A/N Happy Halloween!

Huh? No, I'm not late, shut up!🤗

"Jack!" Mark ran into the living room, hollering over the noisy tv. "Jack!" He yelled again. The mound under a sea of blankets on the couch shifted, and Jack pulled the blanket off his head.

"Mark?" He muted the tv as Mark ran up to the couch. "What's wrong? Is it too cold for you today? I thought it was only-"

"No." Mark sounded excited. "Jack, do you know what today is?" Jack yawned.

"No?" He sounded puzzled. "I thought today was just a regular old Tuesday."

"No!" Mark waved his arms. "It's Halloween!"

"Hallo... ween?" Jack frowned. "What's Halloween?" Mark's jaw dropped.

"You don't know what Halloween is!?" He started to climb up the blankets, but Jack reached down and helped him up onto the couch.

"No?" Mark gasped and turned around in Jack's hands.

"Why are we friends?" Jack chuckled and set the small engineer on his thigh.

"Because the gravity of your ego was so heavy that you got pulled onto my planet." He gave Mark a gentle poke, making Mark yelp and smack his hand. "Go on, tell me!" Jack urged. "What's Halloween?" Mark huffed and turned to face Jack again.

"Well, on my world, kids used to go from door to door saying trick or treat. And they'd get candy. People would scare each other and play pranks or jokes, the houses would be decorated with cobwebs and skeletons..." Mark sighed. "But that was before pollution got bad. Now we haven't had Halloween for over a hundred years."

"... Candy, you said?" Jack hummed thoughtfully. "Lots of it?" Mark nodded. "Alright." Jack scooped Mark up and got off the couch. "Come on then." Mark started.

"What? Where are we going?" He gripped Jack's fingers as the giant spun around and grabbed his jacket.

"The store! We're going to get you yer candy." Jack put his jacket on and helped Mark into its chest pocket.

"Oh, J-Jack," Mark stammered, "You don't have to-"

"Yep, now shut yer trap."

"But Jack-"

"No buts!"

"Jack I'm serious, you don't have to-"

"Nope!"

"Jack!"

"La da da da da dah!!!" Mark sighed.

"Fine you big baby." Felix walked in to the living room, stretching with his arms high over his head as he yawned languidly.

"Where you off to?" He asked sleepily.

"Out." Jack grabbed his keys and stuck his wallet in his pocket. "We're going to get Mark candy for Halloween."

"Oh..." Felix frowned, puzzled. "Ok." Jack grabbed his hoverboard and then left the house. He tossed the board and then stepped onto it, giving the ground a kick to start the board up. Mark pushed the flap up and peeked out of his pocket.

"Traveling in style now?" Mark mused playfully. Jack scowled at his chest.

"You betchya!" He suddenly stopped the hoverboard and froze. Mark swayed from the inertia and almost fell out of his pocket.

"Jack?" Mark recovered himself and looked up at the giant. "Jack!" He yelled. Jack blinked and smiled to himself; it was a quick, ghost of a smile, and gone in the blink of an eye, but Mark saw it nevertheless.

"Plan B!" Mark uttered noises of his confusion as Jack pulled him out of his pocket and ran back into the house. Felix was pouring himself a cup of coffee when Jack ran into the kitchen and placed Mark on the table. Mark tried to stutter a question, but Jack was already hurrying to the door.

"J-Jack- what-"

"I'm gonna buy you a Halloween present! Be back in a bit!" Then just after he closed the door, Jack opened it again and yelled, "Felix, don't fuck him while I'm gone!"

"You're just a jealous little potato," Felix mumbled as Jack slammed the door and left. Mark stared at the door.

"... What was that about?" He slowly asked. Felix yawned and took his coffee to the living room.

"No idea." He turned on the tv and took a sip. Mark sat on the table and sighed. He wondered what Jack was up to when Felix's phone suddenly rang a few minutes later. Felix groaned and answered it.

"Did you forget your puny ego and lose it again?" Felix's eyes widened. He sat up. "Oh?" Mark head tilted curiously. He watched as Felix got up and left the room. Mark sighed. Business call, maybe. He looked at the tv and used his grappling gun to get down. It took him a few minutes, but he managed to finally climb onto the couch and watch the show. He heard Felix laugh in the other room and smiled, changing his guess. I bet it's Marzia.

