Mysterious Masquerade Chapter Three

Minnie’s voice was barely above a whisper. “What?” She had tried to stay away from the doors, fearing what was on the opposite side, and had sat where Cinderella was supposed to sit, her tiny legs dangling.

“Why didn’t you tell me anythin’ about this!” Mickey slammed his hands on the door, needing to feel something besides fear for once, even if it was a ridiculous bout of anger. “We never, ever, ever host a day in the club without talkin’ ta each other! All the acts, all the cartoon shorts, we always talk it over first! I know I’m not that bright, but… but I thought what I thought was important to you!”

“M-Mickey…”

“Maybe I still would’ve agreed to it, I don’t know!” Mickey held his head, ignoring the fact that Pluto had begun barking hysterically, that Mister Pumpkin and Missus Gourd were being completely silent, that Minnie kept whimpering his name. “But maybe I would’ve said no! I just wish you would have said somethin’ about this! Anythin’! I don’t get why you had to go ahead without me!”

“Mickeeey….”

Mickey was regretting the words spilling out of his mouth but they came none the less, hoping that maybe misguided resentment would be more powerful than fear, and damn the consequences of such an action. “I wish you had just trusted me!”

“MICKEEEY! HELP MEEE!”

All of the air left Mickey’s lungs at once.

No… no… no no no no no…

He turned around, and there was no sight that could have filled him with more horror than seeing Minnie starting to sink into the chair as it was eating her up whole. He ran for her, ran the fastest he had all night, arms out, and she was trying to reach for him, hot tears streaming down her face, the last glimmer of hope fading in those beautiful eyes.

No no no no no no no no no –

He didn’t even have time to touch her finger. He was there at the throne, and she was gone, and he could still hear her begging for his help in his ears, an endless infinite ringing of utter despair. His body trembled, his vision starting to blur with tears, and then he clawed at the chair, tearing up the cushions and layers, desperate to see her, desperate to have her forgiveness – his last words to her had been blaming her for everything! He ripped and tore at the chair, and the remaining friends didn’t bother to stop him, as they didn’t think they could.

When the chair was little more than a wreck, Mickey collapsed to his knees. Pluto shuffled over to his master, nuzzling his cheek as he also lamented their loss. The room had gone silent and still, and Mickey didn’t hear Mister Pumpkin speak until he cleared his throat.

“There may be a way…” Mister Pumpkin said softly, with him and Missus Gourd now approaching the throne. “… To save her, and all of your friends, from the King of Fear’s clutches.”

Mickey didn’t speak up right away, rather ashamed to look them in the face – he had essentially also blamed them for everything that had happened, when all they wanted was to give a nice surprise for their new friends. It wasn’t like they planned any of this. Mickey made a quick effort to rub his face clean, some of what had happened still not sinking in – Minnie just being gone was impossible. It was not something that could happen. The sun would set, winter would come after all, and Minnie would always be there, and life did not exist if Minnie did not exist. So he blinked stupidly, trying to focus. “There… there is?”

“It’s still extremely difficult.” Missus Gourd warned, holding her beloved’s arm. “But the King of Fear is the one thing that connects the spirits… he’s the one behind the show. If he can be defeated, then he will lose control over your friends. And when your friends are normal, everyone they’ve affected will be normal as well. It’ll be like dominoes falling over…”

Mister Pumpkin held his arm up, and then slowly brought it down, trying to emulate the falling over imagery. “You only need to defeat the King of Fear, and then everyone will return to how they should be. One victory means victory everywhere!”

Pluto nodded aggressively, making his trademark ‘yeah-yeah-yeah’ sound with his panting. Surely if all they had to do was defeat one bad guy, then his master was the man for the job! But the master himself still sat there, dumbfounded. Mickey half-expected Minnie to ask the question he was thinking, still refusing on some level to accept that she wasn’t there. “…All right, and how are we supposed to defeat him?” How did one go about beating up a guy without a body? Or scaring off a guy who thrived on scares? How did you take down the tyrant when he was surrounded by an army?

Mister Pumpkin shrugged helplessly. “If anyone can find a way, it must be you, Mickey Mouse. Surely you’ll be able to think of a way.”

