FRIGHT ISLAND Prologue

[gantzgun74]

On the month of October, all things were as normal as children traveled from house to house in Void City, collecting Candy, sweets and various other goodies as they were accompanied by their parents and various other guardians across the darkened streets of the city, lit by the street-lights and Jack-o-lantern candles.

In her crystal ball, she could see them all, children having fun, parents doing their best to keep up and keep their kids out of trouble. So many happy faces, so many eager rounds of 'Trick or Treat'. How she envied them. They were able to enjoy the sweet sweet serenade of that song and have as much fun as they want with it. Meanwhile she, the Witch Princess Tabitha, was stuck in isolation, feared by many as was part of the status quo. She was a Witch after all, a powerful magic caster, on level with a goddess.

She DID turn the Harvest Goddess into stone by accident after all...

With a sigh, the girl turned her head and banished the images from her Crystal Ball; just continuing to watch was depressing.....

However, she had been working on a way to change that.

In the center of her home in the Ghost Town, she was preparing a big cast iron cauldron, putting in ingredients with dainty little swishes of her hands and gentle movements of the fingers. "Double double toil and trouble.... Pfff, yeah right, that's cliche even for me." Her magic levitated a magic book and she referenced from it a moment. "So let's see that's eye of newt, Wolfsbane, wormwood... What other stuff am I missing?" She took a second to look through the ingredients...... "AH! That's right! I need root of pumpkin to complete the mixture. Right right."

She walked over to her cabinet of ingredients and reached to where she normally kept the pumpkin roots, her eyes on the book before her. As she did, her smile widened. Oh this would be a great little trick for the season! The potion would allow her to make things a little scarier this halloween... It would be a hell of a prank! It would involve spoiled candy, costumes growing moldy, Jack-O-Lantern's becoming even scarier! It would be the trick of the lifetime!

She added in the root and made a final note of the ingredients in her book. "Okay so after that's done, stir the mixture clockwise 6 times, then counterclockwise 6 more times, after that wait 6 minutes to-WHOA mark of the beast? This thing isn't messing around is it?" She grins. "Well whatever, I've done this before. I know this spell won't do anything harmful."

She started stirring the mixture......

And she noted with surprise that the cauldron was starting to shake violently.

"What the-?!?" Her terror mounted when she realized a horrible energy was brewing within the mixture. "OOOOOOH CRAP!!!!!!!" She quickly threw a barrier around herself and dove aside....

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................... We see outside the Witch Princess' abandoned hut in the Ghost Town.....

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!! Before a mysterious horrific mist blasted out of the roof. It was a very eerie mist, purple, mysterious, it looked almost toxic to breathe in....

When the mist was freed from the house, it started to slowly spread outside of the ghost town.... It slowly spread over Void City... And as the camera zooms out we find that the mist is slowly spreading over the entirety of the island.....

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Shantae was busily whipping some bad-guys where it hurts with her pony tail, and making good time with it too. "HAH!! Try that!!!" A tough kick followed, knocking another guy flat on his behind. With another whip of her hair, another man went down, and Shantae had easily downed a large group of robbers with a grin.

"Hehehehe, that'll teach you a lesson! Never mess with the half-genie!"

A moment later, her magic senses went off... And she saw an odd mist descending down on the world.

"What the-"

The mist touched down.....

.............. "URK-!!! AAAGH!!!"

She suddenly felt her magic flashing, 6 more legs growing out of her body...

An odd bloodlust appeared in her mind... One she couldn't understand....And she was terrified by it... She had no idea what was going on....

Her last thought before it vanished into a monstrous haze was 'Why-?'.

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In her home, Vanessa watched as the mist touched down.

"What the hell is that?"

The mist was starting to seep in through her window. "OH FUCK THAT CAN'T BE GOOD!!" Panicked, she took the nearest thing she could find, namely her assassin cloak and used it to stop up the mist seeping in through the cracks. "STOP. PLEASE STOP."

Despite her best efforts, the mist seemed to make it through the assassin robes and slowly filled the room....

Vanessa, even to this day, recalls feeling a great deal more unlucky from that moment on....

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It had been such a beautiful night for all of those involved on this halloween night, and none took in the sights more fervently then Flame Princess, whom was wide-eyed with giddiness. "Wow... this looks so cool!!" She looked to her two guardians. "Hey! Hey Aqua! Eligius! Can we do this too? I know I totes want some candy! I wonder if they give out cotton candy?"

Aqua meanwhile giggled at Flame Princesses cuteness. "Hehehehe, mayhaps we should try it. I have heard of this tradition on and off at the temple, but I never got to partake in it... What do you think Eligius?"

As the two talked, FP continued taking in the sights..... However, none of them noticed an odd purple mist spreading thinly throughout the city....

It was in that instant that something came over Flame Princess... A deap seated rage the likes of which she never knew before... She was terrified at how angry she was, and the fact that she couldn't think of the reason why...

