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Yuji waited impatiently at the student dorms. Tonight was the big monster movie marathon in Shibuya. Last week, Junpei asked the other first-year students if they would like to come with him, as he usually attended the marathon alone. Naturally Yuji was quick to say yes, but he also coaxed Megumi and a very reluctant Nobara to tag along. So once again, it was a four-person movie hangout, something that was starting to become the norm for the former emo.
However, this time was a little different. According to Junpei, moviegoers were required to dress in relevant costumes. Yuji had already decided on his costume: a mummified zombie. White blood-stained bandages were wrapped around his head with his eyes and mouth sticking out. He wore a tattered maroon plaid button-up shirt, blood-stained blue jeans, and his usual red sneakers. More white blood-stained bandages were loosely wrapped around his arms and legs. He finished getting dressed first, so right now he was waiting for the others.
Half a minute later, Megumi finally left his room. Yuji smiled wide, but it quickly faded when he realized what the black-haired teen was wearing. His black long-sleeved shirt, grey sweatpants, and uniform shoes, but with a black wolf head mask.
"That's it?" Yuji asked, a little disappointed. "You call that a costume?"
"I don't really dress up on Halloween," Megumi explained, his voice muffled from the wolf head. "But if Yoshino said these costumes are a must, I went with the first thing that came to mind."
"It wouldn't hurt to be a little creative..." Yuji pouted as Nobara left her room.
Speaking of the orange-haired girl, she had went with a more cutesy costume since she didn't really do creepy horror. She wore a sparkly purple witch dress with a knee-length poofy skirt, black and purple striped leggings, black heels, and a black pointy hat decorated with a sparkly purple ribbon.
"Wellllll?" Nobara bragged as she showed off her costume. "What do you boys think?"
"Too much glitter," Megumi responded while Yuji silently cringed.
"If I have to sit through five gross horror movies with you boys, I might as well do it in style," Nobara dismissed. "So where's Yoshino?"
"I think he's still getting dressed," Yuji guessed. "He told me he wanted to try something different for this year's movie marathon. Not sure what he meant by that, though."
As if on cue, Junpei finally left his room, wearing what appeared to be a surgeon costume without the face mask while an orange cloth tote bag labeled 'Shibuya Halloween Horrors Marathon!' in black lettering was draped across his right shoulder. He looked so different with his bangs out of his face, but with the surgical cap covering his forehead, he didn't have to worry about others seeing his burn scars. Compared to what the other first-year students wore, it seemed very tame...at a glance. Then without warning, he suddenly had a very crazed expression, his eyes widening in a manic stare as he grinned from ear to ear.
"We're slicin' worms tonight!" Junpei shouted in a deranged tone.
Yuji was the only one who responded. "You're Dr. Richter!" he exclaimed. "The mad scientist from the first and fourth Human Earthworm movies!"
"Oh good," Junpei sighed, looking relieved. "It took me a while to find the right costume. I was worried others wouldn't recognize it."
"Great, so you're that creepy old doctor," Nobara sighed. "Now let's get this over with."
The train ride to Shibuya was a bit packed compared to usual hours, no doubt due to the Halloween partygoers. According to Junpei, it was better to arrive as early as possible because of those crowds. Luckily he knew the best route to the movie theater, so the first years were able to arrive in record time.
"So did anyone check what was showing?" Yuji wondered as he and the others left the subway.
"I did earlier today," Junpei spoke up. "The event hosts posted a poll earlier this year asking for popular classics. The poll closed last week and the website revealed which five movies will be playing: Super Scary Movie, Horror Night on Oak Lane, Human Earthworm 2, Sewer Rat Slasher, and Citizen Ratty: Sewer Rat Slasher IV."
"We're watching two of those gross rat mutant movies?" Nobara groaned. "I'm still having nightmares about that terrible reboot!"
"I don't mind watching more of those films," Megumi disagreed.
"Of course you wouldn't..." Nobara said.
