Archive of Our Own ^beta

Bruno was in his vision cave with well over a dozen kids. They were helping to put the finishing touches on the Haunted Tour in his room. There were webs full of spiders and black rats all over the room. Not to mention the newly added statues that like to get a little grabby. The maze of tunnels in his room makes for a great haunted maze filled with spooks. Not to mention the temple itself which might as well be a haunted house in its own right from all that he put into it. That was just to name a few of the surprises that he placed all over his room.

"What are you gonna be for Halloween?" María asked Juancho.

"I wanna be Tío Bruno... Only scarier!" He grinned.

Bruno barely kept the ladder from wobbling thanks to his Gift enhancing his reflexes.

"Me?" 

"Awww!" Pablo whined, "No fair! I wanna be Tío Bruno!"

"You look too different to even dress like him!" Juancho argued.

"Hmm, not necessarily true." Bruno smiled.

"Huh?" 

"In fact, you can all be me if you want."

"Really?" Cecilia grinned.

"How?" Alejandra asked.

Bruno slid down the ladder and gestured to his Alchemist's Retreat with a nearly frictionless flourish.

"Step into my little retreat and you will see for yourselves."

The kids follow him into the room and what happened next led to a domino effect of epic proportions and a truly unforgettable night for many of the villagers.

Halloween was in full swing with many attractions, decorations, and costumed kids. There was the smell of sweets and pumpkins in the air. The laughter of children running around in search of sweet treats and dastardly tricks. Fortunately, there were plenty of both in spades. Little did the villagers realize that they were not exempt from being tricked themselves. 

There was a knock on Pez's door and a child singing Triqui Triqui Halloween. She grabbed her bowl of candy and opened her door to give them out. Only to nearly drop her bowl in shock at what she saw. 

It was Bruno!

But he was... Different.

He was far too pale, his ruana was ragged, eyes glowing a sickly green, and... Are those claws?!

"Did I scare you?" he giggled in... A little girl's voice?

Pez stared at the... Whatever it was in silence. All she could do was give out two pieces of chocolate and watch the apparition happily skip away. She had to sit down and collect herself after seeing that. 

She looked at her fish tank as she tried to get a grip.

"Was that really Bruno... Or was it?" Pez asked her fish and was only rewarded with silence, "Maybe it was Camilo pulling a prank... Or... Maybe it was a kid with a really good costume... Or—"

She yelped as her door was knocked on followed by a chorus of children singing. The fish lady took a deep breath, grabbed her candy, and opened her door with a smile that quickly gave way to a near shout. There were half a dozen Brunos in front of her. All of them looked exactly like the one she just saw. From the sickly pallor right down to the eerie green glow.

But... She must be seeing things.

She never saw Camilo split into more people.

She never saw Bruno do that either.

Are there seriously that many children who bear a striking resemblance to Bruno?!

What is going on here?!

That question was on the minds of many people giving out treats for kids only to open their doors to a bunch of Brunos singing for treats in children's voices.

There was only one answer to that question.

The answer was busy playfully chasing teenagers with his scythe and yelling in a creepy voice about how he was gonna curse them.