Mabel drove into the parking lot of the Summerween Superstore, crashing into a handicap sign. The twins stepped out of the backseat, along with Ria, who was riding in the front.
"Here we are! The Summerween Superstore!" Mabel smiled, looking at the store.
"Wait, Summer-what?" Ford asked, looking at his aunt.
"Summerween!" Mabel smiled, pulling out a calendar. "The people of this town love Halloween so much, that they celebrate it twice a year. And wouldn't you know it, it's today!"
"Do you always carry that calendar around in your pocket?" Ford asked.
"...Yes," Mabel answered after a minute.
"Summerween? Something about this feels unnatural," Stan said.
"There's free candy," Ria said. The twins looked at each other.
-----
"TO THE COSTUME AISLE!" The twins shouted once inside the store. Ford was pushing Stan in a wheelbarrow. Ria was standing by a shelf of skulls. She pushed down one of them.
"I'd lend you a hand, but I don't seem to have any!" The skull cackled.
"Haha. This dude tells it like it is," Ria laughed.
"Ma'am, could you please stop pushing that?" An employee asked Ria.
"Miss, make these heads less hilarious, and you've got yourself a deal," Ria said. She pushed down on the skull again, making it cackle.
Meanwhile, Mabel was looking at barrels of fake blood. Ever since she had gotten too old for trick or treating, she had found a new Halloween past time: scaring people.
"When the kids come to my door tonight, they'll run away screaming from Mabel Pines: master of fright!" Mabel laughed. She turned to see a baby looking at her. "Boo."
The baby started crying, and the mother glared at a laughing Mabel. The employee watched as Ria kept pushing the laughing skulls and the twins knocked over a pile of jack-o-melons.
"Uh oh, I think this one's leaking," Mabel said, picking up a dripping barrel of fake blood.
"Have the police come and eject the Pines family from the store," the employee spoke into a walkie-talkie.
"NOT TODAY!" Mabel yelled, tossing a glitter bomb.
"My eyes!" The employee cried as Mabel, the twins, and Ria ran out of the store.
"You paid for this stuff, right?" Ford asked Mabel.
"Of course," Mabel said.
-----
Back in the store, the employee was holding a 100 dollar bill. She watched as Mabel backed her car into a giant inflatable melon and drove off.
"I hate Summerween," The woman sighed.
-----
Back at the Mystery Shack, which was decked out for Summerween, the twins, Bella, Fiddleford, and Ria were sitting in the living room. Ria sat on the chair, dressed as a superhero.
"I'm so excited!" Stan smiled.
"We're gonna have the best costumes..." Ford began.
"Get the most candy," Fiddleford added.
"And have the biggest stomach aches ever!" Bella finished.
"Dudes, I've never seen you so pumped," Ria said.
"Well, back home me and Ford were kinda the kings of trick or treating," Stan said, showing the others a scrapbook.
"Ford and I," Ford corrected. "Grammar, Stanley. And yeah, twins in costumes. The people eat it up."
Stan showed them in matching cat costumes, salt and pepper costumes, and zombie costumes.
"Well, you guys should he careful out there," Ria warned. "It's a night of ghouls and goblins. Not to mention," she turned off the lights and shone a flashlight on her face, "the Summerween Trickster."
"The Summer-what what?" Stan asked, confused.
"It's just an urban legend," Fiddleford waved it off.
"Yeah, but a cool one," Bella said. "It says that the Trickster eats kids that don't have the Summerween spirit."
"Well, we don't have to worry," Ford said. "Lee and I have plenty of spirit to go around." He ate a piece of candy but spit it back out. "Ew! What is this stuff? I've never heard of these brands! Sand-Pops? Gummy Chairs? Mr. Adequate-Bar?"
"This is all cheapo loser candy!" Stan complained.
"Quiet your discontent, children, lest the Trickster overhears," Ria said, picking up a pair of Gummy Lips.
"Your cape is caught in your pants zipper, Ria," Bella pointed out.
"Touche..." Ria nodded and ate the gummy. Ford walked to the window and started tossing out the candy.