A short while later, the group arrived at the movie theater. The crowd was busy with every single moviegoer wearing different costumes. Luckily Junpei already planned ahead and bought four tickets shortly after checking with Yuji, aware of how busy the crowds were going to be. This was the comfortable environment he was already friendly with, the enthusiasts who appreciate the thrill of going to the theaters, even for rerelease screening events. Bringing Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara into this world was a gradual process. Now the three became casual moviegoers like him.
Junpei tapped on the ticket booth window to get the seller's attention. "I bought the tickets online," he said, showing his phone. "Four for tonight's monster movie marathon."
"Oh, you're that horror enthusiast who's been coming here for the past three years," the seller noticed. "You look different."
Junpei looked a little surprised to hear that. Turning around, he glanced towards his friends, who smiled at him (although it was hard to tell with Megumi given his wolf head covering his whole face). He smiled back before facing the ticket booth once more. A few seconds later, the tickets were accepted and the group was allowed to go in.
The theater's interior was bustling just as much. Excited moviegoers dressed in costume were checking out the free souvenirs handed out by the staff, something Junpei explained during the group's trip to Yokohama some time ago. He had his own special collection of freebie brochures, postcards, cheap keychains, and other types of promotional merch, which he proudly showed off upon returning to the school. Megumi and Nobara were a little put off with how outgoing Junpei is when it came to horror movies, but Yuji reassured this was normal, recalling how much he gushed about Human Earthworm 2 when they first met.
"What does everyone want?" Junpei asked, readying his tote bag.
"I could go for another one of those brochures," Yuji said.
"One of those rubber bracelets," Nobara decided.
It took Megumi a few seconds to make his decision. "A small poster," he spoke.
"Got it," Junpei said. He made his way to the tables to pick up the requested freebie merch, while also picking up a postcard and small pumpkin keychain for himself. This was clearly not his first time dealing with big crowds, so he was able to get the requested merch right away.
...Or so the original trio thought.
By the time Junpei returned, he looked a little burnt out. "Sorry I took so long," he apologized. "It's not usually this crowded."
"Maybe there's still a massive hype over the Human Earthworm franchise," Yuji guessed. "The latest movie is still new."
"Makes sense," Junpei agreed. "There might be some people who came here just to see Human Earthworm 2."
Once things finally quieted down, the group headed towards Theater 3, where the five movies will be showing. As they walked through the door to find good seats, Nobara caught a glimpse of the poster advertising all five movies. Four of them were clearly horror movies, but one stood out as a rather jarring pick.
"So what's a parody movie doing among a bunch of gross films?" Nobara wondered.
"Super Scary Movie?" Junpei checked. "The whole franchise turned into a completely different thing by the seventh film. It's not just a parody anymore. Now it's kind of like a convoluted sitcom plus lineage horror."
That confused Nobara. "How is that any good?"
"By a total fluke, the grandchild of the main character from 1 ends up living in a shared house with the grandchild of the culprit from 2, and the grandchild of the first person who died in 3," Junpei clarified with a bright smile. "But it turns out it's a haunted house, so they call in a spirit medium. That's pretty much the plot."
"You sure know a lot about this particular series," Yuji remarked.
"It's one of my favorite movie franchises," Junpei replied. "I usually dress up as the culprit from 1 when I come here, since he's basically Paleface from the Screech franchise."
Without warning, Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara stopped walking. Junpei took a few steps back to realize what happened and turned around. All three of his friends looked at him, with Yuji and Nobara's visible faces smiling softly. Everyone knows who Paleface is. He's a well-known horror movie killer who wears an all-black cloak and white rubber mark. His whole body is covered so no one could recognize him, perfect for someone who would want to stay anonymous for a monster movie marathon. The original trio realized why Junpei would wear such a costume back then, before they became a part of his life.
But this was someone who had changed so much after joining Jujutsu Tech. He became more talkative around others and didn't seem afraid to discuss his favorite movies. He was even smiling and laughing more often, his eyes vibrant with genuine happiness. Although it wasn't confirmed, it seemed very obvious that his change of costuming from Paleface to Dr. Richter was due to how much Junpei had grown. He could show his face in public as he attends these late night movie specials, even if he didn't realize this gradual change in personality.
Junpei smiled back. "We better get some good seats before this theater gets packed," he said.
