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“Couldn’t we have just gone to Destinyland?” Sighed Sojiro after a long drive to Osaka. He grumbled, “Would’ve saved me a lot of hassle…”
Futaba huffed, “Destinyland’s Halloween Season is for little kids! I wanna see some blood! Something terrifying that’ll really give me the heebie-jeebies!”
With a look of concern, Sojiro questioned, “And you’re sure you’ll be able to handle that? There’ll be a lot of people in there as well, and it wasn’t that long ago that you could barely handle being out in Tokyo.”
Futaba beamed reassuringly, “I’ll be fine! After all, I’ll have my Key Item with me.” As she spoke, a bus began to roll up to the stop where she and Sojiro were standing. She added, “And it looks like he’s right on schedule!”
Ren stepped off of the bus, holding a small duffle bag and carrying a backpack that was conspicuously cat-free this time. As he found his welcome party, he smiled, “Hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long, Futaba.”
“Ren!” She squealed, wrapping her arms around him. She turned her face upwards and the two shared a brief kiss.
“AHEM.” Interrupted an irritated looking Sojiro, causing the two teenagers to immediately break apart. Though he had long since made his peace with the idea of Ren dating his adopted daughter, it was still a little early for Ren to push his luck too much with him around.
With a short respectful bow, Ren greeted, “It’s nice to see you again too, sir.”
Sighing, Sojiro extended his hand and said, “Well, I have to admit. It *is* good to see you after all this time. It took me weeks to get used to having Leblanc’s upstairs be so empty after you left, and you could be a useful extra set of hands when I needed one.”
As Ren shook Sojiro’s hand, Futaba snickered, “That’s just his way of saying he missed you. He asks about you all the time, wondering how you’ve been doing and when we’ll meet up again.”
Flustered, Sojiro spluttered, “F-Futaba! You didn’t have to tell him that…”
Ren chuckled, before noticing something was different about Sojiro. He was dressed nicer than usual, with his hair slicked back and… was he wearing cologne? Deciding not to tease him further, he inquired, “You’re looking pretty snazzy. What’s the occasion? I know you didn’t dress up just to see me.”
Sojiro met his question with a grin, “Well, I figure while you kids are running around getting the pants scared off of you, I can go hit up the casino. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get lucky. Could even score a number or two off some cuties while I’m there.”
Futaba threw her hands in front of her face and recoiled, “Ew! No one wants to hear about your sad attempts at flirting, Sojiro!”
With a shrug, he said, “All right, fine. Why don’t we head to the car already so the two of you can get to your little Halloween festival sooner?”
Ren nodded and followed Sojiro as he led the two of them back to where he was parked. As they were walking, Futaba took a glance at Ren's backpack and said, “I feel kind of bad that we couldn’t bring Mona. I’ve gotten so used to him being in there, but there’s just no way he’d have gotten through security.” Sighing, she continued, “I did think about trying to get him registered as my service animal, but he does technically live with you so that probably wouldn’t work.”
Ren gave her a grin, “I wouldn’t feel too bad about him. Ever since I brought home a cat, my parents have absolutely fawned over him. They’re probably giving him all the milk and fatty tuna he could possibly want right now.” Gently squeezing her hand, he added, “And besides, he’d feel left out if we brought him along for the ride. As much as he enjoyed hanging out with us and our other friends, he never did like playing third wheel all that much.”
At his touch, Futaba blushed, “You’re probably right. After all, I was kind of hoping this could be a bit of a special date for us since we haven’t had a chance to meet up in quite a while.”
He smiled, “Well, I don’t know a whole lot about how these Horror Nights work, but I’m sure it’ll be a lot of fun. I can always count on you to come up with some of the more exciting date ideas.”
“Well, here we are.” Announced Sojiro, who then proceeded to open the trunk. “Futaba, go ahead on in while I help Ren here with his luggage.”
“It’s not a whole lot—” Started Ren, before noticing the hard stare from Sojiro. Futaba quickly gave a nod and got into the back seat of the car.
With a sigh, Sojiro began, “All right, you probably know what’s coming so I’ll get the obvious part out of the way first. I hope you understand that I’m putting a lot of trust in you to leave the two of you alone for several hours, so it should go without saying that you better not get any funny ideas, okay?” His expression then softened as he continued, “And also, keep a close eye on her, all right? She’s really excited about this event, but I can’t help but be a little concerned with how she’ll respond to all of the crowds and stimulation once she’s right in the middle of it all. So if it’s getting to be too much for her, I’m counting on you to be there to help make her feel safe. Get her somewhere quiet if you need to, but just know that you can call me at any time and I’ll come pick you up.”
Ren gave an understanding nod, “Don’t worry, sir. I’ll make sure she doesn’t get too overwhelmed.”
“Good.” Sojiro replied, as he took Ren’s duffle bag and placed it in the trunk before slamming it shut. “I’ll have all your stuff waiting at the hotel for you when we get back.”
Ren joined Futaba in the back seat while Sojiro took the wheel and left the parking lot.
“So, Halloween Horror Nights, is it? There a reason we’re driving there in the morning?” Asked Sojiro from the front seat.
Futaba answered, “Well, it’s actually an all day event here. It’s only named that because at the Unilateral Studios Resort in Orlando where it started, they hold it as a separately ticketed event in the evenings after closing the park. When it came to Japan, they opted to have it included with the general admission which means that the park continues operating during its normal hours while all of the Halloween stuff is going on. Therefore, we have to get there early in the day if we wanna hit all the haunted houses without getting stuck in some really dreadful lines.”
Sojiro responded with a simple “Huh, well who would’ve thought?”
To keep the conversation going, Ren asked, “The event started in Orlando? I thought Unilateral Studios was originally based out of Hollywood.”
Ren noticed a grin from Sojiro through the rearview mirror. The two of them had a habit of asking sometimes unnecessary questions whenever Futaba got started talking about one of her interests or something she’d recently been researching. For someone who was normally pretty reserved, it could be refreshing to hear her gush about a topic she was passionate about.
