[Edward POV]
"I'm done!" I exclaimed while wiping my non-existent sweat, having finished carving my pumpkin into the shape of a small cat. Phil looked amazed and said, "Whoa. That looks just like your cat."
Luke, excitedly, declared, "I'm going to go get her so we can compare her to the pumpkin side by side." He quickly ran to the house and returned a few minutes later, dragging Alex and Vader along with him. Alex burst into laughter upon seeing my comical cat.
We positioned Vader next to the pumpkin and took multiple pictures, even placing a small witch's hat on her head.
"Meow?" Vader looked confused but obediently stayed by the carving as I continued snapping photos. However, my photo session was interrupted by a call from Maggie.
"What do you want?" I asked immediately upon answering the call.
Taken aback, Maggie stammered, "Um... Hi cutie, how are you doing—"
"I'm hanging up—"
"WA-WAIT WAIT WAIT!!" Maggie desperately called out. I put the phone back to my ear and said, "Last chance."
"Ummm... You know how... You made me go to college here... right," Maggie hinted.
"I know? I'm the one who talked to your dean to get you in," I replied, feeling a bit annoyed.
"Yeah. That," Maggie continued. "So, at college, people usually make friends, right—"
"Get to the point in less than 10 words," I interjected, sensing she had something specific in mind.
"My friends want to come to the party too... Please...?" Maggie confessed right away.
"Exactly 10 words. Good job," I said, thoroughly impressed. Maggie giggled and said, "Thank you~ Thank you~"
"Well, I have no problem with them coming. I also invited some model friends of mine whom I met at the fashion gala, so they'll have people their age. But if they want to come, they need to be vetted first. You should send their names and their social media accounts."
"To you?" Maggie asked, sounding confused.
"No, to my head of security. I'll send you his number."
Anxious, Maggie exclaimed, "Ed! You know I can't text a stranger—" but I cut the call without even hearing her excuses. If she really was an introvert, I would have some pity on her, but she's actually a social butterfly, so the whole thing was actually just laziness on her part.
Just as I ended the call, my phone buzzed with Maggie's name flashing on the screen again. With a sigh, I answered, "What?"
"Can't you answer the call more warmly next time? I'm still your cousin–"
"I'm hanging up."
"WAIT!" She stopped me desperately once more. Then she said, "I don't have a costume to wear for the party. N-Not just me, but I know Vanessa doesn't have anything to wear either."
"Hudgens, huh... Hmm... I don't have anything for girls, but Haley does. She might think she can hide them from me, but I know she has Longines working late hours to make outfits for her. That's why she doesn't have any money at all. You can go to his boutique and bring… Vanessa too. But, you need to call Haley before you can take anything."
"AH! That's perfect. Haley and I are becoming great friends these days. We mainly talk about you– Umm... I'm going to go."
"Wait. Explain. What do you mean you guys talk about me? Maggie!" I asked, but she had already cut the call. "Damn it. She won this time," I cursed before I called Haley to give her a quick heads up. But our conversation was cut short due to Cam's shouting in the background, prompting Haley to end the call.
Turning to Alex, I asked, "By the way, do you know what your sister is coming as for the party?"
"I don't know. She said she doesn't want to be Catwoman 'cause Enid got dibs. I'm not so sure what she decided to go with," Alex replied casually before rubbing her reddish nose.
I remembered her allergies to cats and felt a pang of guilt for not considering that earlier. I racked my brain, searching for a solution. Suddenly, a memory surfaced, and I realized I might have a way to help her.
"Hell– What the– Wait! I really forgot about it, huh," I muttered out loud, surprised by the realization. I had ignored the medicine knowledge I had gotten from Doctor Strange, because I thought it was going to be similar to the ones in this world.
But it really wasn't.
I forgot to consider the universe factor. In the world where they have really high technological advantages, the research on medicines there was top notch. The medicines formula in my brain, if taken out, would shock the entire world.
'Maybe I can do something with this information later.' I thought secretly.
Alex looked at me with curiosity. "Forgot what?"
"Your allergies. I think I may have found a way for you to play with the cats without triggering them," I replied, however this knowledge wasn't from the Marvel universe, but instead, it was from my previous world.
Hope sparkled in Alex's eyes as she asked, "Really? How?"
Taking a moment to gather my thoughts, I continued, "First, we need to get Vader to stay inside a chicken coop."
Confusion washed over both Alex and Vader as they tried to make sense of my statement. Even Agent Smith that was hiding behind the trees was interested in the conversation when I mentioned fixing her allergies, and he almost broke out of his agent's composure when he heard about the chicken coop.
Alex put her hand on my forehead and asked, "Do you have a fever?"
I rolled my eyes and explained, "Cat allergies are usually triggered by a protein called FelD1, which is found in a cat's saliva, urine, and skin glands. These allergens can become airborne and cause allergic reactions to people like you."
"Theoretically, when a chicken is inoculated by these proteins, or like I said before, let Vader or any other cats live with them, they will produce an antibody, an anti-FelD1 protein. Like humans, these chickens' antibodies will be passed down to their descendants."
