"I'm telling you, as your bodyguard, I think this is an absolutely terrible idea."
"I mean it, Nat. See these monitors? On any given one at any given time is someone who -Wants. To. Kill. You.-"
"If you -must- have this soiree, I insist you use a body double."
"I understand that being cooped up underground can drive a person mad, but you simply -must- listen to reason!"

And yet, Nat did not listen to reason. And as her subordinate, all Leo could do was grin and bear it. As they took the elevator to the mall where the Masquerade Ball was to be held, his eyes wandered about her figure. He had to admit, as terrible of an idea as this was, he likely wouldn't have had another opportunity to see her dolled up like this. She looked good. 'Fit', to use the vernacular. And he hadn't seen her this happy in a good, long time. And her expression wasn't the cheeky smile that she usually flashed at him when she was being scolded by him, but a true, genuine smile.

As the door opened and Nat made her way into the crowd, Leo remarked, "Glad you're happy." Although he meant it sincerely, his tone suggested that he still didn't think this was a good idea. And that's why the pistol that was in his holster was no mere prop.

---

Amira scowled at her coworker. The girl under her gaze shifted her eyes nervously left and right, quite unsure of what to do. In fact, Amira wasn't quite sure what to do; she wasn't supposed to be working today, and in fact, the girl hadn't actually done anything wrong.

It was her costume. The girl was dressed a Victorian waitress, as were most of the catering staff, whereas Amira was dressed as the "Lady of the Lake" of Arthurian legend. For a brief moment, Amira considered trading costumes with the girl, they were roughly the same size, and if the girl refused, she could simply knock her out and take her costume.

But...she was under orders. The day before, Amira had received a package with the dreaded costume inside, along with a note from Natalia herself. The Headmistress expected her to wear this costume. 'You'll look so cute!' the letter said.

Amira let out a low growl of frustration and sent the waitress away, while swiping a glass of red wine from the tray the girl had been carrying. After taking a sip, she glanced down at her dress, which she had to admit, did make her look sort of cute...she supposed...

---

Toby was at first reluctant to enter the mall again after what happened roughly a week ago...two weeks ago? He couldn't even remember how long it had been since that girl, Lyra, caused him to lose control. But word had gotten to him that Artemis would be there. He hadn't had any meaningful contact with her since she went unconscious, and he meant to remedy that now. He adjusted the surgical mask that he wore, then he opened the lab coat he was wearing as he took in the sights of the ball. Man, Miss Dawson went balls-to-the-wall with this place. Where's she get the money for all of it?

Lyra hadn't changed out of her pajamas in days.

She laid on her couch in the darkness, staring at her TV, as usual. She would watch a few minutes of a soap opera before changing the channel to some cartoon, and then a news report, yet despite all the programs she stopped on, nothing could hold her interest.

Eventually, darkened the room with a flick of the remote and curled up into a ball. There was some stupid party at the mall tonight. People would be talking and dancing and doing all the other things people did when they were pretending they liked each other. Lyra didn't need any of it. The last thing she wanted to do was spend time surrounded by strangers, some of whom probably still wanted her dead. She would be just fine in her apartment. There was another microwavable pizza in the freezer; she had learned how to cook using the device shortly after the incident. Making food wasn't even hard. What had her family been paying all those servants for?

Lyra reached toward the coffee table and picked up the plastic cup containing her grape soda. Gone... the teapot and the cup that went with it had been shattered. Nothing was left of her old life now - not that it had been very good, anyway. She had been locked away, alone - just as she was now. It was better that way - people were just too cruel.

As she took a sip of her soda while positioned sideways, a drop of the liquid splashed onto the surface of her white couch. Whatever; it didn't matter how that looked anyway. No one else was going to see it.

With a sigh, Lyra pushed herself to her feet. It was looking to be another boring night...

There was a quick knock on Lyra's door, a knock that suggested either urgency or annoyance. With Aaron on the other side, pounding on it with his fist, it was most likely the latter. "Lyra! Open the damn door, I'm dragging you to that ball tonight, whether you like it or not! You need to get outside for once!" He was gonna give her a minute, then he was gonna short circuit the magnetic lock on the door.