Futaba explained, “For the parks themselves, that’s true. Horror Nights, however, got their start in the early 90’s at the Orlando park, originally as a three day event before it proved to be a hit and they expanded it significantly in subsequent years. Early attempts at holding the event in Hollywood weren’t so successful, since nearby in Southern California, Gnat’s Dairy Farm had already established itself as the host of the premier Halloween event on the West Coast since the 70’s—making Florida a significantly better region to get a strong foothold in the market without having to face as much competition on the East Coast. If anything, the fact that Unilateral’s park in Orlando normally had to compete directly with Destiny World gave it all the more reason to hold an event that the park having to maintain a family friendly image would never dream of hosting, allowing them to offer something that the biggest park in town could not. And, of course, it did manage to take off there, building a strong enough reputation for the Hollywood park to run the event successfully for a few years as well and it officially became an annual event there in 2006. Another six years later, we got it here in Japan, making this the third location where it’s held, although with a few changes to how it works like the admission being handled differently.”
Sojiro gave a chuckle, “You know, I remember growing up, hardly anyone even celebrated Halloween. These days you can’t get away from it! Seeing all the parades and costume parties people throw these days, I can’t say I’m surprised that they’d start running their event here as well.”
Ren agreed, “It was definitely a bigger deal when I came to Tokyo. I’d never seen that many people dress up for it before.”
Futaba beamed at him, “Then you’re in for a real treat, because this is like nothing you’ve ever seen before! Well, except for maybe the metaverse; some of the shadows there were pretty horror-inspired. You *may* need to rein in your combat instincts a little while we’re here, since all of the monsters we’re about to see are just actors in costumes and makeup.”
That thought gave him a bit of pause, before he shook his head, “Well, I am out of practice, so those have probably dulled considerably by this point. I’ll definitely try to keep that in mind, though. I assume there’s not anything they can really do to me if I don’t react, right?”
Futaba nodded, “Right. They might stab or swipe at you, but that’s about it. If you can stay calm through all of that, there’s really nothing else they can do.”
With a sigh of relief, Ren concluded, “Well, I suppose as long as I’m expecting them to do that, it shouldn’t be hard to take it in stride.”
Sojiro shrugged, “Man, is this really what kids are into these days? I don’t think I’ll ever understand…”
Sojiro dropped the two of them off at the entrance of the park, said his goodbyes, and drove off to check in at the hotel. Ren and Futaba headed to the gate to pick up their tickets. Unsurprisingly, the place was decorated all over even in the area leading up to the park entrance. A few of the horror nights posters caught Ren’s eye as he recognized some of the faces on them.
“Oh, so those are the characters featured this year?” he remarked, “Looks like they have Digsaw, Mr. Z, and… no way, is that Risette?” He was taken aback as he recognized the young idol whose poster he’d had on his wall while in Tokyo, yet her appearance here made her nearly look like a different person entirely. She wore a pair of devil horns and the serenity she’d held in her Sapphire poster had been replaced by a wicked smile, as a thin trail of blood coursed down her cheek.
Excitedly, Futaba answered, “Oh, that’s right! We still haven’t talked about which houses they have this year! Well, Risette’s Reawakening Nightmare is one they’re doing as a cross-promotion with her latest album, which has taken a very racy turn for her career. Her last few music videos have become a lot more daring and horror-themed, with this house recreating a lot of the sets and costumes they used. Oooh, Ann is gonna be so jealous when she finds out we went to this! She’s talked about how much she loves this new direction Risette’s music has taken, and how relatable and empowering her message has become.”
Ren replied, “Well, it’s certainly not what I had in mind when I pictured a haunted house, but that sounds pretty exciting.”
Futaba grinned, “Of course, the one I’m most excited for is Pyrohazard: The Maximum! It’s one that has an interactive element to it, where we’ll be facing off against Mr. Z at the very end. In previous years, most of the Pyrohazard themed houses have been rigged so that you always lose against the boss, but apparently there’s actually a win condition this time.” She shook her head, “Unfortunately, USJ is pretty tight-lipped about what their attractions contain, so I haven’t been able to find out what that is. But I’m sure we’ll be able to figure it out, like we always did.”
Ren understood her meaning. While he lived in the attic of Leblanc, the two of them had spent many nights together sitting in front of his CRT playing an old copy of Pyrohazard 2, a game about a city overrun by fire breathing zombies, that Futaba had found at a secondhand store in Akihabara. They would each take turns, switching in for the other if one of them died, and whenever they got to a room with a puzzle they would work through the solution together. Those were nights that he remembered very fondly. It suddenly made a lot more sense to him why Futaba wanted the two of them to attend this event so much.
Ren smiled, “I guess we’ll just have to put our heads together and show Mr. Z who’s boss.”
Yep!” She gave an enthusiastic smile, “And I’m sure you’ve already guessed from the poster that one of the other houses will be Pach-Saw themed. In total, there’s five houses, with the other two we haven’t mentioned following an original theme rather than being based off of an existing license. This first one is called Clash of Monsters: Curse of the Pharaoh, which has a storyline about a vampire and a werewolf each trying to obtain a sacred amulet from a mummy’s tomb. Supposedly, the monster that wins at the end is different each day they run the house. The next original house is the other one I’m most excited for: Area 42! It takes place in a top secret military base in Nevada, where a new species of alien that the U.S. Government captured for study breaks loose and quickly overruns the whole facility. Since we’ll have to get a time ticket for Pyrohazard due to how the boss fight is timed, meaning we're gonna have to save it for later, that's the one I wanna do first!”
Ren nodded, “All right, that works for me. Let’s pick up a studio guide on the way in and find how to get there.”
She wrapped both arms around one of his and said, “Right! But Pyrohazard ticket first!”
After entering the park, the two of them headed straight for the point on the map where the Pyrohazard ticket distribution would be. According to the studio guide, it was in the Eliminator 2 queue, which would mean going through the New York section of the park. However, as the map indicated, they would be entering their first scare zone on the way—one that seemed to be filled with escaped asylum patients.
Walking closely together through the crowd, they saw several actors covered in makeup that gave their faces a grotesquely distorted and discolored appearance. Each one wore a bloodied straight jacket with large rips where their arms had torn through, and many carried surgical knives or other tools as weapons to lunge at passersby. One wearing a muzzle startled them the most as he suddenly approached them while revving a chainsaw.
“EEP!” cried a startled Futaba who buried her face into Ren’s chest. The asylum escapee continued to stand there, threateningly revving the chainsaw, as Ren unblinkingly stared him down. Seeing that there was little else he could do, the actor moved on to find someone else to terrorize.
