The Queen and her soldiers ended up in the library, as it was the nearest room in which they could take refuge.  Some of the books were wet, but fortunately the sprinklers had not been on for very long.  The first thing the Queen did was marvel, and the Wizard marveled right along with her.

            “There are not this many books in all of Truscas.”  The Queen admitted.

            “Perhaps in all the world.”  The wizard mused.  Several of the soldiers who had picked up the language well enough to grasp reading began to riffle through books.  The Queen and wizard did this as well.

            “History.”  The wizard announced.

            “Mine appears to have something to do with cooking.”  The Queen said, quickly putting the book down.  She looked around, trying to grasp the wealth that room represented.

            “Printed works.”  The wizard announced.

            “Mine’s about some cat that walks around in a funny hat, but I don’t understand some of the words.”  One soldier admitted.

            “Mine’s about castles.”  Another said, and they all looked at him because he was one of those soldiers with plenty of brawn but not much brain.  “OK.”  He said, defensively.  “I can look at the pictures.”  He held it out and the Queen gasped.

            “That is the finest looking etching I have ever seen.  Wizard, look at this detail.”

            “Majesty.”  Captain Tor spoke up with his head turned ninety degrees to look at a shelf.  “This appears to be a whole collection of information, from A to Z, and beside it is another encyclopedia, whatever that is, but it is a scientific encyclopedia.”

            “Oh, I must see that.”  The wizard came right over.

            “What is this place?”  The Queen shouted to the ceiling, not expecting an answer.

            “The sign out front said something Middle School.”  Captain Tor responded.

            “No, surely it cannot be a school for children.”  The Queen protested, wondering why anyone in their right mind would let children within a mile of such treasures.

                                                            ————

            Red Rayder died.  Princess Ashanti began to cry.  “I’m so sorry.”  Doctor George comforted her while Nurse Shirley hugged her.  “I did my best without any medication or anesthesia.  The arrow was not deep, but it penetrated the heart.  There was nothing I could do.  Those few who still had their wits about them shuddered to think what the boy’s parents would say.  Even the Truscan soldier who had the bullet removed from his leg said he was sorry, too.  Everyone felt awful, except the mad Dentist Ethan, who had taken advantage of the moment to work on the still semi-conscious Count Severas.

            “There’s the bugger.”  Ethan said with a grin, and he put his knee on the Count’s chest and pulled with the pliers he had found in the Janitor’s closet.

            “Oooowww!”  The Count screamed and became suddenly wide-awake, but the tooth came out with a few yanks.

            “Now let’s see what else we can find.”  Ethan said.  “But maybe you better spit first.  That one was kind of bloody.”

            “Get off!  Get Off me!”  

            Several hands grabbed Ethan and dragged him off the poor man.  The Count put his hand to his mouth.

            “The tooth was going to abscess any day.”  Ethan said in his own defense.

            The Count looked like he wanted to cry.

            Meanwhile, in the kitchen, with Chef Brian so distracted by the Red Rayder incident, and the gunshot Truscan, and the dentist running amok, Witch Brittany got Queen Jessica and her three ladies in waiting safely into the corner where the big pot was filled with fresh water.

            “A nice hot bath for her majesty is just the thing.”  Brittany said, and Nichole and Molly, her fellow witches, snickered.

            “Yes.”  Queen Jessica said.  “Hot bath.”  She was not very coherent.  Clearly she was drugged, as were her ladies.  About all that any of them could do was walk where they were guided and stare blankly, without recognition.  Queen Jessica got right in the water.  She did not take her clothes off and did not sit in the so-called tub.  She did not have the presence of mind for such a thing, but that did not bother the witches.  They began to dance around the cauldron, chanting, and tossing in bits of who knew what.  The water slowly began to heat.

                                                            ————

            Out front there were red lights and sirens.  David and Arosa pulled up right behind the fire engine.  Police Chief Jefferson was immediately behind them, and they all paused a moment to look.  There was no smoke and no sign of any fire.

            “Probably one of the kids just set off the sprinklers.”  Fire Chief Brown guessed.  “Happens about every three years at one of these dances.”

            “Thank goodness for that.”  Arosa said, and her wings relaxed, but only David really noticed.

            “I just hope it wasn’t my daughter, Tania.”  He told the librarian in confidence.  “Came dressed as a firefighter like her old man.”