That minute passed quickly, then he simply pressed his hand to the lock and set to work. "Let's see here, just gotta reverse the polarity of one of the magnets..." In a moment, the door swung outward with a click, and in walked the spark plug, dressed in a sharp, light brown and pinstriped suit, snow white undershirt, a black tie... and a clown mask hanging from his hip for the moment, painted neatly with an American flag decorating the facade.

"No one cares about the mall, anymore! Now get outside and be soc-" He shut his mouth as he saw the scene in front of him, appalled by the mess. He had lived in a literal dump during his childhood, and now kept his living quarters in pristine shape, not wanting to fall into old habits. "Jesus Christ, Lyra..."

---

Zinnia came to the mall's main entrance, standing in the heavy robes and metal mask of a Janissary, the only hints as to who she was being the katar hanging from her belt and the bust that gave her away as a woman. A true disguise if one ever existed, really.

The only problem was that she had no idea what the woman looked like, much less what her costume was. Well, there was another problem, as she had just glanced down at her watch. "Iron's running late, fantastic... hope nothing happened to him." She nodded to a passing couple walking into the large building, then leaned on the wall, arms crossed. "I did tell him what I'm dressed as... I did, didn't I?" She shook her head, erasing the doubt from that thought.

If there was one thing Jack enjoyed about Halloween it had to be the change in atmosphere with everyone being happier and it made him get into the same mood. However, getting a costume together had never been on of his skills so he was quite surprised when an idea actually came to him, one that had made him laugh dismissing it at first but then deciding to actually give it a shot. For him it was a joke in disguise but he figured it would work for a bash as big as this one was guaranteed to be but it would be a fun thing take part in instead of choosing something less involved or simple for once. Though he had to call in a favor or two so the costume would actually come out looking good but it ended up looking pretty damn good.

Jack was making an appearance in the dining room, a crown on top of his pumpkin mask with green backlighting in the eyes and mouth donning a orange overcoat lined with black fur hanging off his shoulders with a violet covering over the front of his black undershirt and pants. He had included a gold colored skull pendant and cane with a lit up orb of the same color as the rest of the lighting as well as two small pairs of bats wings off the sides of his coat to add to the image, because tonight he was the Pumpkin King and sure a hell felt like he looked the part. It was hard to see him from behind the lighting along with the shadows from them and his voice was a bit distorted from the large spacious mask, which honestly was more like an oversized helmet, but he no complaints going on to talk as he moved around the crowd. The man found it funny to be dressed up like he was because it was unlike him but it would make it all the better of a surprise when someone realized it was Jack behind it and he would have a laugh or two if someone did while he made his rounds cane in hand.

Natalia took Leo's hand as she stepped into the crowded mall, her beautiful green eyes sparkling in the illuminating glow of the candle lit chandeliers as she pulled Leo through the crowd like a school girl running with her crush. She felt like a child at this point, knowing fully well she had no time to be a child so tonight was a dream come true.

Her beautiful ebony, snow white, and blood red scaled dragon dress with realistic looking wings flew behind her with an elegant air, her ruby red lips breaking into a wide smile as she dragged Leo to the entrance to the 1st floor, her eyes shining as she eyed the spookily lit descent into the first part of the haunted house, the black hole where everything was lit with black lights so it made the ghosts appearance be even more frightening when they seemed to jump out from nowhere since the black lights weren't turned on to full compacity so it was still quite dark.

She turned to Leo and smiled her sweetest smile, batting her eyelashes innocently as she looked into his sky blue eyes. "Leo.... Since we're already here and there's no point and going back to the bunker, can we please go into the haunted house? Please?" Natalia practically pleaded at that point as she wanted to spend time with Leo outside of her "underground labyrinth", plus the night was so young and she was determined to have a great Halloween for once in her life, even if it killed her.

---

Artemis stepped into the mall and took a deep breath, having been nervous after she heard that Toby was planning to come to the ball because she herself would be there. She could feel quite a few pair of eyes on her, and she didn't blame them since the dress was so tight around her waist, bust, and bottom. She quickly looked around, but did a double take as she saw someone with the same exact costume as she herself had on, though the thing that was much different was that the other young woman's bust was clearly far superior to Artemis' in every way.