After all, she knew very well what tended to happen when she got angry.... and it was becoming more and more apparent as the scene grew hotter and hotter...

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Having got out of her engagement with the Steins to... Well, put it bluntly, fuck some milkman silly and get some much needed relaxation and evening wood, Panty felt a great deal better, like she was ready to get back out there and do some more damage. "Haaaaaaaaaah, nothing feels better then a nice piece of wood... Wonder what kind of stuff's waiting this bitch TONIGHT!" She knew very well it was Halloween... But that was like Bonus day to the native demon hunter.

"Okay! Time to fuck some shit up!!!" She kicked open the door...

And purple mist eeked in...

Panty was suddenly aware of some skin melting away, and suddenly growing a taste for the other white meat.

NO NO NOT THAT WHITE MEAT, I'M TALKING ABOUT BRAINS.

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Raven awoke from his catnap feeling... Odd really... Something about today just felt extremely different. His mind felt heightened... He suddenly felt extremely safe, even though he was very sure a horrible magical energy had entered his senses...

As he meandered over to the mirror in his personal hotel room, he felt clammy, deathly cold... Putting it off as the heat being turned off, he continued to his mirror....

The sight he saw in it would haunt him in his nightmares for years and years to come....

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The second Alex saw the mist, his first concern was protecting Rulett and Sweetie Belle, whom they had been babysitting today. He didn't know what was going to happen, all he knew was that it wasn't going to be anything good...

He told Rulett and Sweetie Belle to stay inside and do not come out for any reason until he returned. With that done, he cast a powerful void barrier over the building, and prepped to take on the mist himself. He needed to find out what this mist was, and find a way to reverse it...

That would turn out to be the dumbest mistake in his entire life...

New knowledge entered his brain...

His world-view was shifted....

And suddenly a brand new monster was created on the surface of Dimensional Island...

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Back in her hut, the Witch Princess lifted her head up to survey the damage that had been done......

However as she did, she saw the mist......

A sense of horror entered her as she saw it... A mortal terror the likes of which she had never felt....

SOMETHING HAD GONE HORRIBLY... HORRIBLY WRONG.

"Dear god, what have I done-?"

[ryocker]

Strutting around the island, Wario groaned. "Maaan... This Treasure hunt is-a turning out to be a serious Bust." His head bent low, he practically roared. "Why can't anything ever go my way for once, eh?! I want a little something now and again!"

As soon as he saw the approaching mist, his jaw dropped clean off. "Um... I didn't mean it!!" Squatty legs carrying him quickly in the other direction, he unfortunately tripped and slid on the ground, looking up as the mist enveloped his senses.

After what seemed to be a flock of shadowy bats flew by and struck him, he suddenly looked a lot more... Bloodthirsty. "WAAAHAHAHAHAAA! Vampire Wario is BACK!"

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"Seriously Crona- just a few souls!"

"No- we don't do that anymore!"

"Can we at least hit up a house for some candy? All those snot nosed babies are doing it."

"Yeag, but theyn they'll probably try to pinch my cheeks or something- and I don't know how to handle that!"

Back and forth, the argument between the two went, both unknowingly walking into the strange mist swallowing the island. All at once, both were hit with an emense shock- an unrivaled power that had slept in their conjoined bodies for months.

The tiny Ragnarok soon exploded into his former huge size, roaring along with it. While Crona's own mind reawakened to his old orders. "Heh... Ragnarok, Let's gather as many souls as we can find."

"That's what I'm talking about, Crona! Let's swallow every soul on the island- and every piece of candy, too!!"

[ParamountKeymaster]

(EDIT: This is a revised version, updated for 2014+. I've omitted the origin story elements, included Swift and my new characters, and shortened it... albeit slightly. Sorry guys, but it's still pretty long. XD If you still want to read my original post, I've moved it here: mrsaturn123.proboards.com/thread/7272/evans-original-fright-island-prologue )

The premonition Kendall had received mere minutes ago was... foggy, to say the least. He couldn't quite understand what was being conveyed to him. All he knew was that it was bound to be horrific, it would affect the whole island, and it originated from the Ghost Town out west. On the verge of losing his mind, Kendall tried to talk himself into an optimistic state. "Don't worry about it, Kenny. You've been through tougher scenarios. One little... curse... that affects everyone somehow... can't be that bad!"

To say he was a sweaty, teary-eyed mess would be an understatement.

Just as he reached his destination, an explosion of purple mist burst out of the hut. The force sent Kendall flying backwards and crashing hard through several of the abandoned buildings.

Everything became a jumbled mess as an inky blackness clouded his aura-sense. All around him, there was nothing but darkness and a retched, disturbing, evil force. At the very least, his own holy aura seemed to protect him from the mist, but it wasn't enough to make him able to focus through it. The fact that he had hit his head numerous times didn't help either.

