pain and surprise, the fireball dissipating. While she stumbled in fear, her vision, akin to a Technicolor movie, was fading to grey, then shapes, then smudges to nothing.

Blind! Fi mentally screamed, trying to reach anyone, anyone! But no one could hear her over the other screaming happening. SECAD! Fi called, searching for her mind to no avail. They were separated.

Come on, come on, come on… Fi thought, trying to summon a fireball to fly on while trying not to get stepped on in the crowd. Feet stomped her tail, clipped her paws, and just barely missed her head.

She was nearly a normal gerbil. She wasn’t special. She had no one.

(OoC: I have made Fi’s worst fears being blind, being alone, and being powerless. However, she can still reach people other than Secad and be moving in real space.)

 

[Satoren]

“Oh good lord, what the heck are those things?” RX yelled as the strange, ectoplasmic manifestations swooped through the crowd.

“RX; Behind you!” Z-I.M.D.A.S. cried out. The young man instinctively turned, only to see one of the very same spirits flying towards him at great haste. It was just inches from reaching him when suddenly RX’s clothes began to jerk and tug. The thorns decorating his suit then untangled themselves from his sleeves and lashed out towards the mysterious glowing object. The two crashed into each other in a brilliant flash of light. Afterwards, the spirit had disappeared; leaving the strange black vines of RX’s attire floating dully in the air.

“Thanks, Morpheus,” RX said as he breathed a deep sigh. That was rather surprising, the strange object sneaking up on him like that. He looked over to his friends, Z-I.M.D.A.S. sighing in relief as well. “Everyone alright?” he asked. As he did, the long vines from his sleeves retracted and twisted themselves back onto his clothes.

“It seems that those strange projectiles came in contact with Sem and Chadwyck. Though they seem fine from what I can tell,” Z-I.M.D.A.S. responded. She then turned over to their comrades and looked them over from head to toe, her eyes glowing a light green in color as she scanned their bodies.

“Confirming it now, but it seems that nothing is out of the ordina....ah!” A red light suddenly began flashing in Z-I.M.D.A.S.’s optical screen. Before she knew it, it was now RX that was calling out her name as she could feel a strange sensation coursing through her circuitry. Her artificial intelligence would have described it as each system in her body suddenly shutting down one by one in rapid succession, but the minute human side of her could only think of how cold it felt; as though a small nitrogen explosive had detonated inside her body and began dropping its temperature at a rapid rate.

“ohhh....” Z-I.M.D.A.S. groaned as the last of her body’s systems failed her, her body falling to the ground in a slump.

“Z-I.M.D.A.S.!!” RX yelled to his partner, but she could no longer hear him as she closed her optical sensors, the strange sensation now shutting all her head’s systems as well. RX knelt next to the gynoid and began shaking her shoulders, urging her to wake up.

“Damn it, it doesn’t look like we can avoid these-argh!” Just as Z-I.M.D.A.S. was interrupted mid-speech, RX had also been attacked by another spirit object. It was as though a bucket of icy water had splashed onto his body, making him want to flinch from the sheer cold. The feeling crawled upwards into his spine and felt very unnatural. Suddenlt, RX’s vision began to black out. It wasn’t as though he was slowly closing his eyes, but more like a great shadow was consuming everything he could see. The sounds of everyone panicking around him began to lessen. As though he was moving farther away from everything, or there was a volume dial that had been lowered drastically. Could it be a hallucination caused by his contact with Jack Hallow’s projectile?

No sooner did he ponder this did his vision start to clear once more. The blackness faded away and the sounds of the masses screaming crept up to his ears and grew louder and louder until it returned completely. He looked at Z-I.M.D.A.S. his hands still firmly grasping her shoulders. It looked like she was still unconscious.

"Any idea where we should go?” came Chad’s voice. “The whole city's going to hell." RX then picked up Z-I.M.D.A.S. and cradled her in his arms the best he could. She was rather heavy, but he couldn’t do anything about that, lest he drag her body back to the ship or leave it there while he took her head unit. Fortunately, the shadowy vines around his sleeves untangled themselves once again and were helping him support her weight.

“I’d like to run a diagnostic on Z-I.M.D.A.S. here, and probably try and see just what that Hallows man did to us. We should head to my ship, we can try and get everything analyzed there,” RX said solemnly. “The crowd’s probably going to go wild with all this chaos, a high vantage point would be the best place for us to help everyone to calm down.”