The mall was huge though, so she doubted that any problem would occur within the mall tonight which was good considering what happened to her just a few short weeks ago. Five days she was in a comma, she still couldn't believe that fact for herself. But yet Persephone, the person she trusted most, had been by her side for five days straight without resting and looked like it too once Artemis had finally woken up. Artemis found out that ass hat Zaniel had been bringing Persephone coffee and food when she needed it along with keeping her company, and even though she didn't like Zaniel she couldn't help but know that her sister was happy to have him by her side in her emotional time of need.

Artemis still didn't like him, especially since he was hurting Persephone by seeing Jasmina, but she knew her sister well enough to know that Persephone was madly in love with him even if the stupid son of a wench couldn't see that. Artemis also knew that Persephone wouldn't stop loving him even if she did find someone else. Zaniel was her first real crush, and no matter how Artemis spun it inside her head, she knew that it was the most important especially to her sister.

She sighed softly, looking around for her sister who was supposedly meeting Kenny here in order to take her mind off Zaniel, knowing she had a crush on Kenny but a humongous portion of her heart belonged to Zaniel so Kenny wouldn't be able to steal her away that easily. Artemis walked over and got herself a crystal wine glass of lemon lime punch and sipped it on the sidelines, hoping to spot Toby soon so she wouldn't feel so awkward since she was all alone, her dragon wings gently flapping since she had ditched the fake ones and created them in real life sprouting from her back just between her shoulder blades.

---

Persephone was grabbing a few drinks in order to calm her nerves before she went down to see Kenny, remembering what happened the other day with Emmett and Zaniel's suspicious behavior, though at least Emmett had the decency to explain himself to Persephone.

Persephone went over to the white picket fence where she had been called over by Emmett, surprised to have a visit from him since they never really talked much anymore due to their jobs being so different and never having time to since Persephone still had Bar duty ever since she stopped using her powers to speed up the growing process of the food. "What can I help you with Em?" Persephone asked cheerily, realizing that Zaniel had already gone off to find Jasmina for whatever they did for 3 whole hours each day.

The corners of her smile twitched as she could only imagine what he was going to that well endowed woman for, hating on herself for not being able to fill out her clothes like Jasmina did. But even though her smile wavered Persephone never let on to how she was feeling, and Emmett's smile helped to take her mind off of Zaniel, at least for now. "Persephone, I have a favor to ask.... And it may seem a bit strange." Emmett said as he scratched the back of his head as a few beads of sweat ran down from his forehead down to his cheek, Persephone knowing that he was nervous just by looking at him. "I'm listening Em, lay it on me!" Persephone said in a carefree tone, easing Emmett's nerves a bit as he slowly looked into her eyes.

"I need a special flower Persephone, only one that you can create. I know its a lot to ask, but I need a dissolvable flower that makes the user tell the giver the truth about anything the ask, even about their deepest desires. I wouldn't ask you for such a thing, but I'm kinda running out of options." Emmett said, Persephone just looking at him in utter disbelief. Why would Emmett of all people ask her for something like that? "Who would you use it for?" She asked after a while of thought, Emmett looking away with a slight blush on his face. "J-Jasmina.... I keep getting mixed messages and I just can't ask her directly or else I may screw everything up." Persephone was even more shocked by hearing that, unsure if she should tell him about Zaniel and Jasmina.

"A-Alright Emmett, I'll do it, but Zaniel has been leaving to see Jasmina and I don't know why.... I think they could be an item." Persephone said sadly, Emmett chuckling made her grow angry. "What's so funny?!" She growled, Emmett just smiling at her before he felt like he could answer her without laughing. "Persephone, Zaniel is going to Jasmina because-" Emmett stopped dead in his tracks as Zaniel came up behind Persephone and glared at Emmett, Emmett nervously laughing which told Persephone to turn around. "Zaniel? Aren't you going to see Jasmina?" Persephone asked curiously, Zaniel still glaring at Emmett who swallowed nervously.