"Ok, yeah, that sounds good." Felix walked back into the room. "Yeah, alright," he laughed. "Love you too, weirdo. Bye." He minimized his phone and sighed, sitting down and making Mark almost fall over from his weight against the sagging cushions.

"Hey! Watch it!" Mark yelped.

"Oh, sorry Mark." Felix righted Mark and saved his balance. "I didn't see you there." Mark held on to Felix's thumb and sighed.

"It's fine." They watched the tv in an awkward lapse of silence. It'd been a while since Mark had been alone with Felix. Mark was so used to always having Jack hovering around, he wasn't sure what to say to Felix.

"... You wanna play a game?" Felix suddenly asked half an hour later. Mark grinned.

"Sure."

Mark laughed as Felix shouted in a different language and threw his controller. "No!" Felix yelled, "I had him! I fucking had him!" Mark rolled over on his back and gripped his stomach.

"I tried to tell you! I thought you were good at this game!"

"I SAID I LIKED THIS GAME, I USED TO!" Mark covered his ears and kept laughing as Felix raged. "But not anymore! Fuck it, it's fucking dead to me!"

"Jeez, you two!" Mark looked up to see Jack carrying a box and a bag of candies. "The neighbors are complaining," he sniggered, "Mister and Misses Trees are saying their some-odd thousand of kids are complaining about two very strange creatures in my home."

"Jack!" Mark cried gleefully. Jack smiled and looked at Felix.

"Did you try to teach him to play PUBG?" He nodded at the death screen.

"Tried to is the key term," Mark teased. Felix harumphed, and Jack laughed.

"Well, here." Jack set the candy down beside Mark and opened the box. "I got you this." Mark's eyes got wide when Jack showed him the surprise.

"Jack!" He was holding a VR game called Emily Wants to Play. "You got me a game!?" Jack chuckled.

"Course I did! For my little buddy."

"Aww, baby..." Felix teased. They giggled and Jack put his hand down for Mark to climb on.

"Come on, let's get it set up."

"Yes please!" Mark agreed. They went into Jack's recording room, and Mark watched from his desk as Jack pushed things around and got his studio set up for Mark to play in.

"I'll leave the candy in my room, for when you're done." Jack got up and wiped his hands together.

"Thanks Jack." Mark was looking at his tiny VR ear buds. He was still fascinated by this world's technology, yet it all remained a mystery to him.

"Well, have fun leaving reality," Jack chuckled and put the game in. "Go ahead, put them on." Mark put them in and waited for Jack to plug them in. He grinned as the game loaded, and then he suddenly tensed.

"Why are there child dolls?" He said in a small voice. Jack smirked.

"Because they're fucking terrifying." Mark nodded in agreement and yelped.

"That door just opened on its own! No, stay away creepy baby dolls!" Jack chuckled and went to the door.

"Have fun," he said in a singsong voice. Mark uttered a small grunt as Jack quietly shut the door. He listened at the door for a few seconds before a smirk grew over his lips. He chuckled to himself and headed to the living room, where Felix lay stretched out on the floor waiting with a crooked grin.

"That was very nice of you," Felix said. "Getting Mark that game." Jack chuckled.

"That's me, Mr. Nice." Felix sat up. "A VR game means Mark won't be aware of his surroundings," Jack continued. His eyebrows wagged as he smirked again. "You ready?" He giggled evilly.

Felix smirked back. "Let the plan begin!"

Mark hated dolls. He hated anything with a fake face or no face, but this game took the icing on the cake. He kept jumping and screaming at everything, even though it was all proportionate to him. Finally, when the main antagonist jumped at him and screamed in his face with its voiceless mouth and lifeless eyes, Mark screamed and turned the electronic visor off.

"Nope!" He panted in the sunset's light as he separated himself from the horror game. "No no no no no no no no no..." He sighed and smiled. "That was terrifying." He wiped the sweat off his brow and pulled his earbuds out. "Oh holy shit. That's some good spoops." He sighed and looked up at the window, peering at the golden rays. "Whoa, it's already almost dark." He turned and saw that the door was shut. Mark groaned.

"Jack?" He walked up to the door and tried to pull on it. "Jack, you nearby?" No answer. Mark sighed. "I don't want to crawl under it, not again," he muttered, but he went down on his stomach anyway and crawled under. The wood was claustrophobically low down, pressing on Mark's back and scraping him as he reached the other side. Mark pulled away as soon as he could and got up, still shaky from the game.