"Goodbye, loser candy!" He said. Just then the doorbell rang.
"Trick-or-treaters!" Mabel yelled. "Quick, give them the candy!"
Ford walked to the front door, opening it.
"Happy Summerw- AHH!" Ford jumped, seeing Dan and Stacey standing outside.
"Sup, loser," Stacey said. Dan had his arm around her shoulders.
"Dan! Haha," Ford backed away into the staircase. "Ow! Uh, w-what are you doing here?"
"Forgot my jacket," Dan said, grabbing the article of clothing from a clothes rack. "Again."
"So what's with the candy?" Stacey asked. "You going trick-or-treating or something?"
"Uh, actually I-" Ford began.
"Shut up, Stacey," Dan nudged her. "Of course he's not going trick-or-treating."
"Uh, yeah, of course not!" Ford laughed nervously and hid the scrapbook behind his back. "Trick-or-treating is for babies."
"You should come to this party with us," Dan said, handing Ford a flyer. "Shandra's parents are out of town, and it's gonna be off the chain!"
"Not surprised you didn't hear about it," Stacey scoffed. The two walked off and climbed into Stacey's van. Ford ran out to them.
"Guys, wait!" He called. "Uh, maybe I'll see you at the party."
"Yeah, if you're not too busy playing dress up," Stacey rolled her eyes. Dan shoved her playfully and turned to Ford.
"It's at nine. Don't forget!" He yelled as the can drove off. Ford waved to them, then sighed.
"How am I gonna tell Lee?"
-----
Stan was waiting by the front door. Bella and Fiddleford were also waiting with him. Bella was dressed as the devil, and Fiddleford was a miner. Stan was dressed as a jar of strawberry jelly.
"Ford should be down soon," Stan said.
"Is Gompers comin' trick-or-treatin' with us?" Fiddleford asked.
"I wish he could, but he has some very important meetings to attend," Bella giggled. Gompers entered wearing a fake suit. He walked over to Stan, who picked him up.
"File these documents under 'I', for 'I am very fluffy,'" Stan joked, and the three of them laughed. He sent Gompers down and the goat walked off. "Oh man guys, just wait till you see Ford's costume. It's gonna be amazing! Here he comes!"
Ford walked down the stairs, dressed normally.
"That is a very good Stanford costume," Bella nodded.
"What the hey-hey, bro-bro?" Stan asked. "Where's your costume?"
"Listen, I can't go trick-or-treating," Ford said. "I'm uh, really sick." He faked a cough. "Must have been that bad candy. You go on without me."
"Fight through it, man!" Stan said. "Where's your Summerween spirit?"
Someone knocked on the door and Ford answered. On the other side was a tall man, wearing a mask and a trench coat.
"Trick-or-treat," the man said.
"Really man? You're a little old for this," Ford said. "Sorry."
He shut the door.
"Why'd you close the door?" Stan asked.
"I told you Lee, I'm just not feeling it tonight," Ford faked another cough.
"Maybe some trick-or-treating will help you feel better," Stan suggested.
"I'm not trick-or-treating!" Ford yelled. There was another knock on the door and Ford opened it to reveal the same man. "Look man, just go to another house!"
"Ford! Where's your Summerween hospitality?" Stan asked when Ford slammed the door shut. There was another knock.
"I'm not getting that," Ford said, folding his arms.
"Then I am!" Stan said, opening the door. "I'm sorry about my brother. He came down with a case of the grumpy-grumps."
"SILENCE!" The man yelled. "You have insulted me! And for that you must pay... with your LIVES!"
"Wow, what a cool little mask," Stan laughed. "You're a funny guy."
"Funny, am I?" The man asked, stepping inside the shack.
"Twik-owr-tweet!" A small boy smiled, standing on the porch, dressed as a pirate. "My name is Gourney!"
The man grabbed Gourney by the head and ate him. The twins, Bella, and Fiddleford screamed.
"Gourney!" Bella cried.
