"Wow, I think you murdered that pumpkin."

Ness looked up from his carving, grinning at Samus's words. "That's me!" He boldly declared, holding up the knife in front of him. "Ness, homicidal pumpkin murderer. Wanted man in at least three different grocery stores." Marking his point, he plunged the knife again into the top of the pumpkin, pulling out a handful of orange goop and seeds. Laughing maniacally, he held it up.

"And-a why did we think it was a good idea to give Ness the knife?" Mario good-naturedly sighed from the other end of the table, where he was sipping a mug of apple cider. Shaking his head, he chuckled at the psychic's antics.

"If he wanted to murder us, he has a lot more efficient ways than stabbing. He can shoot lightning out of his hands." Samus pointed out evenly. "I think we're pretty safe. Besides, he did just say he's a homicidal pumpkin murderer, not a human murderer."

"We're not all human." Link muttered, eyeing Ness warily, scooting out of the seat adjacent to him and into the one beside Pikachu. "Hylian." He motioned to himself. "Rat." Pikachu made an angry noise at being referred to as such, cheeks giving off a few sparks in warning. "...Puff?" The swordsman didn't seem to know what to refer to Kirby as, who happily babbled when Link gestured to him. "Other puff. Fox."

"Then there's a dinosaur and an oaf." Fox muttered, glaring daggers at Donkey Kong. The pilot had lost a heated match to the primate only an hour prior, and his bitterness was carrying over into their daily lives, it seemed.

"That's an awfully rude way to refer to Falcon." Ness smirked, teasingly raising an eyebrow at the person in question. Falcon looked up from his own pumpkin carving and, not even gracing the joke with a reply, tossed a few seeds at the psychic, who didn't react in time to deflect them. Making a face, he picked a long string of orange goo out of his bangs. "Eugh!"

"You deserved that." Now it was Falcon's turn to smirk.

"Yeah, I did." He conceded, returning to his work. Pikachu leaned forward and hopped across the table, daintily avoiding the mess of newspapers laid down to catch the muck. Climbing atop Ness's shoulder, the mouse stuck its little paw out and began picking the seeds off of him, munching as Ness sliced through the fruit. Shifting to adjust his balance with the newly added weight, he grunted in slight annoyance, though Pikachu didn't seem to care.

"Point is, we're not all human. In fact, half of us aren't. So, Ness could kill us." Fox eyeballed the psychic distrustfully as the large knife flashed in and out of the pumpkin.

"You all missed my point of him being the pumpkin killer!" Samus's agitated tone synced perfectly with her razor-sharp glare directed at the rest of the table. "It doesn't matter what species you are, so long as you're not a fruit."

"Wait, a pumpkin is a fruit?" Ness's jaw dropped, looking disbelievingly at her. "No way. It's a vegetable!"

"It's a fruit." She reiterated.

"Would you put it in a fruit salad? No? Not a fruit."

"You wouldn't put a tomato in a fruit salad either, but it's a fruit as well."

"Argh!" Ness stabbed the pumpkin, shaking his head. "Life makes no sense!"

"You all are exhausting." Falcon complained, neatly pulling a chunk out from where he had carved. A quick glance over at his work showed it to be quite impressive - an insignia of a bird with detailed feathers was what he was working on. Looking at the clumsily carved face on his, Ness felt more than slightly inadequate. "I'm getting tired listening to you going back and forth!"

"Alright, alright, enough-a discussion if Ness is a killer, or the-a controversial question of fruits versus-a vegetables." Mario held up his hand to wave away the earlier topic. Brightening, he grinned, bouncing slightly in his seat. "We-a have plans for-a Halloween this year!" Now the plumber had everyone's undivided attention. Ness laid aside his knife, momentarily abandoning his project. "This-a year, we're-a heading to a haunted house!"

Oh no.

Ness's interest evaporated within seconds. The excited appearance on his face had drained away to be unusually pale. Ness was all for the fun parts of Halloween - costumes, pumpkins and candy, all of that enthralled him. But actually going out and getting scared on purpose? As if his fight or flight response wasn't on permanent overdrive already... Not to mention, haunted houses were dark.