Despite his efforts to get up, despite his pleas, despite his desire to fix whatever had been released upon the island, the overexposure to dark energy coupled with his head trauma became too much for Kendall. Then and there, the Angel of Time passed out.

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"Rgh... Where are those two?" Rio groaned to himself as he wandered aimlessly through the city. It was hard enough trying to navigate through this backwards world (not that his World was any less confusing), but Cat and Mickey's tendency to wander wasn't doing him any favors. "We're never going to find a way home at this rate," he muttered, taking a seat on the sidewalk. "Well... might as well try a locating spell."

That said, Rio closed his eyes and tapped into his divination energy, focusing it on tracking his companions. But with his attention entirely on locating physical beings, he paid no mind to the dark, ethereal energy rushing towards him until it was too late.

"Hck-!! AUGH!" As the mist covered him, Rio fell forward onto his hands and knees, screaming in unbearable levels of pain. All of a sudden, his body felt tight, hot and ready to burst like a wilting Boom Flower. Every cell was throbbing in agony, as if some powerful force inside of him was trying to break free, threatening to rip him apart in the process. Seemingly driven by some outside force to end the suffering, Rio did the first thing that came to mind: he reached behind his neck and unclamped his necklace.

With the magic-binding seal broken by the necklace's removal, the tension was relieved and Rio could relax again. But... something was different. A multicolored aura slowly formed around his body, which shone like a radioactive sunrise. He took a deep breath, somehow turning the air he exhaled into steam. Then he stood up, every movement of his setting off a colorful wave that distorted his surroundings. The glass on any nearby building shattered, the shards turning into strange, bat-crow-brundlefly hybrids; plants, benches and streetlights changed colors and came to life; objects vanished, only to reappear in some inconvenient location elsewhere on the island; the sidewalk turned to mud beneath his feet... or maybe it was chocolate... it was hard to tell.

Rio opened his eyes, now flashing every color of the rainbow; this mere action turned his shadow into that of a multicolored monster. "Liberation, of long deferment..." he said in his deep-rooted Olde dialect, "...that myself may forswear mine oath of abstinence and bedight yonder islet in illustrious arcane artistry."

With a simple motion of his hands, Rio lifted himself slightly off the ground and quickly hovered away, ready to cleanse the island in magic, leaving sparkling visions of spirits and sprites to dance in his wake.

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In celebration of Halloween, the members of the Summer Snow apartment had arranged to go on a nightly stroll through the woods. Upon arrival at the theater, Evan, Carter, Jen, Darien, Patrick and Toby had been unable to find Swift, Andromeda and Aether. They had waited for fifteen minutes before concluding that Swift had led her party into the woods without them, and thus the team started treading through the dark, coniferous forest in search of the girls.

Throughout the hike, conversation was severely lacking, albeit for fairly obvious reasons considering their company. Eventually, though, Evan got sick of the silence and decided to talk to someone, choosing to address the sour mood Carter had been in all day. "Hey, could you lighten up? The mere fact that it's Halloween doesn't guarantee anything."

"Kid, have you forgotten all those Halloweens back in Summer Snow?" Carter griped for only Evan's ears to hear. "It was crazy enough there. Who's to say what will happen on this f***** up island?"

"Hey, now! Language!"

"...Sorry. I'm just sick of this Halloween bull... you know."

Evan rolled his eyes and resumed the silence, though it was immediately broken by Toby's soft, timid voice. "G-Guys...? What is that?"

Everyone looked towards where Toby was pointing, thoroughly terrified of the purple mist weaving between the trees. "Evan..." Jen choked. "Is that normal?"

"Uh..." Evan shivered as they were bathed in the strange substance. "No, I don't think so..."

"GAH!!!"

There was a simultaneous jump when Darien suddenly cried out and doubled over in pain. Of course, Jen was the first to react. "Darien! A-Are you okay?!"

Darien grabbed his chest, his breaths heavy and ragged. Shudders wracked his body. It didn't take long for everyone to put two and two together, but they still didn't understand WHY it was happening. Nevertheless, Jen's concern for her boyfriend kept her from leaving his side. "Darien... You're gonna be okay. Just listen to me; you'll be okay."

"Jen..."

"Don't panic. Everything's gonna be fine."

"Jen, get away..."

"W-What?"

"I SAID GET AWAY FROM ME!!!"

Everyone yelled in panic and gave Darien his space. He collapsed onto his hands and knees, violently thrashing about as his body painfully twisted into a new form. Clothes tearing, muscles expanding, bones shifting, face contorting, fingernails and teeth sharpening, dark brown fur pushing out of every pore...

While this was going on, Patrick turned around and noticed that, likewise, Toby was on the ground with his head in his hands, rocking on his knees as he groaned in discomfort. "Um... T-Toby...? Are you...?"

"Darkness..." Toby seethed between raspy pants. "Darkness everywhere. Chaos. Destruction. It's trying to take me, Patrick. I can't... Can't... CONTROL IT!"