"Phew." Mark sighed and tugged on his shirt, smoothing out the wrinkles before he turned and walked down the hallway. "Jack?" He called again. The lights were off for some reason. The tv was off too, so Mark had to take out his flashlight to see where he was going. "Felix?" Maybe they had an errand to run and didn't want to bother me. Mark looked around for the light switch and saw it. He turned and pulled out his grappling gun, aimed, and fired. It took three tries before the hook latched onto the switch, and Mark climbed up to it. At the hook, he balanced on the rim of the panel, and with all his might he pulled the rope. The switch locked up and clicked, but the lights didn't come on.

"That's weird," Mark murmured. But then bright white light blasted in his eyes. He shielded his eyes as static shook the air, and he looked to see that the tv was on but not working. Mark was starting to get a chilly feeling. He slid down to the floor and drew his knife out for comfort, gripping the weapon as he slowly walked up to the tv. There was nothing but white and black grainy static, and then it suddenly turned off.

As Mark struggled to adjust to the darkness, the tv shot on again. Mark yelped and fell over on his butt as it began to rapidly switch channels, voices overlapping. It was really loud. Mark covered his ears and curled up, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. One voice seemed to laugh at him, quietly at first, but then it grew louder in volume and cackled.

"D̀id̶̀ yo͘̕u͟͡ m̢͡ìsş̸ m̧͡͞e?͞" Mark felt a shiver run down his spine. He shot up to his feet and looked around, wielding the knife.

"Wh-who are you!?" Mark shouted. That voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it...

The glitchy voice laughed again. "Ló̵ok a̶t͟ ỳ͡͠o̵̴͘u.̛ J̢u͡҉s̵̡t̕ s̵i͠t̨́t̀i̴nǵ ţh͡er͏e!̸" Mark's skin crawled as he turned around, but the voice sounded like it was all around him and digging into his skull. "N͝o͝͏҉t̛͘ ẁ̡o̷͡r͜͝҉r̵̀ie҉́d҉͡ a͜͢b̡͟o̡͘͝u̸͘t a̡͏n̶y͡t̶͟h̛i͘͡ń̵̵g," the voice giggled. Mark's hand shook, gripping the knife tighter. He didn't understand what or why, but he was terrified.

"Where-where are you?" His voice quivered in his throat. Just as he turned around again, a figure suddenly loomed out of the darkness. Mark blanched and almost dropped his knife. "Jack?" He whispered. The figure glitched, and the voice cackled at him.

"H҉̀e̶'̨s̢̧ g͞o͢n҉̶̨e͏͞ f̧ǫ̷r̶̴e̢v̷͜͏è̀r̵͠.̵̨͝" Mark quivered and ran under the couch. The thing laughed again and crouched down, watching him. "Y̨͜͜o̴͘u̕ c͝a̧̡͢ń'̨t̶ h҉i͟d̴̵͟ę̴́" He whispered. "Y̕͢oư'̶̸r̴̢e͘͏ j̴҉u̶̧͠ś̶͟t̛͡ a̢̧ l͡it̸tl̕e̵͘͡ m̢͝o̕҉ųs҉e̷̶͢ ín͜ m̵ý̷͞ m̧͘͜a̢͠z̷̨͏e̸" He wet his lips with his tongue and suddenly snarled, "W̴͠he̷̷r͟e̛͞ d͟o͡ y̸͞o҉̵̵u̸ t͠h͟͜i̕nk ye̶̸͡r̀ go̧̢i͏͜n͜g̡̢?̷͘ G̡͘ȩ̀͘t̨̨͘ b̕ac̨̀͘k̨͠͝ ḩ͝e̴̸͢r̷̛̛e̕!͢" Mark had run out on the other side of the couch and was sprinting for Jack's recording room. The giant growled and walked after him. Mark's mind was blank with pure fear as he pushed harder, adrenaline coursing through his body. The giant's footsteps thudded and boomed against the ground, shaking Mark's world until a foot suddenly slammed in his path. Mark careened into the shoe and bounced back, and he found himself on his back as he shook away the daze and stared at the monster.

"Jack!?" Mark cried. The being giggled and crouched down over him. His eyes glowed an electric green in the darkness, but Mark couldn't make out much else.