            Arosa nodded and smiled.  “Mines a fairy, but I think she just likes the idea of magic.”

            Chief Brown nodded.  It did not seem he thought much of magic.  David smiled a knowing smile and Arosa caught it and joined him.  Then she saw two figures by the side door which caused her to pause and almost panic.

            “What are we saluting for?”  Opas asked.

            “Cause she is the real Queen, you know.  Wife of poor King Dunovan who died in the war, may he rest.  Ours is just regent these past ten years.”

            “Oh, I see.”  Opas said, straightening his salute a little.  “I was wondering about that.” 

            Arosa pushed to the front and almost literally flew down the hall.  She found Barten-Cur pacing in front of the gym door.  She saw a Spaceman go to one knee and bow before her angelic form and beside him was a professional cheerleader, looking a bit confused.

            “Barten-Cur!”  Arosa spoke.  “What have you done?”

            Opas and Miraz barely got back to the door before the young boy arrived. 

            “Wonder what’s in the bag?”   Opas asked.

            “Straighten up, Opas.”  Miraz said.  “Cute, though, him being dressed.  I guess everyone in this world walks around in costumes.”

            “Trick or treat.”  The little boy said, holding out his open bag in anticipation.

            “Go on, boy.  You don’t belong here.  Go home, it’s late.”  Opas tried.

            “So what are you?”  Miraz was squinting, trying to figure out the costume.

            “I’m a ghost.”  The boy said.  “Trick or treat.”  He repeated, optimistically.

            “What’s a trick or treat?”  Opas asked out loud.  That made the boy pause to think a minute before he answered.

            “My dad says you are supposed to give me a treat or I will play a trick on you.”

            “Ah-ha.”  Miraz said as he and Opas exchanged knowing, smiling glances.  “Wouldn’t want to have a trick played on us.”  Miraz pretended to be scared by the idea.

            “So what kind of treats you got in there?”  Opas asked.

            “Candy.”  The little boy said, holding his bag a little more open and a little higher.  When the soldiers did not respond right away, he added a sour note.  “’course Mrs. Douman gave me an apple.  Shouldn’t do that on Halloween.  That was not nice.”

            “Eh, Opas.”  Miraz nudged his fellow.  “Give the boy a copper, eh?”

            “What.  Me?”

            “Go on.  You can afford it.  You always got a copper or two on you.  I know you.”  Opas turned away from his friend to hide his actions while he reached into his pocket.  He pulled out a couple of coins.  “Give him one for me, too.”  Miraz said.  Opas put one copper in the boy’s bag and stared at Miraz with a hard and cruel expression on his face.  Then he looked at the little boy and softened, and tossed another copper into the bag.  The boy looked in his bag for a moment.  He was not sure pennies were worth much.

            “Dennis!”  A woman was calling from the street.  The boy turned.

            “Happy Halloween.”  The boy shouted as he ran toward the woman.  Opas and Miraz waved good-bye.

                                                            ————

            “I can’t believe it.”  The couch potato spoke.  “It rained inside the building.  I’m gonna get moldy.”

            “Me, too.”  Raggedy Ann agreed.  “Lucky Barbie!  She’s plastic.”

            Lucky my non-existent behind.”  Barbie disagreed.  “Then again, it did put a damper on Super Model Kylie.”

            “Hurrah!”  Raggedy Ann cheered.

            “Next year Hells Angels.”  The Couch said, followed quickly by, “Help!”  A Truscan soldier came over to sit down.

            “Watch it!”  The dolls shouted together.

            “And get off me, you moose!”  The couch yelled at him.  The Soldier decided to retreat to the cafeteria.

                                                            ————        

            Max Man and Maxamillian had the biggest sandwiches Chef Bob would let them make.  They had already eaten all of the pizza which had been prepared for the next day’s school lunches.

            “Yummy for my tummy!”  Max Man howled.

            “Undoubtedly delectable!”  Maxamillian echoed. 

            The sandwiches took two bites each and a fair amount of finger licking.

            “Hey!”  Someone yelled at them for the sucking sounds.  “Shhh!”  The nun was in the next chair letting her friends feel the baby kick.  Snow White was there, with the stewardess and the farm girl whose chief expression seemed to be, “Golly-ee.”  Babette, the upstairs maid, also came to feel the baby, though no one understood a word she said since it was all in French.