Giving her a pat on the head, Ren asked, “You alright?”
She looked up at him and blushed, “I-I’m fine! I wasn’t scared or anything! Just…” She mumbled, “It’s just that it was really loud, is all…”
With a concerned expression, he pointed out, “The houses are probably going to be even louder, you know?”
Pulling away, she protested, “He just caught me off guard, all right? At least in one of those I’ll be expecting it!” Before adding softly, “Though, to be honest, that part is still a bit concerning. I can only appreciate the sets and costumes so much if my ears are bursting the entire time.”
Carefully, he suggested, “Have you considered using your headphones to muffle the sound? That might make it more bearable.”
She shook her head, “I’d rather not do that unless I really have to; it feels like I’d be cheapening the experience a little. Plus, adding a level of sensory deprivation might make me startle even more easily. Then again, if it’s loud enough, that maybe won’t even be a factor.”
Taking her hand, he said, “I guess we’ll have a better idea when we get to one. For now, though, we should watch out for these escaped asylum patients.”
She nodded, “Right, we still have to get our ticket for Pyrohazard before we do anything else!”
The two of them headed for the line, trying to ignore all of the scareactors along the way who tried to startle them, and reached the queue for Eliminator 2 which had been split into two separate lines for the Pyrohazard ticket distribution.
Upon seeing the two lines, Futaba spoke up, “I almost forgot! They have two different routes for this house, each based on the playable characters in Pyrohazard 2 and its recent remake. I thought maybe we could do Leopold’s route since his was the one we played together.”
Ren replied, “I was just thinking the same thing.” And the two of them got in the line for that route.
While waiting in line, Ren looked over the map on the studio guide to scope out where the attractions and scare zones were. They appeared to be all over the Hollywood, New York, and San Francisco sections of the park, where the houses were located. Although, it looked like there was a scare zone in Triassic Park as well. Between New York and San Francisco was the section of the park themed around the Contemptible Me movies, and it was labeled as a Safe Zone which might qualify it as somewhere quiet enough if Futaba began to feel overwhelmed. However, he quickly ruled it out as an option except as a last resort because she was unlikely to want to go somewhere made for kids like that. Deeper into the park, there was also the World of Magic area based off of the book and movie series that he mainly remembered because of all the times he’d heard from other kids growing up that he looked like the titular boy wizard from the series due to his dark ruffled hair and glasses. This part of the park was normally a big draw for tourists during every other season of the year, and currently seemed to be operating as normal. Well, it’s got witches and magical creatures, so it kinda fits with the theme of Halloween? That might be a better option if we need to find somewhere more relaxing.
Futaba peered over at him and asked, “Whatcha looking for? I already know that the first house we’re going to is back there in Hollywood.”
Folding it together and putting it in his pocket, he replied, “Just wanted to get a good mental image of where everything is. I think I’ve got a better idea for how we can navigate the area.”
She grinned, “You shouldn’t have to worry about that too much. Don’t forget, that was always my job after all.”
"SIX HOURS?!" Futaba shouted after looking at their ticket. It was nearly going to be evening by the time the two of them would get to experience the house that they were looking forward to the most.
Ren shrugged, “Looks like we’ll just have to save this one for last.”
Futaba sighed, “It’s annoying, but I suppose this means we’ll get to end our journey on a high note at least.”
Looking around, Ren asked, “So, back towards Hollywood, right?”
She nodded excitedly, “Yep! Area 42 is just off to the side from the entrance. So we’ll just need to backtrack a little in order to get there.”
The two of them once again walked through the same scare zone as before while trying to ignore all of the psychos with various tools and weapons that threatened them along the way, and found themselves facing the entrance. To their left was the main Safe Area of the park during this season, normally operating as Wonderworld. Currently, it was themed with cute Halloween mascots as a family friendly attraction for the park to have operating alongside the more intense houses and scare zones. To the right, however, was a short path leading to the house they were looking for: Area 42. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to have a very long wait, so they got in line.
While waiting, Futaba rambled on to Ren about conspiracy theories involving UFO sightings, contact with extraterrestrial life, and secret research being performed by the U.S. Government in the southwestern region of the country. She also related the popularity of said theories to the creation of attractions like the one they were about to enter, and how the mythology surrounding them shaped our perception of aliens in pop culture. It was difficult to determine how much she actually believed in any of these theories, but it was clearly something that she’d invested a great deal of research into. It made sense to him given that her initial persona, Necronomicon, even took the shape of a UFO like the ones that these theories often depicted.
Moderating the traffic of guests in line entering the house were a few men in Air Force uniforms who carried convincing looking holstered model sidearms. At the entrance was a gate with an advisory warning that you were entering a top secret facility and that all entrants were subject to search, leaking photos or other classified information could lead to a charge of treason, etc.
Once at the entrance, there was a booth where a uniformed man monitoring a screen that displayed the view from cameras throughout the facility (as well as some stock footage of desert to simulate the exterior cameras) who then told them to wait. After a moment, he nodded that they were clear and gave a signal to the guard who waved them forward. Futaba, bubbling with excitement, took the lead as they entered Area 42.
Inside the house, the first room was a short hallway where they passed a laboratory on the other side of a glass window. Inside the lab were two scientists in the middle of dissecting an unknown species of alien. During the procedure, a mollusk-like creature popped out and wrapped itself around the head of one of the scientists—leading the other to scream loudly and activate an alarm which resounded intensely throughout the facility. The sound of glass breaking echoed as the parasite infected scientist broke through the window on the other side of the lab.
Their first jumpscare came from around the corner as a uniformed guard approached them.
“GO GO GO! Get to safety, civs! We’ll take care of this menace!” Boomed a voice loud enough to be heard even over the alarms and various cacophonous noises being made by the mayhem of the creature’s escape, which only grew the further they continued down the hall. Ren assumed the voice must have come from a speaker to be heard through all of that.
The next scare came from a scientist lunging through a window with his face looking partially melted. Shortly afterwards a voice came from the radio of a nearby corpse, saying, “It’s broken into Specimen Containment! Every creature here is becoming infected!”
Sure enough, alien creatures of all different shapes and sizes began to appear around every corner. Some were grotesquely reanimated corpses of soldiers and scientists, often with sharp appendages and morphed heads, while others resembled larger distorted versions of other animals. Not only that, but the interior facility became more distorted the further they went in as insectoid creatures covered the walls, others had burrowed into surfaces such as a wormlike alien with a protruding inner jaw that popped out of the wall, and other parts of the floor were completely covered in eggs or some unidentifiable slimy surface.