Simultaneously, Darien and Toby threw their heads up and screamed horrifically at the sky. Jen stared in fear at the wolf-like beast that was once her boyfriend. Patrick stared in just as much fear as wisps of shadows surrounded Toby and the boy literally burst out of his skin, his inner Præt'nos taking full form. In response, though neither were keen to the idea of threatening their friends, Jen pulled two guns out of her handbag and Patrick charged his hands up with evocation energy.

Darien shuddered and growled, his mind quickly falling apart as wolf instinct kicked in. His golden eyes scanned his surroundings; the beast dominating his thoughts didn't recognize any of the people surrounding him. It told him to attack these creatures before they could hurt him. He had no choice but to listen, to survive, to kill. Thus, with a fierce roar, he crouched and leaped at his foes.

Toby, meanwhile, was dealing with his own internal struggle. While he may have been forced to physically transform into the green-eyed Præt'nos, his human mind was still fighting for control. Instinct told him to strike down the pitiful humans and take the Paramount Key. But he couldn't hurt his friends. Could he? No! But they were right there, practically defenseless. NO, they were his friends!

"Guys... Help... me..."

Unable to contain his rage, Toby lunged and aimed to strike. The others dodged just in time so that Darien and Toby collided with one another. Their shared bestial aggression caused both of them to engage in combat. Darien clawed and snapped at Toby. Toby struck Darien with shadowy tendrils.

Jen, Patrick and Carter were frozen with fear, unable to come up with a course of action. Evan, on the other hand... he was just... confused. Something about Darien's werewolf form seemed bizarrely familiar. Deep inside, he felt a strange connection to him, not as a friend, but as a... follower. As if his own life was at stake and he needed Darien to survive.

Darien and Toby's battle came to a halt when Darien was thrown into a tree. He painfully collected himself, let out a threatening snarl and took off running.

"No!" Jen screamed. She started to run after him, only to slow down and stop after a few steps. But, to her surprise, Evan actually did start running after him in a shockingly desperate manner. "W- Evan?!"

"Darien! Darien, WAIT! "

"Evan!" Carter shouted. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Jen's wide eyes turned away from her brother and to the dog. "Carter, did you just talk??"

Carter looked up at her with an equal amount of shock. "You can understand me??"

Away from the scene, Toby was stirring in his suffering again. His face was buried in his hands, breaths heavy and distorted. "I have to get out of here. I can't hurt them. Got to get OUTTA HERE!"

Then, without a moment of hesitation, he retreated into the nearest darkened area and vanished into the shadows. "Wait!" Patrick shouted. "Toby!"

Quickly, Jen and Patrick looked at each other in agreement. "You go find Toby!" Jen ordered. "We'll go after Evan and Darien!"

"Got it!"

And then they were off. Patrick began his pursuit of their demon-possessed friend. Jen, with Carter running alongside her, picked up Darien's discarded glasses and chased after her little brother and werewolf boyfriend.

----------

It didn't take long for Evan to lose sight of Darien. By that point, he was starting to feel lightheaded. He weakly leaned against the nearest building, which just so happened to be the theater. Gratefully, he pushed the door open and stepped inside, immediately rushing into the nearest restroom. He turned on one of the sinks, splashed the cool water on his face, and turned it off again. Then he leaned over the sink and took a moment to breathe.

What was wrong with him? Why were his thoughts so jumbled? All at once, Evan felt lost, confused, desperate, longing... hungry, angry, uncontrolled... How or why any of this was happening was suddenly the least of his worries. All that mattered was that he was disoriented and alone with no idea what he was supposed to do. It was as if any sense of self-commitment had vanished and he was slowly losing his own identity.

So he stood there, shaking, begging for some direction.

"You don't look too good."

Evan looked up and locked eyes with a straight-faced young man. For some reason, Evan got the feeling that he should know him, and yet he felt a deep mistrust of him. His scattered brain never registered the fact that this person was his own reflection.

"Something's missing," the reflection said plainly. His hand seemed to reach out and offer Evan something. "Here, try this."

He took what was given to him and studied it. It was a tube of lipstick. He wasn't sure what he was expected to do with this, but he felt obligated to follow the order given to him. Thus, he popped it open and messily smeared the pink stuff over his mouth.

His reflection slowly nodded, his deadpan stare never changing. "Now kiss me."

Evan dropped the lipstick tube and mumbled something incoherent. Then he took a step forward, tripped on his own two feet and smacked his face on the mirror, his lips pressing against it, the lipstick rubbing off as he slobbered all over the dirty glass in a needing, wanting way

A shrill scream tore him away from the mirror and he turned around to find a woman standing by the stalls. Of course. It would've been stupid to assume that he had gone into the men's room.

"You sicko, get outta here!" the woman screamed before proceeding to smack Evan repeatedly with her purse. Evan simply hunched up and held his hands out defensively. That fear and confusion started to return...

