Halloween Came Early (Open)

[rhyme]

((This is Halloween Marilyn Manson))

The town was one near upstate New York. It was about three hours by car or bus from Xavier’s School for the Gifted but it was not hard for Artemis to move at the speed of sound. He made the trip in under an hour. He stopped on the outskirts right before the houses began to be right next to each other. When he stopped he reached into the sleeve of his black leather jacket and when he did all the metal clips and chains jingled and shone in the bright afternoon light. From the arm of his coat he pulled out.

He looked at himself in the mirror and frowned. “I can’t be this obvious.” He hummed a little tune to himself as he moved his hand over his face and in front of his body. When he did he cast a simple illusion by changing how light bounced in his local area. He had to pause though and think of what he wanted to be. He could just change enough to not be noticed but…his smile turned evil as his eyes lit up.

With the simple warp he made himself look exactly like Michelangelo de Rio. It was the only person at the school that he could think of whose powers were close enough to do what he was about to do. From being in Mickey’s world, this could happen if it ever evolved to the point to where he could bring it out.

“I could give Haru a run for his money.” He said with a laugh to nobody.

He shuddered though as he let out a small cough as he felt a twisting pain in his stomach. Afterword, as if on the wind, a small voice could be heard, ”Haru would kick your ass.”

“Shut up you.” He muttered as he began to walk into the town.

The town was the perfect choice because it was just big enough for him to encompass with the entire song. His max range was about a half mile radius and the town was just under a mile across. If his other half ever got in sync he would be well over a mile and a half but oh well. He still had plenty of power.

The town was somewhat populated though he still walked around unnoticed. Not that he cared if he was noticed since it wouldn’t be him, but Max that people remembered or reported. When he got to the middle courtyard of the town he cracked his neck and then his fingers. He put a large pair of DJ headphones over his ears and switched his iPod to the song that would haunt this town for ages.

The first thing that could be heard was a loud base drum and bass guitar as Artemis rose up into the air. His hair whipped around his head as his eyes began to glow with purple energy. The same energy began to glow around him spread further and further out until the entire city was encompassed within a purple dome. This didn’t prevent any movement but just signified the limit of his area of control.

Boys and girls of every age
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

Come with us and you will see
This, our town of Halloween

As these lyrics blasted to the entire town, their buildings once, very modern became gothic as the dome darkened the sun’s rays and making it appear as if it was dusk. The town began to strongly resemble and older horror movie. The fences elongated and rusted and looked ready to attack anyone nearby.

This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night

Pumpkins began to suddenly fall. They fall on the corners screaming and landed on top of the street lamps. The people who were quite dense, finally noticed the change and began to scream themselves and run like a frightened mob as the screaming pumpkins continued to fall. A few even hit some cars passing through which ended up plowing into houses.

This is Halloween, everybody make a scene
Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright
It's our town, everybody scream
In this town of Halloween

Suddenly the concrete and the roadway began to crack and uplift as from the ground emerged hundreds of skeletons that moved around the city. Not directly trying to kill the residents though they would give them a shake and possibly a punch if the resident tried to fight back. A few did but once they saw how sturdy they were they quickly continued to run with the others.

I am the one hiding under your bed
Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red

I am the one hiding under yours stairs
Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair

Artemis split into two each taking the form of the described verse. One would appear as the viewers childhood fear. Every kid grew up with a monster under their bed. He would appear as that monster. The other turned into a gruesome monster with snakes as fingers and long black hair covered in spider webs and spiders hanging down. Each person went down opposite roads sweeping down low cackling like an evil witch as the people scattered in fright.

When people started to try and retreat into their homes, the two Artemis’ followed, flying through either the bed or the stair cupboard and flying out through the front door.

This is Halloween, this is Halloween

Both Artemis’ flinched though as a shooting pain went through their head as two skeletons vanished somewhere in the town destroyed by some outside force.

[Stella Booth]

Stella had made her back to the states know help to that now good, Ian if that really was his real name sense her little ‘fun’ in Italy with him she had been royally pissed, she spent most nights doing what he did best when she was depressed partied. She had made her way back to the states she figured New York cause Ian had stated he didn’t want to find the people who where after him and NY is what it said on his ID. By being hear she’d never see him again.

New York was her kind of city people where everywhere there where people all types of people parties all the time only problem was with all these types of people she didn’t stand out like she liked to nomarmaly. But all in all it was an ok place to be for a wile. She had died her hair blood red when she had made her way back to the states, she always died her hair different when she moved to somewhere different

She had come back form a party from the night before so she was still in her party close fishnets and a quite reliving top she has all her pricing in everything was going fine for the day that was until she started hearing some people screaming.