There was absolutely no way Ness was admitting that he was scared of the dark. It was a fear that had only cropped after his journey - suddenly unlit corridors felt like an ambush waiting to happen. Shadows on the wall resembled robotic limbs and tentacles, reaching out to him. In the pitch black where no light pierced, he heard whispers of his name, again and again, and felt so cold.

Ness was suddenly aware his housemates were staring at him. Had he really gasped audibly? Crap. Gotta cover for that! Trying to laugh it off, he forced out a chuckle. "Isn't that kind of lame?" He made a show of rolling his eyes. "I mean, what are we, five? The special effects are so fake in those places! 'Touch the guts' - it's just cold spaghetti. 'The bowl of eyes!' Nothing but a bunch of grapes. It's sad, really." He was only somewhat aware his voice was higher than it normally was, choosing to stubbornly ignore it.

Seeing Mario's pleased expression crumple hurt more than any attack. Ness silently cursed his crassness. He had obviously gone out of his way to schedule something he thought would be fun for them, and here Ness was trash-talking it. He didn't need to be rude just because of his own issues. "I mean, it's still fun to be chased around by a wolf-man or whatever. It's not all like that." He hastily tried to amend his prior statements. "I just - uh, I've just been to a lot of them - I mean..."

"Wait a minute..." Falcon's gaze bore into Ness even behind that visor of his. "Are you scared of going?" There was no taunting or smugness behind his words, just a genuine query.

"No!" Ness winced as he realized he had shouted his answer.

"He's scared." Pikachu squeaked. Ness lightly shoved him off his shoulder with a sharp glare. The mouse landed neatly on the table, before hissing at the psychic for displacing him.

"I am not scared." Ness muttered, forcing his voice to remain level. The skeptical looks around him didn't buy that story in the slightest. Scowling, he picked up the knife and began carving again, just so he didn't have to look at anyone else.

"You don't-a have to go if-a you're scared, Ness." Mario spoke. Although Ness wasn't looking at his face, he could sense the emotions of disappointment and hurt had been replaced with understanding and sympathy. He hated that. Ness didn't need pity. He had faced worse than a stupid haunted house. He could keep his fears in check. "Luigi is-a staying home, you can-a stay with him if-a you want to."

"I'm going." He snapped. "I'll lead the way, even, if that proves to you I'm not scared. Whatever. It's not like I need to prove anything to you anyways!"

Looking up, he saw Samus and Mario exchange looks. That was the final straw for him. Throwing his knife down recklessly - Pikachu shrieked as it almost hit him - he snatched up his pumpkin and rose from the table, turning to leave the kitchen. "I'm putting my pumpkin outside." He said shortly. The psychic needed to rein in his anger - when he got emotional, he tended to lose control of his PSI. That really wasn't something he needed right now.

Exiting the room, he took several deep breaths as he passed though the hallway and exited through the front door.

It was just a tacky, cheap haunted house. He would be fine.

Ness's mood had gotten better throughout the week as the topic faded from memory. He had reverted back to his normal, upbeat self, forcing the topic of worry out of his mind. It wasn't until that Saturday, when Halloween arrived, did the dread fully resurface.

Emerging victorious from a match, he was feeling proud as he strutted back downstairs from his room, still riding high after almost an hour. It was only seeing the Smashers gathered by the door that caused him to freeze as though struck by a blow. He had almost forgotten, and now that he was reminded, all he could feel was nervousness.

"Ready to go?" Mario asked him. "You can-a still stay here, Kirby and-a Luigi will be here-"

"I'm going." He shook his head, joining the group at the door.

"You're still in your clothes from the match." Fox raised an eyebrow. "You're going to freeze. Shorts aren't ideal autumn wear."

"I'll be fine." Ness muttered. Fall had been unseasonably warm this year, but it was finally tapering off into chilly nights. It was slated to be about forty degrees Fahrenheit tonight, but Ness would manage.