Towards the end of this long section of infected creatures was the biggest one of all: a spider-like creature with flashing eyes that was attached to the wall above the doorway. Luckily, they were able to pass under it without incident other than the lamprey eel faced alien that waited to violently jump out at them. This caught a small scream from Futaba, who took a moment to recover before moving on. Overall though, it seemed like she’d been enjoying herself despite the noise and the scares.
As they were reaching the exit, they saw one last human wearing a highly decorated uniform yelling into a device, “I NEED THAT AIR STRIKE AUTHORIZED IMMEDIATELY! IT’LL BE THE END OF THE HUMAN RACE IF ANY ONE THESE BASTARDS GETS OUT!” As he continued to fire round after round at the space where Ren and Futaba had just left. Just past him was an open doorway that was letting in sunlight, signifying the end of the house.
“Wow.” Futaba remarked, “And that’s why you don’t go poking around with extraterrestrial specimens without taking a few more precautions in the lab.”
With a nod, Ren observed, “Well, they certainly spared no expense designing that one. Felt like they had hundreds of aliens in there.”
“At least thousands.” Futaba stated, “All those eggs, larvae, and surfaces crawling with little bug-like things would add up to a pretty significant total. Not that they made that many individually by hand or anything, but with the right effects you can simulate the appearance of hundreds of creepy crawlies within a relatively small amount of space.”
He shrugged, “Either way, they must have quite the budget for these. It really is almost like being back in the metaverse in some ways, even if you can plausibly understand how the effects were achieved.” Carefully, he added, “How was the noise? They had that alarm going just about the whole time and it felt like every creature had some kind of screech that came over a loudspeaker.”
With a slight look downward, she answered, “It could be a little overwhelming at times, I’ll admit. But everything else about it was just so cool that I tried not to let it bother me too much! At least in a house where everything makes those kinds of noises it didn’t come as big of a shock when something else popped out.”
He looked around, and though there were vendors selling Halloween themed food and plenty of people filling the street, it didn’t seem as though they were in a scare zone of any kind. Turning to Futaba, he asked, “So where to next?”
With a thoughtful look, she replied, “Hmm, I think Clash of Monsters: The Pharaoh’s Curse is just back the way we came, but still in the Hollywood section. Might as well do that one since it’s not too far.”
Turning the corner, they spotted the entrance for it that they’d passed on the way to Area 42. Fortunately, it was just before they’d have to enter the same scare zone they’d already walked through twice. Once they got in line, they were handed a ticket by one of the employees. While the previous house let people enter one after the other, this one seemed to slightly space out each group that went inside.
When they got closer to the entrance, they began to see why. Each group was given a single large flashlight, meaning that this one was going to be a lot darker than the last house.
Seeing this, Futaba said nervously, “You can have the flashlight. I’ll just follow closely, all right?”
With a nod he gave the ticket to the staff member who then handed him back a flashlight. He clicked it on and though it barely made a difference while still out in the sunlight, he could see that the bulb was lit. Pointing it towards the darkness within, he stepped forward with Futaba following just inches behind.
They appeared to be inside of an Egyptian tomb, but it was a very different experience from what Futaba’s palace looked like. Obviously he could tell that the surroundings were sets, but at the same time it also felt more authentic due the lack of digital theming and how little he could make out through the darkness. If it weren’t for the intended path being as clear as it was, it’d be like exploring a real tomb.
However, that feeling was quickly shattered as the whole "clash of monsters" aspect came into play. Because the first jumpscare of this house came from the werewolf who appeared beside them and let out a thunderous roar. They both were really startled by just how suddenly he appeared this time, without nearly as much buildup as the last house. It was at this point that they steeled themselves for more encounters going forward. Even once they’d passed him, the sounds of growls and howls followed throughout much of the house.
Many of the other creatures lurking in the walls were more fitting for the setting. It was primarily undead who had been buried there that made up the majority of the scares. Sometimes it would even be the Pharaoh that the house was named after. One scare that actually caught Ren a little off guard was when his flashlight caught a glimpse of a couple Anubis statues, which he felt pretty certain were props, before one of them lunged at him with a snarl after he’d turned away.
It was around this point in the house when its gimmick began to come into effect. Without Ren having pressed anything on the flashlight, it began to flicker. As their vision came in and out of focus, they would see the tomb’s undead appear and disappear in the walls around them. Next, the light switched to a strobe effect when they entered a room filled with fog. Projected onto the fog were many bats, and before their eyes a vampire seemed to materialize—letting out a laugh before disappearing.
The light returned to normal again as they encountered the vampire and werewolf more frequently. After a certain point, though, as the different monsters reached the same point, the light went out completely. Around them from seemingly every direction they could hear the sounds of snarling, ripping, and other signs of a ferocious struggle. Futaba’s arms immediately wrapped around Ren’s body to keep them from being separated, and the two of them walked ahead towards the source of light at the end of the hall.
The light was coming from the inner chamber of the tomb, which was illuminated by torches. Just as they entered, they found the vampire in an upright coffin with a stake through his heart. On the other side of the room was the undead Pharaoh, who stood behind an altar holding up the werewolf’s head which had a spine hanging down from it.
Futaba let go of Ren with a sigh of relief before chuckling and announcing in a deeper voice, “Fatality!”
Just ahead of them was the exit, where Ren handed back the flashlight and they found themselves back outside on the edge of the Hollywood section of the park.
Once outside, Futaba said, “You know, even though I’m pretty sure they change the winner of that house every day, I’m kind of glad the Pharaoh pulled through back there. That was his place they were intruding on, after all.”
This earned a questioning stare from Ren, causing Futaba to quickly respond, “Hey, it wasn’t like that with us! I invited all of you into my palace, and… everything about my life has improved so much because of it.” Looking downward, she muttered, “I wouldn’t want to imagine my life if I hadn’t met you.”
Holding her hand, he said, “What matters is that you allowed yourself to open up to us, even though it was scary to do so. You’ve learned to enjoy many new experiences that you wouldn’t have tried before, and you’re happier because of it. Also… it makes me happy to see you become eager to participate in events that once would have overwhelmed you.”
