Halloween 2019: Choose Your Spooky Outcome: Chapter 3
The choice seems almost too obvious, really. Questions about Halloween, posed to the woman who often appears to pal around with the very creatures of myth and history, this was going to be easiest contest you’ve all won since the leprechaun barbarians challenged Jim to go shot for shot and he responded by downing an entire bottle of rum.
“Victoria, you look spoiling to have to some fun. Let’s go kick some trivia ass.” No sooner are the words out of your mouth than Victoria is moving, more charging the front gates than approaching them. The rest of you scramble to keep up, save for Jim, who moves in alternating sprints and saunters, which still more or less works out to the same pace as everyone else.
The gate attendant barely gets a meek greeting out as Victoria strides past, the rest of you in tow. Thad pauses long enough to hand over several bills, whispering some sort of quick apology for the apparent rule breaking. It couldn’t have been all that believable, but your brother’s charms are in full effect, plus he’s paying the entry fee. In seconds the gate attendant is laughing and waving you along, paying no attention to Jim, who has elected to steal and inflatable cane from an unexpectedly dapper zombie display. At least he doesn’t try to strip the tux or top hat.
By the time the rest of you reach Victoria, she’s just finished scribbling her name onto a sign-up list. “Merlin, our round commences in only a few moments. The teams are limited to two, so I took the liberty of placing you and I upon it. Little should be required of you, however it will ease my mind to work with one who knows to stay out of the way. Your brother is too bold at times, and Jim is… really, do I need to finish that?”
Given that Jim is currently twirling an inflatable cane like he’s in the middle of a old-timey silent film, and doing a shockingly good job of it at that, no, Victoria doesn’t especially need to complete that statement.
“No objections here. I can do some recon and keep an eye on Jim while you two score us those Pristine Points.” Thad heads over to grab Jim, which is just when an attendant dressed like a happy harpy calls Victoria over.
She drags you along to the harpy as well, who leads you both around to a makeshift game show set. It’s not mind-blowingly good, nothing professional-grade, but you can see it was crafted with a lot of care. In a way, the scene sort of works, as you immediately get into the mindset of approaching competition. Your eyes sweep the area, taking note of the other pairs, already at their podiums.
At the far end are a father and daughter wearing matching dog and puppy costumes, whereas in the middle stand two guys dressed like they’re from a sci-fi show, just not one you happen to catch. No judgement, there are so many nowadays, in all the genres, eventually you have to pick and choose.
The last podium is empty, so you and Victoria take your spot behind it. Across from you, a large screen flares to life and two figures leap across it. One is wearing a lab coat, glasses, and giving off a mad scientist vibe, only with the “mad” part dialed down to a “mildly annoyed” level. The other is painted up green, wearing clothes mildly ripped along the edges, and a large pink bow around her neck.
The green one speaks first. “Hey there everyone! I’m Frankie!”
“And I’m Styne,” adds the scientist. “Welcome to Happy-Ween. All of the festive, without the fright. We’re so glad you decided to join us for a round of Halloween Trivia.”
“Now while Styne and I can’t be there in person, don’t worry, our helpers will make sure to tally points and input your answers. Every session uses random questions too, so don’t go thinking you’ll win just because you’ve played before. Styne here is too smart for you!”
Frankie bops Styne playfully on the screen, while Victoria looks like she’s going to be ill. Out in front of the TV, people in dark clothing wheel out a small pile of prizes. From your side, you here Victoria make a new sound, a sharp intake of air. She’s spotted something, and doesn’t make you waste the words to ask what.
“See the spider toy at the top of the pile?” You do, it’s orange and purple, pretty much as far from a spooky Halloween spider as one could expect. “There is a wisp of magic upon it. I have no idea what it does, so we must win it to find out.”
“By now you can all see the prize wagon,” Styne said, rubbing her head. “Winning team gets first pick, then second place, and finally third. On top of that, you’ll win ten Pristine Points for first place, six for second, and three for third. Everyone walks away with something, but the ones who do the best get top choice.”
Frankie zips around out in front in front of Styne, literal sparks on her heels… did they use a special effects budget on these videos? You can’t focus on it long, as Frankie now has a stack of cards raised. “With the preamble done, lets get the game underway! Remember to buzz in before answering, that way we know who got there first.”
There’s a blip in the video, the angle changes slightly. That does track, if the questions are really random, then they wouldn’t flow together seamlessly. Part of you wonders how true that was, though. Seems pretty complicated to setup, especially considering your homemade set. The words “Question 1” flash briefly on screen.
“Question: In ‘Little Hal the Pumkpin Pal’ where does Hal finally locate all of his friends?”
“What in the name of the unseen moon is ‘Little Hal’s Pumpkin Pal’, and what the living shit does it have to do with Halloween?” Oh boy, you’ve never seen a look entirely like that on Victoria’s face. Scooching slightly over to give her room, you choose your next words incredibly carefully.
“Children’s cartoon from way back when, they still play it every year,” you explain. While you’re doing that, the father-daughter team score the point by correctly answering that Little Hal finds his friends at the surprise party they threw his pumpkin. “I guess that sort of question does fit the tone here.”
Unfortunately, it’s not just that question. With every query posed, it becomes more and more evident that Victoria’s kind of knowledge isn’t at all what this game is centered around. You manage to pick up three points largely thanks to a huge amount of (supposedly) wasted hours on your couch, which has given you enough pop culture knowledge to stay in the fight, albeit barely. You only just remembered the secret name of the Ghostoween Kid before the sci-fi guys, that was down to the wire.
As the words “Final Question” flash on screen, you’re tied up with the other two teams, everyone holding at three points. This final one will be for the win, and from the way the kid keeps pointing to the spider, that might be pretty relevant if you want to claim the prize.
Styne twirls into frame, her own stack of cards in hand, and looks one over. “What is a mummy’s favorite dance?”
Victoria turns to you, seething and helpless at the same time. She’s not going to be able to offer any insight on this, but meanwhile you see both of the other teams’ faces lighting up in recognition. Is this some kind of pun? Could be something like “the twirl”, that fits the goofy theming here. A joke, maybe “slow dance” given their famously glacial pace? Tossing caution to the win, you slam the buzzer down. If you don’t get the chance to answer, it won’t matter what the answer turns out to be. Unfortunately, as the helpers put a light on you, nothing jumps instantly to mind. You could try to wing it, but then again, when wings fail people fall. Sometimes, even to their doom.
All eyes on you, time to answer.