"Well, if you're-a sure..." Mario still sounded dubious, but opened the door. "Let's-a go, everyone!"

The bus ride was awkward, to put it simply. Occasionally one of the Smashers would try to engage Ness in conversation, but he mostly ignored them. He tried not to let his nervousness show, but he couldn't help wringing his hands as he stared blankly at the steel floor. Eventually, the bus slowed to a stop. Looking out the dirty window, Ness could see the haunted house. It looked pretty stereotypical - rusted, cast iron gates loomed over a dead yard. Cheesy gravestones were lining the path leading up to the house, with fake decaying limbs pushing up from the earth. The psychic only offered them a slight glance - he had seen real zombies before in Threed, after all, and plastic limbs looked nothing like real rotting flesh.

The house itself was painted black, and was made to imitate old architecture. Somewhere, a speaker was playing typical "spooky" sounds - the groaning of wind, mostly. Ness's anxiety was starting to back down a bit. This was all incredibly fake - he'd be fine, he'd probably even be laughing about it with the rest later. He had already seen so many terrifying things in his life, this would probably just amuse him. He had been overreacting, mere instinct causing trouble for him.

Link noticed Ness's change in posture first. Making an inquiring noise, he tipped his head. Ness managed a smile for him. "Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I was overreacting earlier - I mean, this doesn't look too bad." He spoke optimistically, looking at the house ahead of them. "Not that I was scared in the first place." He added after a brief hesitation. Link merely snorted before gesturing for the psychic to come on and follow the rest of the group, who were already heading up the walk.

Jogging to catch up, Ness fell in step beside Samus, Link trailing just behind him. Entering through the door, they were met by a man wearing long, black robes. "Welcome to the Tennyson Manor," He began, dramatically sweeping his arm to their surroundings. "You have been offered a grand chance to tour the dark halls so long shrouded in mystery. Be warned, though - there lies all sorts of secrets within, that perhaps you would be better turning back now..."

Ness had to stifle a laugh at how bad the acting of this man was. He overenunciated everything - it was like listening to Master Hand, but if he had a bad habit of appealing to the dramatic. Somehow, this put him more at ease. Maybe this would actually be fun, after all.

"No? Then proceed." He gestured to a hallway on their right. "Be vigilant, glorious guests..."

Entering the hall and leaving the man to greet the next batch of guests, they slowly marched forward into a dining room. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, illuminating the room in a dusty glow. A woman in an extravagant black dress sat at the table, back turned to the group. "Oh, guests..." She began, hunched over. "Won't you stay...for dinner?" Turning around, she was revealed to be made up to look like a zombie. Lurching out of her chair, she reached for the closest one to her, Yoshi, who sprang back with a cry. With her other hand, she struck a bell. "Boys, it's time to eat!"

Two more actors, looking like to be preteens, appeared from behind them, also dressed as zombies. Their blue suits were torn as though they were clawed. Lurching towards Link and Ness, they laughed.

"Excellent timing, Mother. We're so hungry!" The taller boy recited, swinging his hand towards the Hylian. Link hissed and sprang back, almost falling on top of Jigglypuff.

"Nasty Redeads!" The psychic heard him mutter, reaching for a sword that wasn't there. The Smashers who hadn't been familiar with haunted houses had been filled in on the situation prior to coming, how it wasn't real and was just actors payed to scare them, and were thus not allowed to take weaponry. Regardless, it seemed zombies struck a little too close to home for Link's tastes. Ness nearly snorted at his reaction, before reminding himself that it wasn't as if he had instincts he could just shut off at any time either. He was always on guard too. Grabbing his hand to steady him, Ness pulled Link towards the next room, where the others were already fleeing.

A chef was cheerily chopping at some sort of bloody substance. Turning around, he raised the bloodstained knife. "Ah, ze fresh meat I ordered has arrived!" He declared in an overexaggerated French accent. Ness once again had to hide a laugh. Here he had been worried it would be too much. The only thing scary here was how awful the acting was.

