The sounds of chatting filled the hotel lobby, as OJ was getting ready to let the scariest thing he'd ever allow. He was going to let the residents stay out past curfew!

       Since Halloween was right around the corner, everyone in the hotel wanted to do something to celebrate! Since trick or treating was out of the question (due to a Mephone related incident), Nickel came up with the idea to go back to the haunted house and tell scary stories.

      Those who weren't afraid eagerly agreed, while those who were reluctantly agreed, when offered snacks. (Y/n) was one of those residents.

       While they loved Halloween for the classics such as Scary Godmother, or Nightmare Before Christmas, they were terrified of the horror aspect of the holiday!

        Sure, there were kids who dressed up like cute little pirates, and Princesses, but there were also real scare actors that dressed up like realistic zombies and ghouls!

         The zombies were the worst offender for them, how could some people be so good at makeup, that they could make it look like their organs were hanging out?!

         Perhaps the reason they were so afraid was because they were afraid of gore. Seeing the blood rush out of a person was terrifying, and the thought of someone's leg or arm getting chopped off drove them to tears.

         That's why they were so glad they lived in a world where the only human around was them! After all, they'd never put themselves in a situation like that.

        "Okay," OJ spoke up, alerting everyone, "everybody all set up? Got everything you need?" Everyone made a confirmatory noise or gesture of some sort.

          "Okay then, let's head to the mansion!" All of them exited the hotel, and began the hike to the haunted mansion. While they were walking, Knife noticed (Y/n) was falling behind.

          He paused, and when they reached him, he walked beside them. "Geez, are you always this slow?" He joked, looking down at them. They chuckled slightly, rolling their eyes.

"Not always..." A few minutes of silence pass. "Is it because it's Halloween?" They nodded. Knife tried to comfort them. "Everything's literally fake on this holiday, you have nothing to worry about."

He ruffled their hair, causing them to blush slightly. They smiled, thanking him quietly. Once everyone was at the mansion, they stepped inside, gathering in the parlor. "Okay!" Nickel says, smirking.

"If there's no objections, I'm gonna tell the first story!" Lightbulb rose her hand. "Wait! Idea!" Nickel looked at her. "Okay...?" He said, not sure what to think. Lightbulb clapped her hands together.

"Everyone should say what their biggest fears are! Then, we try to scare the others, like a game of tag! Fear-Tag!" She suggested, making Nickel smirk. "That's not a bad idea, for once."

"Okay! That settles it then." He looked around, and pointed to Baseball. "Baseball! How about you go first? Then you can pick the next person!" Baseball sighed slightly, wincing. "Okay..."

He cleared his throat. "Baseball bats. I think it's pretty obvious why." He nervously chuckled. Trophy writes something down in a notepad, smirking. Baseball rolled his eyes at him, before looking around the room.

His eyes land on (Y/n) and his face flushed slightly. "What about you, (Y/n)?" He asked, smiling slightly. They flinched, staring up. "O-Oh!" They tapped their fingers together, wincing.

"W-Welll..." Everyone leaned in, curious. "Do I have to say it?" They look at Nickel. He nodded. "Rules are rules." They sighed, glancing away. "Okay..." They take a deep breath.

"I'm...I'm afraid of gore!" Everyone stared at them in shock. No one was expecting that. "Wow...uh..." Nickel chuckled. "Really? You sure you're not afraid of spiders...or... something...less morbid?" Fan asked.

(Y/n) shook their head. "No...it's literally seeing organs and blood, as well as things like dismemberment." They looked at Nickel. "My turn, right?" Nickel was too shocked to nod. "What's dismemberment?" Apple asked.

They were about to speak, but Knife covered their mouth. "You don't wanna know. Seriously." He grunted.

After everyone said their fear, they broke up into teams and went to scare each other. (Y/n) ended up going with Knife, who had a lot to say after...well, that. Once he was sure they were alone, he confronted them.

"Do you wanna talk about what happened back there?" He asked, as they walked past him. "I'd rather not." He sighed. "Look, I won't force you to tell me, but wheat does gore have anything to do with Halloween?"

They turned to face him. "Look, I don't need your therapist side on my case, maybe it's just better not to ask questions you'd rather not know the answer to." Knife rushes in front of them, stopping and crossing his arms.

They sighed, putting their hands on their hips. "Fine. I'll talk about it." He uncrossed his arms, looking at them. "When I was younger, I watch a lot of movies I shouldn't have." They began, continuing to walk down the hallway.

Knife listened closely. "On top of that, the MLP fandom was a dangerous place for someone my age too." They shivered. "Like, I get some people would want to write scary stories about their favorite ponies, but at least put a freaking mature content filter on it!"

They stared down the hall. "Not to mention all the gore videos from the equally as bad anti-fandom. How is making a killing video about ponies supposed to prove your point, exactly?!" They waved their arms, and Knife nodded.