"There's only one way for you to avoid his fate," the man said. He poked Fiddleford's head, and the boy clung onto Ford's arm in fear. "I need a treat. If you collect 500 pieces of candy, and bring it to me before the last jack-o-melon goes out..." he blew out the candle inside a jack-o-melon, "I will let you live."
"500 treats in one night?" Ford gaped. "But that's impossible!"
"The choice is yours, children," the man said. "You must trick-or-treat... or DIE!"
He crawled off across the shack's roof, laughing.
"Oh my gosh, Stan, do you realize what this means?" Ford asked.
"I do," Stan nodded. "It means you have to come trick-or-treating with us! Yay!"
"W-who was that?" Fiddleford asked shakily.
"That must have been the Halloween Trickster," Bella gasped. "I thought he wasn't real!"
"What do we do?!" Fiddleford cried.
"What's goin' on out here, dudes?" Ria asked, exiting the shack. "I thought I heard a ruckus. Hehe, that's a funny word... ruckus."
"Ria! A monster is making us trick-or-treat or else he's gonna eat us!" Ford panicked.
"I got a picture!" Bella said, and showed them a picture on her phone of the Trickster.
"The Summerween Trickster!" Ria gasped. "Oh man, dudes! You guys are in crazy bonkers trouble."
"How are we going to get that much candy in one night?" Ford asked. "There's no way!"
Stan clapped, standing on top of a nearby old car.
"Listen up, people!" He said. "Now, some might say being cursed by a bloodthirsty holiday monster is a bad thing."
"It is!" Bella interrupted.
"But that monster messed with the wrong crew," Stan continued. "With Fiddleford's spirit, Bella's cuteness, Ford's brains, and... R-Ria! We'll get 500 pieces of candy and have fun doing it, too! Even if it takes all night!"
Ria, Fiddleford, and Bella cheered.
"To the streets!" Stan ordered, jumping off the car.
"All night?" Ford said. He looked at the flyer in his pocket. "B-but I'm sick, remember?"
"Ford, what's worse: getting eaten by a horrifying monster, or going trick-or-treating with us?" Stan asked. Ford hesitated for a second before Stan grabbed his wrist. "Come on!"
-----
Mabel was putting in a pair of vampire fangs. She was dressed as a vampire (and NOT the hot kind) and looked in the mirror at her costume.
"Ah, Summerween," Mabel smiled and laughed evilly. "Those kids aren't gonna know what hit 'em!"
Just then the doorbell rang, and Mabel opened it to reveal a group of kids.
"Trick-or-treat!" They said together.
"Oh, hello! Now what can I do for y- oh, oh no!" Mabel shrieked. Her face melted away, leaving only a skull. The kids screamed, running off. Mabel laughed, taking off the skull mask. She noticed two kids that hadn't run off. "Huh?"
"Can we have candy now?" The boy dressed as a soldier asked.
"What's wrong with you kids?" Mabel asked. "That was the scariest thing you've ever seen, right?"
The boy dressed as a mummy made a 'so-so' motion with his hand, looking at his friend.
"Well have you seen this?!" Mabel said and started pulling a hotdog chain from her costume. "Ahhh! Guts! Real, very real guts!"
"Oh, we've been watching horror movies since we were like, 2 years old," the mummy kid rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, we're not scared," the soldier kid added.
"Oh, you will be," Mabel narrowed her eyes, covering her face with her cape. "You will be."
-----
A colony of bats flew over the town. Womanly Wendy and her sons stood in front of a house, dressed as vikings.
"For glory, my children!" Womanly Wendy yelled. "CHARGE!"
Her sons ran into the house, yelling loudly. Sheriff Holt and Deputy Roy walked by, dressed as each other.
"You make a great me," Roy said.
"No, you make a great me," Holt laughed.
"I don't understand why we can't just buy our candy and be over with it," Ford said. He and the others were walking around with a wheelbarrow.
"That sort of takes the fun out of trick-or-treat or die," Stan said.
"I'm trying to take the die out of trick-or-treat or die," Ford said.
A group of kids rung Growling Grenda's doorbell. She answered dressed as a ball of yarn.