Raising his knife, the chef charged at them, and the group took off running, navigating around countertops and stoves. "Get back here!" The chef yelled. There were two hallways leading out of the room - part of the group raced to the left, but now the chef was blocking that way as he sprang over a chair. The rest of the Smashers were forced to run to the right.

Rushing out of the room, they found themselves heading down an elaborate corridor. There was no one there, seemingly, but Ness could feel someone's presence nearby. Tensing his shoulders, he remained on guard, as they crept forward. The paintings on the walls were watching them - their eyes followed the party's procession down the hallway. This actually did unnerve Ness - he was far more afraid of being alone like this than an actor trying to surprise him.

Speaking of surprises...

Ness froze as his violet eyes rested on a decorative suit of armor. Intuition told him to get back, and he opened his mouth to warn the others, but was too late. The armor leapt out at them, swinging an axe. Pikachu screamed and sprang into Samus's arms, tail fluffed in terror. Taking off running, the group raced down a set of spiral stairs that went down and down, farther and farther.

Ness was suddenly aware that it was getting uncomfortably dark. His hands longed to twitch and spring forth a blaze of PSI to illuminate his path, but knew it was most definitely against the rules. He didn't want to ruin this for everyone. Finally reaching the end of the stairs, the Smashers looked around to find themselves in a cellar of some sort. It was incredibly dim - but then, the lights went out almost completely, only a single bulb in the distance to assure they didn't injure themselves.

A sharp gasp whistled past Ness's lips. He tensed on instinct - it was so cold, so cold... Someone put their hand on his shoulder, Link, he assumed, but he brushed it off. Its presence was making him even more fearful. The dark was lasting a painfully long time. Ness wanted to run. Why shouldn't he? Try and escape this nightmare... Giving into his instincts, he charged ahead, before stumbling back. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to go, was there? Thiswashisresponsibiltyalonewhydidithavetofallonhimhewasjustakid -

Ness swore he could hear someone calling his name. Again and again. How long had he been here? Too long, he couldn't control his breathing as it came out in pants -

Sudden light illuminated his vision, a harsh red light, and an actor sprang out at the psychic, red mist emitting from his body. He let out an everlasting wail at the psychic, reaching a snake-like hand out to touch him. Ness could feel the gaseous heat that somehow felt more akin to ice burning at his skin and wanted to choke. Acting purely on the adrenaline and terror that had set in, he couldn't control it as he swung out his leg with a feral scream, PSI trailing after it. The actor cried out in pain as they were punted through the air, crumpling against the wall.

Reality snapped back to Ness and he looked in sheer horror at what he had done. "Oh, God." He whispered. The actor was most definitely bleeding. He looked at the psychic, red gas dispersing, and Ness could see terror in those eyes - eyes that somehow looked just like everyone he had ever known. Shame, blazing hot, washed over him, warding away the cold. In that moment, Ness couldn't bear it.

Taking off running, he charged back past the group, despite their pleas for him to stop. He took the stairs two steps at a time, barely able to hear them over the blood rushing in his ears. Flying through the hallway, he burst past the armor until he reached the end of the hallway. It didn't stop him - tearing the window open via telekinesis, he vaulted himself through it.

Landing far too lightly for any ordinary human, he sprinted through the yard, passing another group who was getting chased by a deranged gardener. Charging towards the fence, he grabbed the bars and scaled it, the sharp points of the tops digging into his palms. Dropping on the other side, he ran off, having no destination in mind.

He didn't want to go home. He didn't want to see any of his friends.

Aimlessly charging ahead, he raced though the streets.

Ness had eventually stopped in the park, unsure of how long he had been running. Slumped on a bench, his mind was racing.

He had definitely hurt that actor. He had hurt an innocent person - someone just trying to do their job. This would have never happened had he just admitted his weakness to himself and his friends and stayed home. He could have had a good evening with Luigi and Kirby, instead of endangering someone just because he couldn't control himself in the dark.