Looking up at him, she blushed, “You’re right. Every one of you has become an important part of my life, but you most of all. Even for someone like me whose favorite activities are usually enjoyed in solitude, there’s still plenty of experiences out there for me to enjoy that I couldn’t have gotten from my room.” Grinning, she added, “It’s why I come up with all the fun date ideas.”
Ren chuckled, “Of course. I wouldn’t even have thought of half the things we’ve done together. I suppose that’s why I should continue leaving the navigation duties to you.”
With an excited nod, she announced, “That’s right! And I know just the place to go next! There’s just one more house left in Hollywood, and it’s on the other side from here over by the lake. Follow me!”
She led him back down the main street and took the first turn left. They found themselves in an area that they hadn’t yet seen before, with new shops and attractions. What it also contained was another scare zone.
This street was filled with young women wearing Victorian style dresses that were torn in places and stained with blood in other spots. Their faces were covered in a mix of pale makeup and thin trails of blood, giving them a somewhat undead appearance. Some of them made cute gestures at passersby, but they would also try to surprise people by pulling out a knife and making threatening motions.
As they were passing through this area, Ren thought he heard Futaba muttering to herself, “So hot… but so creepy…”
Soon after that, they came across The Games of Digsaw house, where they entered the line. Looking at the sign, Ren was reminded of when he saw an anniversary release of Pach-Saw in the Shinjuku theater with Haru. While it was indeed a pretty unsettling and visceral thriller, it seemed that there had been many sequels since its initial release which had all featured more intricate traps, gorier scenes, and other Pachyderms besides the elephant featured in the original film. This made Ren a little hesitant, as the previous houses were all centered around more fantastic or otherworldly themes, but he didn’t want to express any concern to Futaba considering how eager she seemed to be to experience everything there was to offer from this Halloween event.
The tone of this house was set from the outside of the entrance, which featured many barrels lined up that contained discarded limbs from the victims of Digsaw’s traps. Once inside, they were in what seemed to be a warehouse—where they were greeted by an elephant puppet riding a unicycle who welcomed them with a deep voice, “Hello, are you ready to play my game?”
Shortly after, a large elephant with bloodied tusks appeared through a hole in the wall and trumpeted thunderously at them. What followed was essentially an exhibition of the many traps featured throughout the franchise, only a few of which Ren recognized. One scene playing out involved a woman with a timed trap around her head digging for a key in the stomach of a man lying on a table who screamed at them for help as they passed by. Another scene he recognized had a man trying to escape through a maze of barbed wire, which had left cuts all over his skin. The rest of them were new and they each seemed to become even more over the top than the last, with the most impressive part being how realistically they were able to make the actors truly appear to be torn open or cut in half—like with the pit and pendulum trap whose victim had failed. However, Ren felt that some of the traps with more complicated designs probably would have meant more to him if he had seen the other movies as it was sometimes difficult to tell how exactly they were meant to work.
Throughout the house, they were often ambushed by cloaked figures wearing elephant masks. He recognized it as the attire of the game’s organizers that they donned as they kidnapped their victims. The other major scares of the house were from the animals that the later films featured, such as a hippo and a rhino. While their sudden appearances and the booming noise that accompanied them were startling, what was most unsettling about this house besides the gruesome visuals themselves was the constant screaming of the victims trapped within. Other than being a celebration of the Pach-Saw franchise, it almost felt like walking through a display revealing the depths of humanity’s imagination for torture. The thought crossed his mind that Yusuke would probably walk away from this feeling inspired, but Ren wasn’t sure he wanted to see the kind of painting he might create after viewing all of these scenes.
What concerned him the most was how Futaba might be handling this house. While she wasn’t getting startled a whole lot, the atmosphere felt heavier compared to the previous houses and her body language was more reserved than before. She’d even pulled her headphones around her ears this time, in an attempt to drown out some of the incessant noise that this house featured. Seeing this, Ren reached for her hand and she turned towards him, mouthing the words, “Thank you.”
He held onto her hand for the rest of the house, even through one room where several limbs dangled from the ceiling that he brushed aside with his free hand. As they reached the exit, the puppet from before appeared once again and said, “Thank you for playing. See you next time!” And laughed at them as they walked out.
As they were leaving, Futaba lowered her headphones but remained more quiet than usual. This left Ren a little unsure of what to do next. They weren’t too far from the World of Magic entrance, so he thought about suggesting that they head over there for a little bit. However, the perfect idea came to mind as he looked down the street and saw a staged auditorium with a sign in front like the ones featured at the houses that indicated there was a Halloween event going on here. Even better news was that the next showtime would start soon.
Trying to keep the concern out of his voice, Ren asked, “Hey, Futaba, what do you know about that stage show they’re having over there? It looks like we’re here at a good time if we want to see it.”
Looking almost startled, she turned to him and blurted, “Huh? Oh right, I forgot to mention before that they’ve got a comedy-horror themed Back from the Past show this year. It was a fan favorite for a few years in Orlando so they decided to bring it here.”
Ren asked, “Do you wanna see it? Could be fun. And it’d get us off our feet for a bit.”
Futaba paused for a few seconds before nodding, “Sure, let’s do it. I am beginning to feel a little worn out, after all.”
"Wait a minute, Doc. Are you telling me that while all those trials were going on in Salem, there were REAL witches with ACTUAL powers roaming free?”
“Oh, I’m afraid so, Matty. The history books would like you to believe that the whole thing was just one big overreaction, but behind every innocent woman burned at the stake there was a real witch out there whose abilities were pinned on another.”
“Woah, this is heavy, Doc.”
“Great Scott! We’ve landed right in the spot where their coven congregates! Quickly, Matty, we’ve gotta get that DeL’Oréal working right away!”
Ren felt the relief wash over him as the two of them watched the show. This is exactly what we needed.
Back from the Past: A Spooktacular Race Through the Ages was a stage show themed around the movie series of the same name, following American teenager Matty McCloud and mad scientist Doctor Emil Blanc as their time machine malfunctioned during a test run. As they tried to return to their own time period, they were sent to various eras and locations that each contained a different kind of classic horror movie monster. They had to escape from witches in Salem, mummies in Egypt, vampires in Transylvania, werewolves in London, and many others before they landed in the year 3985 where it was revealed that SkiffTron9000, an android sharing a resemblance to the bully character from the original movie, had been the one controlling their time machine the whole time. In a final showdown, Matty manages to distract SkiffTron9000 while Doc Blanc manipulates a nearby weather machine to direct a bolt of lightning to the exact spot where Matty led him—defeating him in an impressive display of practical effects.