"Trick-or-treat!" The kids said.
"Well aren't you just the cutest!" Grenda smiled. "And is everyone in costume?" She poured some candy into everyone's bag. "Good."
"Happy Summerween!" The kids yelled, running off. The twins, Bella, Fiddleford, and Ria took their place.
"Trick-or-treat!" They said.
"Is everyone in costume?" Grenda asked. She pointed at Bella. "Devil." She pointed at Ria, "Superhero." She looked at Fiddleford. "Miner." She turned to Stan. "Jelly." Finally, she looked at Ford. "And what are you supposed to be?"
"Uh, I'm not actually dressed up as anything," Ford explained. "We're kinda in a hurry here."
"Oh. I see," Grenda gave everyone but Ford a single piece of candy, "Enjoy!"
She slammed the door shut.
"One piece of black licorice?" Bella gagged.
"Circus peanut!" Fiddleford frowned. "This is loser candy!"
"Four pieces of candy?" Ford groaned. "This is gonna take forever!"
"We gotta up our game, Ford," Stan said. "You need to put on your costume."
"I told you, Stan! I'm just not feeling it," Ford faked a cough.
"Oh really?" The Trickster spoke. He climbed down onto Ria. She shook as he examined the piece of candy in her bag. "I've seen better." He grabbed a jack-o-melon. "Tick tock."
He blew out the candle and jumped behind a house.
"What was that about being too sick to wear a costume?" Stan asked, smirking. Ford sighed, kicking a pebble.
-----
At the shack, the two kids still hadn't left.
"We want candy! We want candy!" They chanted. Mabel opened the door, dressed in her normal clothes.
"Alright kids, you've got me," she sighed. "You guys win. I guess I'm not that scary after a- oh. No! Arrg!" She screamed as Waddles tore through her shirt, squealing loudly. "Why?! Why is there a pig coming out of my chest?!"
The two kids looked at each other, unphased.
"Candy," the mummy boy said.
"Can-dy!" His friend repeated. Waddles fell out of Mabel's shirt, walking off.
"What scares you two?!" Mabel asked. The soldier kid smirked at the other.
"Here, watch this," he said. He held out a phone, showing a kitten video.
"Aw, what a cute kitty!" Mabel cooed. Suddenly a monster appeared on the screen, screaming, "AHHHH!" Mabel screamed and ran inside, shutting the door on the cackling kids. She sighed, looking at a mirror. "What happened to you, Mabel Pines?"
-----
Stan was standing in front of Bella, Fiddleford, and Soos.
"Introducing, for the first time in public..." Stan began. Ford walked out wearing a peanut butter costume. "Peanut Butter and Jelly!"
"Awww!" The three others said. Bella took a picture.
"I will make you guys a meme!" She giggled.
"Hey, delete that!" Ford ordered. He glanced at his watch. "Let's just get this over with, ok?"
"Over with! Over with!" They chanted, walking off.
-----
Ford rang a doorbell, standing on a porch with Stan.
"Do you really think this is going to help?" Ford asked. A man answered the door. Ford and Stan started dancing.
"TWIIIIIINS!" They smiled. The biker teared up, smiling, and dumped the entire bowl of candy into their bag. They ran back to the wheelbarrow, throwing the candy in and counting it.
"34, 35..." Stan counted. They Trick-or-treated some more, getting more candy.
"22, 23, 24. 124!" Stan said. People started blowing out their jack-o-melons, getting ready for the end of the night.
"Hurry, hurry!" Ford said. They rung some more doorbells and eventually came to the Gravity Falls Gossiper.
"Hello," Thompson Determined said, answering. The kids and Ria yelled.
"What a horrible mask!" Ria cried.
"That's just my face!" Thompson said. He put on a mask. "This is a mask!"
The group murmured about how that was actually better. Thompson sighed.
-----
"498, 499!" Stan counted after a lot more trick-or-treating. "We did it!" The group of friends cheered. "All we need is one more piece of candy!"
"And it's only 8:30," Ford said, looking at his watch. "Perfect timing."