"I'm a terrible person." He muttered, as though in a daze. "I'm an absolutely terrible person. I let my stupid pride get in the way!" Burying his face in his hands, he shuddered from both revulsion and from the chilly night air. He was freezing out here, he realized. The adrenaline had been keeping him warm, but drained from him, the frigid winds tore right on through.

Ness wasn't sure how long he had sat there under the dim glow of the streetlamps. Minutes felt like hours, and yet seconds slipped away like they had never existed. He was lost in thought - so much so, he didn't realize someone was sitting beside him until they spoke.

"Are you alright?"

It was a young girl, about the same age as Ness's little sister. Auburn hair spilled over her small, round, face, and bright brown eyes studied him curiously. She was dressed in an obviously homemade costume of Pikachu, something Ness found somewhat endearing. The crooked ears attached to the headband fell slightly over her eyes. Ness managed a weak smile for her.

"I'm alright." He said quietly.

"You don't look alright." The girl responded. Looking him up and down, she continued. "I like your costume. You look just like him."

Ness was baffled by what she meant until it dawned on him. He was still wearing his signature shorts, striped shirt and cap from the match - and on Halloween, no one could really tell who was who. She thought he was just one of the neighborhood boys, dressed up like she was. The thought made him chuckle a bit in spite of himself. "Thanks. You look just like Pikachu."

"I'm Allison." The girl chirped, scooting in her seat. "What's your name?"

"...I'm Henessey." He responded slowly. No need to give out who he was. Plus, it wasn't as though he was lying. Few people in the world knew "Ness" was merely a nickname. Ness hated his full name, and had always intended to change it legally to the shortened version when he turned eighteen.

"Nice to meet you, Henessey." Allison said softly. "You seem sad. Did you not have a good Halloween?"

"You could say that." He shrugged, avoiding eye contact.

"I didn't, either." She admitted to him, looking embarrassed. "My friends and I did somethin' stupid. Did you do somethin' stupid?"

"Yeah."

"We egged Mrs. Johnsbarrow's house. Except I had bad aim, and accidentally sent it through her window." Allison hung her head, shame burning on her face. "We just wanted to get back at her 'cause she's always so nasty to us when we're playin' after school, tellin' us to "PIPE DOWN OUT THERE!" and lets her really mean dog snarl at us. So after we got done trick or treatin', we took the eggs and pelted the place. But then her window broke, and we all got real scared and ran out of there. Momma's gonna kill me for bein' gone so long..." She rambled out her guilty consciousness to Ness. He didn't mind - somehow, it made him feel better to focus on someone else's woes. "I feel real bad, Henessey. I know she's mean and all, but that's a lotta glass...and she's pretty old. What if she gets hurt steppin' on it?"

"Maybe you should go apologize." Ness suggested. Allison shut her eyes.

"I know that's the right thing to do, but it's so hard." She breathed out. Ness put a hand on her shoulder and smiled sympathetically.

"The right choice isn't usually the easy one." He began slowly. "Trust me, I've had a lot of screw ups in my time. I've...I've done some things I don't like to think about, either."

"Like tonight?"

"Yeah. I did something bad tonight."

"Bad as eggin' someone's house and breakin' a window?"

"Worse." Ness almost laughed when Allison gave him a disbelieving look, before a lump caught in his throat. In that moment, he desperately wished he was just a normal kid, with no powers, no past, nothing but worrying about curfews and what the mean neighbor was going to say to you. Even in his childhood, strange occurrences had followed him like his shadow. There had never been a normal for him, and there never would be.

"Did you say you're sorry?" She asked him. "You don't wanna be a hyp...hyp.."

"Hypocrite?" He provided.

The girl enthusiastically nodded. "That's the word. I ain't too good at sayin' those big ones."

"No, I haven't." He admitted. Allison clicked her tongue in disapproval. "I probably should, shouldn't I?"

"I'd say so."