It wasn’t that the people screaming bugged her yea load noise was a little annoying with a small hang over but it was partially gone already. The world started to change Stella looked around, what was she on was her first taught but when everyone was running around and screaming well she knew she wasn’t the only one seeing things.

At first Stella didn’t care as far as she could see the skeleton weren’t really hurting anyone, She leaned against the wall with a beer can in hand and watched as the skeletons scared everyone. Well someone was having fun this wasn’t her fight now as much fun as it was to scare humans and or kill them, who ever was making the skeleton and causing all the other mess wasn’t killing them just scaring them that was no fun.

One of the stupid people who was scared of the little things had ran into her knocking her on to the floor spilling her drink allover her shirt. Stella looked around seeing skeletons that had sacred the people. She looked down at her shirt it was ruined, a huge stain spread acrossed her chest the smell of alcohol covering her.
She stood up, a mutant had to be involved with this no normal human could make what was going on hear this Halloween nightmare and that someone was going to pay for the stain on her shirt.

She glared at the a couple skeletons for a few moments until they imploded she was go to get who ever was making, controlling or whatever this nightmare of sorts attesion one way or another

[rhyme]

Artemis snapped himself back together as he focused on where he felt that pain come from. As he found the point he made space closer together between those two points and took one step forward and ended up about five feet away from Stella and about six feet above her head. Also when he came into view he removed the other illusions cast and again looked like Mickey from Xavier’s school.

“That hurt.” He said simply and angrily as the song continued and though it came from him, he no longer sang it.

Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!

From around Stella grew four larger skeletons and this time with armor and rusted iron swords. And from their mouths came the song that was being played. Their bones were bleached white and dry though they were taller than most humans about seven feet tall. Instead of skeleton heads though they had pumpkin heads.

In this town we call home
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song

At the last line then skeletons with their other hands, yanked their heads from their bodies and tossed them at Stella. They wouldn’t do anything too destructive but they were completely rotten and would splatter all over here and make her smell horrible.

[Stella Booth]

Well she got attention she was always one to like to stand out. She looked up at the guy who was doing this, she wasn’t scared of the skeletons they weren’t hurting anyone she folded her arms, this guy really was a whimp if he was trying to cause tubule hardly worth her time she was tempted yell at him and show him how to make people run in fear, show him the fun of seeing the light leave peoples eyes for the first time.

“Really dude, your having the pumpkins heads sing Nightmare before Christmas there are so many better songs out there” She had to admit the kid was cute or well Mickey was cute, but he had ruined her top and she liked this one and when you don’t have that many you tend to make sure that you keep your shirts clean for as long as you can with out ruining them and then when they get ruined well at lest for Stella all hell breaks lose.

“Well I’m glade I got you attention cause all I really want if for you to get me a” she was interrupted by the pumpkins being thrown on her Stella glared at the boy, She could feel the gooeyness of the pumpkin over he hold body, It was stuck in her hair some of the pumpkin had slipped in way down her shirt she was covered head to tell. Stella face started turning red form holding out a scream. O he was dead meat now, She was going to kill him for someone like her who had no where to stay where was she subpost to take a bath to get all this shit off of her,

“Your dead meat kid!! I am going to kill you organ by organ”

It was aparnet to her that he could just make new little friends, but he did say it hurt some how these things where connected to him they where to big for Stella to employed and not sit hear for a few minuets but they where skeletons and she knew her body parts. Stella focused on there Lumbar Vertebreas it was a larger bone so it did take a couple of minutes for them go pop the fact that the Skeletons had armor now meant nothing to her rustly armor or not a Skeleton was still a Skeleton made out of the same good old parts.

[rhyme]

((Music or the Misery—Panic! At the Disco))

Artemis was not intimidated by her threatening him. He could fade away easily enough to any point within his control and so far that was the entire town. He let her do her thing for a bit since he wasn’t sure what her power was. When the four skeletons blew up at the spines he flinched and dropped a few feet in height before he regained his senses. By that point the song was over but it was easier for him to keep a zone going then to create it so the random music he heard from his iPod kept the zone going.

Damn, fire I can deal with easily, make oxygen hold on to its electrons and it doesn’t cause burning which shuts down most flame people, but explosions, so many ways that could be caused, chemical, heat, some other strange things.

“Interesting power, and you have yet to see the extent of mine. Normals aren’t hard to freak out, you will see the full strength.” He said faking a yawn at first. “Once you stepped into this town, you are in MY world.” He said turning it into an evil smile.