"Whoo-hoo!" Bella pulled the three other kids into a hug.
"And your cough went away, too," Stan smiled at Ford.
"I'm gonna go grab the truck," Ria said. "Ria, away!"
"Last one to the last house is a pair of wax lips!" Stan yelled, running off. Bella and Fiddleford followed after him.
"The perfect time to go to the party, and no one needs to know I was trick-or-treating," Ford said to himself. He saw Stacey's van driving up. He panicked, hiding the candy and his costume in the nearby bushes.
"Hey Ford!" Dan called, waving to the boy as the van stopped.
"Oh, hey Dan," Ford said. "What's up?"
He nudged a bit of his costume into the bushes using his foot.
"Are you coming to the party?" Dan asked.
"Yeah, what are you doing out here?" Stacey asked from the driver's seat.
"Oh, I'm on my way," Ford lied. "I just like, uh, watching the trick-or-treaters. Reminds me of when I was a kid."
"Ok then," Dan said. "You're coming, right?"
"Yeah, of course," Ford nodded.
"Sweet. See you there!" Dan called as the van drove off.
"Later guys!" Ford waved.
"You're going to a party?"
Ford spun around to see Stan and the others standing there.
"Stan, I-" Ford began, but Stan threw the last piece of candy at him.
"That's why you were acting so weird and trying to hurry us!" Stan yelled. "You're not sick at all! If it wasn't for this crazy monster, you were gonna ditch me! On our favorite holiday!"
"Oh man," Bella frowned.
"What happened to the Ford that used to love Halloween?!" Stan looked around. "And where's all the candy?!"
"Relax, relax," Ford said. "I left it right here, behind this bush."
He parted the bush, revealing a hill on the other side. At the bottom was a river, where the overturned wheelbarrow had spilled all the candy.
"What did you do?!" Stan yelled.
"Well, I-I," Ford said nervously.
"Uh, guys..." Bella said. The others turned to see the last jack-o-melon go out.
"Oh banjo polish!" Fiddleford gasped. "All the jack-o-melons are out!"
"Look!" Ford pointed down the street, where one jack-o-melon remained: Crazy Chiu's.
"Good night!" Crazy Chiu laughed. Everyone but her gasped.
"STOP!" Stan shouted.
"Huh? What?" Chiu looked around, confused, as the others yelled to not blow out the candle. "What's happening?"
"Just don't blow out that candle!" Ford shouted.
"Eh?" Chiu said, holding a horn to her ear.
"Don't blow out that candle!!" Ford yelled into the horn. There was a pause.
"I'm Crazy Chiu!" The old woman laughed. She inhaled, preparing to blow out the candle.
"Wait!" Ford cried. Bella knocked into Crazy Chiu, grabbing the jack-o-melon.
"Sorry!" Bella said. Crazy Chiu scuttled over a pile of trash, escaping into the junk yard.
"Phew, that was close," Ford said. The group sighed together, making the candle go out.
"Uh oh," Stan said.
"We're all idiots," Bella said. The Trickster walked up the empty and now-dark street.
"Knock knock," he said. Bella dropped the jack-o-melon. "So children. Where's my candy?"
"We had all 500 pieces, I swear!" Ford tried to convince him. "It's down there somewhere. We can still get it!"
The group nodded nervously in agreement.
"I'm afraid it's too late!" The Trickster yelled. "That was your last chance!"
Ford threw the last piece of candy at the Trickster. He laughed as he absorbed it.
"Go go go go!" Ford yelled, and the group started running. Bella and Fiddleford each screamed as the monster grabbed them. Stan tripped, and the Trickster picked him up in an extra arm.
"FORD!" Stan cried.
"Stan!" Ford yelled. He skidded to a stop, and the Trickster picked him up, too. Suddenly Ria drove by, crashing through the Trickster and causing him to explode. The kids fell to the ground.
"We're alive!" Bella cheered. She hugged the boy closest to her, which happened to be Fiddleford. "We're alive we're alive we're alive!"
"Woah," Ria said, stepping out of her truck.