"I will tomorrow." He nodded. There was no point running, was there? Ness couldn't change his reactions. It didn't matter how much he craved normalcy - it was out of his reach. He had endangered innocent people by trying to prove he could hide his fears, run from the hallucinations, and stand flippant and strong as he always did. He needed to be mature and keep himself out of situations like that. Ness couldn't keep being childish forever. "It's pretty late tonight."

"Yeah, it is." Allison sighed in agreement. "I'm gonna tell Momma what happened. She can help me replace the window, I bet. She's gonna be real disappointed in me."

Ness swallowed hard. "Yeah. I've got some people who are going to be pretty disappointed with me, too." He hadn't even considered the consequences tournament-wise until Allison had reminded him. Master Hand was going to kill him, or at the very least, suspend him from matches. He had technically broken the rules, hadn't he? You weren't supposed to fight outside of matches.

"Guess we better both get it over with." Allison showed a wobbly smile. "Let's go home, m'kay?"

"Sounds like a plan." Ness agreed, returning the smile. "It's pretty late - mind if I walk you home? I don't feel right letting a girl walk around by herself when it's this dark out."

"Okay." Allison agreed with a nod. Standing up, the pair began walking, the younger leading the way. A light precipitation was falling on their shoulders - not rain, as Ness first thought, but soft, downy flakes of snow. Shivering in the cold, he walked faster to try to warm up. Allison seemed cold too, but certainly warmer than he was. Turning a few street corners, they finally ended up in front of a small pink house.

"This is my home." She announced. Giving a sad smile, she lightly hugged the psychic, to his surprise. "Well, I'm gonna be in for a world of trouble. But I bet it'll blow over soon. Hope your thing goes okay, Henessey. Maybe we'll see each other again and we can tell what happened."

"Maybe." Ness responded, though he doubted it. "Just be brave, okay? You can get through this."

"You can too." She said earnestly. "See ya!" Turning around, she darted through the gate. Ness didn't leave until he was sure he saw her go in the house. He took a deep breath - time to get this over with.

Taking off into a run, he flared his powers and teleported, leaving nothing behind but a pair of skid marks.

Crashing almost into the outer boundaries of the House's yard, Ness stumbled until managed to steady himself upright. Dusting the fine layer of soot off of himself, he took a few hesitant steps forward, opening the gate. Proceeding through the snow, which was falling heavier now, he walked up to the front porch.

The door swung open before he even had a chance to touch it. "Where-a have you been?!" Mario's voice was borderline frantic. "We've-a been looking for you for-a hours!"

"...I'm sorry." He muttered. He didn't even have the energy to look the plumber in the eyes.

Sighing, Mario placed his hands on Ness's shoulders. "I think you should-a go see Master Hand." He murmured. "I'll-a go tell the others you're-a fine." Rethinking that suddenly, he started looking over the psychic worriedly. "You are-a fine, right? Not-a hurt?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He confirmed. He had minor scratches on his palms from scaling the fence, but he could easily heal those later. "I'll...go now." Drawing away, Ness proceeded toward the hand's office. A pit of dread settled in his stomach, but he resolutely kept walking until he arrived at the door. Hesitating for only a moment, he rapped his knuckle against the wood twice.

"Come in."

Opening the door, Ness stepped into the office, shutting it behind him. "Have a seat." Master Hand flicked the tip of his pointer finger at the couch. Awkwardly shuffling over, he sat. There was no eye contact to avoid here, but Ness still found himself stalwartly avoiding looking at the hand. "I've heard it's been quite a night for you." He began quietly. "Why did you subject yourself to that if you feared it?"

"...Stubbornness." He mumbled.

"I thought so."

Taking a shaky breath, Ness finally forced himself to look up. "I know I hurt that actor with my actions." He began slowly. "I want to offer to cover his medical bills. I should have immediately tried to help him - my healing PSI could have been useful - instead of running. He was just trying to do his job and I hurt him for it because of my own reckless stupidity. I just didn't want to seem weak. Everyone here has been through crap, they were fine, why should I have been any different? But I'm not normal and I need to accept that and realize some things are out of my reach now -"

"Ness." Master Hand moved to interrupt him, but the psychic was getting too into his rant to stop now.

