He could remember only pieces of his life from before, but those were indistinct fragments that seemed to fade like wisps of smoke from a dying fire when he tried to recall details. The only thing he was certain of was that the one who was responsible for his current state lived in the nearby town. So many times had tried to sneak to the fiend's house, but he was always spotted and the alarm was raised. While he could move stealthily, his bulky form was difficult to hide.

Sighing, he jumped down from the tree he had been sitting in and headed off toward town. Regardless of his past failures, he had to make at least one more attempt to make things right. Quietly, he edged toward town and peered in the direction of the central square.

There seemed to be a lot of activity as he could see shadows scurrying about and could hear the laughter of children. It was strange, for the inhabitants usually went to bed fairly early. While he was trying to figure out what was different tonight, a soft voice suddenly spoke.

"What are you doing there?"

He whirled about quickly and saw that a young Kacheek had spotted him in his hiding place. He had been seen rather quickly this time, but he was confused as to her apparent lack of fear at his appearance.

"I love your costume," the girl continued, "It looks so real. Do you want to go trick or treating with me?" She held out her tiny paw toward him.

The words trick or treating slowly turned in his mind and he suddenly retrieved a memory of himself dressed up and going from door to door as a child. Even this Kacheek was wearing a witch's hat and cloak and was carrying a bag of candy. This was Halloween. A night for children to express their imagination, and a night for those who usually had to remain hidden in the shadows.

He nodded carefully as he stepped out and took her hand. This was perfect. All he had to do was to accompany this child until he reached his destination. No one would even look twice.

Soon, his time for vengeance would be at hand...

True, she was young, but she was also the most promising witch her teacher had seen in years. He had told her so just the other night when he had given her this assignment. "Marsa, my dear," had been his words, "I am sure that, as my best pupil, you can easily procure the last ingredient for this potion. Will you bring me a Werelupe claw, willingly given and collected on the night of the full moon?" His eyes had glittered in the candlelight, and his sharp teeth had glinted in a full smile.

She had promised she would, of course. How else would she ever get a look at the top secret magic books he kept locked in his desk? Now, all she had to do was figure out how to actually get the claw, but she was sure it wouldn't be too difficult. If she kept up the kiddie act, something was sure to strike her. After all, she wasn't considered a genius for nothing.

"Which house do you want to start at?" she asked the Werelupe, adding a childish lisp for that extra-innocent touch. "I hear Mrs. Mayfrew gives the most candy out of everyone!" She nodded at a house a few feet away, decked in garish orange and purple cobwebs. "What do you think?"

The Werelupe nodded, so Marsa tugged him forward. A few steps away, however, she was greeted with the last thing she had ever expected to see...

Marsa couldn't believe it. Of everyone she could have run into, it had to be her old childhood nanny. "Yes, hello, Ms. Martha. I--"

"Oh my, look at your costume! It's so cute!"

"Ms. Martha--"

"OH! Who's your friend!? What a costume HE has! Oh my, does it frighten you, Marsy?" The Gelert gazed down at her in worry, as though she was as young as she was pretending to be.

Marsa gritted her teeth, resisting the temptation to turn her old nanny into a frog. "Don't call me that. I'm not a baby anymore, Martha. I'm just..." She cleared her throat and readjusted her voice again. "I'm just going trick-or-treating with this nice Lupe. I agree his costume is wonderful, but it doesn't scare me."

Ms. Martha smiled. "W--"

"We'll be on our way then, won't we, Mr. Lupe?" She looked up at the Werelupe with big, innocent eyes. He nodded, glancing at the green purple Gelert with a wary look.

"Oh," Martha hesitated. "Well, we'll come with you then." The Kougra didn't seem too happy about that; he hid behind her cloak.

Marsa's eyes widened. "N-no! You don't need to come; honest, I'll be fine with him." She pointed rather sharply at her companion, who nodded again.