 

[Sem]

"We can go back to our place," Sem suggested. It was a good idea, especially since Lysis was no doubt itching to get her hands on some modern weaponry. If this year was going to be anything like last year then they would need it. "We really need to stop having these sorts of events..." Sem muttered. The house he and the woman shared was in the city's outskirts, so it would probably be safe for the time being.

"If any of you want to come be sure to grab onto me in the next five seconds," she said as she took Sem's arm. After a few moments she and Sem vanished from the scene, appearing in another part of the city in the same second. The house wasn't larger than a normal home, but it was apparent just by looking at it that it was worth several times more than a normal home. A modern build constructed of steel, glass, and concrete. They appeared directly inside the house, and at once Lysis went up to her room in order to change out of her costume into something more practical. While Sem waited he went over to a monitor and access the cameras around the city, seeing just what was happening.

Chaos wasn't even a suitable word for what was happening.

Enormous creatures slithered and crawled across the streets. Fires burned and the city was dark and covered with a thick blanket of gloom. It was Sem's responsibility as a staff member to protect the members... but if Jack Hallows had used those spirits to bring everyone's darkest fear to life, then he feared he wasn't going to be able to help anyone. Perhaps the fact that he had prior knowledge would help him. He knew to expect something, and so he could easily combat it and conquer. At least, he hoped so.

Lysis teleported back downstairs from her room, adjusting her outfit as she teleported again over to a seemingly normal wall. She waved her hand over a section of the wall, activating a minuscule sensor. A large chunk of the concrete wall shifted and opened. A white light flashed to life, revealing a vast collection of weapons. From the selection she grabbed her signature Strata - a pair of semi-automatic pistols. She grabbed extra ammunition as well as a modern-looking katana. The blade was strapped to her hip, while one gun holster was strapped to her her hip, and the second was in the small of her back. Lysis then slipped into her signature Team Rocket-issued trench before slipping a knife into her boot and strapping a shotgun to her back. Yeah, it looked over the top - but no one knew what they would be facing out in the city, and luck favored the prepared. Lysis knew that philosophy well and lived by it.

"Ready?" the young woman asked as she walked up behind Sem, glancing at the screen.

"Yeah, let's go," he replied. He was already ready. He was always ready.

Taking his arm again, Lysis teleported, taking Sem and anyone else who was holding onto her with her. They reappeared again near the city center, outside of the Chat. They scanned the area quickly for threats. They could smell smoke, and they heard some screams far off.

"Did you hear that?" Sem asked. He was currently scanning the area with his power, trying to detect any human-shaped bodies of water.

"I've got a lock on them," Lysis replied, using her telepathy. It meant that whoever it was screaming wasn't too far off, and so the duo started walking. They passed several large buildings, which were home to the city's largest and most important topics. It was after a few blocks that Lysis caught a reflection of herself in a window.

She couldn't believe her eyes.

The young woman stopped completed and looked at herself in the reflection, seeing that she actually wasn't young - at least - not anymore. She looked ancient. Lysis looked like she was a hundred years old and about ready to croak at any second. Her skin sagged and she had countless wrinkles. Her hair was snow white, and had much less volume to it.

"No..." she uttered. "It's a trick, it's those spirit things," she told herself. Lysis backed away from the reflection and looked at herself with her own eyes. Her hands were gnarled and wrinkled, and her forearms were covered with spots, and she suddenly felt extremely weak. Lysis felt like she couldn't stand for another moment. She could see that her jeans were no longer tight around her legs, but seemed loose - meaning that she had lost much of her muscle mass. "Sem?" she cried, looking around for the tiny Aquamor. As she said his name her voice sounded different - raspier and deeper. "Oh gods..." she uttered, stumbling towards the wall for support.

Lysis slid down the wall and rested on the sidewalk. Her breathes came in labored gasps and she could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest. "This is a trick..." she muttered again as she spotted something in her blurred vision - she was practically blind. It was a dark shadow that slowly crawled towards her, growling. Lysis grasped for her sword, managing to pull it out of its sheath, but she found that she hadn't the strength to even lift the object. The shadow backed away though, skirting in and out of her line of sight, taunting her. Grabbing a pistol, she found that she could barely lift it either. "This is impossible..." she thought with a sense of panic. She tried summoning telekinetic strength into her limbs, but it just wouldn't come. She couldn't teleport, and her telepathic range was so far reduced that she could barely sense even her own thoughts at that point.