Why is she doing this?

This repetitive attack was starting to get on his nerves.

Why won't she stop?!

His fight-or-flight instincts slowly kicked in.

Enemy... she is an enemy... Her attack must be stopped.

Growls of frustration arose from his throat.

Don't want... Can't die... Must LIVE...

He slowly looked up at the woman, his eyes turning from brown to amber, whites turning a glowing yellow.

This thing... doesn't belong...

Seeing this, the woman slowly stopped hitting him, backing away when she realized he meant business.

Doesn't belong... Not one of us... Must destroy... MUST... KILL!!!

Finally, with an ear-shattering screech that could wake the dead, Evan threw himself at the woman, teeth bared and aiming for her neck.

Outside the theater, one could hear high-pitched screams of terror and deep-throated roars of pure rage. Only a few seconds later, these loud, terrifying noises were silenced and replaced by softer yet more disgusting sounds of flesh and muscle being torn and devoured.

When this came to a halt, Evan slammed the door open and stumbled out into the open, hunched over with hands half-clenched like a gorilla. He breathed hard through clenched teeth, blood dripping from his face and arms. His head darted back and forth, glowing yellow eyes searching about for... something. What that something was, he didn't know. He then ran off into the night on all fours, beginning his quest to find answers, help, and above all else, food.

Must go... must find others... must Kill... must EAT... MUsT tAKe OvER thIS WOrLD!!

[DanteMGalileo]

Arti sat in a local cafe, drinking a cup of espresso. It had not been long since he parted from his friends in the cemetery, and no signs of any of his favourite characters either. Oh well, that was all in the day of the team's token evil teammate.

Taking a small sip, Arti looked at a calendar. October already? Huh. That meant that his favourite holiday was just around the corner, and he didn't even have to put up any tacky decorations this year either! To him, that was the best part. That and now he could scare people without getting yelled at.

Tapping the side of his iGlasses, a holographic keyboard and screen popped up. Signing into Pesterchum, he decided to send messages to the whole DC crew.

-wolfenRegent has sent a message to all his contacts-
WR: yo losers
WR: what you guys gonna do for halloween?
WR: im going as the worst thing i can think of
WR: a monster version of myself!
WR: sounds cool dont it
WR: aw hell if you get this message the wifi sucks in here.

Yes, the wifi in this cafe was even worse than the ones back home, which was saying a lot. He tossed the cup (probably bonking someone on the head) and left the cafe.

He soon wished he had stayed in and decided to live on cafe food for a month.

Soon after he left, Arti collapsed to the floor, feeling something going down his back. Was that his spinal cord... shifting? He felt his body grow slightly in size, and soon felt the sting of glass against his eyes, which had started to glow mysteriously.

He tried bringing his hands up to his head to try and brace himself against the pain, but he felt a familiar, yet foreign energy. Light power, the very light he commanded in battle, yet strangely corrupted. He bit into one of his sleeves, but he had just found out that he had fangs, ripping the sleeve almost clean off.

Forced onto all fours, Arti let out an inhumane shriek, his skin tinging blue. The front of his God Tier robes ripped open, exposing his bony torso to the world. The corrupted light kept building around him, ripping his shoes to shreds and tearing apart his pants.

There was a blinding light, followed by a bloodcurdling scream and the sound of clothing ripping.

When the light died down, Arti stood up. A maniacal screen creeped across his face, and a howl escaped his lips. His glowing eyes scanned the streets for any signs of life, his shredded cape giving the impression of wings.

"TONIGHT AND FOREVER ARE TO BE KNOWN AS FRIGHT ISLAND!!!!!!"

In his newer, much lower voice, Arti laughed, ascending into the sky.

"LET US PAINT THIS ISLAND RED!!!!! AND BLUE!!! AND SLIMEY GREEN!!!! LET IT BE A BLOODBATH!!!!!!!!!"

His crazed laughter could be heard for miles, an orange figure covered in crackling black light visible in the sky.

[DMis]

It couldn't have been a better night for Artemis- everything was going according to plan. She had asked for one day off in October just to rest and ease her mind. To her surprise she had gotten it. Now the fledgling Assassin was just wandering the streets with a few bags of supplies for her home.
Her mind only thought, 'Oh. Must be a storm rolling in.' as the sky grew dark and the dark mist rolled in. At first it seemed like nothing was happening. But then a sharp stabbing pain hit her all at once as her sight vanished leaving a black space in front of her.
"Templars?" she asked feeling the stabbing pain again in her back as if something was pushing out of her skin.
A loud rip echoed through the plaza as two torn wings emerged out of her back and through her coat. The wings stretched letting droplets of blood hit the ground as the emergance holes quickly healed over.
Artemis gulped as other thoughts filled her mind before a demented smirk crossed her face.

"Let's see how well a Fallen fairs in this town~," she cackled opening her wings fully before dropping her bags and quickly flying around.