"Ria!" The twins shouted happily, running over.
"That wasn't like, a regular pedestrian, was it?" Ria asked.
"It was the monster!" Stan smiled. "You saved us!"
"Thanks, Ria," Ford said. "Phew, I'm just glad it's over, right?"
Stan just glared at him, turning away. The kids and Ria climbed into the car. Bella and Fiddleford sat in the back, while the twins sat up front with Ria.
"Did everyone put on their seat belts?" Ria asked.
"Yes," Ford and Fiddleford said.
"Si," Bella said at the same time. Stan just nodded silently.
"Then let's go!" Ria said as she drove off. Ford looked at Stan. The younger twin rubbed a bruise on his elbow.
"Hey, you ok?" Ford asked. Stan didn't answer, but turned to look the other way. "There's probably some band-aids back at the shack."
Still no response. Stan watched out the window as the destroyed bits of the Trickster started to form back together.
"Uh, guys...?" Stan said. The Trickster reformed, growling angrily. It jumped onto the back of the car, making the group scream as Ria swerved. The Trickster fell off, landing harshly against a telephone pole.
"Breaks breaks breaks!" Ford screamed, pulling on Ria's cape. The truck crashed into the Summerween Superstore. The group of friends coughed as they fell out of the truck.
"We have to hide!" Ford hissed upon seeing the monster. The group did just that, running off into the store. The Trickster crawled up to the truck, ripping its door off. It sniffed around before going to search around the store.
Stan and Ford were hiding in a bottom shelf. They moved to sit in a shelf across from Bella and Fiddleford. Ria was hiding in a shelf full of clothes.
"It's blocking the only exit," Ford whispered, "Everyone stay quiet."
"Oh, now you're worried about the monster," Stan snapped quietly. "I thought all you cared about was Dan."
"Lee, you know that's not true," Ford whispered. "I just... I felt like I was getting a little too old for trick-or-treating."
"That's exactly why we need to go trick-or-treating," Stan said, and sighed sadly. "We're getting older. There's not that many Halloweens left. I guess I didn't realize it was already our last one..."
The Trickster roared, trying to find the group.
"We gotta escape," Fiddleford said.
"What if it sees us?" Bella worried.
"If only there was something to cover our bodies and faces with," Ria said thoughtfully. "Like a disguise..."
-----
The kids had quickly changed into the costumes. Stan and Ford, dressed as skeletons, ran past Ria, who was dressed as a gorilla holding a sign. They hid in a shelf next to Bella, who was also dressed as a skeleton. The Trickster walked by, moving a clothes rack to reveal Fiddleford hiding in the clothes. The four kids moved towards the exit, Bella and the twins removing their masks.
"This way. Almost there," Ford whispered. He turned around to see Ria by the cackling skulls. "Ria!" The kids dove in front of the counter. "Stop!"
"Ria, don't you dare!" Stan snapped quietly.
"Sorry dudes, today's been way stressful," Ria said. "I need some levity."
She pushed down on the skull, but nothing happened. The kids sighed, relieved.
"Oh thank God, it's out of batteries," Bella said. "RIA, NO!"
Ria was struggling to open a pack of batteries. She put the new ones in, pressing down on the skull.
"No matter the score, I'm always a-head!" The skull cackled. Ria laughed along with it.
"This cackling head is the voice of a generation!" Ria laughed. The Trickster appeared behind her, and she turned to face him. She pressed down on the skull again before getting eaten by the monster.
"Hey, monster!" Stan yelled. Him and the others pulled out fake weapons, including a battle ax and Bella even had a Devil's trident. The kids yelled, attacking the Trickster. Fiddleford cut off an arm, tasting something.
"Salt water taffy?" He asked. "Ew!"
"What are you-?" Ford looked that him, then licked around his lips. "Wait, it is."
"You really haven't figured it out yet?" The Trickster asked. He picked up the four kids, making them drop their weapons. "Don't you recognize me? Look at my face! Look closely..."
He took off his mask, revealing a face made of candy.