Mickey held his head in his hands, the pressure of being a hero weighing heavily on his shoulders. The fear of letting them down was already upon, and that would make the King of Fear stronger, and here came that whole cycle again. He hated being afraid. He wished he was incapable of feeling it. But even without Minnie being there physically, he could hear her chiding him.

‘Don’t be silly, Mickey. Everyone’s afraid of something. Even the biggest, meanest villains are afraid of something. Gaston is afraid of heights!’

“A lot of villains are afraid of heights.” Mickey replied out loud, not caring how silly he looked, carrying on this conversation in his head. “Mother Gothel, Frollo… say, I wonder why that is.”

‘That’s not the point. You have to think about this, Mickey. Fear is something everyone has, and everyone goes through. You have to come about this from another way.’

“That’s easy for you to say.” Mickey was aware that Pluto was barking, but he figured that was probably the dog’s attempt at trying to get Mickey’s attention. He waved a hand, hoping to make the pup calm down while he kept having the encouraging non-talk. “You’re the smart one. If you were actually around here, you’d come up with an idea to save us all. You know that, don’t you? That you’re more than just looks? I should’ve said that when I have the chance. You’re brave, and smart, and clever, and funny, and kind…”

‘That’s very sweet of you, Mickey, but as it is, I’m not there, and you are. If you want to tell me all these nice things, you’ll just have to find a way to bring me back. I know you too, I know you’re not going to give up, not really. Not because you’re a hero, but because you can’t stand it when bad things happen to good people. Now, focus. There are ways to get higher up in the castle than just stairs. Think, concentrate, I know you can do it.’

“I’ll try. I mean, it’s hard.” Mickey scratched his head, and glanced upward. Up above was a flat ceiling, but there were doors to the left and right corners of the room – the right led to the servant’s quarters, and the left to guest rooms. Neither of them had stairways, but you could see the higher stories and levels from there. “… I guess… we could climb up the curtains and light fixtures? Maybe form a ladder of people?”

‘That’s my Mickey. By the way, you do realize that Pluto is barking for a very bad reason?’

Uh-oh. Mickey looked up, now seeing that Mister Pumpkin and Missus Gourd were now at his sides, crouched down and quivering, watching Pluto continuing to bark at the mummy’s tomb. The carved and painted snakes had begun to hiss, slithering around the tomb until they met the floor, mouths open and fangs dripping with poison. Mickey was on his feet – “Pluto! Get away from there!” – but Pluto wanted to save his master above all common sense and reason. He kept barking at the snakes, until one of them reared up and bit him on the nose. Pluto howled, shaking his head to try and make the snake fly off, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Get off of my dog!” Mickey sprinted over to aide his canine companion, but the moment he had made it across the room, the tomb’s lid sprung open, smacking Mickey hard in the skull. Mickey fell on his back, vision and hearing lost momentarily due to sheer pain. It may have been for the best, as hearing Pluto’s pained whines and seeing the poor pup transform may have been the last straw for Mickey’s straining sanity. All he could do for the moment was lay on his back, pushing his palms to his temple, and going “Ow, ow, ow, ow” repeatedly. Solid gold tended to be quite strong.

By the time the pain had lessened enough that he could remember what was going on, he could tell a hunched figure was looming over him. “… Pluto?” He opened his eyes, and yes, Pluto was hovering over him, but he wasn’t the happy-looking orange dog that obeyed Mickey and Mickey alone.

Now Pluto’s bright fur had become cobalt blue scales, his pupils gone slit and instead of a growl or a bark, he hissed with a forked tongue flickering out of his mouth. Even his adorable black ears now appeared to be plastered backwards, his body lurching forward to advance on the man he once eagerly licked. Mickey had a hunch Pluto was in more of a mood to chomp than lick. “Bad dog! Bad dog!” Mickey’s hands came together to snap Pluto’s jaw shut, trying to shove him away. Mickey managed to sit up, but as his hands tried to keep Pluto’s powerful jaws from opening, he discovered that they had company.