Her worst fear was in fact realized. She was on the verge of death with no one around. If one of the nightmare creatures didn't get her then her sudden old age would. Only, it wasn't a trick... at least, not that she could tell.

-------

"Lysis?" Sem asked, no longer hearing her behind him. He turned around and looked down the street. He saw her then, lying on the pavement. He rushed over to her, but as he got near he realized suddenly that something was very wrong. She was there motionless on the ground, lying on her side. A small trickle of blood ran down the side of her face onto the concrete, leaking from a small circular hole in her head. "No..." he said. It's an illusion, he thought, remembering Jack Hallows' words. Using his ability to sense the liquid around him, he found that she was indeed dead however. Her heart wasn't beating, and her skin was already pale. Her eyes were lifeless.

"No.." he repeated, falling to the ground. The sight of her dead stuck him deeply, and painfully. She was meant to be indomitable. Nothing was ever meant to harm her like this. It was true that she was just a character of his, but she was real all the same. The sight of her dead defiled and violated him in a way he could not explain. The fact that someone or something simply shot her like they did was ludicrous. She couldn't die like that, especially alone with no one to see it happening.

"That's why it can't be true..." he muttered. "This would never happen to her. It's not real..." He stood up, calling Lysis' name, but the street was empty. There was no where she could have gone. "Maybe she teleported somewhere?" he thought. He could still smell the smoke, he could still hear the far off screams. Looking back at the body on the ground he realized that there were still people needing help, and so he went off in order to help the people who needed it. The body was an illusion. ... Or was it?

 

[Kerauno]

Kaitlyn was able to control her breathing a little. Tears still streamed from her eyes, and she still could not see. There was nothing but pure darkness around her. Kera continued to drag her through the crowd, but now, there was a young girl in front of her, screaming her head off. She wondered if Kera had dragged another girl along.

I’m not blind, Kaitlyn thought. It’s the darkness... It’s so cold... So suffocating... She suddenly gasped. Her breathing became quick and short, her throat constricted. Kaitlyn flailed her free arm around, randomly slapping other Charmsians in the face, and hitting very hard objects.

Yet, as she hit open air, she could only think that she was being closed in on. The never-ending darkness was constricting her, making her feel stuck. She sobbed loudly, and tripped over something. She hit the ground hard, and curled up into the fetal position.

No matter how loudly she screamed, Kaitlyn felt so alone in the dark. There were footsteps everywhere, and screaming. That was particularly horrible. So many people around her in peril... And she could do nothing to help. At least Kera had a weapon... She had nothing to defend herself with.

Suddenly, she felt a violent strike on her arm. She cried out, and grabbed the spot, felling a warm substance; blood. She felt another cut form on her leg. And her other arm. Another across her back. She cried louder, the beatings and cuts becoming harsher.

Then, she felt someone lifting her up, and carrying her across the room. Her blood dripped onto the floor, and stained her clothes. The person set her against a wall, and she shuddered as another cut slashed her midsection.

“Kaitlyn, are you okay? What happened?” called Kera’s concerned voice. Kaitlyn looked in the direction of his voice and answered weakly “I-I don’t know. I f-fell, and then the walls started to close in... And someone started cutting me... Ow!! Kera, they’re still cutting me! Please, m-make them stop, it hurts so bad...”

Kera was silent for a moment. Then he said “Kaitlyn, there’s no one there. But you’re getting these cuts, and you’re bleeding really bad... What’s happening to you?”

“I don’t know!” she screamed. “I can’t see, I’m surrounded my darkness, and someone is cutting me to death! Please, make it stop!”

“Kaitlyn, there’s nothing I can do,” Kera started in an anguished voice. “All I can do bandage your cuts. And here, take this.” He shoved a cylindrical tube into her hands. She fingered it, and found a switch; she flipped it.

“It’s a flashlight. Hold it in front of your eyes.” Kera directed the flashlight up to her eyes, and had her hold it there. The cuts were still stinging her body, and now she felt a rough hit to her shoulder, then her face, and stomach; she was being beaten.

“Aiyeeh, stop! Stop, please!” She flung her arms around, as to try to hit the abuser. She heard a shrill scream from nearby, and felt intense heat rush past her. She continued to be hit and cut, but focused on holding the flashlight in front of her eyes.