((Fallen angel can still fly in my book even if the wings are damaged just not as long as actual Angels))

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Joan had been out to the mall as the mist creeped in.
She too gave a scream of pain as she felt her bone twist and grow larger. She dropped on to all fours as the pain ravaged her body.
Fair skin was quickly being replaced by greenish blue scales. Her clothing ripping in the process. Wings rapidly grew and fanned out as a tail lengthened and swished behind her- knocking over other patrons.
Joan gave a might and loudly threatening roar. The winds kicked up to spread the mist even farther.
Only two things were on the newly grown dragon's mind- food and where to start her hoard.

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The wind carried the sounds of shrieks, maniacal laughter, and roars towards the Old Church along with the mist.
Beth had decided to go visit the old structure out of curiosity. Out of a nervous habit she had started to sing 'Ironic' by Alanis Morrissette to calm her nerves.



Her only audience the unseen mist and any bugs that might have taken residence inside the walls. The mist crept in through the doorway and through the broken out windows.
She started to sway and dance with her song. Her once pristine god tier uniform seemed to tear from the claws of invisible enemies as her skin took on an oddly splotched coloring of grey and some odd shade of purple. A smile crossed her face as she came to the end of her song.
"Maybe it would be better to have a live audience compared to these stalwart walls~," she commented to the wind before starting another song.

"Come little children. I'll take thee away into a land of enchantment. Come little children. The time's come to play in my garden of magic. Follow sweet children. I'll show thee the way through all the pain and the sorrows~"

[ShadesofGrey18]

When the mist began to cover the Island, Ezio had been out and about in the city, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. He'd stopped on a point to observe when the mist caught up to him.

"M-Merda! W-What sorcery is this?!" The older man had thrashed about a bit... before a loud screech echoed through the city. When he took down his hood and looked in a nearby piece of glass, he saw a face like that of a human, but also that of an eagle, staring back.

Near the Old Church, Squigly had been talking with Barbara when... "Mmmff... nhhh... auugh!" Leviathan groaned as he felt the power overtake his own. "M...M'lady!" Squigly began slowly walking, barely aware of what she was doing... this must've been what it felt like to be under the Skull Heart's power...

Aya and Momiji were comparing notes they'd been taking about the island, hanging out in Canopy City. Despite Aya's speed (she grabbed Momiji and took off when Momiji noticed the mist), eventually she ran out of places to run and the two were transformed. Aya dropped her pen as her hands turned into leafy fans like the Maple Leaf Fan she wielded, and Momiji turned into a more beastial form, with claws like her sword.

"Hhrrk... GGGYYAH!" A very loud pair of screams came from the mountains as Suika and Yugi, who'd been drinking together to celebrate the new month, transformed. The two grew bigger and more red-skinned, and they dove into the mountains, trying to keep their minds under their control; they knew what could happen if Oni went berserk.

A man in a fancy, though somewhat odd-looking suit was just beginning to awaken in the outskirts of Void City. The eagle shriek awoke him, and Bruno Buccellati rose, gasping at the pulse he felt. "...W-Wasn't I just dead a while ago? How am I he- augh!" He didn't even have time to summon his Stand before the mist overcame him... and his head zipped clean off his shoulders. "Sticky Fingers!" He attempted to put it back on using his Stand but for whatever reason, it just wasn't working. "...Damnit. Well, this is just lovely..." He picked up his head and began wandering, trying to figure out where he was.

Finally, as his Void-Aligned friend was being afflicted, Pieter had been enjoying a lovely cup of tea in the City. The eagle shriek hadn't gone unnoticed by him, either, and when he saw the mist, he went outside to investigate... which promptly lead to that feeling of his magic going crazy. "Aahhnn... rrk... m-magic... AAUUUGH!" He yelled loudly as a massive burst of Spatial power erupted from his body, his skin turning rather cosmic and his eyes becoming pure white. He could do more than just feel the Universe... he felt like... like it was part of him now.

[doctorzero]

As the mist spread throughout the island, sowing discord and destruction in its wake, an old power seemed to awaken. Old, evil, and powerful.

The nightmare mist congregated at the summit of Mt. Bonsai, gathering above one particular spot. Swirling and billowing, the mist spun round and round, speeding up drastically like a tornado, until it was all sucked into the ground.
















"RrrrrrrrrrrraaaaAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHH!!!!"

A pale hand, as dead as the grave, burst out of the ground, sending dirt and grass flying. The skies themselves began to rumble, and the moon slowly turned a bloody red.

The rest of the body followed the limb, clothed in the finest garb, and soon the head burst from its grave to take its first breath of air in centuries.

The skies calmed. The moon, however, remained red, as if stained with blood.

The first thing the man did was get to his feet, and examine himself. Despite coming out of what was basically a hole in the ground, his clothes were spotless, with nary a speck of dirt. His skin, as stated before, was a rather unhealthy pallor, as if the man hadn't had a tan in years.