The other snakes had grown six-feet tall and had human appearances… sort of. If you only looked at them from the neck down, minus the arms, you could make an argument that maybe this was a human. Their skin was the same shining shade of blue as Pluto, and they had a feminine structure to the chest and hips, but they wore long red skirts that covered their legs down to the floor, which may make you curious if they had feet at all. But humanity ended where the arms began, because both arms had turned into thick, thrashing snakes with snapping mouths and twisting eyes. The curled up and over, seemingly independent from the person they were attached to. As for the heads of these women, their faces were hidden by golden masks permanently attached to their scaly skin. These golden faces glared down at Mickey, and all of them – he quickly counted four ladies, plus Pluto, who twisted and pushed under Mickey’s hands – began to advance on Mickey, though their steps were slow and stylish, carrying for how they looked than how they got to him.

Mickey was still afraid, but he wasn’t going to back down this time without a good fight. He gave Pluto the hardest shove he could muster, and then he stood up, fists clenched in defiance. “All right, I know how this goes! You creeps show up, turn my friends into monsters, and then you show off the possessed person! Hand Minnie over right this minute! I know I can bring her back!”

Mickey expected hissing and spitting. What he absolutely did not expect was the closest snake woman to speak. “You will addresses her as The Pharaoh, insignificant worm!”

Mickey stopped, fists paused in mid-swing. “… You talk?” He looked back to Mister Pumpkin and Missus Gourd – who were still by the thrones, on their legs and watching the spectacle play out – and asked them the same thing, making sure he was hearing right. “They can talk?” Mister Pumpkin and Missus Gourd merely shrugged. Mickey turned back to the snakes, his fear somehow smothered by the fact that, well, “You can talk?! Since when? Everyone else has been growlin’ and snappin’... Hey, that means you can understand me! Listen, if you girls are cursed, maybe we can work together to OOF-”

He meant to say ‘work together to defeat the King of Fear’, but as the head snake siren had swiftly kicked him in the stomach – why the stomach, why always the stomach? – all he could say was OOF. Mickey understood in that moment that just because someone spoke the same language as you did, did not make them by any means rational people.

“On your knees, worm!” The reptile demanded, crossing her ‘arms’, and her aides copied the action. “She is about to make her glorious entrance!”

“Now now, don’t take my favorite part away from me!” Once more, that dark, boasting voice sounded in the room – Mickey didn’t bother to look around to find the source, he knew that no matter where they went that it would follow him relentlessly. “After all, we’ve saved the best for last! She used to rule the House of Mouse, but now she rules the deserts and your hearts! What was once Minnie Mouse… has become the Pharaoh!”

Mickey held his stomach, having no choice for now but to stay on his knees while his organs recovered. He saw the familiar smoke emitting from the bottom of the doors, and knew that those ashen eyes would soon follow, and had he the strength to get up, he would have stomped on the forming eyes, even though he knew it wouldn’t make any results. At this point, the King of Fear was more like a hokey announcer – it was his minions doing all the work.

… It was his minions doing all the work, Mickey mentally repeated to himself. Why did that seem so important? Donald’s masks had his anger, Daisy’s dragons paid more attention to her than turning people over, Goofy’s mermaids only attacked girls, Chip and Dale’s ghosts made fun before making people, and now Minnie’s slaves could speak. None of that had been mentioned as a consequence by Mister Pumpkin and Missus Gourd. This seemed terribly important to Mickey, though he couldn’t understand why.

Any other ideas were lost as he saw a shadow emerge from the tomb at last. His entire body froze, knowing who was coming out and yet at the same time not sure what to expect. The small figure took lingering, long steps as she came into the light. Minnie’s masquerade dress was no more, as the purples and oranges were now Persian blue, hanging off of her as if it was meant for a person twice her height and three times her weight. As a result, the sleeves hung down and away, trailing behind with the rest of her flowing dress. Mickey had to wonder how she was managing to walk without tripping. Across her chest was a golden necklace, with sapphire’s twinkling in the light. Atop her head was a straight square hat of some sort, narrow and stiff, only staying on Minnie’s head by sheer force of will. In fact, if Mickey had the gall to say so, the whole thing looked ridiculous. It was a sign of sheer vanity on the spirit’s part, and even the way she was moving around was a deliberate way to show off her body frame.

The snake women had begun bowing to her on one knee, and even Pluto had gone down, head to the floor and tail in the air. Defiance ran through Mickey’s veins, and he could feel the King of Fear’s eyes boring into him. The King probably expected Mickey to cry and whine about his loss, to fall into even deeper despair, but Mickey had done enough of that for one night. By the time Minnie had finally walked over to him, Mickey was upright, angry, and didn’t let her get a word out first. “Oh, I know what happens now!” He snapped, confidence gearing him on. “You brag about takin’ my girl’s body, go on about whatever selfish sin you had in your past life, and then you try and corrupt whoever’s left! Well I’ll tell you what! I’m not havin’ it, not from my Minnie!”