He decided though last minute to take it a different direction. Even though it took a while he had no way to stop her from doing the same thing to his spine. Until he knows ‘how’ she made things explode so he could negate it for himself he would get her to help him.

I got my stitches stitched, I got my fixes fixed,
In my aching head, I got my kisses slit.
Our gossip lips stuttered every word I said, I said,
I got your love letters, corrected the grammar and sent them back.
It's true romance is dead, I shot it in the chest then in the head.

As the first part of the song played he floated to the ground and changed to a nice three piece suit, all of it was in the shade of dark purple with white pin stripes. It included a coat, white collared shirt, dress pants, dress shoes, and a nice dark purple silk tie.

At the last part about shooting romance in the chest and the head, he mimed a gun and ‘fired’ at two lamp posts down the road. When he did so a few moments later they exploded. It looked similar to Stella’s but he wasn’t sure if it was. He only knew that he increased gravity hugely at that point causing a small singularity, just until the strong nuclear force broke and then let it go causing a decent explosion.

And if you wanna go down in history then I'm your prince,
Because they've got me in a bad way I've never seen a heart I couldn't break.
It was never about the songs, it was competition.
Make the biggest scene, make the biggest...

On the first line he held out his hand as if to offer a dance and also at the moment he removed all the gunk from her cloths as well as the smell of rotten pumpkins. If she accepted he would spin her around in a few dance moves and at the line about the biggest scene destroy a few of the buildings near them in a shockwave of energy.

If she didn’t want to play along and declined his invitation to dance he would try and bring down the wall behind her with the same energy on the last line.

[Stella Booth]

Stella was not impressed by his little gun show, She turned his nose up at him at first he exploded the thing it was nothing, explosions didn’t impress her that was when thing got ripped apart she imploded things there was a difference a big difference and if he didn’t understand the diffince in look on what an implosion and explosion looked like he’d never understand how her power really worked .

When he offered her hand and removed the gunk Stella glared at if for a moment what was he pulling hear was he bipolar one minute he throwing pumpkins at her the next he offering to dance. Stella took his hand still upset at him he may of gotten rid of the pumpkin crap that was all over her but there was still the wet stain of beer on her shirt form when she got knocked down earlier.

“So do you have a part of your body you’d prefer not to have anymore Romeo because you do anything to hurt me I will remove your balls and trust me that one is easy just takes a second” she said with a wicked grin even if he was being all romantic at the moment he’d already proved that he can change moods at a change of a dime, he might as well know that she was still unsure of him and will defend her self.

She’d put up with his little show for now play along the fact that he had gotten rid of the pumpkin gunk had one him points but again he wasn’t hurting anyone just making a big mess if he wasn’t willing to hurt people then when Law force got involved would he protected him self she was in the right this time she hadn’t hurt anyone yet.

[rhyme]

The words from the song suddenly cut out making the area seem oddly quiet as the music continued on. He did this as his eyes narrowed in anger as he took his hand back.

“You are lucky I don’t the anatomy of the human body or else you would find yourself much worse then you could make me.”

He then threw his hand into the air in a dramatic gesture and with a furry of sheet music that swirled around him like leaves in the fall he vanished from sight. He hoped that she needed sight to destroy something or to at least know what general area it was in.

“It is wise to know a person’s full strength before you threaten important parts of their anatomy.” Came his voice from all around Stella emerging from no focal point just the area in general around her.

With that angry, snarky comment twelve kunai appeared hung above her head and torso with the sharp end pointed at her. It wouldn’t take much effort from him to send them flying at some of her more tender areas and since it took her a few minutes to explode a part of his skeleton he figured she would be unable to explode all the kunai before they would hit her.

“I’ll give you a hint, once you stepped within the borders of this town, you entered MY world.”

[Stella Booth]

She doughted that she’d be must worst then he could make her dead, did he not realize that if she really truly wanted to she could just go pop and his hart would be gone and he was talking like he chould just mess her up with out thinking to hard she could kill him

He dispread well that wasn’t nice of him and he did it all dramatic man she didn’t like people who where all showy like that, the quietness around her only put her on her toes a bit more he was pulling something hear and she didn’t like it she almost felt that she was just there to have fun with nothing more.

“and you shouldn’t point sharp things at someone unless you understand there full power” One by one the kunai started imploding with in seconds after each other they where just small enough that it was no effort for her all

“Now I really don’t feel like spilling blood today but if you continue to make me mad I will kill you and trust me it won’t be pleasant”

She didn’t care that she had just stepped in to his world it didn’t matter, She was hear and it was not his world if he couldn’t control the actions of the people in there and right now he had one pissed off Stella. People advoded making her mad in general and he just seemed to be doing everything in his power to make her pissed.