He looked about, noting his surroundings with a critical eye. This place was new; he wasn't in his castle and he certainly wasn't surrounded by his servants, or the humans who would regularly revive him so he could take his vengeance upon the world.

"Interesting," he mused. He held up a hand, summoning the eldritch powers that came easily to him.

Nothing happened. He grunted in annoyance; his powers were drained. He could not summon his castle, nor could he call upon his servants. Still, the power drain wasn't too significant, and he could recover in time. In fact, he was feeling better already.

That was another thing to note; the air was incredibly invigorating. Not only that, but he could detect an odd power around him, imbued in the mist. He recognized it--this was dark power. Perhaps someone DID revive him, but if that was the case, there would be someone nearby, and it didn't take a child to see that he was all alone on this lonely mountaintop.

The first thing, he decided, was to learn his current location. He strolled to the edge of the clearing and took a look at the valley below.

It was most certainly not Wallachia, that he could see. He could spy what appeared to be a city in the distance; at least there was civilization. Not much of a comfort. Beyond that, if he squinted, he could swear he saw that the land abruptly stopped at one point. So he was on an island? Interesting enough. He gave the valley a quick glance, noting every noticable landmark, then turned his back on the view, thinking.

He couldn't summon his castle or his legions, but from the way this mist was empowering him, that wouldn't be an issue for too long. There was a reason he was here, and he wanted to know why. As he didn't fancy spending his time on that mountain, he thought it best to go out, gather information, and wait for his powers to replenish fully.

He allowed himself a grin. This island did seem quite lovely, from what he could see. Perhaps it would make a rather delightful vacation spot, regardless of his disinterest in such things, but why not be allowed to indulge? He could already see Death clicking his tongue in exasperation, but if his greatest servant had a problem with it then he could keep it to himself.

He directed his gaze to the moon. Something was about tonight, and a part of him knew that it was 'just up his alley', as the saying went. He rather felt like he was the guest of honor at a party. Well, he couldn't disappoint the those who set it up, now could he?

"The night is still young, after all," said Dracula, giving a low chuckle that grew into a diabolical laugh. With a sweep of his cape, he burst into hundreds of bats, which flew into the night.

The Prince of Darkness had arrived on Fright Island.

[Pink Moon Wolf]

Trick-or-treating seemed to be a staple of every universe's Halloween, or as those from the World called it, "Ghost Night." Though the traditions were slightly different here than they were back home -given the severe lack of natural zombification and... well, ghosts- Cat and Mickey had nonetheless gleefully joined in the festivities the only way they knew how: by scaring the living daylights out of everyone. And they had been doing so successfully for quite some time now. In their latest excursion, every time a group of unsuspecting children approached a certain house, rang the bell and shouted "Trick-or-treat," they were greeted by a rather unexpected sight.

"TRICK!" Mickey would faze partway through the door, fangs bared, eyes blazing, claws erect, a shadowy aura surrounding him, while a hidden Cat would activate a panel beneath the kids' feet that set the sidewalk ablaze in harmless, synthetic fire and ghostly projections. Every single time, the kids ran screaming.

"BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA...!" Cat stood up out of her hiding place to join Mickey after their last scare. "Kids are so easy! Look at 'em run!"

"It just never gets old!" Mickey agreed. "Man, we should've lost Rio a long time ago! He'd have spoiled our fun by now!"

"You know, I'm kinda disappointed that we don't get turned into zombies here. Would've made us even scarier!" Cat mused as she reached down and grabbed some fallen candy. "In all seriousness, though, we should probably move on before people catch on to where we're stationed."

"Sounds like a... plan..." Mickey trailed off, slowly turning westward. "The frig is THAT?"

Cat followed his gaze, eyes widening at the purple fog enveloping the land. "Cooooooool..." Intrigued, she and Mickey raced towards it, meeting the dark cloud halfway.

Upon making contact with the fog, Cat felt an intense burn well up in her chest. Her flyswatter, Goldenhand, flew out of her pocket and forced itself into her left hand. Bright streams of white and orange light were channeled between Cat and Goldenhand, changing her usual attire into the Armor of Pandemonium: a smiley-face tee-shirt, Daisy Duke jean shorts, tube socks, black sandals, oven mitts and swim goggles. It may have looked ridiculous to some, but the fact that her body had decayed slightly into a somewhat zombified state and there was a constant blaze surrounding her would balance the silly with the intimidating.

Mickey, on the other hand, felt very little. He backed away from Cat as she endured her transformation, yet he felt no fear. If anything, he felt more energized, dangerous, ambitious... and oh so very bloodthirsty. It was as if any kind of restraint or morality he might've had was gone, leaving him free to follow his natural killer instinct. And now, watching Cat become this being of destruction, Mickey had only one thing on his mind:

"Cat?"