It was a refreshing change of pace from the intensity of the haunted houses, as it celebrated the theme of Halloween with a lot more levity than the rest of the attractions. Many of the laughs came from the chemistry between the actors playing the main characters from the movies and seeing them use their catchphrases in the context of events that were unlike anything they’d been seen in before. There were a lot of jokes that got a smile from Futaba, and he could see that she looked much less tense than she did earlier.
Afterwards, the two of them decided to grab something to eat. Futaba was rather insistent about checking out a restaurant that was currently offering a special Pyrohazard themed menu, so they traveled back to New York near the line where they picked up their ticket. After waiting in line, they were seated at a small table where they looked over the menu.
They ordered a meal for two, titled the “Tanuki City Police Department Emergency Rations” and Ren ordered a drink named after Rick Blumfield, who was one of the protagonists of the first game.
“And I’ll take the P-Virus cocktail with mine.” Futaba announced, before noticing the suspicious look from the waiter and hastily adding, “The non-alcoholic one.”
The waiter handed them a couple of special coasters, one that featured the logo of Blumfield’s division in S.C.A.R.S. and the other had the logo of the evil Parasol Corporation who was responsible for manufacturing the virus that caused the outbreak. With a bow, the waiter left the two of them alone and they sat in silence for a few moments.
After holding her coaster and fiddling around with it nervously in her hands, Futaba spoke, “I… want to thank you, Ren. I know that you’ve been concerned about me today. And even though the last house we did was maybe a little too much for me to enjoy, you didn’t judge or talk down to me about it. It’s like you always know just how to cheer me up when I need it without making me feel like I’m a burden on you.”
Ren shook his head, “Honestly, I think I just got lucky back there. I had no idea there was a show nearby until I saw the sign. But once I did, it seemed like just the distraction we needed.”
Futaba gave a bashful smile, “You don’t have to be so humble about it, you know. This is something that you’ve always done for me any time I’ve struggled with being somewhere outside. You’re the reason why so many of my experiences stepping outside of my comfort zone are positive memories. Because whenever I did begin to feel uncomfortable, you were right there to help me take a deep breath and clear away my anxieties. I know that as I’ve become more independent I haven’t had to rely on you as much as my Key Item anymore, but I don’t think I would’ve been able to find the courage to attend this event if I hadn’t asked you to come along with me.”
Ren smiled back, “Well, even if you did need me here, just you coming to this at all is a sign of how far you’ve come. This event is intentionally designed to be terrifying, to the point that many people would never have any desire to attend. You’re already braver than the large part of the population that took one look at the advertisements and said ‘Nope! Not dealing with that!’”
Futaba chuckled, “Yeah, like Sojiro.”
As they left the restaurant, Futaba commented, “You know, that food seemed pretty fancy for what was supposed to be field rations.”
Expensive too… Ren answered, “Well, I imagine that they prioritized taste over authenticity for the purposes of a themed menu. The ones from the game probably weren’t anything we’d actually want to try.”
She giggled, “You’re probably right.” Then she suggested, “With only Risette’s house left to go before we come back for Pyrohazard, why don’t we take the long way around the lake? I’m a little curious about the scare zone they have over in Triassic Park.”
Ren nodded, “That works for me.” And the two of them took off, heading south from New York to walk along the pier and making their way around the lake.
This path was mostly free of scare zones, save for the one that they walked through as they were leaving New York. On the street by the pier were a gang of circus performers with chainsaws. This led to the whole area being much louder than the others, as the sounds of multiple chainsaws running at once filled the air. However, Futaba wasn’t letting herself be startled by them this time. Partly because the sound of the chainsaws revving followed them just about everywhere, so it didn’t come as much of a surprise, but also because she’d grown more used to the idea of these actors trying to get a rise out of them.
Once they’d passed through that area, the path was a lot clearer as it mostly looked the way it would during any other season—save for the vendors selling more Halloween themed treats. When they were on the opposite side of the lake from San Francisco, where Risette’s house was located, they saw the sign for Triassic Park and prepared themselves for what they would find within.
Having left behind the city theme that persisted in all of the areas they’d visited so far, they found themselves surrounded by jungle vegetation on either side of the path. Roaming around this section of the park were what seemed to be undead members of an ancient tribe, many of whom carried a staff or wore a necklace made out of bones. While some of the tribalists were rather aggressive with their attempts to startle visitors, many of the higher ranking ones walked with a sense of authority and occasionally turned to look at people who had stared for too long. Most impressive was the giant horned skeletal being wearing skulls around its neck that moved around while towering over all of the crowds. Ren figured that there must have been at least a couple people operating it, as it walked around and gestured at people. Over a speaker, the sounds of chants could be heard—giving the impression of a ritual taking place or a curse being set. Overall though, it seemed like an effective use of the setting.
Once they had left Triassic Park, they entered San Francisco where they saw the sign for Risette’s Reawakening Nightmare. Unfortunately, it seemed like this one came with a longer wait than the others they’d visited up to that point.
Futaba sighed, “Well, I guess the crowds do increase as it gets later in the day. And this one *is* pretty popular, so we probably should have expected this. Looks like we’ll have to go straight to Pyrohazard once we’re done here.”
Ren shrugged, “Guess there’s nothing we can really do about it. We’ve been pretty lucky today otherwise.”
“Heh heh.” Futaba chuckled, as she pulled a couple of G.S. consoles out of her inside jacket pockets. “Good thing I came prepared. We can just play Marco Kart the whole time.”
Ren smiled, “Glad to see you’re always thinking ahead.”
The two of them played through several races while standing in line. Futaba, of course, won the majority of them as she had mastered the drifting technique that allowed your vehicle to gain speed faster than normal driving allowed, but Ren pulled ahead on occasion with some smartly timed (and often lucky) item uses. Once they had gotten closer to the house, they decided to stop playing in order to take in their surroundings. The last section of the line was themed to look like the floor of a concert, with the covered area ahead of them featuring many flashing lights and the dividers resembling those seen at music festivals. Speakers were playing a selection of Risette’s songs, which Ren was glad to hear since he hadn’t been keeping up with her career lately.