"Nonsense!" Martha exclaimed happily. "We were just heading to Mrs. Mayfrew's place. Have you been there yet? If you have, we'll gladly just follow you," she said, grinning widely.

Marsa's eye twitched slightly. She could see no non-magical way out of this, but she wasn't going to show this Werelupe she was a witch. She tried again, making her voice especially innocent and kind. "Ms. Martha, I'm happy for the offer, but you really don't need to follow us to Mrs. Mayfrew's house--"

"OH!" There was the expected interruption. "So you ARE going there! That's wonderful! Come along then, darling." Marsa wasn't sure if she was talking to her or the Kougra, but either way Martha grabbed both their paws and dragged them off to Mayfrew's cobwebbed house...

The Werelupe grumbled as well. The child was young; surely she, by herself, would have turned in fairly early. But no, this Gelert, who appeared rather large and strong -- perhaps, he thought as he observed the young Kougra, from caring for so many children -- had to present herself, most definitely lengthening the wait until he could seek his revenge.

The young Kougra sighed. He had no idea who these strange Neopets were or why they knew his Ms. Martha. He had no idea why Neopians chose to trick-or-treat in the first place. He would have preferred to stay home and... draw a picture, or something. He found his costume itchy and large, and didn't even like Judge Hog all that much.

Ms. Martha hummed a tune and walked along jovially, blissfully unaware as to any of her companions' ails.

The quartet reached the home of old Mrs. Mayfrew.

Smiling broadly and feigning excitement, Marsa announced, "Well, here we are."

"Look at you, little Marsy," Martha delighted in saying, much to the Kacheek's further annoyance, "leading our tiny group."

"Er, yeah," Marsa responded.

The Werelupe nodded and smiled at the little Kacheek. This was unusual behavior for him... well, it was now; ever since that fiend entered his life. Trying to remain decent here was proving difficult, but revenge would come soon...

The four walked up the steps of the grand abode. It was decorated heavily, with many jack-o'-lanterns, cobwebs, skeletal figures... Martha prompted her little Kougra to ring the doorbell, which he begrudgingly did.

Mrs. Mayfrew came to the door rather quickly. "Oh, if it isn't Martha," the Shoyru said as she noticed her friend. "And you've brought company!"

"Yep!" Martha announced. "This is Vaughn," she said as she shook the Kougra's paw. He didn't like this. "You remember little Marsy, right?"

The Shoyru adjusted her glasses. She recognized the Kacheek at once and gaped. "Marsa?" she asked, wide-eyed.

"Yes," the witch said back.

"My, you've grown!" she exclaimed.

"Finally, this is Marsy's friend," Martha said, pointing to the Werelupe.

"Hmm," the old Shoyru replied, observing the burly stranger. "You haven't a bag, hun."

It was true. The Werelupe did not. He just shrugged.

After giving candy to everyone else, Mayfrew went inside her house and returned with a sack... along with, much to everyone else but Martha's further grievance, another individual.

"Here's a place for you to store candy," she said as she handed him the bag. "Also," the Shoyru said, pointing to a smaller Shoyru, "this is my niece, Emma." She looked at Martha. "She's been wanting to go trick-or-treating for a while, but I've not been up to going this year. Could you take her?"

"Sure!" Martha exclaimed. "I'll make sure she has a great Halloween."

The group, which now consisted of five, walked away. "So, what's your name?" Emma asked Marsa.

"Marsa."

Emma smiled. The plan was coming together so perfectly. You see, she was a witch as well, at a school that was a rival of Marsa's. The Shoyru had been instructed by her teacher to find and follow Marsa, retrieving the "Essence of Werelupe Claw" as soon as their school had completed it.

She was angry when her aunt had said she felt too frail to go, but then Martha turned up and... well, sometimes things just work out in the end...

If she was to steal the "Essence of Werelupe Claw" from the other school, she needed Marsa to get what she needed from the Werelupe. But it also seemed obvious that whatever it was that she needed to do, she was unable to do so yet, so she would need to find a way to create that situation.