"She had something to do, and so do we Emmett, so please excuse us." Zaniel said calmly, Emmett nodding and looking at Persephone. "I'll be back tomorrow about 6 hours before the ball, so see you then!" Emmett said before rushing off, Zaniel looking about ready to kill Emmett which made her wonder what exactly Zaniel was keeping secret from her.

Persephone had given the flower to Emmett earlier before she and Artemis had helped each other get ready for the ball, wondering what Zaniel would think of her fairy of harvest/spring costume she had gotten along with the mask. She downed yet another glass of red wine and grimaced, hating the taste personally but she needed to get at least partially drunk before she could face either Kenny or Zaniel, especially Zaniel.

She glanced around quickly, hoping to see neither of the two around so she had time for a few more drinks, which would ultimately do the trick since she was somewhat of a light weight even though she didn't like to admit it.

---

Jasmina appeared in her Jasmine from Aladin cosplay which looked absolutely amazing since it was quite authentic and the mask accented her brown eyes perfectly. She glanced around to see if Emmett was around, hoping he wasn't as she didn't want to feel her heart beating as fast as it had the day where he caught her when she fell at the mall, remembering the heat that flooded her cheeks and dreading feeling that way again. She had no intention of admitting her true feelings to anyone anytime soon, even if it was only to herself.

She sighed and spotted Artemis grabbing a glass of punch, smiling and heading over to her before grabbing a glass of punch herself. "So, who're you looking for? If I'm taking a guess I'd say Toby." Jasmina said, making Artemis blush before she nodded silently. Jasmina chuckled as she knew how fiery Artemis could get, and right now this embarrassment was a sight to behold. This was definitely going into her memory vault, as she wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to see this again.

She wondered if she was in too much of plain sight where she was, having a feeling she could be easily spotted by Emmett wherever be was at the moment. She decided to let come what may and let him take the wrath if he pissed her off, hoping that nothing would go wrong tonight and she could relax in peace and not have her heart explode if Emmett came around and saved her again from whatever it was she needed saving from tonight, if there was even anything that is, though she knew fully well she could take care of herself if need be. She couldn't rely on Emmett for everything, nobody could do that, so she'd always relied on herself to get her out of a tough spot so that's one reason she was how she was today. She was a free spirit, and nobody was going to hold her down, ever!

Jace pushed open the doors to mall as Gallus lighted down on his shoulder, and received many curious stares, despite the Halloween party going on. He was dressed up as the thing that made regular doctor's offices and needles look like a box of kittens. He was a plague doctor, complete with the mask, though heavily modified with brass and other steampunk elements. Terrifying, nonetheless. He had his heart set on one thing at the moment, however; curing the illness that's plagued him for far too long.

Instead of pushing his way through the crowd like an idiot to get to a punch bowl, he meandered, following the path of least resistance. With Gallus acting as a guide, it didn't take long to find who he was looking for. Artemis, and my, did she look amazing. He approached while looking around the room, humming quietly to himself and performing various quirky behaviors, such as fiddling with one of the syringes tied to his belt... and managing to prick himself with a needle. 'Smooth, Jace. A+, you're a real lady killer.' He rolled his eyes underneath the mask and approached his fellow red-head.

With his voice muffled by his bird mask, Jace spoke. "Oh, hey Artemis. Didn't think you'd, y'know... show up as a dragon?" The mimic tilted his head a little, the movement accented by the long beak protruding from his face. "Are those wings real?" He shuffled awkwardly and examined the scaly wings, ignoring the bust of the girl almost entirely. Her regular attire showed off more either way, but he at least tried to be a gentleman. It never hurt to try and treat a lady right.

A blush crept onto Leo's cheeks as Nat grabbed his hand and begun to pull him further into the mall. He managed to keep pace with her, but only barely. When they reached the entrance to the Haunted House, Nat practically begged him to go in. On one hand, she had a point: going through the haunted house would be more fun than spending the night in the bunker, but on the other hand, the haunted house was the perfect place for some malcontent to ge the jump on them and kill Natalia. He weighed his options. Nat had assured him, repeatedly, that no one would know that she would be here. To anyone else, they were just two lovebirds traipsing through the haunted house, but if word got out...

He tightened his grip on Nat's hand, and finally replied, "You know I can't say no. You'd have me fired for insubordination." He smirked cheekily. "I'll protect you from the spooks and ghosties."