The others began to hiss as Minnie stoically stood there. “How dare you speak to-”

“Ah, shaddap!” Mickey spit at the snakes, thinking he might have heard Mister Pumpkin surprising laughter in the background. “I know the drill! How dare I talk to her, how dare I breathe the same air she is… you think you guys are any different than any villain in my movies? Ha! Lady Tremaine is scarier!” Maybe this was why Donald was so prone to temper tantrums, it felt so good letting it all out. “I came here ta have a nice time with my friends, and slow dance with my gal, and I’m not lettin’ you ruin it any further! Now you!” He pointed at Minnie, threatening to jab her right in the chest. “I know why you grabbed Minnie, she is the prettiest girl that ever lived, and if you had to possess someone for their looks, you couldn’t have done better, but that stops here and now! Minnie’s mine, you got that? I know she can hear me!” as a final resort, Mickey grabbed Minnie by the arms and began shaking her back and forth. The whole time, her expression hadn’t changed. She hadn’t even blinked. “I’m not lettin’ anyone take you, Minnie, and when this is done we’ll forget this night ever happened and just go straight on towards Christmas, and I’m gunna fill the whole House of Mouse with mistletoe, so I’ll be kissin’ you ever hour on the hour until my mouth falls off!”

This whole ramble made so much more sense in Mickey’s head. Silence followed, and Mickey guessed that the only reason the snake slaves weren’t ripping him apart limb by limb was that they were too shocked by his behavior. Even the King of Fear hadn’t said anything. Mister Pumpkin and Missus Gourd were tittering far away, but aside from that, the room stayed silent for what felt like eons. Finally, Minnie spoke, in the same haunting tone that carried her sweet voice while also mixing it with an ethereal other.

“Yes, you’ll do nicely.”

Mickey waited. “… Do what?”

“You’ll do nicely for my husband.”

Twenty long seconds passed before Mickey could firmly grasp a thought in his head. When he did manage to utter out something, it was a quiet “Huh?”

Minnie clapped her hands, demanding attention from her servants. “I’ve waited centuries for a man who not only appreciated my beauty, but also was beautiful himself! It seems this millennium got something right for once.” She then touched Mickey’s chin, smirking at his utter bewilderment. “Now I can have someone at my side, twenty-four-seven, telling me how beautiful I am.”

“Holdonaminute.” Mickey spoke so quickly that his words smashed together like a five car pile-up on the highway. “Don’t… don’t you and your gals want to turn me into another big lizard creep?” It only occurred to him now that maybe he shook take his hands off of her.

“We’re reptiles, not lizards.” One of the back servants quipped.

“If I turned you into a mindless minion,” Minnie continued, leaning in closer to him. “Then I’d lose your good looks, and I refuse to have a husband who isn’t anywhere near as gorgeous as I am. Now quit acting like you have any say in this.” her fingers thrust out and grabbed him by the shirt collar, and she shoved down, forcing him on his knees. In a reversal of the situation minutes before, now Minnie was the one making demands of her significant other. “You’re mine, now and forever, understand? Your body, your soul, it all belongs to me. If another woman so much as looks at you, I’ll have their head on a pike. You exist only to be mine.”

Minnie had never talked to Mickey in such a way. Sure, she had her fits of anger, as we all do, but she never outright took control over Mickey’s self. Mickey felt his cheeks reddening. This wasn’t the worst outcome that could have happened, he thought.“Um… N-Now, hold on, I, uh, think we might be gettin’ ahead of ourselves here…” Actually, maybe if Minnie kept talking to him like this – NO, BAD MICKEY. Mickey mentally gave himself a slap. “No, you’re not my Minnie! W-we aren’t ready for marriage! I mean, maybe, we haven’t talked about it, it’s, well, she’s got her place, I’ve got mine-”

“Did I give you permission to speak?” Minnie’s fingers dug a little under his collar, giving Mickey a jolt that he felt very guilty for having. “You only speak if I allow it, or if you want to talk about my beauty. Otherwise, consider yourself a slave with privileges.”