[rhyme]

Artemis pushed his eyebrows together in frustration or would have if he had eyebrows at the moment. They were in a stalemate at the moment, since it seems like she couldn’t blow him up in his current state or else she would have by now which made sense since he was barely more than a mind at the moment. But because of being in such a strange form, he could do very little himself without risking himself being scattered by the winds.

He then got an idea. This woman has yet to see his true form. He could play both sides if he really wanted to. He focused on the area out of sight about a block away and let himself come back into his original form. He also let the warp that changed his appearance go letting his purple hair and eyes show through and making him look like he normally did. He also seemed to grow a few inches. His physical form never changed but it still felt good to be back to himself.

He then put his hand to his chin as he thought of a way for him to enter. He grinned evilly as he sent off down the street at twice normal human speed his legs glowing with dark purple ribbons giving him the extra boost.

“Damn it stop throwing those kunai at me!” he screamed at literally nobody as he made fake metal kunai fly at him from behind easily missing himself.

He then jumped high doing a full rotation forward right near Stella and when he was upside down he threw two energy balls behind himself at ‘nobody’ that just happened to hit two columns of the city hall building collapsing the front porch.

“Crap he is gone. Where did that bugger go?” He said his purple eyes looking all around.

“Where you the one to make those kunai go at me?” he accused angrily out of apparent fright not true anger.

[Stella Booth]

She glared at this new guy who come into the fight, accusing her of attacking him she turned her nose up at him discussed that someone would even think that wepons wheren’t he style at all she’d never throw something at someone and even if she did she’d make sure she didn’t miss.

“Not my style bud weapons tend to miss there target I never miss” She flashed an evil grin at him she didn’t know who this guy was but maybe she could use him to get back at the guy to caused this mess in the first place.

“Did he attack you then” she said calmly like everything around her was completely normal “or are you just playing the stupid hero” She turned to the guy walking towards him she glared at him. “Look bud I don’t care about this little fight the idiot just scared some idiot people who knocked me over and spilled a dam drink on me If you want his head on a platter I don’t care I just want him to pay for my shirt if you help me I will help you got it bud”

Stella stayed aware of what was going on she didn’t want the ‘other’ guy to come up behind and stab her in the back she didn’t have so if this guy was to help her then so be it but he might as well know up front that she wasn’t miss goody to shoes and if he pissed her off as well there was no stopping her she was already pissed he didn’t need to get her madder .

[rhyme]

Artemis’ nose flared as he took some deep breaths. This was going to be tough but totally within his scope. It was just going to be hard to not gesture for half of what he was going to do. He also couldn’t conjure anything within her sight since that would be too similar to what she saw before.

Show time. he thought firmly as his power was summoned.

“I’m not a hero, I was just trying to get myself to a school I heard took in mutants when I got…” his eyes suddenly widened “Look out! Above you!” he yelled out as he sent two orbs of compressed musical score so compressed it just looked like glowing balls above Stella’s head. It collided with the wall bringing down small pieces of wood, glass and plaster.

“Sorry…I can’t pin him down, he disappears as soon as I see him.”

One of the orbs though actually went straight through the building and landed just past the center of town. When it landed it unraveled and a song began to play. It ironically was from one of Disney’s most popular movies. It was Savages from Pocahontas. He didn’t have the focus at the moment to fully control enough of the residents but he could easily influence nearly all of them. The song was about the hatred between two sides. It would stir up the anger and other negative emotions between mutants and humans. Stella was probably to strong willed to be effected but the normal humans would easily be swayed if they had strong enough feelings themselves.

From a nearby house came a loud bang as two rounds of buckshot from a shotgun came flying at the pair. Artemis flinched mentally as he raised a glowing purple shield that bent inward slightly but did not break under the rounds. It felt like someone just punched him in the temple though since he didn’t have the time to remove himself personally from the shield.

“Go to hell you lousy mutants.” Said a man in a rough voice from the direction of the gunshot.

“Yea, the only good mutant is a dead mutant.” Came a women’s voice from the street.

People from the town started to file out of their houses armed with whatever they could find; many had hunting rifles, pistols and shotguns.

[Stella Booth]

She’d knew of the school before so she rolled her eyes when she started taking about it a bunch of babies if you asked her but when he yelled duck she docked down glaring at where she believed they came form she was going to kill this guy.

She sat back up fixed her hair a little bit until she started hearing people yelling calling her a stupid mutant she glared at them her anger growing even more then before she wasn’t doing anything she hadn’t hurt anyone and they where calling her a lousy good for nothing mutant, humans where idiots.