Nevertheless, when they entered, he checked his pistol.

---

Toby glanced around, still looking for Artemis. First and foremost, he wanted to apologize for not having visited her in the infirmary. Whether or not she had been aware of his absence, he had no clue. He just knew that every time he wandered into the infirmary, he'd gotten glares from Jace and Persephone. He had always left without saying a word, just doing his level best to avoid a conflict.

Eventually, he found his crush standing near Miss Jasmina. He had to admit, if he'd been a little older, or just more rakish, he might have tried hitting on both of the women. But he wasn't like that...and he knew that Jasmina probably didn't like him...in any way, shape or form.

And then there was Jace. Toby wasn't sure what his and Gallus' issue was with him, but Toby wasn't interested in starting anything.

He stood in the middle of the floor and waved in their general direction, hoping to get Artemis' attention. He let out a short whistle, as he didn't want to shout her name.

Lyra froze when she heard someone banging on her door, yelling for her to open up. She was not going to let him in - she didn't even know who he was! Was he here to kill her?

Before she could work out his motives, the door clicked open and a boy she didn't know walked in, wearing a suit. And he dared to comment on the state of her room!

"Go away!" she yelled, taking a few steps back subconsciously. "It is not okay for you to break into a lady's room just to force her to be social! I don't want to go to your stupid party, and even if I did, I have nothing to wear - no costume! I don't even know who you are, so don't act like we're friends!"

She jumped as her back collided with the wall. Her fingers curled into tiny fists, but she was fully aware that she couldn't do much to defend herself... she was tiny, wearing only her pajamas, and her Insanity would be far too weak with only one person's Sorrow to feed off of. If he really wanted, this boy could force her to do whatever...

Lyra shook her head rapidly, dispelling the notion. She would fight to the death before allowing things to come to that! "Just. Leave!" she practically screamed, teeth bared.

Standing in front of the mirror in his room Iron struggled with his bow tie. Looking at the clock he sighed as he realized that continuing to struggle with the tie was only going to make him later. Throwing the bow tie onto his bed he grabbed the clip-on that he had been hoping to avoid using. Clipping it into place he had to admit that the outfit came together well, it was just something about the clip-on that annoyed him. Perhaps it was the fact that the real Tuxedo Mask would have never worn a clip-on, or maybe it was the who he was going on a date with.

The fact that Zinnia was royalty had been something that the Illinois native hadn't quite got passed. It was easy enough to treat her like any other person, albeit one he had a continually developing interest in but when he thought about her he always had the fact that she was royalty plaguing his mind. For Iron even meeting royalty was beyond any expectations he could ever have. In all honesty it was easier to accept the outbreak of superhuman abilities than that he was going to a ball with a princess. This myriad of thoughts crossed Iron's mind forcing him to realizing that he was still keeping Zinnia, a princess, waiting.

Opening the window to his room Iron leaned out, lowering his gravity as he did so. Taking a position similar to that which one might use to launch themselves of the wall of a pool Iron launched himself into the night kicking off the side of the building and in the direction of the mall. Rocketing through the air, and over the heads of those who's power did not provide such an awesome mode of movement Iron hummed the Tuxedo Mask theme, causing some heads to turn as he flew by. Nearing the doors he slowly increased his gravity until he was able to touch back down.

As he touched he noticed Zinnia a few paces away. Closing the distance he gave a partial bow, trying to remain in character "I apologize for keeping you waiting," Straightening back up he reveals a rose that had hidden in his sleeve, now clutched in his fingers, "For you, Zinnia."

The mall was almost magical, Monica had been in the mall a thousand times and she couldn't imagine it even as the mall the knew so well. It was like a whole new building. She smiled watching the people going into the people coming out of the haunted house and quickly decided against going inside. She really didn't like getting scared and headed towards the third floor instead of the dance floor as well. It was much less crowed and kind of quiet.