"Go on..." (Y/n) hugged themself, shivering. "The worst offender was on Halloween... I was out trick or treating... and I noticed a man laying on the ground, slightly obscured in the bushes."

Their breathing becomes ragged. "...I was a stupid kid..." Knife suddenly knew where this was going. He put a hand on their shoulder. "His organs were hanging out of his body, and I could see it all."

"His heart was partially eaten, stomach torn open, but he...was still moving." Knife stared at them in shock, before speaking up. "Okay. You don't have to tell me anymore." They shook their head.

"I thought his eyes were closed, but...they weren't." They were crying now. "His eyes were missing, Knife!" He shook them slightly. "Snap out of it! You're going to be fine, I'm sorry I asked."

They looked up at him, who could only give them an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, but try to forget it, I won't mention it for the rest of the night." He grabbed their hand. "I'm not much for parties, but let's just try to enjoy ourselves, okay?"

Hesitantly, they nodded, before they both continued down the hallway. Knife opened a door, peaking inside. He groaned. "Your fear first, huh?" He grumbled. He turned to face (Y/n).

"Okay, just remember. It's all fake." He tells them, grabbing their hand again. They both walk into the room, and (Y/n) gasped. Fan was lying on the floor, covered in blood, intestines trailing out of his body.

(Y/n) tensed, running over to him. Knife flinched. "(Y/n)! Don't stare, it will just make things worse!" Knife walked over. "It's fake!" Then, (Y/n) did something that surprised him. They grabbed the intestine, pulling it, making a squelching sound.

They shook their head. "T-They're real." Knife gasped, as they dropped the organ. He was close to puking. (Y/n) started to hyper ventilate, walking away from Fan's corpse. "Where the hell is Mephone when you need him?!" Knife growled, following them.

"We need to find the others!" They screamed, before Knife covered their mouth. "Shhh! What if the murder is still here?!" Knife took them out of the room with Fan, only to find another corpse down the hallway.

"Shit!" He nearly jumped, turning (Y/n)'s head away from the mess. This one was worse, the organs were hanging out, but the lungs and liver were missing, it was also tied to the ceiling. The body itself was unrecognizable.

(Y/n) started to cry. "What do we do?!" Knife tried to calm them down, scanning the area. He gasped, seeing a figure coming towards them. He grabbed (Y/n)'s hand, running into another room.

More object bodies littered the area. He tensed, looking for a way out. Spotting the stairs, he ran with (Y/n) to the third floor, hoping they weren't being followed. However, when they slipped into yet another room, they saw a disturbing sight.

Knife turned his human friend away from the the words on the wall, glaring at it. "(Y/n)" was written in blood, no doubt from one of the unexpecting residents. "Well, now we know the motive behind the murders..."

They exit the room, bumping into someone. "Ack!" The person yelps, falling to the floor. Knife gets ready to attack, but is stopped by (Y/n). "It's Mic!" They exclaimed, hugging her.

Knife sighed in relief. "Microphone, thank god, where were you?!" Microphone looked at him, frowning. "Everyone is dead! Some crazy object is killing everyone! Mephone is no where in sight, and he must have "do not disturb" mode on, because I'm pretty sure he would have noticed the 20 or so notifications of our friends dying!"

Knife helped her up. "Is Taco here? Maybe...and I can't believe I'm saying this, she can help." Microphone shook her head. "Knife, you know I haven't seen her since that night I eliminated myself."

She held onto (Y/n)'s hand tightly. "We need to get out of here and find Mephone, I know a back way out of this place, come on!" She took the two of them to the back, where the balcony was.

"It's risky, but whoever is chasing us probably has the front door blocked off, if we jump down from the balcony, we can tell Mephone about the murders!" Knife nodded, thinking out loud.

"Okay, I know Fan and OJ need to be recovered..." (Y/n) looked at him. "M-Marshmallow too." He nodded. "And...who else did we see in that room..." Microphone, without looking, replied.

"Nickel too." The two of them stared in confusion. "Nickel is dead too?" (Y/n) asked. "Yeah, in the hallway next to Fan." Knife tensed. The mangled corpse...there was no way to tell that was Nickel...unless...

"I need to speak to (Y/n) privately." Knife suddenly said, taking their hand. Microphone turned around, glaring slightly. "It's too dangerous to be alone, just tell them what you need to here, I won't judge."

Knife glared at her slightly, backing away. Something wooshed past him, and he stopped. Microphone had just thrown a knife at him. "Don't play dumb. You know, don't you?" She smirked, as she strut closer.

Knife turned to look at the knife stuck in the wall. He stepped in front of (Y/n) protectively. "Don't you think it's a bit weird trying to kill me with myself?" He sarcastically asked, tsking. Microphone rolled her eyes.