Mickey managed to bite his tongue before he could get the “Yes ma’am” out. He was starting to think he would have preferred her being a terrifying haunt like the others. At least then he wouldn’t be ready to drool like a lapdog. Why did this spirit have to have Minnie’s face and voice?! He was only a man! A pathetic, weak little man! “Q-quit talkin’ like that! I ain’t nobody’s slave! Or husband!”

Minnie’s eyebrow quirked up, and a displeased grimace came across her good looks. “You’re rejecting my generous proposal?”

Mickey by now had turned his head away as much as his neck would allow. “Yup.”

“… You seem to be forgetting who is speaking to you.” Minnie then threw Mickey to the floor, shoving her foot – now in yellow sandals – into his face, ready to bend his nose backwards. “If you desire any chance at forgiveness, you’ll kiss my foot and address me as your benevolent, beautiful bride!” She pulled at the end of her dress to give him plenty of room to move his lips around. Mickey was still.

So still, for so long, that Mister Pumpkin felt it was his duty to say something. “You know that’s not really Minnie, right?”

“I KNOW! I KNOW! GIMMIE A MINUTE!”

Thankfully – as far as Mickey was concerned – that was when the flimsily barricade was broken down. The paintings and furniture were demolished as the doors slammed open – Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Chip and Dale had smashed the entrance all together, and far behind them were the transformed remains of the partygoers. Mickey almost shouted “I WASN’T DOIN’ NOTHIN’” before remembering that these weren’t his friends, not at the moment.

Goofy took the forefront, the chipmunks on his shoulders. “What’s taking so long, lass?”

“I’m in the middle of something important.” Minnie replied, still holding her dress and holding her foot out. “You can do what you want the mister and missus, but this man is mine.  "I've already decided what will be done with him." Minnie huffed at being interrupted by her fellow possessed ghouls. "He's going to be my slave. I found him, I captured him, that means he's mine." Given any other situation, Mickey would have found such language rather enticing… okay, to be fair, it was kind of enticing now, but another good mental smack to his head reminded him this was neither the time nor the place for such perversions.

In a stroke of bizarre luck, it turned out that Daisy in this form was just as snobby and petty. She crossed her arms, fingering the green stones that covered her outfit. "Why does he get to be yours? We're the one who have been chasing him all night! We worked the hardest for him! If anything, he should be our slave! Why, he should be my slave!"

"Absolutely not!" Minnie suddenly screeched, and childishly stamped her foot as her anger bubbled. "He's my slave, mine! You can't have him!" The transformed victims and other possessed ghouls were smart enough to take a big step back and stay out of this dueling debate. "He's going to clean my tower, draw my bath, and organize my shoes! Isn't that right, slave?" Minnie yanked him to his feet, and tightly held onto his arm, all but snarling at an equally infuriated Daisy.

"This is the best and worst night of my life." Mickey could only think to say.

"I have a better idea!" Daisy grabbed Mickey's other arm in an effort to take him. "He'll clean my tower, draw my bath and organize my shoes!"

The girls began to play tug of war with Mickey's arms, and the poor fellow wondered if being cursed wasn't so bad after all. But before his arms could be yanked out of their sockets, he at last came to his senses, and also came up with a plan! "Hold it! I can just tell ya whose slave I'd rather be! How's about that?" The girls exchanged a distrusting look, but knowing they would win in the end, they let him go and then watched him expectantly. Mickey rolled his shoulders, grateful for the release, and then cleared his throat. "All right… now… what I really want… is ta get outta here."

He then ran out of the room, taking the left door, quick as a whip, with Mister Pumpkin and Missus Gourd right behind him. Had he not been terrified out of his mind, he would have found the enraged screams of his haunted friends behind him hilarious. Hopefully the few seconds he had gotten of freedom would be enough time to think of another plan, despite the small appeal of being Minnie's slave.

Mickey could hear the King of Fear roaring at his servants. “After them, you fools!”

“Make a ladder!” Mickey said quickly, managing to remember the Minnie-in-his-head advice from what felt like ages ago. “We climb on top of each other, and just keep going!” Thankfully the mister and missus didn’t question this strange plan – Mister Pumpkin hoisted Missus Gourd onto his shoulders, and Mickey scrambled to her shoulders, managing to grab onto the railing – then Mister Pumpkin climbed up his female companion, and he and Mickey pulled Missus Gourd up, and they repeated the strategy for the next floor, and the next.