Yuji nodded in response. He walked up to Junpei and gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Lead the way, mister movie expert," he complimented.
After sitting in a theater that had gradually become full, the first movie finally began. Like Junpei said before Super Scary Movie 1 was mostly a parody of Screech, although it was full of outdated early 2000s pop culture references that Gojo would probably recognize. Because of this, the reception from our main trio was kind of mixed. Nobara laughed hard during the beauty pageant scene for how dense the girl was for prioritizing her winning over witnessing her boyfriend's murder, Yuji cringed during the overly long phone call gag, Junpei was glad the outdated scenes didn't age the movie poorly, and a quick nod of a costumed wolf head seemed to indicate Megumi nearly dozed off a few times.
Next was Horror Night on Oak Lane, the story of a child serial killer who strikes in people's dreams. This was more of a serious horror film about how the protagonist tried to fight off the serial killer's spirit. The usual dynamic returned with Yuji and Junpei getting way too into the movie, Megumi seemed to show interest despite his usual stoic demeanor, and Nobara was clearly disinterested in whatever gory violent scene was showing. There were even a few times when she grasped the movie seat's armrest to indicate legit panic even if she had a blank expression on her face.
Human Earthworm 2 was a movie Junpei could never get tired of watching. It was about Martha, the adult daughter of Dr. Richter who was haunted by his experiments and was ultimately driven mad to create her own human earthworm monstrosity. The movie's director was described as a perfectionist who abandons everything and it showed. Even if it was a bit gory at times, it was easily the fan favorite movie of the original trilogy. As for the original trio, Yuji enjoyed the movie just as well, but both Megumi and Nobara didn't seem all that thrilled. It was probably due to Martha's unexpected demise near the very end of the movie, beaten to death with a wrench wielded by the very creature she made.
Then there were the special double feature of Sewer Rat Slasher and Citizen Ratty. While both films could be classified as outdated, the visual effects at the time looked a little too realistic for today's standards. One standout scene was the transformation of Marvin Johnson into the titular grossly deformed rat-man hybrid of inhuman strength. At first it seemed he got out of the waste-filled sewer just fine, but one he got home to shower, he slowly mutated until he had a rat head, sharp claws, and a long tail. He then proceeded to track down each of the bullies who left him in such a state in the first place while also stopping dangerous criminals along the way. The fourth movie involved an evil doppelgänger from another dimension with the disclaimer that it was the true sequel. But much like what happened during the reboot, Nobara had to step outside during the more intense scenes, which the three boys didn't mind at all.
Once all five movies concluded and it was time to head home, the group left the theater to head back to Jujutsu Tech. But on the way back home, a certain someone had a very surprising question to ask.
"What was with that Citizen Ratty movie?" Nobara asked. "That weird narration described it as 'the real sequel'."
"That was because of fan reception," Junpei explained. "When filming what was supposed to be one sequel, the creator realized he shot too much footage. So instead of removing unnecessary scenes, he decided to split it into two movies. Those two movies, Sewer Rat Slasher Part II and Sewer Rat Slasher Part III: The Last Temptation of Ratty, weren't as well-received, so the fourth movie was made to fix things up, even retcon some details from Parts 2 and 3."
"How bad were those movies?" Yuji wondered.
"Ratty ends up working for a chemical corporation to pay for his girlfriend's surgery in Part 3," Junpei answered.
Yuji let out an amused laugh. "No way!" he exclaimed.
"I'm serious," Junpei insisted. "I own the entire original movie collection. We can watch the other films once we get back."
"I'll pass," Nobara groaned. "I think I reached my limit of gross horror movies for tonight."
"What about you, Fushiguro?" Yuji checked. "Up for more Sewer Rat Slasher action?"
"Just as long as Yoshino doesn't spoil the rest of the plot," Megumi replied.
"I'll take that as a yes!" Yuji happily concluded.
Overall, it was a very peaceful Halloween night for the sorcerers of Jujutsu Tech. Not a single cursed spirit was out causing trouble and the only horrors came from various monsters behind a silver screen. Of course, our group of four first years would have to deal with actual threats around Christmastime, but that's a story for an another day.