"Listen, I know I'm getting suspended from the tournament. I messed up. I just want to apologize for my stubbornness. I should have just stayed home. I know what affects me and purposely throwing myself into it is irresponsible. It's downright stupid. I -"

"Ness!" This time, the psychic shut up. Both were quiet for a moment, and he had a feeling Master Hand was looking at him intensely, despite his lack of eyes. "Ness...do you often hallucinate in the dark?"

"...Yeah." He admitted. "I was starting to down in that cellar when I attacked the guy."

"...Ness, there wasn't an actor there." Master Hand spoke quietly. The psychic all but fell out of his seat.

"WHAT?! But... but I saw..." He looked dazed, rambling and shaking his head. The god-like being sighed.

"Samus, Link, Pikachu and Donkey Kong said that you had run ahead, before freezing. You were muttering to yourself before suddenly swinging out in a kick. Then, they said you panicked and bolted from the room. No one knew what had happened."

"I...I didn't hurt anyone?" He said in a small voice.

"Not a soul." He calmly said. "There was an actor lying in wait, but you wouldn't have encountered him until a little while later."

Ness was shocked, mouth agape. It had felt so real, so vivid. Tears unconsciously sprang to his eyes. He hadn't hurt anyone...the relief he felt was immense.

"Thank God." He breathed out. "The guilt was killing me - I...I guess I really don't do good in the dark, huh?"

"It would seem not." Master Hand responded, tapping a finger lightly on his oversize desk. "Given your experiences, it makes sense."

"I want to work past this." Ness muttered. "I hate the dark."

"I have faith you will." He spoke seriously. "Though dark does not automatically mean evil, much as light is not always righteous, Ness. I think what you will need to develop is a discernment - a way to fight past your hallucinations and fears. Ness, have you ever considered going to therapy?"

"Therapy?!" He recoiled. "I'm not that crazy!"

"Therapy is not just for "crazy" people, Ness." Master Hand patiently explained. "Perhaps having someone to talk to professionally could aid you in controlling things like this. Remember what I have told you before - there is no shame in being afraid. But now, I add on that if you cannot confront your fears head on - often a bad idea - you need to have the tools to fight them. Please, consider it."

"...I will..." He mumbled.

"You are more than your fears." For some reason, Ness felt like Master Hand was smiling. "Someday, you will get past this, and then maybe you can face the dark for what it is - a mere absence of light."

"I hope so. I just wish I could be normal."

Master Hand actually laughed, brushing the notion away with a sweep of his fingers. "Normal doesn't exist, Ness. There is no singular experience of life for everyone. You may have had a bizarre life, but so has everyone in their own ways. Don't let this get you down. There will be other Halloweens, and you will have another experience under your belt to deal with it."

"I guess you're right." Ness found a faint smile touching his lips.

He fell asleep that night with all the strangeness of the world on his mind.

Whoops.

This was supposed to be a happy chapter. But I just could not write it. So screw it, angst time. I am actually terrified to post this, I kind of feel like people are going to hate it.

Next chapter will be happy and humorous though, I'm already working on it. Hopefully I can put it out in November instead of having my motivation run away for five months again.

Sorry I did this to y'all. I hope you still like it. I feel kind of bad, I really did wanna write something funny, but it wouldn't come. Scrapped draft after scrapped draft of dry, forced jokes - I couldn't do it. I'm trying to listen to people and include more characters, but I just...struggle writing them. I can't do well with Donkey Kong or Yoshi the same way I can with Samus or Falcon for some reason. I feel pretty bad about it.

I'm not cut out to be a humor writer, it seems. But hey, I try! Thanks for the amazing support all y'all have dumped on this fic, you are the BEST and I love y'all! Your reviews legitimately make me light up.

Come yell at me in the Discord if you want: fGm5NBB

- EBC