Her throat closed up again as she felt the darkness gets tighter around her. She drew her knees up to her chest, and began a new wave of tears.
This is a nightmare, Kaitlyn thought. I’m going mad... Please, someone help... But no one came. She was alone in the ever-tightening darkness, being beaten to death.

-_-_-

Kera stabbed at the immense arachnid’s eyes, but couldn’t get past the licking flames. He realized he was crying; the tears mixed with the open wound on his chin, causing it to sting angrily. The giant spider swung out a leg, and knocked him off his feet.

His head slammed onto the hard floor, and he saw another bright flash of light. The spider scuttled toward him, its flaming pincers spitting venom. A puddle of the foul-smelling liquid landed next to him, steamed, and caught fire. Instantly, the floor began to melt, like ice on a stove.

Kera’s pocket vibrated. Of all the times in the world, he decides to call now, Kera thought. He made a desperate lunge at the spider, and the blade tip found one of its eight eyes. It screeched angrily, and sank into the darkness, but spat out another puddle of venom, which landed dangerously close to the incapacitated Kaitlyn, who was still crying against the wall.

Kera pulled out his phone and flipped it open, and muttered a gruff “What do you want?”

“Hey, hey, no need to be so rude,” a cool male voice answered. “Just decided to call and ask what the hell is going on? I was just roamin’ the city, when a bunch of freaky shadow things came outta the castle. Care to explain?”

Kera rolled his eyes. “Z, I have no idea what’s going on. This creepy pumpkin-headed dude popped out of nowhere, and now the castles filled with snakes and flaming spiders.”

Z was silent. Then he answered “Well, good luck with that. How’s Kaitlyn?”

“Kaitlyn’s gone mad, Z. She can’t see, she’s suffocating, and is somehow getting beat to death by invisible abusers.”

“Well, tell her I said hi. Z, out.” And he hung up. Kera’s right eye began to twitch. Of all his accomplices, Z is the least reliable. He slipped his phone back into his pocket, and listened intently past Kaitlyn’s low sobs.

There was a low scuttling, steadily getting louder. The spider was returning, healed of its wounds. Kera had to get Kaitlyn out unharmed- or as unharmed as she could be with the invisible attackers. He ran over to her and lifted her up, carrying her across the room.

He was now in the center of the dance floor. There were very few people left in the castle; a very scared looking Secad was alone, sopping wet, several yards away. Past her, was a very solid looking Brendan, who was not moving.

Whoever else there was left, Kera didn’t see them. Seconds later, the flaming spider had arisen from the shadows, spitting its foul liquid. Kera suppressed a scream and bolted for the exit. He tore out of the castle as fast as he could, until he collapsed, the pale and bleeding Kaitlyn falling from his arms and landing roughly on the pavement.

Kera sat up and tried to regain his bearings. His head was spinning terribly, and Kaitlyn was shivering next to him. He groped for her now scarred hand, and took it, squeezing it weakly. Then, he collapsed from weariness and pure fright.

(OoC: Hm, yes, so. Kaitlyn is afraid of the dark, is claustrophobic, and afraid of being beaten to death, while helpless. And being alone. Suffice to say, she has a lot of fears.)

 

[Zachary]

The rubble that covered Zacky began to superheat quickly that illuminated with a bright orange color that covered the room in a menacing glow. The rocks began to melt fast, turning lava that ran down Zacky’s body, the heat not even scalding or burning him as he slowly stood up, his body shaking with rage. His face was in a single expression.

Rage.

He unleashed a blood curdling scream of rage and hatred out loud, the magma slowly dripping off onto the stone floor, burning holes into it. Fires erupted around his body, covering him in a crimson blaze as he continued to unleash his scream of rage. Zacky then took off in a run towards his fallen sword that was lying on the ground. He leaned down and scooped it up in one fell swoop as he spun the blade around his body in a rapid fashion, creating the mirage of multiple blades flying around his body. The flames on his body continued to burn throughout the charge as he collided with the castle’s wall, the wall not being able to handle his might broke under the pressure as he continued his death-gait through out Charms looking for Jack Hallows.

“WHERE THE HELL IS THAT ROTTEN PUMPKIN BASTARD?! I’M GOING TO CARVE A NEW ASSHOLE ON HIS FAT FACE!!!” He screamed into the night air as he continued to run through the streets of Charms, his fire-clad body lighting up his pathway with Flammadeus being held tightly in a death grip in his hand, Zacky wished to unleash his fury upon the long expired Jack-O-Lantern.