“What if they try to do this too?” Missus gourd asked when they reached fourth floor, and they all paused in their plan, looking down below.

But as Mickey saw that none of them had started climbing after them, despite seeing for themselves how to do it, he started grinning. “I don’t think they will… Not yet, anyway. The King of Fear forgot one big detail when he grabbed my pals!”

Mister Pumpkin looked over the railing. “What do you mean, Mickey?”

“Normally, my friends would do anythin’ for each other… But if you take away who they are, then it’s every ghost for themselves!”

Mickey was absolutely correct – on the floor, each of the spirits was arguing about who should be at the bottom of the ladder and who should get to climb up first. Chip and Dale said they should be on top because they were faster than the other ‘slowpokes’, Minnie yelled that beauty never deserves to be the bottom, Goofy grumbled he wanted to grab Missus Gourd first, Daisy snapped that someone as important as her always goes first, and Donald snarled and barked, unable to form words but getting his meaning across with his animalistic sounds. Even the people they had transformed didn’t make another move – it appeared that without any further order from their masters, they were at a loss.

“WILL YOU SIMPLETONS JUST START CLIMBING ALREADY?!” The King of Fear was at his loudest now, the castle shaking from how powerful his voice was.  “I woke you up, now GET TO WORK!”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Minnie snootily held her nose up in the air. “Until these ugly heathens promise to leave my husband alone.”

“Ugly?!” Daisy was spitting from sheer rage. “Why you… you overdressed lizard!”

“Reptile.” The snake slave said again.

“Why don’t we make this easy,” Goofy held up his hand, “And both of you lasses be my brides?” This earned him two swift kicks to his shins, causing the chipmunks to fall off his shoulders and bounce on the floor.

“You guys wouldn’t know fun if it bit you on the nose!” Chip squeaked, wanting revenge for how much they’d been ignored.

“Who needs you guys anyway?” Dale agreed, and he tried to look for a way up that didn’t involve help. “We’ll get those three all by ourselves, and you won’t get to play any tricks on them!”

Donald made a hooting noise of resentment, and then grabbed the Chipmunks, bashing their heads together with his hands. In turn they bit his fingers, causing Donald to yowl in pain, throwing them at the girls, and things only got worse from there.

By now Mickey, Mister Pumpkin and Missus Gourd were convinced that they didn’t need to climb any further, at least for now. They watched the ridiculous fight go on, each ghoul smacking and biting and hitting and kicking, all while the King of Fear demanded that they stop this nonsense and finish their job. Mickey rested his head on his hands, his elbows on the railing. “… Y’know, it’s really hard to take them seriously like this. I can’t believe I was afraid of these guys.”

“That still leaves the question of how to save them.” Missus Gourd stood up straight, dusting off her orange attire. “They might very well argue for all of eternity.”

Mickey watched his friends fight, silent as all of his previous thoughts joined together. The transformed partygoers reflected the wills of the ghouls, but the ghouls didn’t rightly obey the King of Fear. Would they really be like this for all of eternity? Something wasn’t right about that statement. He scratched his head, and heard Mister Pumpkin yawn. He couldn’t blame the man, it was probably getting pretty late, it was past midnight after all –

And that was when Mickey’s clever, resourceful brain put the final piece of the puzzle together. He stood up, almost knocking over Mister Pumpkin and Missus Gourd in his excitement. “I got it!” He announced, and then he leaned over the railing, shouting loud. “Say, yer highness! I got a question for ya!”

The ghouls continued to bicker, but the smoky form of the king rose up, now deciding to go for his most terrifying form. His eyes were now as big as elephants, and one could see the throbbing veins in his eyes, the fog that emitted from his ghastly pores, the colorless eyes boring hard into the final victims. Mister Pumpkin and Missus Gourd clung onto each other, as the King of Fear barked each word. “What dare you ask the all-mighty, all-power, all-ruling King of Fear!”

This time, Mickey grinned, arms crossed, looking right into the unnatural eyes. “Mister Pumpkin said not ta touch yer stuff when the sun is down… and no one knows what happens when ya come out…I find it real hard ta believe that in all these years, no one’s ever touched ‘em when the sun was gone, so I gotta ask… is the reason yer so anxious ta finish us up… cause yer power only lasts until the sun comes up?”