As for Martha and Vaughn, Emma wasn't sure what they were up to, or even if they were innocent bystanders caught up in this web of deceit, but either way, it would probably be for the best if they were out of the picture.

As Emma was trying to think of a suggestion, she noticed that the Werelupe seemed to have caught a scent of something in the air, and that his eyes seemed to be drifting towards the right side of town.

"So!" Martha suddenly exclaimed. "Where to next?"

Emma saw her chance. "How about that way?" she offered, pointing in the direction that she noticed the Werelupe was looking.

The Gelert looked in that direction and was silent for a moment. "Ah!" she said. "The Mayor's manor! That's right! He's hosting a very large Halloween party tonight! There will be plenty of people there, and plenty of candy to get as well!"

It seemed to be a winning idea to most of them. The Werelupe was going to where he had tracked the scent that had his attention, Marsa figured that she could get a few moments alone with the Werelupe and try to sweet-talk her way into getting his claw, Emma noticed that Marsa seemed to think that it was a good plan judging by the look on her face and therefore would be good for her, and Martha had a large place to take this group next for trick-or-treating.

Vaughn still wanted to go home, though.

"Great!" Emma said excitedly. "Let's go then!"

The group started to make their way towards the Mayor's manor, the sounds of the Halloween party reaching their ears as each of them continued plotting out the next step in their individual plans...

Intending to continue to keep her ruse, Marsa gritted her teeth and smiled. "That's a great idea, Ms. Martha. Hey," she called to the others. "Who wants to sing?" She nearly grinned at the groan from the group, but was saved by Ms. Marsa's exclamation of joy at her own idea.

"What a thought!" She bounced a little, beginning a peppy show tune from her memory.

While they all cringed at the jagged notes coming from Ms. Martha, Emma decided to make her introduction to the Lupe.

She drifted to the back of the group, far from the singing Gelert. "Hi, Mr. Lupe! What are you doing back here? You should be having fun with the rest of us!"

The Lupe looked at her as though she were crazy, but before she could weed out an answer from him, they bumped into the stopped group ahead.

Emma tried to look over the others. "Hey! What's going on? Let me see!"

They had all stopped because of the dark, eerie sight before them. Even Ms. Martha seemed a bit startled by the view of the Mayor's house. Mist covered cob-webs hung on the walls, actual spiders crawling all over, blinking at them with their trillions of eyes. Mist from an unseen site crept along the ground, swirling around their ankles and the base of the house, sending chills up their spines. Pumpkins carved into various wailing faces were stuck on pikes throughout the yard, and the sound effects playing just audibly from under the music made goose-bumps form on their flesh.

"It looks like the Haunted Woods..." Ms. Martha whispered next to Vaughn...

"Boy, you sure do play your part well," the Shoyru commented. She tried to say it in a casual tone, but her voice wavered a little, as she could sense the dark presence lurking within the mayor's house. She looked over at the Kacheek and saw the worried look on her face as well, and knew that the mayor had not intended for his house to look like that.

Ms. Martha turned to the group. "Well, Mr. Gene sure knows how to decorate his house, huh?" she asked, completely oblivious to the fact that the "decorations" were not the works of the mayor. Ms. Martha walked toward the house and Vaughn followed closely, along with the rest of the group. When they neared the front door, Marsa piped up, "I think Emma and I should go first!"

"How rude! We will all get candy; there's no need to fight over who gets to go first..." Ms. Martha scolded.

"N-No, I meant, because Emma and I worked with the mayor before, to help him... help him plan this party! Therefore, we'd like to go first and be able to congratulate him before we start trick-or-treating." Marsa was a terrible liar.

Luckily, Ms. Martha couldn't tell. "Oh! Well, why didn't you just say so? Go right ahead, girls!" she chimed.

Marsa approached the front door with Emma. "I know who you are," Marsa whispered.

"I know who you are, too," came the reply.