            “Seen Kyle?”  The Sheriff walked up to the group.  “The pimp.”  He explained.

            “No.”  The stewardess answered for the group.

            “Thank the Lord.”  Sister Elizabeth said.  She was wearing her rosary down to the string.

            “Cleopatra?”

            “No.”  Snow White answered that time and the Sheriff walked off leaving them to wonder what was up.

                                                            ————-       

            It was then that the kids from room 204 came down the stairs.  The first thing they heard was a police whistle.  A police woman, that none of them recognized, was standing at the crossroads of the hallways, shouting at someone on rollerblades.

            “No rollerblading in the school building!”  The officer sounded mad.  They followed her since it was on the way to the gym, and they saw where someone had moved some big cardboard boxes into the hall.  The officer took out her club and tapped the boxes on the outside.  “Close it up.  I have all they sympathy in the world for the homeless, but you can’t set up housekeeping in the school in the middle of a dance.”  A man with a harmonica and a woman with a guitar, both looking like they had not taken a bath in a month, got out and began to argue a little.  The kids from 204 walked on to the gym door.

            “That was weird.”  The Grim Reaper commented.

            Both ghosts and the devil girl nodded, and then stopped short when they saw what was inside the gym.  The music was far louder than Mister Deal would have ever permitted, though they already knew that; but then, the room was full of adults, and if they were in costume, they were the most realistic costumes ever seen.  The children hardly knew what to think, and it really got strange when the devil girl and the skeleton began to point out some of the dancers.  They both thought the flapper looked like Gerry, and the Bride looked like Cathy.  They were divided on whether or not the ballerina was Felicia, but they were certain that the racecar driver looked like Jeff Barnes – and Jeff had come dressed as a racecar driver.

            “I can’t handle this.”  Scream muttered beneath his mask.

            “I’m going to sit down on that couch over there.”  One of the ghosts said, and like a group attached, they moved en mass.  Lucky for the couch, a girl of about eighteen or twenty with long blond hair and a flower painted on her cheek intercepted the group.

            “Welcome children.”  She said.  That made them feel better, until the devil girl spoke up.

            “Mrs. Finster?”

            In the hallway on the east side of the auditorium, the four guards posted to the hall were granted an interesting sight.  Four rather large men said “break!” clapped their hands, and jogged to the end of the hall, facing them.  Three got down to rest on one hand, the middle one, who stood a little behind the others, appeared to have a ball of some sort in his hands.

            “Ready.  Set!”  The man standing behind the others spoke.  “Blue, thirty-two.  Blue thirty-two.”  He shouted, “Hut!”  And everything happened rather quickly. 

            The linebacker was the quickest, but he had to duck beneath a sword to tackle his man.  Ducking was not hard.  His reflexes were more than up to the job.  The tackled man went down hard, of course, and he did not get back up for a while.  The linebacker, on the other hand, got right up and danced a little dance.

            The center was naturally slower than the others, but he slammed his man into the wall with such force, he busted one of the man’s ribs through the chain mail and the man slid to the floor completely unconscious. 

            The defensive end had the hardest time of it.  His man saw the bruiser headed right toward him and dropped his sword and ran for his life.  Fortunately, the defensive end was well practiced at running down quarterbacks.  He caught the smaller man just before the man was able to turn the corner, and he smothered him under three hundred pounds of bone, muscle and meat.

            The quarterback actually struck his man first.  The football slammed perfectly into the man’s face.  The man dropped his blade and became completely discombobulated.  By the time he pulled himself together, the quarterback was on him.  Tyler was not much in the tackling department, but he was a back-up kicker since the eighth grade.  The man looked up as the quarterback kicked him hard enough to send him through the uprights.

                                                ————

            “Now.”  Captain Aaron said as he led his team down the other hall.  They moved in military fashion, Missy and the Captain with pistols drawn, and the two marines with their rifles.  They halted several feet from the Truscan soldiers who had drawn their swords and looked ready to fight.  “Please hold your shield out for a moment.”  Captain Aaron said.

            The Truscans looked at each other in bewilderment, but the one on the end complied with the strange request.

            “Ricky, put a hole in the shield.”  Captain Aaron ordered, but Ricky had already raised his rifle in anticipation and fired, giving the poor Truscans a start.  When the Truscan pulled his shield back, he showed the big hole to the others.