Mister Pumpkin and Missus Gourd raised their eyebrows and looked at one another, having never come to that conclusion before. The King of Fear’s eyes shook, and then rolled around, his pupils bouncing back and forth, twitching, before he at last groaned horribly. “How… How did you figure that out?! You were supposed to be afraid all night! Just for one night!”

Mickey laughed in his victory, and began to stand atop the railing. “Just because yer afraid, doesn’t mean the brain stops workin’! Fear is a part of everyone… and everyone feels it! Once ya accept it, you can work with it! And if all you guys wanted ta do was party for one night… you should’ve said so! In fact…” He jumped down, landing on the next floor, and then did so again, laughing all the while. “… if I were a bettin’ mouse, I’d say… all those stories behind the artifacts are made up! So they could fit with my friends!” Now lading safely on the floor, he looked across the ghoul’s faces, and to his satisfaction saw they had looked away, held their heads down, shuffled their feet – even Donald appeared to be twiddling his thumbs.

“… All right, sooo…” Daisy mumbled, hands behind her back. “… Maybe we’re not exactly a dead pharaoh, and pirate, and all that junk… But we are ghosts… and we did possess people…”

“Do you have any idea how hard it is to scare people anymore?” Chip whined, Dale. “We have to compete with movies, and the darn internet!”

“Back in my day,” Dale grumbled, “We didn’t have any fancy ‘pop-ups’ or ‘creepy pasta’…”

Goofy pouted, giving a condescending glare to Minnie. “You know, if you hadn’t gone on about all that husband stuff, he wouldn’t have figured it out!”

Minnie unapologetically kept her nose up. “Look, I possessed someone who’s crazy about him, and he is handsome. What did you expect me to do?”

Donald began to howl like a wounded animal, and Mickey gave his pal a friendly pat on the back before addressing them all again. “But all of you did scare me! In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever been more scared in my life! My heart’s still beatin’ like a drum!” He pounded on his chest, managing to give the ghosts a glimmer of hope. “Ghosts will always be scary… and you guys will always find new ways ta scare people! In fact… you missed a few folks.” He chuckled. “Maybe we can do this again next year, and spring you guys on the villains! Why, I’d give up every block of cheese in my house to see a scared Scar!”

Small smiles began to prop up on the ghouls, and Daisy knotted her hands together in hope. “You really mean we can come scare you guys next year?”

“Absolutely! Consider yerselves all invited!”

The ghouls cheered in delight, and all together, they picked Mickey up, tossing him up and down as the savior of Halloween scares. After a few more tosses, Mickey tried to have them put him down, fighting off more continuous laughter. “H-hey, we still got some time before the sun rises… let’s party for only tonight!”

Another triumphant cheer rang out, this time even including the transformed victims and the King of Fear. They all returned to the ballroom, and partied long into the night – they ate the food, they danced to music, they played games… This was a Halloween none of them would ever forget. Now that they were free to be themselves, the ghouls began to release their victims with every passing hour – scales would vanish, dresses would return, and those who Mickey thought he had lost began to appear on the floor, albeit looking very confused. Once they began to realize they weren’t trapped forever, they too joined the party, singing and playing, celebrating the best scare they’d ever had. Mickey was tackled down by Pluto and given slobbery kisses, Honey Lemon danced with the pirate, Pete beat Donald in the apple-bobbing contest, and all was joyful.

One by one everyone returned to normal, until there were only a few minutes left until sunrise, and the only ones still possessed were the originals – Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Chip, Dale, and Minnie. Once they saw that their time was drawing to a close, they gathered in the middle of the ballroom, the King of Fear hovering over their heads.

“Mickey Mouse,” the King of Fear spoke, and at last his tone was no longer dark and dreadful, but gentle and soft. “No one else, in all of our haunting, has ever allowed us to celebrate Halloween… This is the first party we’ve ever enjoyed. We cannot thank you enough.”

“Aw shucks.” Mickey replied, glad to hear it. “I’m happy all of ya had such a good time. And I bet next year, you’ll think of somethin’ even scarier! I can’t wait!”