"Look, at a time like this, there's no need to fight over the Lupe's claw -- there's a danger in the house, and I'm sure you know that. I heard the Lupe growl, and I felt the power coming from that house like a slap in the face. We'll fight over the claw after, but right now, we've got to keep everyone safe!" Marsa whispered urgently.

Emma stood in the front of the door and pondered for a few seconds. "Agreed," she said simply.

Marsa took a step forward and opened the door, revealing a foggy interior and a dark shadowy figure in the middle of the room. She heard groans coming from... the ceiling? She looked up and saw Mr. Gene! He was wrapped up in a spider cocoon, along with his daughter and half of the town's residents!

The shadowy figure moved slowly and turned around to face the two witches. As he opened his mouth, a booming voice flooded the entire room:

"Well, well, well. You two have finally arrived. I thought you girls weren't coming..."

"As if we would miss the party," Emma said slyly.

"How do you like my new houssse?" the Spider Grundo asked coldly. "I think it'sss fitting. A few more cobwebsss here and there and everyone will sssoon have a permanent invitation."

"Let them go!" Marsa yelled.

"But why?" the Spider Grundo retorted. "Here I am, trying to make a lovely home for myssself, when sssuddenly all thessse noisssy kidsss come running in trying to ruin it all." The Spider Grundo shot a large spindle of web at Marsa, but she expertly drew her wand and repelled the attack.

"Looks like they teach you something at that school of yours after all," Emma snickered.

"Now's not the time!" Marsa replied. "Look out!"

The Spider Grundo had shot a web large enough to entangle both of them, and it was falling right at them at an alarming rate. Suddenly, the doors behind them burst open and the Werelupe jumped in, grabbing the two little witches in the process.

"Oh, Mr. Werelupe," Marsa started to say childishly. "Thank you! If you hadn't come..."

"Save it, little witch," the Werelupe snarled. "I could hear everything from outside." He focused his attention on the Spider Grundo. "You! Change me back from this hideous form!"

"The ssspell I used to change you wasss one time ussse only, hee hee hee. It'sss not like you'll make it out of here alive, anyway!"

The Spider Grundo shot another huge web at the trio, but the Werelupe grabbed the witches and avoided it once more.

Emma chimed in, "W-We could probably change you back."

"Really?!" the Werelupe asked.

"Yeah," Marsa replied, "But you have to help us first! In case you haven't noticed, we have a bit of a situation here."

The Werelupe scowled a little at Marsa's sarcasm. He almost missed her childish demeanor. "How are we going to defeat this guy?" he asked.

"I think I know just the thing," Emma replied...

She passed the bottle over to him and he looked at it curiously. He then pulled the cork from the bottle and tipped it down his throat. It tasted like melted caramel. His throat then began to burn like it was on fire.

"Water!" he croaked while looking around widly.

"No!" Emma cried. "It'll be over In a few seconds!"

The Spider Grundo shrieked in fury as he realised that the potion was working, and in a flash of blinding light, before anyone could do anything, the Werelupe had been transformed into a far more fearsome version of himself. Marsa gasped and Emma grinned, but The Spider Grundo charged at the hulking Werelupe... only to be knocked to the ground by the fearsome Werelupe.

Before the Werelupe could rush in to finish off The Spider Grundo, the creature swiftly beat a hasty retreat, bolting from the mayor's house and into the darkness. Although they desperately raced to try and catch him, their search proved fruitless. "Well, we may as well head home," Marsa said.

"But, what about--" Emma began.

"Forget about it, The Spider Grundo's long gone..." Marsa conceded. "We'll just have to try to find him some other day..."

Apparently they hadn't search hard enough, for, crouching in some bushes behind the mayor's house, The Spider Grundo now watched them as he plotted his revenge...

"Alright," the Werelupe bellowed. "You said you could change me back, so what do you need me to do?"

"Well," Marsa said, "I need one of your claws, given willingly, before the night is over. It's for a potion I need back at my school. I have to have that before we can change you back."

"And you?" the Werelupe said, looking towards Emma.