“I know I’m going to hell, my goal is just to see how many of you dam humans out with me”
Stella face was started to turn red from anger almost as red as her hair at the moment her fist balled into fist normally when she got this mad she just destroyed random things that didn’t hurt things but she had been pushed to far.

Each of the people hearts started to implode there hearts form the outside it would of just looked like they where having a heart attacks the look in Stella eyes showed that she had done this before maybe to not so many before but she had killed she wasn’t just all talk.

[rhyme]

Artemis grinned evilly with his back to Stella as he also worried strongly for his own life. He was skating a fine edge here. He saw how easily she killed people as the first wave of humans died at her hands to what appeared to be heart attacks. The people clutched at their chest and groaned in pain before just falling to the ground dead. It showed how easily she could kill him if she knew he was the one doing all of this.

He cracked his neck and fingers as he lowered his arms and the purple shield dropped.

“My turn” he said as he saw more people coming at them tossing more insults.

He was impressed at how much hate there was in this town. His song only brought out what was already there unless they were totally brainless.

He put his arms straight down at his waste and from within his coat ribbons of dark purple energy emerged and wrapped themselves around his legs and arms. It ran the whole way down to his fingers where they hung loose. The ribbons hanging off the edge would be razor sharp. He then took off at triple human speed.

He did a spinning kick with such force that the already dead body went flying into a person’s house utterly destroying a wall. He then ran through a whole crowd with cliché torches and pitchforks as well as shotguns who were chanting anti-mutant slurs. They were blown to the sides by his speed and then cut to pieces as his ribbons went through them. The ground ran slick with their blood.

[Stella Booth]

Stella yawned when she saw him take of at supper speed she was impressed at all being that she kind of had a thing against mutants with speed right now because of Ian who she was still pissed at actually it was the under reason of why she was mad in the first place she’d been on edge like this for days it was about time she flipped and this was a good way to get her anger out at the moment.

A bullet shot towards her luckily it had missed she had no protection form those in throry she chould destroy a bullet before it hit but it going so fast she have to know where it was coming from who shot what type of bullet and a hole other long line of things that the human mind could just not think fast enough for that.

She glared at where the shot came form seeing a new set of people coming towards them taking aim they had a verity of different gun different makes and models Stella saw she knew that she wouldn’t last long as long as they had guns. Each of the guns barrels started to concave a little no enough to notice by looking at it but just enough for when the people tried to shot there guns they would exploding from the high pressure bild up. Stella saw a few people try to fire at her and there guns literally back fire on them and send them flying some the explosion causing them to lose a limb or something she smirked at them and made a little tis sond.

She was having fun she wondered what her cousin Neon would think of all this she was in the brotherhood after all next time she need to invite her to help it be fun but she only do this when she was pissed maybe next time they where on the rag yea she should text her after and see if this made the news.

Artemis was putting on quite a show now, if they could only find the idiot who caused all this mess in the frist place, that was when the real fun would begin she was starting to plane what she was going to do with him as soon as she saw him she wanted to play with him some how that all she new at the moment she wanted her game with the guy who messed with her shirt to be long and painful how painful she was still unsure

[rhyme]

Artemis didn’t notice what she did right away but one the guns first tried to fire he heard it. The air was hissing in a high pitched way. He wasn’t sure if it was in a human’s range or not but he sure heard it.

“Shit…” he said as he raised his arms and tried to raise a protective shield around himself.

He was too slow though so he got hit with the flying shrapnel that went off when multiple hand guns exploded turning themselves basically into hand grenades. It was interesting seeing a double barreled shot gun explode all Elmer Phud like.

The metal couldn’t penetrate where he had the ribbons wrapped around himself for increased speed and strength so the majority of his legs and arms were safe though his hands got a few cuts as did his shoulders. His face was thankfully missed since he had his arms in front of it but his torso took numerous superficial cuts and a small number of deeper cuts that may need stitches later though from the pain he figured he could patch the skin together himself. He was good as long as no muscles were cut.

There were only a few people left since all the sane people and those not prejudiced against mutants were not affected by the song and remained safe in their homes. After hearing gunshots and screams of pain those who thought of leaving changed their minds and stayed in.

Artemis saw the kunai that were still embedded in the ground between himself and Stella so he let his fingers out toward them and four purple ribbons extended and wrapped around the rings at the end of the handle. He then swung his arm around and the kunai came loose and went in a wide arc toward the last four humans and hit them in the necks and torso killing them fairly quickly as they bled out from their major arteries being cut.