He stopped running in the street, looking in front of him. A group of people shuffled around, loudly moaning into the night. They wore ragged clothes and they had oozing sores that mottled their skin.

“Goddamn zombies! GET OUT OF MY WAY!” He bellowed at them, igniting Flammadeus into a blaze as the zombies started to shuffle towards him. Zacky took off in a run towards them, swinging his blade maniacally, cleaving their rotten flesh from their broken bones as he ran through the group. The zombies fell into pieces as he ran through them as Flammadeus slice and diced them into tiny pieces while igniting them on fire.

The horde continued on and he continued to slice at them, the smell of decaying corpses filled his nostrils as he ran through the bile and entrails that littered the ground. As he decapitated the last one, he noticed that they were slowly turning into a black sludge and disappearing into the ground…

“What the…?” Zacky said out loud, his face was in confusion only for a moment before he forgot about it as he remembered his mission.

To kick Jack Hallows ass and have some pumpkin pie.

 

[Chadwyck]

RX looked over his fallen comrade, apparently she'd been hit by one of the spirits as well. Whatever happened to RX, Sem, Lysis and himself apparently didn't have the same affect on the gynoid. RX decided that he would be returning to his ship, inviting everyone along with him. That sounded like a good spot to be, a bird's eye view on the situation, but Sem and Lysis were talking about going to their house on the edge of the city. Lysis said to grab a hold of her if anyone wanted to come along.

Unfortunately this put Chad in the position of having to make a decision, and he disliked making decisions. Either he'd follow RX to his ship while he ran diagnostics on Z-I.M.D.A.S. and tried to sort out just what had happened to all of them, or he'd go with Sem and Lysis to their house while Sem tried to get a better idea of the situation. It would have been nice to be in two places at once, "I really don't think we should separate..." Chadwyck muttered to himself so that no one would hear him.

"RX," Chadwyck began as impulse took over and he grabbed a hold of Lysis' arm as she readied to teleport, "If you figure anything out contact us. Be safe." He hated leaving RX, but he wasn't keen on leaving any of his friends behind. RX would have his hands full running tests and he didn't want to get in his way.

The feeling of teleportation was an interesting feeling, like all of Chadwyck's being had been torn apart into so many molecules flying through space instantaneously. When they reappeared, every looked different somehow. The city seemed darker than it had been a moment ago, the walls dripped and everything looked even more like a horror movie. It took a second for him to realize that he was standing outside, in an alleyway. "What's up, Sem? I thought we were going to your place." Chadwyck commented, turning around and looking for his friend.

The otterfish was there, all right, but there was something different about him. Something wrong. "You all right? Where's Lysis?" Chadwyck asked, frightened by his friend's silence and the intense glare he was giving Chadwyck. "Did your costume always have red eyes?" He asked, just trying to get any sort of response from Sem.

Very suddenly Sem outstretched a hand, and Chadwyck felt the control that he had over his body leaving him. Sem was bloodbending. Chadwyck had never been on the receiving end of this particular technique, and it was incredibly painful. His arm twisted behind his back, and he could feel himself raising slightly off the ground. "Sem..." Chadwyck began, "What the hell are you doing!?"

His friend wasn't listening, "You aren't Sem. You're not him!" Chadwyck concentrated, fighting through the pain of being lifted into the air by his blood. He released the loudest, most powerful scream that he could; igniting the area around him in a burst of fire. The explosion probably wouldn't do much to the hydrokinetic, but it did its job. The otterfish was knocked back, and Chadwyck felt the control return to his limbs. Without a nanosecond of hesitation, he called created jets of fire in front of him that propelled him backward, before using electromagnetism to give him the power of flight. Soon enough his friend was left far behind him.

"There's no way that was Sem." He mumbled, looking around at the city stretching out below him. There were fires, screams, and from this vantage point he could see numerous beasties creeping and crawling through the city. Everyone and everything had gone straight to hell, and there was no way of telling what was real anymore. He saw RX's ship above the city, and he decided to head there. He needed to find someone, anyone, who was real. The only problem was: how would he be able to tell?

OoC: I'm giving Chadwyck a physical and a mental fear, since my two biggest fears are pretty equally slated. One physical and one mental. So yes, I'll leave it up to you to figure out whether he's currently battling a mental or physical fear (hopefully it's fairly obvious.) ^^;
Also: Totes not autoing because that's not actually Sem >>;

 

[Secad MS]

Fi scampered throughout the now thinning crowd, as people left the ballroom in fear. The gerbil was scared, only running on hearing, smell, and touch. Thank the great Gerbil that she wasn't a human, or she'd have a horrendous nose. Nevertheless, she was too scared to concentrate on differentiating the smells to find Secad. She needed to find anyone, now!