" I̴̶'̧̛m̷ no̡t͘͡ J͜a̵̡̡c̵̡͝k̸̨͠.̢" His hand reached down to Mark and covered him. Mark screamed as he was snatched up in a fist, and he tried to fight back with all his might.

"Let me go!" Mark yelled. Anti-Jack held Mark up to his eye level and grinned. He had an insane look in his eyes, Mark realized, and that made him even more scared.

"P̕̕oo̧͘͝r̴̢ th̸i҉n͜҉g̶͞͞," the demon snarked, "Yo̸͢͝u҉'̶̧re̵͟͝ s̵̨o̧͟͡ s͜m̷̕a̸̷l̴͜l̴̀,͘ s҉̸o͡ s̛qu̶͟e͠e̡z͜a̧̡b̴̢le̶." A cry escaped Mark's lips as the cold fingers around him tightened. "Śo b͜r͟͟҉e҉a͜͢͠k͏̷͜a͝b̸̶le," the being laughed. Mark tried to push away, but all he could do was wiggle like a fish caught in a net. Anti-Jack laughed. "I͏̛͠'́̕m̴̵ t͠͝h͟͏͜e̷͡ c̴òm̀͝p҉lȩ̸te̡ o͏̸̛p͝p͘o̢s̕͞i̸̧͟t͜͝ȩ̷ o҉f̛ J͡͝ą͏ck͡," he said. "Ş͜͞o̶͠ y̛o͟͝u͢ c͏͠a͏n ça̧͏l͟͏l͘ m̶͞ȩ̶͝...̢͘ Ą̶͜n͏̴t͘I." Mark felt a chill shoot down his spine.

"A-Anti?" Suddenly Mark felt smaller than ever. In the hands of what seemed like a cold-blooded demonic killer, Mark had never felt more helpless. "P-Please..." He closed his eyes, and a tear trickled down his long cheek. Anti frowned.

"C͝͏o̧m̵e̡͟ on̸̕ M̸̢ar͡k͘̕͝,̧ do̸͞҉n̸̨'͢t̨͏ ć͠r̢̢͡y̵͟." Mark shuddered as the giant mussed his hair. "C̵o̢͜m҉͏e̢ ơ̕͏n͡ Ma̴̢͘r̴̢͟k̡͘͝,̶ i͝t͟'͠s͜ o͡͡k͢͡!" He opened his eyes.

"H-how... how do you know my name?" Anti grinned, and the lights suddenly came back on. The glitchy effect disappeared, and Mark stared with his jaw hanging.

"I̶̕ g̨̧o̵t y͜͏ó͢u go̴͟͡od̛̛, didn't I?" Jack peeled something small and metal off his neck, and his voice returned to normal. Mark struggled for his words as Jack reached up and took out contacts, and his eyes were crystal blue once more.

"What... how?" Mark stammered. "Huh!?" Jack smirked.

"You can come out now, Felix! We got him." Felix came out with a grin plastered over his face, and the tv remote in his hands. Mark was flabbergasted.

"B-but the-the glitching, the-the demon-"

"It was just a prank, bro." Felix laughed. "Happy Halloween!"

Mark just stared at them.

"It was my idea." Jack puffed his chest out proudly. "You said people scare each other and play pranks on Halloween, so there ya go!"

Mark blinked, and Felix frowned.

"I think you scared him," he suggested.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous! He- OW!" Mark had suddenly grabbed Jack's finger and bit him. Jack flailed his hand away from Mark as Felix burst out laughing.

"That's what you get for giving me a fucking heart attack!" Mark yelled. Jack laughed.

"Happy Halloween! Did I scare ya?" Mark harumphed and turned his back, crossing his arms.

"How dare you! I don't scare that easily." Jack sniggered.

"Ye sure about that?" Mark held up both of his middle fingers above his head and didn't turn around. "Ok, ok," Jack laughed and mussed Mark's hair. Mark jerked his head and growled. "You love me," Jack teased. Mark glared up at the giant, but he couldn't suppress a grin.

"You just wait. I'll get you back." He waved his finger at Jack. "You better sleep with one eye open mister, because I'll strike when you least expect it!" Jack grinned.

"Sure. As soon as you stop taking entire minutes to run across the fucking floor."