The King of Fear laughed lightly, and as the first beams of sunlight entered through the windows, the smoke began to fade. “It seems they were right after all… when it comes to Halloween, no one can beat Mickey Mouse and his club!”

Mickey was about to ask who ‘they’ were, but as the sunbeams touched his friend, his heart swelled to see the transformations wearing off. It was if their bodies had only been costumes that dissolved and blew away – although he could have sworn the Pharaoh was winking at him before she was gone – and his real friends stood there, eyes closed, starting to wake up from their strangest slumber.

It was Goofy who first opened his eyes, and after several quick blinks, understood what was going on. “H-Hey! Yer all back ta normal!” Without any warning, he grabbed the ducks and squeezed them in his arms, dangling them off the floor. “Oh boy, yer back! I sure missed ya!”

“B-Back?” Donald squeaked, flailing around. “Wait a minute, what’s going on? Where are those ugly looking masks?!”

“Oh, who cares!” Daisy returned Goofy’s enthusiastic hug. “I’ve never been so happy to see all of you!”

Chip and Dale scurried up Goofy’s body to reach Donald, hugging his feathery cheeks. “Donald!” Chip cried. “We promise to never play another trick on you!”

“… For a week!” Dale added as an afterthought.

Mickey would have been more than happy to explain to them exactly what had happened, had Minnie all but jumped into his arms, covering him in kisses wherever had Pluto had missed. “Mickeeey! You… I was so worried! Oh, Mickey, Mickey, Mickey!” She kept pleading his name and kissing him, over and over, and Mickey wasn’t inclined to stop her. When she took a chance to catch her breath, he swept her into his arms, dipping her for his own long overdue kiss.  It really had been far too long for the both of them since they’d last had a mutual kiss.

When they parted after what could be described as an eon, Minnie had her arms around his neck, gazing up at him as if he was the world’s most perfect man. “I’m sorry for getting so mad at you. It was so silly…”

“I was the one bein’ silly.” Mickey countered, affectionately nuzzling his little black nose to her cheek. “I like it when yer in charge…” And he’d discovered tonight he really liked it when she was in charge, but that was a topic to discuss the next time they were in private. “Yer the brains of this operation. It’s why I like ya so much.”

“Oh, Mickey.” That got him another kiss. “… But next time… can we talk before you go inviting guests without me?”

Mickey pulled back. “Invitin’ guests without you? I’d never do that! Yer the one who knows everyone, and what’s best for the club! Isn’t that why you invited those two without askin’ me?”

Minnie stood up straight, but stayed in his arms. “Those two? I didn’t invite them! You did… didn’t you?”

They stared at each other as they realized it at last. They looked to their friends, who shrugged helplessly – and Donald, who had been allowed to touch the floor again, spoke up. “Say, wait a minute… where are those two weirdos anyway?”

“W-we gotta find ‘em!” Mickey swerved his head around in all directions, but saw no trace of Mister Pumpkin and Missus Gourd. In fact, it occurred to him that he hadn’t seen them in a long time! “Let’s start lookin’!”

Mickey and his friends would wind up searching the entire castle, but they never saw hide or hair of the two guests. Eventually they had to start cleaning up and helping everyone home. It was agreed by all that it was a glorious and happy Halloween, and soon word spread of the frightfully fun adventure had by all. Mickey and Minnie went to his house for their annual post-Halloween privacy, enjoying sweet candy and sweet-talking, but even as Mickey plotted and planned for next year’s celebration, he could not figure out who the special hosts had been. He wondered if he’d ever find out.

Oh well… there was always next year.

~*~

There is a special place in the world where the trees that grow may look normal, but they carry secrets within. Certain trees have certain doors upon them, leading towards famous holidays. The door toward Halloween was opened from the outside by Mister Pumpkin – although he had lost the name and disguise for some time now. “See? I told you we could pull it off… and you heard them! It was the best Halloween they’d ever had!”

The lady who had earlier been known as Missus Pumpkin chuckled timidly. “Yes, you were right… and it really was a lot of fun, Jack. I’m so glad you let me come along.”

“Let you?” He took his love by the hand, leading her inside. “Sally, I can’t do anything unless you’re by my side. And that includes planning for next year’s Halloween!”

She smiled shyly, ducking her head against his chest, and the door behind them closed.

Halloween was over.

The End.