"Yes, but it wasn't awkward when it was the other contestants." She smirked. "Although, I had a little help." (Y/n) squeaked, as Knife felt then let go of his hand. He turned around, and saw Taco pull them away from him.

"You had a chance to be part of our alliance, and now that Microphone is out of the game, there's no chance of winning." Taco told him, pulling (Y/n) over to Microphone. "So, Microphone and I decided it would be easier if we just took the prize."

(Y/n) fought against her. "You killed everyone for the stupid prize money?!" They screamed in disbelief. The room fell silent, and they stopped struggling. Suddenly, Taco began to laugh, while Knife and Microphone avoided eye contact with them.

"Oh goodness no! That prize?! You must be kidding!" Taco looked between Knife and Microphone, before her face fell. "Nobody told them? And you call me the villain!" She scoffed, as (Y/n) looked at her.

"What do you mean...?" They asked. Taco pat her head. "While there may have been one contest going on...there was also another..." She smirked, seeing Knife tense. "Go on and tell her what the Grand Slams and the Bright Lights we're betting on the sidelines!"

Knife growled. "Go to hell." He muttered. She looked at Microphone. "You?" Microphone sighed. "So, don't freak out...but...a lot of people like you." She told (Y/n). "There was a bet that was going on between the teams."

She avoided eye contact with them. "...Who could swoon you first..." (Y/n) stared at her in disbelief. "What?" Taco let go of them, and started to explain. "It was simple, really." She chuckled.

"You managed to entangle yourself into everyone's heart, and no one wanted you to go home." She looked up at Microphone. "Test Tube could actually build something to keep you here, but it requires one, stupid variable."

She gagged slightly. "Love." She shivered. "As ridiculous as I thought that was, I began to find myself falling for your charms too." She blushed, scoffing. "Plus, you make Microphone happy too-" she added.

"So! Everyone started to bet on who could make you fall for them the fastest. However..." her face fell. "Time started to run out. The portal would open on Halloween night." (Y/n) gasped in shock. They could go home if they wanted to?!

"Test Tube panicked, saying that if they couldn't get you to fall in love before then, you would be able to go back home." Taco pressed her hands together, smiling. "She was an intelligent scientist...but terrible at seeing the obvious solution..."

Her smile turned into a smirk. "Just keep you away from the portal so you couldn't go home!" She laughed, sounding devious. "It's so simple! Keep you away from it for 24 hours, and boom! No more portal until 10 more years!"

(Y/n) backed away slightly, shaking their head. Taco stepped closer, Microphone following her. "Of course, within those 10 years, you could fall in love with someone else! We couldn't have that now, could we Microphone?"

Microphone shook her head. "As much as I hated doing it, I hated the thought of losing you more." (Y/n)'s back pressed against a wall, and they both surrounded them. "So...we killed two birds with one stone!"

They shivered as they got closer, then...

Crrrrrack!

The wall broke, making the three of them fall. "Ugh, CUT!" Mephone yelled, face palming. The three of them pop out from beneath the rubble. "You okay guys?" Microphone asked, helping them both up.

"Yeah...just a little bit bruised." (Y/n) sighed. Taco chuckled. "You sure were scared there.~" she teased. (Y/n) rolled there eyes. "Yeah yeah, I was just in character!" They tell Taco, chuckling.

Knife walked over to Mephone. "A few complaints about the script." He started. "Oh boy, here we go." Mephone sighed. "One, how to I not logically attack while they are distracted? Two, pretty sure Microphone wouldn't kill anyone. Three-"

Mephone held up a hand. "Ever heard of something called: "romanticism"?" He asked, crossing his arms. "Romanticism isn't realism, therefore it doesn't have to be realistic! Literally, the only point of romanticism is to make you feel emotion."

Knife shook his head. "Yeah, but that doesn't excuse the point holes...or the weird twist ending." He flips through the script to the page. "According to this, it turns out the real reason (Y/n) is afraid of gore is because what actually happened that night was that they found a dead body that was sliced open and they actually ate bits of the organs."

He closed the script. "And that the bite marks they found were actually made by them." Mephone shrugged. "Your point?" Knife stared at him with a deadpan look. "It doesn't make sense."

Paintbrush walked over. "I don't think this movie challenge was such a good idea." Mephone scoffed. "Hey! I'm trying, what did you really expect an Oscar worthy script?" (Y/n) walked over too.

"No, but one problem. Why is everyone secretly in love with me? I know you said it wasn't romanticism, but..." They laughed. "That could never happen, even in fiction." Everyone stayed silent.

"Nobody tell them-" Fan whispered. Mephone sighed. "Alright, alright. I hear you... I'll just get Toilet to write a new movie entirely." He started to walk away. "But we are still doing this challenge."

Everyone took five, heading back to the hotel. This was one crazy Halloween.

Except that it was the middle of July.

Mephone sucked at getting Holidays correct.