"My business is with Marsa after she completes the potion." Emma responded.

"So, you're sure that you can change me back?" the Werelupe growled. "Even after you changed me into this?"

Marsa was silent for a moment. She knew the potion that could cure regular Werelupes, but after giving him the growth and size serum, she wasn't sure if the old formula would still be capable of working.

"Positive," she lied. "I'll just need some time to get everything ready. First, though, I need the claw."

The hulking Werelupe gave the two witches a light glare, figuring that they weren't being completely honest with him. However, at the moment, he didn't have much of a choice.

The Werelupe brought his right paw up to his mouth and bit off a piece of the claw on his hand. Much to his surprise, the claw almost immediately grew back.

"Here," he said, handing the piece of his claw to Marsa.

Before the Kacheek witch could take it, a sudden shot of webbing fired out from the bushes and wrapped around the claw. Before any of them could react, the webbing retracted and the claw was brought into the grasp of The Spider Grundo!

"Lookssss like I win!" he taunted them. "No claw, no potion, no cure!"

The Werelupe growled loudly and charged toward The Spider Grundo, but didn't see that the creature had set a trap for him. His foot was suddenly entangled by a strong piece of webbing that soon wrapped around his legs, causing the hulking Werelupe to crash to the ground, the shockwaves and vibrations knocking the two witches off of their feet.

Seizing the opportunity, The Spider Grundo shot more webbing at the prone witches, trapping them along with the Werelupe.

"That webbing is ssssstronger then ssssteel!" The Spider Grundo taunted. "There'ssss no way you'll be able to break free!"

The Spider Grundo's laugh started to echo throughout the night when, suddenly, it came to an abrupt stop.

The Spider Grundo looked pained for a moment before he fell forward, flat on his face. Standing behind him was Ms. Martha and Vaughn.

"That should take care of that..." she said, suddenly in a voice completely different than before.

Much to the two witches' surprise, Ms. Martha tugged on her face, revealing that she had been wearing a mask the entire time, and underneath that mask was...

"The Gelert Assassin?" Marsa and Emma both said in unison.

"That's right, it was me the whole time," he said. "Like I was telling my apprentice here, there really is nothing better than a good disguise."

"So, you were after The Spider Grundo the entire time?" the Werelupe growled out.

"The mayor hired me to just hurt him," The Gelert Assassin replied. "Apparently he had been harassing the townsfolk leaving the village, so he asked me to knock him out and put the fear of Fyora in his heart. You three did save me a lot of trouble by smoking him out of his hiding place, though."

The Gelert Assassin then grabbed The Spider Grundo by one of his twitching legs and started to drag him toward the edge of the city.

"Wait!" the Werelupe shouted out. "Do you know anything about how to cure my condition?"

"And will you cut us loose, at least?" Emma added.

"And give me the claw he was holding?" Marsa pleaded.

The Gelert Assassin stopped for a moment before turning back to the trapped figures. "Sorry," he said, "I do know that there is a cure for a regular Werelupe curse, but it looks like one of them convinced you to drink the Potion of Atlas. It might have given you size and strength, but now no cure will ever be able to return you to your former self."

"WHAT?!?" the Werelupe bellowed out, looking toward the two trapped witches. He started to struggle in his binds, the webbing becoming undone and ripping as he fought his way out.

"I'd use a teleport spell if I were you two," The Gelert Assassin said, mere seconds before the Werelupe broke free.

Marsa and Emma looked toward each other.

"Spirits of darkness, spirits of night, take me back to my school tonight!" they said in unison, vanishing from sight the second their spell was complete, just moments before the Werelupe had gotten to them.

The giant Werelupe growled in frustration as they vanished, turning back to The Gelert Assassin. He was also gone, though, and the Spider Grundo had disappeared with him.

Like before, he was alone... trapped in this form, not only by The Spider Grundo, but by those witches as well.

He growled in frustration. He would find them. All three of them.

His need for vengeance would never rest.

The End