Hey! Fi called out to those in range. I-is anyone left? It's Fi!

(OoC: Now someone still in the ballroom area can interact.)

 

[Blazi]

Blazikid walked into the room just as some pumpkin guy was finishing his speech. "... then I will fight the superior being." Then he vanished and Blazikid noticed all the ghostly spirits flying everywhere. He grinned and his sword appeared in his hand, but as one of these came towards him, it flew threw both the sword and himself. When it entered him he felt a cold, unlike a cold he had ever felt before. He felt a prickling going down his arm and he brushed the spider off, terrified of its Tarantula like properties. He was about to run like everyone else when he heard a voice in his head.
Hey! I-is anyone left? It's Fi! Blazikid remembered the pyrokinetic gerbil from when he talked to Secad, and without a second thought scooped the Gerbil up onto his shoulder and whispered to her.
"Fi, it's okay, it's Blazi. What's wrong?" Blazi listened to the Gerbil's story and grimaced, "Then we shouldn't wait around for that Tarantula." and with that, Blazi and Fi left.

 

[Secad MS]

Oh, thank the Gerbil someone is here! Fi said to Blazikid, a Blaziken type member as she felt him scoop her up. I saw this odd pumpkin being that struck me blind, and I can't feel Secad, and... Fi continued telling Blazi her story, after that they left as there was a giant tarantula somewhere around.

They continued out of the ballroom at a swift jog, in order to be able to go into a dash at any point. Fi was clinging as hard onto Blazi's shoulder as she could, feeling the bouncy vibrations. Wait. Fi said, freezing suddenly. The gerbil remembered something very important. Are those things in there going to eat Secad?

 

[Blazi]

Blazi jogged out of the ballroom, ready to run if anything decided to chase him and Fi. Wait. Blazi stopped, and turned his head to Fi.
"What is it?" he asked, a quizzical look on his face.
Are those things in there going to eat Secad?
Blazi turned his head toward the ballroom, and thought for a bit. "Probably not, but if she's blind like you, she'd be easy pickings..." Blazi was torn for a moment, before making up his mind and with a "For the love of..." he ran back to the ballroom at full speed.

OoC: Short.

 

[Dwayna DragonFire]

Edward looked on at the body in horror as the negative energy started to eat Dwayna's body away. Without the protections he had placed in her limbs, it was slowly eating at her limp, lifeless body. For some reason he consciously pulled his arms closer to him, and with that motion brought her closer to his body.

By all his processes and definitions, the emotion he was currently experiencing was in fact multiple emotions. It ranged from a melancholy blue of despair to a dark grey color that was defined as 'fear' in his mind. The entity that had caused this tragedy had told them all he wanted to instill fear in them, but to go to this extreme... Nobody else mattered to him as much as she did, and for the life of him he couldn't figure out exactly why.

What was the emotion that crossed his mind whenever he thought of her, whenever he got to hold her in his arms? Remembering that he was doing so now inadvertently caused him to blush, and then become more sad at realizing that she was dying in his arms and there wasn't anything he could do about it. He was too far away from the laboratory, couldn't safely transport them back with all of this negative energy milling about them, didn't want to endanger more people.

If she was truly lost to him, he knew in his soul that he too would be lost.

---

The screams in her ears hadn't stopped, and when she felt a psionic presence trying to press into her mind she blocked it out with all her might. As If it wasn't bad enough that she seemed to be the only living person around here, Violet was surely trying to screw with her head even more in this situation. Tears were running down Dwayna's face as she curled into herself with fear, her top hat at her feet as she blearily looked up at her soulless opposite that she knew - somewhere in the back of her head - was long since dead.

That smirk was unmistakable, the way the other woman walked towards her with a confidence that Dwayna was sure she couldn't muster in this situation. Those purple eyes narrowed as they got closer to her, and she was forced to fall back from her curled position in a half-hearted attempt to escape. It wasn't very fruitful when the shadowy arm of her adversary grabbed her by the arm and yanked her forwards with a force that hurt very much. In another swift motion, her throat was grabbed by the other arm and squeezed uncomfortably.