As she pasted by a few of the others her costume got a few looks and she noticed a few of the other girls that she passed had on dresses that were bright or short. Still she just continued to give akwkard smiles not realizing that people were looking at her because they liked her witches costume. The dress reached the floor even with the black knee high, high heel boots that she wore. It was pitch black and had a faded black lather corset which had one side that longer then the other. She wore her hair down, other then the usual braid on one side, and a black hat with black lace roses tied to the lace band of the hat, and a black lace mask.

Watching the people dance from the overlook of the third floor she sipped on a glass of white wine slowly. She really wasn't fond of the taste of wine compared to the harder drinks she got from the bar when she did drink, but still it was better than punch. Sighing she turned her back to people dancing and leaned lightly against the small metal pole that held the over look of the floor above her up and closed her eyes. She could help but wonder if the guy from the lounge, Azai was here or not.

---

Zaniel actually was smiling a little as he walked through the mall looking at all the others in their costumes, halloween had to be the one holiday that he really enjoyed. It was the one day of the year that people could be whatever they wanted to be, without be told they couldn't. When he was a kid he used to sneak out when his mother would finally pass out and go trick or treating, though it had actually took him until he was in school to realize that they were suppose to wear costumes. He frowned a little at the memory before shaking it from his head and moving off of the dance floor and up to the third floor to get something to drink and look for Persephone.

He knew that he was looking for somekind of fairy. Zaniel had asked what she was going to be yesterday so he could find her, before he went to Jasmina for their last lesson. Though he really hadn't thought anything about Emmett not being in the gym, all puppy dog eyed watching the cat lady. Zainel ended up getting lucky that she had to end it early, or else Emmett would have screwed everything up. During lunch break he caught up with Emmett and told him to keep his mouth shut, and not ruin the surprise.

It didn't take him that long to found Persephone, on the third floor, downing glasses of wine, though he had only seen three red heads with wings, and from the dirty look he had gotten he guessed one of them must have been Artemis. Who seemed to hate him, despite the fact he had never really talked to her, or even seen her other then when she was with Persephone. With a bit of a playful smirk he snuck up behind her and took the hand holding her glass. "Happy Halloween Perse." He whispered in her ear though the fangs that went with his vampire costume in his mouth made his words slur slightly.

He took the glass from her moving back from her a little smiling as she got angry at him for doing so, before downing the glass himself. "Oh don't get so mad, if you're wasted, then you won't want to dance with me tonight."

---

Emmett looked around the dance floor from the overlook of the third floor in his superhero costume. Which felt a little ironic to him now, he had picked this costume out a little over a week ago, yet now he couldn't help but already feel a like guilty for what he was planning on doing. However, there was something about Jasmina that made him do and say things that he normally wouldn't be caught dead doing. If he really was a superhero then she would be his kryptonite, color yellow, ect. Not to mention that she keep sending him mixed messages, one day he could talk to her and actually look at her when he spoke to see her blushing, the next she was telling him that she hated him and beating him down for even glancing at her. It was enough to drive him crazy and still he couldn't help but come back for more.

Letting out a sigh he took a other drink of his punch before teleporting back to the punch table to get another glass, he had yet to see Jasmina before he got to the punch she was still talking to Persephone's sister and he smiled at both of them letting himself glance at Jasmina before Artemis. "Wow, you both have really great costumes." He said ignoring the doctor as he came over and pulled Artemis's attention to him instead, because he really could care lass about her really. He looked at Jasmina and smiled a little more. "So Jasmina, want to dance, or go up and get something to eat?"

If masked protectors of one of the most powerful men on the planet, at one time or another, could blush, one would've at that. Since Zinnia was only in costume, she actually did. She had had plenty of flowers thrown at her back home, but never with actual meaning. She took it and examined Iron, from freshly-lacquered shoe to the very top of his top hat, lingering in certain areas. "Huh, you clean up very nicely, Iron. Wanna head inside?" She asked, crossing her arms and shifting her weight to one leg.

---

Aaron reached into his suit, drawing a white dress, wings, and a spray painted coat hanger made into a halo. "So, I made a wild guess and thought you'd like an angel costume. Ironic, really." He set it on the couch and took a step back, crossing his arms in from of himself. "Your choice. Either be a hermit, or put on a dress and do something. You're stuck here, might as well enjoy it a little." He leaned on the wall and donned his clown mask, then crossed his arms.