When they reached the entrance, they were waved through by an intimidating looking man in a security uniform. Inside was what appeared to be a backstage area, except that the first sight upon entering was some kind of stasis pod where Risette was sleeping. Past her were more pods, each containing a woman whose face was covered. Some of these pods had their doors opened and the residents would reach out as they passed by. Over the speakers was one of Risette’s more upbeat songs with a sexy beat that one might associate with a nightclub. It gave Ren a feeling like that of walking into a music video.
The path led out into a more open room, where the walls and seats were covered in red velvet. Lights shone onto walls that conveyed hearts and lips through shadows. Occupying the room were a gathering of her fans, as some of them would lunge at the people entering. Sitting in the velvet booths, watching it all unfold were a group of men in suits who were smoking cigars. On stage was a birdcage, where a convincing Risette lookalike and another girl were dancing around a pole and each wearing little more than a bikini. When Risette’s back was turned to the other girl, the sound of a knife being pulled out resounded through the room as the other girl used it to slit Risette’s throat and the music halted as she screamed. Ren felt a small splash hit him as this happened, and he heard Futaba shout, “Ew!” Which told him that she had been hit by it as well.
When they entered the next hallway, a Risette shaped marionette suddenly appeared next to them. Around another corner was a heavily bandaged security guard who stepped out suddenly, before disappearing back into the wall. The room they entered next was completely different from the nightclub they were in before, as it now resembled a hospital room. The music changed as well, now playing a song Ren recognized as her single “Sapphire” which the poster in his room was for. Around an operating table, a group of masked people wearing school uniforms were reassembling the pieces of a life-size figure of Risette—with some of them turning around suddenly. One of them even swung a katana directly towards Ren’s head, stopping just before it reached him.
The next hallway was filled with mirrors, each one reflecting a comically distorted image of oneself. Some of the supposed mirrors tried to fake them out, however, as just when they’d pass by another mirror, it would actually have one of the bandaged security guards lunge out with a baton. Passing through here, they entered into one last room with a stage where Risette was performing once again. The music changed in here, to one where Risette’s vocals took on a more sultry tone as the song’s hook, “I’m still addicted to your toxic love~” played over the speakers. A couple of crazed looking people wearing suits who had collars around their necks tried to attack them as they passed by, and as they looked to where Risette was standing they noticed that she was holding the other end of their leash. Now she was wearing the devil horns that she had on the poster and a scantily clad devil outfit with fishnet leggings to match. She now danced with a sense of confidence, in a way that was almost captivating enough to distract Ren from the audience members standing around that would snarl at him as he walked by.
At the exit of the house stood a large group of bandaged security guards, who silently watched them with an imposing stance as they walked by. One or two of them made a move towards them, but otherwise they simply threatened with their mere presence. Walking past all of them, they tasted fresh air again as they were back outside of the house once more.
Futaba bubbled with much more excitement this time, as she reached for her phone. “That was so cool! I’ve gotta tell Ann right away. She’s gonna love hearing about it.”
Ren felt a buzz from his phone, and checked it to see that he was included in the message that Futaba sent. She had described for Ann in great detail everything that she saw in the house, what sets and costumes were taken from music videos, and how certain moments symbolized themes from her album.
A few moments later as they were walking towards New York, Ann texted back, “OMG! SO JEALOUS!!!”
Futaba giggled, “See? I just knew that’s how she’d react!”
Ren smiled, “Maybe we’ll have to come back here some time with the rest of the group. I’m sure Makoto could take everyone for a road trip if you all found the time to meet up.”
Grinning, Futaba said, “Maybe. But for now, I think I like being here just with you.” Before holding onto his arm for the rest of the journey.
As they entered the main square of New York, there was a large group of people gathered around a stage in the middle where there were several zombie dancers performing alongside the costumed mascot, Hami-Usagi. Hami-Usagi was a creepy-cute designed mascot character for Japan’s Horror Nights, which had the appearance of a large stuffed bunny with human teeth and one eye that had popped out of its socket. Though they had seen merchandise for the character earlier, this was their first encounter seeing it in person.
Once again they found the queue for Pyrohazard: The Maximum, which was now across from where they’d gotten their ticket. Handing the attendant their ticket, they were led to a much shorter line where they were letting in people by groups. At the entrance, someone in a police uniform led the two of them inside and into the Tanuki City Police Department. Though it looked somewhat normal at first, zombies would suddenly appear outside through broken windows. The areas just past the windows, which depending on where you were would appear to be an alley, courtyard, or street were quickly becoming enveloped by fires which continued to spread as they made their way through the many hallways and offices of the Police Department. The further they went in, the more variation there was on the creatures that appeared. More of Parasol’s genetically mutated abominations such as the Spitters, who walked on all fours and had heads which resembled brains with large jaws underneath, and the amphibious looking Stalkers, who would swipe at them with large claws while snarling.
Many times, the large and shriveled face of Mr. Z would appear from behind a wall as he seemingly followed them throughout the TCPD building. The sound of footsteps echoed throughout every hallway, to remind them that he was always close behind. However, at the end of the last hallway was a safe room, which Futaba recognized the moment she saw the doorway. Once inside, the door closed behind them and a timer appeared above the door on the other end. Below it on the screen were instructions, telling them that their showdown against Mr. Z would take place on the other side. They had five minutes to search the room for the supplies that they would bring with them into the fight.
Futaba gasped, “Quick! We gotta find some weapons, fast!”
The room had a few lockers, some of which contained guns with what must have been a sensor on the end. So we’ll be pointing these at a screen of some kind I suppose. Holding the pistol in his hand, Ren noticed the number 24 had lit up on the top. The ammo that the weapon had, he presumed. However, he had also found a couple small plaques hidden in the lockers he’d opened. One of them read “1. Boats” and the other read “3. Men” but he wasn’t sure what the significance of them was just yet.
“I found a safe!” Futaba shouted, “I bet this is where they’re keeping the big guns! Ugh but it’s locked by a four digit code! Have you found any clues?”
Pointing out the plaques he’d found, he said, “These probably relate to it somehow, but I’m not sure how to tell which digit they represent.”