"Loser candy!" Fiddleford gasped.
"Wait, so candy corn is considered 'loser' candy now?" Bella asked.
"That's right!" The Trickster yelled. "Did you ever stop and think about the candy at the bottom of the bag that no one likes? Every year the children of Gravity Falls throw away all of the 'REJECTED' candy into the dump. So I seek revenge; revenge on the picky children who cast me aside. I'm made of every tossed piece of black licorice, every discarded bar of old chocolate with like that white, powder stuff on it. You know that stuff!"
"I hate that stuff!" Stan snapped.
"No one would eat me," The monster said. "But now, I'm going to eat you." He felt something. "W-what is that?!"
He screamed as Ria burst out of his stomach. She was eating the candy that made up the Trickster.
"Sup bro?" She asked. The Trickster fell to the ground, vomiting jelly beans. Ria held out a chunk of candy. "You dudes want any of this?"
The twins, Bella, and Fiddleford shook their heads silently, watching from the floor.
"Wait, you actually think I taste... good?" The Trickster asked, looking at Ria.
"Uh, yeah," Ria shrugged, munching on more candy. "I guess. Candy is candy."
"All I've ever wanted was for someone to say that I was... good," the Trickster started crying happy candy corn.
"The crying makes it a little weird," Ria said, and took another bite of candy. It was shaped to look as though it might have been the Trickster's heart. "But I guess I'm still eating." The kid from earlier burst through. "Sup Gorney?"
"I've been twaumatized!" Gourney smiled.
-----
Back at the shack, the two boys from before were kicking up Mabel's outdoor decorations.
"What now?" The mummy kid asked.
"Let's go get our candy already," the soldier boy said. The two dragged their bags of candy inside, looking around. "Old lady? Old lady?"
Mabel was upstairs in the bathroom. She turned on the water in the bathtub.
"Wash off the shame, Mabel," she sighed. "Wash off the same."
"Ha! She thought she could scare us!" The soldier kid laughed. He and his friend entered the bathroom just as Mabel took off her bath robe.
"Huh?"
The kids screamed and ran out of the house, dropping their bags of candy in the floor. Mabel stood in the doorway, still wearing a bra and underwear.
"Haha, yes!" Mabel cheered. "Still got it."
-----
A few minutes later, the kids and Ria entered the shack to see Mabel sitting in her chair, now dressed.
"Hey Graunty Mabel," the twins greeted.
"Hi Ms. Pines," Bella, Fiddleford, and Ria said.
"How's it hangin'," Mabel nodded towards them.
"Hey Ford," Dan said. He was sitting at the table, carving a jack-o-melon.
"Dan!" Ford jumped, surprised.
"I didn't see you at the party," Dan said. "Where were you?"
"I, uh..." Ford looked at Stan and put and arm around his shoulders. "I was trick-or-treating. With my brother."
The twins smiled at each other.
"Eh, party was lame anyway," Dan shrugged. "Stacey ate a lollipop stick-first and had to go home sick."
Ford tried not to laugh, though Stan had no problem with doing so.
"Aw man," Bella complained. "We went to every single house and didn't even get any candy to keep."
"Candy?" Mabel said. "How's this for candy?"
She held up the bags of candy dropped by the two kids.
-----
The Pines, Bella, Fiddleford, Ria, and Dan had gathered around the TV. The candy was spread in a pile in the middle of the room. Ford entered the room, laying a band-aid on Stan's bruised elbow. He smiled, showing Ford the band-aid. Gompers ate the candy in his bowl, and Waddles munched on some unwrapped pieces at Mabel's feet.
" You know, kids? I've been thinking," Mabel began, "At the end of the day, Summerween isn't about candy or costumes. Or even scaring people. It's a day when the whole family can get together at one place and celebrate what really matters: PURE EVIL!"
She started laughing evilly, prompting the others to join in. The stopped after a minute, continuing to watch TV.
"I ate a man alive tonight," Ria said.
.
.
.
.
.
Bella and Stan were taking pictures of Gompers in his costume. Bella was editing them and making them into memes.