"Pathetic," said the familiar dark voice as Dwayna began to gasp for air. "You didn't protect your friends from the big threat again, just like the last time I came... and just like the last time, I have slaughtered the ones you love dearly, only it is all of them instead of just some. Now I have you at my mercy, as I did not long ago, and I will hurt you much worse than I did the last time." With that Violet let her fall to the floor unceremoniously, causing more pain but allowing Dwayna to breath even through her tears.

"You're not real," Dwayna said to Violet with a wavering voice. "None of this is. The androids destroyed you and your people and made some good of it!" She felt fear beginning to leave her body as it was overtaken by hurt, anger, rage. Her emerald green eyes sparkled with silver, the dragon she was underneath shining through the way it always did at first. Violet merely looked amused at this, motioning back to the dead bodies around them, as if beckoning Dwayna to look.

Although she was reluctant to look upon the sight of her dying friends, she looked again at them. The screams, the bodies that were only muscle and blood... and Edward finally came into view. He looked like he was motionless in a kneeling position, his eyes blank voids -

His eyes. He never took that visor off for anyone, not even for her just yet. She also noticed that ever since this nightmare started, the screams had never stopped, as if her friends were locked in endless torture. A slow grin of realization came over Dwayna's face and promptly wiped the one off of Violet's. Dwayna noticed this and smiled even more, looking almost crazy in her revelation.

Then there was silence as reality slowed to a stop and began to almost rewind itself. The skins of her loved ones flowed back onto their bodies and they laid still where they were, though some were missing in all the chaos. The last realization of Dwayna came across her face as she looked on the familiar sight of Violet being torn apart at the seams. She realized that her fear went deeper than just what had happened in the physical, that she feared she would become the person that Violet was.

In the last moment's of Violet, a black streak siphoned into Dwayna's hair as an entirely new grin came to her face, one of her emerald eyes glowing purple as at long last she didn't fear herself. She woke from her trance and saw that there were very few people left here indeed, and right near her the same form of Edward she had seen in her nightmare, only he was still wearing his visor and he was making strange sounds. If the android had tear ducts, he would surely be weeping over his own personal nightmare.

She went to kneel beside him, understanding that he needed to fight his fear by himself, but wondering at the same time what could possibly be scaring an Android with a soul.

 

[Dark Soul]

Toru didn't respond to him, but with a strange, grave expression on his face, continued to walk towards the exit so many other people were pouring trough. Dark Soul didn't know what was up with him- But they had other things to worry about. He had a very odd, restless feeling inside him, probably caused by the ghost. It was a feeling of something bad that was going to happen soon. Something really bad.

'Tun, Indie, guys; I see no reason to stay inside, we should get going. It looks like we're in serious trouble because of whatever that pumpkin guy did to us, and this will probably turn into a battle. I should go and get my armor back at home, along with the rest of my weapons...'

He reconsidered what Jack had said; What would his worst fear be? He didn't like spiders, but wasn't really afraid of them... He had a mortal fear of being imprisoned forever and starve, or be locked inside some kind of eternal torture- Which was unlikely to happen in daily life, but at Halloween, anything could happen...

 

[Indie]

The ghost flew through Indie quickly. No more than a second or two. But those seconds were horrible. Small arachnid legs creeped over his skin, wraiths of the highest order pierced his mind, and pain engulfed him for that time. Then, the ghost was apparating again, behind Indie. The vile creatures harboured little expression, but somehow, Indie could feel the ghoul cheering. Like when a child finds a log lost toy, that bought enjoyment to no limits. This creeped Indie out more than anything.
'Tun, Indie, guys; I see no reason to stay inside, we should get going. It looks like we're in serious trouble because of whatever that pumpkin guy did to us, and this will probably turn into a battle. I should go and get my armor back at home, along with the rest of my weapons...' Dark shouted.
Indie was about to run behind the others, when the ghost's movements caught his eye. Most instincts in Indie's body told him to get the hell out of there, yet he stayed. The ghost began spasming quickly, its outline becoming more blurred. Then, it began to grow, and change its overall shape. After a few tense seconds, the ghost calmed and Indie recognized its shape. The lower body, that of a frenzied tarantula, with smaller spiders nesting along the abdomen. The torso, connected seamlessly to the spider body like magic, was an iron chest, with an opened lock down in the centre. The face, oversized compared to the rest of the body, was horrific. The bladed-fingered hands twisted it around to reveal it. A girl, her face mangled by decay, smiled evilly at Indie.