            “That could have been your chest.”  Captain Aaron said, calmly.  “Please put down your weapons and surrender.  We have no wish for anyone to be harmed.  Three complied immediately, but one turned to run.  Captain Aaron fired, catching the man in the leg, and the man went down.  He moaned and held his leg like it was coming off.

            “Pick him up.”  The Captain waved to two of the Truscans, and they retrieved their comrade, supporting him with his arms around their shoulders.  “Missy.  Gather the Truscan weapons.”

            “Aye-Aye, Skipper.”  Missy said.  She couldn’t help it.  Captain Aaron waved the prisoners back toward the gym, though he brought them through the hall that went around the gym to the cafeteria.  He kept his gun on the free soldier while the marines, Ricky and Tamika brought up the rear.  They were still mumbling.

            “Captain Ahab made that too easy.”  Ricky complained.

            “You mean the Gorton Fisherman.”  Tamika responded.

                                                            ————

            The fight in the auditorium went about like one would expect.  Three superheroes, all former seventh graders, broke in from both sides, now that the halls were clear.  One knocked the lights out of one guard, and caught two more in his traps.  One took two out before they hardly noticed him.  The third also clocked her pair, but the other six soldiers, the wizard, the Count and the Queen made it out of the side door around her preoccupation; and the Wicked Witch of the West went with them.

            “Should we follow?”  The first asked and the woman wanted to follow as well, but the other superhero shook his head.  Auditorium’s clear.  They were driven out and we have prisoners to return to base.  They won’t go far.  The superhero carried one unconscious man on each shoulder, as did the other man.  The woman only carried one, but that was so she could keep a blade ready for the two that had been caught in the traps.  They went to the east hall, out the door opposite the one the Queen had taken. 

            Meanwhile, the Queen screamed once more.  How could she have been taken by surprise like that?  She slapped the wizard on the back of the head and slugged the Count in the arm.  At least the Count had the decency to say, “Ouch!”  They went to the office, only to run into Lila and her crew.  Several things happened then before the parties separated.

            The Queen touched the scarecrow’s arm as they bumped into one another.  It was not intended, but the Queen’s anger at that point was hot enough to set the straw on fire.  Lila panicked.

            “Grampy!  Grampy!”  She yelled, swirling around the poor scarecrow’s head almost too fast to see.  Princess Ashanti watched for a second until it made her dizzy.  While the Queen backed away, some look of distress on her face, Lila shot up to the ceiling and set off the sprinklers.  As the water fell, Ginger let out a sound that was almost a meow of complaint, and she darted down the hallway, looking for a dry spot.  The Wicked Witch of the West also ran off for fear that she might melt.

            Somehow, the wizard’s crystal in a box ended up in the hands of the pirates.  Perhaps that was inevitable.  What was less anticipated, was finding a semi-conscious Count Severas in the hands of an elf and a ninja.

            While the Princess helped put out the scarecrow’s arm, the scarecrow shouted at Lila to turn the sprinklers off.  She did, eventually.

            “Now the fire department will come.”  The scarecrow commented.  Thus far, the town had not been infected by the invasion of armed and dangerous soldiers.  It would be better for all not to open that can of worms.  “I’ll square it with Bob when he comes.”  The scarecrow thought, but then, perhaps Bob might not take the word of a scarecrow.

            “But Grampy.  Are you all right?”  Lila was very worried.

            “Yes, dear.”  The Scarecrow said.  “There is some fresh straw back in the gym.  I’ll just restuff and be as good as new.”

            Meanwhile, all but two of the prisoners taken in the office, escaped with the Queen.  Then Princess Ashanti screamed.  Red Rayder had an arrow in the back and he wasn’t moving.  Peter the ninja and Jennifer the elf handed the stunned Count to the pirates, caught Red Rayder up and carried him along.  They brought him through the gym, raising the eyebrows of more than one dancer as they did.  Luckily, though, people were dancing again, now that the internal rain shower had ended, and so most did not notice, or at least they did not realize exactly what they were seeing.  They got Red Rayder to the cafeteria as quick as they could, and people made way to lay him on a table.  Doctor George was just prepared to extract the bullet from a soldier’s thigh when they called him straight to the fallen young man.

            “Who is this?”  Doctor George asked as he looked closely.

            “Eddie Bricker.”  Lila said, without the least bit of fairy cuteness in her voice.