Futaba looked thoughtfully and offered, “While I try to find the remaining plaques, take another look around the room and see if there’s anything that might have either of these things on it somehow. There might be objects placed around the room that could have the digits we’re looking for in one way or another.”
He nodded and began to scan the room. And then, something stood out to him: a painting. Depicted were a group of soldiers standing on a hill, with a body of water visible in the background that had a few boats in it. Three boats, six men. Those must be the first and third digits!
Futaba approached him again with a shotgun leaning against her shoulder, and she took him by the hand. She beamed, “I found them! One of them is in the desk, and the other is in the case where I found the shotgun. You know what they connect to, yet?”
“Yes, I think I do.” He answered as he looked at the other two plaques that Futaba had indicated. They read, “2. Cannons” and “4. Horses” which made him look up at the painting again. He pointed, “It’s that painting right there. Each of these words is represented in the painting with the digit for the code being how many of them are depicted in it. I can read out the numbers to you as you enter them into the safe.”
She nodded excitedly, “Okay!” And ran over to the safe as Ren called out the numbers to her.
“3! 5! 6! 2!”
The lock clicked, and Futaba beamed, “We just hit the jackpot!”
Inside of the safe was the rocket launcher, one of the most powerful weapons in the game. If you had it with you, and more importantly any ammo for it to use, you could just about bypass any major boss fight with a well aimed shot.
Turning it around, her eyes widened as she saw the number lit up on it, “Aw, but it only has one shot! We’ve gotta make it count!”
Holding up the pistol he found, Ren assured, “Don’t worry. I’ll keep him distracted enough to give you a clean shot.”
Futaba pouted, “What? With that peashooter? At least take the shotgun or something! We’re trying to do some real damage here!”
Ren shook his head, “I’m afraid those were always Ryuji’s specialty. They never felt comfortable to me. At least with one of these I’ll be able to shoot him directly and consistently.”
With a sigh, she grumbled, “Fine… It’s not the size but how you use it, I guess…”
As the timer finished counting down, the door opened up and the two of them stepped through. They were now in an alleyway, with a screen in front of them that resembled the length of the passage they were standing in. At the end of it, flames began to burst out as Mr. Z approached them from afar. Ren took careful aim and fired a few rounds at him, to seemingly no effect despite every hit landing as a headshot. After taking six more shots, however, Mr. Z stumbled a little as a splash of blood came out of his head. As if nothing had happened, he continued to approach them.
Excitedly, Futaba shouted, “That’s it, Ren! That put him in hitstun! Do that one more time and I’ll nail him for sure!”
“Roger that.” Ren said as he took aim at Mr. Z once more, who was a lot closer now. Making sure to land every shot he had, Mr. Z was sent into his stumbling animation again, and Futaba took advantage of the opportunity.
“Gotcha!” She announced, and landed a direct hit. Mr. Z’s body burst into flames and exploded. Futaba jumped into the air and squealed, “We did it! We totally kicked his ass, Ren!” Before hugging him tightly.
A victory screen appeared before them, which tallied up their hit rate and the amount of time they took—giving them an S rank. Then a door swung open, and they stepped into a room where TCPD uniformed employees were applauding them. They were led to a Tanuki City backdrop, where one of the employees was holding up a camera. Futaba posed for the camera by slinging the rocket launcher over her shoulder while Ren held the pistol up near his face in a manner that he hoped would look cool when they saw the picture. They were then instructed to hand the weapons back and they made way for the group that was leaving from the other route.
Seeing the picture at the booth where they sold the prints, he realized that they looked like a couple of dorks posing with their fake weapons. But it was a fun moment and a memory worth keeping, so he shelled out the yen for a printed copy that read “We Survived Tanuki City!” at the bottom.
Walking back onto the street, Futaba turned to him and suggested, “Well, now that we’ve done everything we came here for, why don’t we call Sojiro? I think I’ve done enough walking for one day.”
While they waited for Sojiro to reach the park, they looked around at some of the gift shops. None of the souvenirs really stood out to him enough to be worth getting, especially at the prices they were charging, but he did decide to get the Devilish Risette keychain for Ann since Futaba had told her about their trip and that house in particular. Soon after, they received a text from Sojiro that read, “Come out front” and they headed out to meet him.
As they each got in the car, he turned around and asked, “So, how did everything go?”
Futaba bubbled, “It was great! They had so many freaky costumes and houses in there, you couldn’t even imagine! I definitely felt my courage stat go up a few points today.”
Ren nodded in agreement, “We both had a lot of fun today, Sojiro-san.”
Sojiro let out a soft chuckle, “Well, I’m glad to hear it. Me? I could do without all that creepy stuff. But as long as it’s something you enjoy, that’s all that matters to me.”
Futaba teased, “And just how did your day go? Did you hit it big today?”
Sighing, Sojiro recounted, “Not exactly. You see, I was doing really well for a while there. If I’d been playing smarter, I would’ve just left with what I’d already earned. But you see, the dealer was really cute and kept giving me these eyes that practically begged me to keep playing and I didn’t really want to disappoint her. So I lost just about everything I’d made earlier. I decided to leave before I embarrassed myself any further.”
Futaba shrugged, “Well, shoot. They played you for a fool, Sojiro. So much for our get rich quick scheme.”
Chuckling, Sojiro joked, “And I was just thinking about getting an early retirement, too. I guess that won’t be happening anytime soon. But who knows? With your intelligence I’m sure you’ll be bringing home the big bucks one of these days. Maybe you can set me up with a nice home on the beach somewhere, hmm?”
Futaba shook her head, “Don’t push your luck, Sojiro. Besides, I don’t even know yet if I’ll be able to make that kind of money.”
Sojiro smiled and turned to look at Ren, before saying, “And Ren. Thank you for being here today. It really means a lot to both of us.”
Futaba blushed, “D-dad…” Which Ren noted was the first time she’d referred to him by that name today.
Ren answered, “You don’t have to thank me, sir. It was my pleasure to be here. I’ve been looking forward to seeing the two of you again for weeks, and I enjoyed every minute of it.”
With a satisfied smile, Sojiro turned around and said, “All right, that’s enough of the sappy stuff for now. What do you say we grab something to eat on the way back to the hotel? It’ll be my treat, Ren. I was thinking sushi sounds nice.”
Futaba cheered, “Yay! Sushi!”
Ren smiled, “That sounds great, sir.”