A mischievous smile spread across the Pandemonium Warrior's face. She clenched her fists, reveling at the feeling of pure power coursing through her veins. Her glowing yellow eyes turned to her vampire companion, and when she spoke, she seemed to have two voices, one her own, the other reminiscent of Toby Turner. "Yeah, Mickey?"

"LET'S GO BERSERK!"

At that proposition, Cat promptly slammed her foot on the ground, generating a massive explosion of pandemonium energy. From the resulting mushroom cloud, Cat and Mickey launched into the night sky, laughing manically as they took off to cause more mayhem. There was no holding back now.

--------

The Summer Snow Valley crew had been right in guessing that Swift had led her alien companions into the woods already.

"I told you we should've waited longer," Aether sighed as the trio tried to navigate through the darkened forest. "Who knows how long it'll take for them to find us?"

"Relax, Aether!" Swift insisted. "We'll just back-track until we run into them. And you forget: I'm a professional tracker!"

Andromeda gave Swift an awkward look, pointing behind her and shrugging. Aether nodded in agreement and translated for her, "Yes, it was a bit rude to leave them behind like that."

"I know, I know. Everything will be alright once we regroup."

A strange noise far ahead of them caught the girls' attention. It was hard to distinguish at first, but Swift could quickly, easily pick out the combined howls of a wolf and a demon, both eerily familiar. "Th-That was Darien and Toby!" Without hesitation, Swift charged head-first into the trees.

"Swift, wait!" Aether called as she and Andromeda began a desperate pursuit. "It might be too dangerous! Come back!!"

It didn't take long for them to lose sight of her, but still they kept running. They did, however, notice how the air seemed to grow darker, and with this change of lighting came the realization that a retched, evil aura was surrounding them.

"Oh dear!" Aether screeched to a halt and tried to scramble away from the sickly substance. "This... This must be what caused- AH!"

A hot, fiery flash coursed through Aether's tiny body. Her head jolted up as she screamed in pain, a white light shining out of her mouth that soon, one by one, also began to burst through every pore in her skin. Every sky blue hair glowed like flames. Every fiber of her being burned with the intensity of a thousand suns. And the space around her... It no longer felt to Aether that she was a part of the atmosphere; it felt like it was a part of her.

Andromeda grabbed her chest, struck with an intense, stabbing feeling. She found herself trapped from all directions. The dark force that surrounded them was threatening to consume her, to crush her into nothingness. But another force was welling up inside of her, trying to break free, as if in some attempt to destroy the outside, opposing force. The internal force seemed to win out, consuming her entirely. She spread her arms out, releasing a white light that illuminated the forest as bright as day.

When it was all said and done, what remained were two beings of pure light. Andromeda's bright pink skin shined like glass, her silky hair constantly swaying as if pushed by some nonexistent breeze. Aether's fur danced like wildfire, glowing so bright that she looked more like a living star than an animal. Brilliant white auras surround their forms. Both of them had the same, bright, plain white eyes that held nothing but the utmost displeasure for what they saw.

"This island..." Aether said, her voice echoing. "It has been overcome by a dark, unnatural curse. It's disgusting."

Andromeda looked down at her companion. She made no sound. All she did was hold her arm out in a slow, sweeping motion.

"Yes, my master. We shall cleanse this land of the darkness that plagues it. We shall destroy all that oppose your light." Aether looked ahead and extended a paw, creating a powerful gust of wind that tore a clear path through the woods. "Let us bring an end to this sickness before it begins."

--------

Swift drowned out the white noise around her, her friends being her only concern. She had a feeling she knew what was going on; Darien and Toby had somehow been forced into their respective werewolf and shadow demon forms. If that was the case, Evan, Jen and Patrick were in trouble, and she wasn't going to stand by and let them handle this without her help. In her anxiousness to catch up to them, Swift never took the time to question what may have caused the guys' transformations. She also took no notice of the foul-smelling mist up ahead, blissfully unaware that she was rushing directly into the source everyone's troubles.

For a while, Swift just kept running. Adrenaline pumped through her blood; she embraced it, knowing she would need all the strength she could muster. But the energy she was building up quickly made her feel hot. Her head and heart were pounding in sync. Her body grew tense, forcing her to a stop. She grabbed her head, which was swimming in a torrent of anger... fury... a deep-seeded rage unlike anything she had ever felt.

Her claws doubled in length. Her teeth sharpened. Black streaks like sickly veins pulsated on her cheeks. She opened her eyes, whites glowing a bright yellow and amber irises acquiring a red ring around the pupils.

Swift smiled a wide, Joker smile at the sky. She was free. Free from the bondage of her human blood. Free from the weakness and restraint it brought her. Finally, the unbridled, feral, bestial power that laid dormant in her yokai blood was at her full command. And everyone on this island would know it. Know that she was the strongest, the dominant species, the ultimate apex predator.

The wolf yokai crouched onto all fours and began a sprint through the woods. It was time to hunt.