"These antibodies will concentrate on the egg yolks, and when a cat like Vader eats the yolk, they will receive the antibodies, which will neutralise the FelD1 allergen inside the cat, preventing them from spreading."
Alex widened her eyes and said, "So, stopping them at the source? So I don't have to take allergy medications anymore?"
"I don't know if it'll work 100%, like I said, it is still a theory." I replied with a smile. "I'll get someone to test it."
"NO! I can do that on my own!" Alex said before she turned to her father. Then, her excited expression slowly morphs towards confusion. "Wait, did I just… want to ask my dad to build a chicken coop at our house?"
I shrugged and said, "Seems like a feasible idea tho."
She rolled her eyes at me before realizing something, "Uncle Cam has a farm. I'll ask him if he can let us experiment there."
Agent Smith suddenly appeared in front of Alex, startling her. "AHH!" she shouted.
"Don't worry about it ma'am. We will help you contact our state trusted farms. We can even handle the experiments for you if you want." Agent Smith said.
"That'll be easier. You guys should do that, but let her conduct the experiments by herself too. You know, so she can get the experience." I said.
"We'll include her during the whole process and even cite her as the lead researcher. It'll do wonders for her in the future when she's applying for colleges, and also if she wants to apply for any government- related jobs." Agent Smith said knowingly, playing as if he was doing her a favour. But in reality, he was currying favours with me.
"Wait. It's your theory." Alex said with disbelief.
"My name's going to be there too. Honestly, I only had theorised about it. I didn't even do that much. Your work will take you months." I said teasingly while trying to play off my involvement in the matter. It's not like I was saying anything wrong. No work has ever been done yet about the matter, so it is technically only a theory in this world.
"I'll…take the job!" Alex said seriously to the agent.
"Great. Now we can go get lunch. I'm starving." I said before asking, "What's your mom cooking?"
"I think it's just a simple mac and cheese. She usually cooks those because she'll be preparing a feast at night." Alex said casually. "Oh yeah. That reminds me. You can't stay here."
"That's a rude thing to say… to someone's face." I said with disbelief.
Alex chuckled and said, "No. I'm not kicking you out– Well kinda. Enid, Jenna, Elsa and I are going to be getting ready together here. It's a girl only thing, and well, I'm a girl…" She said proudly. "Also mom said you can't come in until it's time for trick or treating." She added.
I rolled my eyes at her as I had already known what Claire was planning. I was preparing to leave with my pumpkin before I realized something, "Wait. Didn't your dad say Manny will be here? Where is he?"
"Urm…" Alex finally realized it too and replied, "I don't know."
"Okay then. Tell your dad I said thanks." I told Alex before picking up my pumpkin. While I was in the driveway, I heard Phil suddenly shout from afar, "Hey! He's dressing up as me!"
"Took him long enough." I muttered with disbelief before walking home swaggeringly with Vader on my shoulder and a giant pumpkin in my hand.
…
[General POV]
"Mom. Ed's gone." Luke said as he walked towards Claire. She let out an excited squeal and clapped her hands together. "Finally! We can start setting up the surprise now!"
Phil widened his eyes and rushed towards Claire, grabbing her by her shoulders before whispering to her from behind, "Honey, you're not keeping the same energy you and Ed have during your pranks on Halloween right? Cause we really have had enough of that for the year."
Claire rolled her eyes and said, "What's Halloween without a little fear? If you must know, I'm not doing scary– I mean, I am, but not in the ways you're thinking about."
"Wh-what are you planning on?" Phil asked nervously. Claire smiled and said, "Remember you told me you found Ed's doll before?"
"The little girl doll?" Phil asked fearfully.
Claire nodded her head in excitement, squealed and said, "Yes! That. I looked around and found this guy who has more than 10,000 of such dolls in his place, and the best part is, he's open to renting them out for Halloween…"
Claire stopped herself from continuing, but Phil caught that, "Why was he getting rid of them today Claire?"
"Umm…So I already got us all matching costumes, but since Haley and Alex are going to the party, and Luke is going trick or treating with Manny, it'll be just us handling the haunted house."
"No-Nothing. I think he just wants to give them fresh air. You know these weirdos who thought the dolls were real people?" Claire said dismissively, but was still hiding something.
[Claire's commentary]
"Yes. So he wanted to get rid of them, because he said that during Halloween, he could hear them talk? I know that if I said that to Phil it would just freak him out. N-Not because it was true! The guy was seriously loose in the head, so maybe the voices he was hearing were from his head." Claire said, mocking the owner of the dolls.
[Phil's commentary]
"Why is she not answering my questions? Is there something wrong with the dolls?! Or is this part of her elaborate plans to scare me again during Halloween!"
[Luke's commentary]
"Edward gave me some stuff," He said while taking out some disk shaped speakers. "He asked me to put it in between the dolls when mom puts them on, and he'll let me take all the candies I want from his house. Also, he said that he has 3 truckloads full of those candies too, so I'm thinking of asking for one of the trucks."
Luke added, "Mom said she wanted to scare Ed, but Ed wanted to scare her too, so we will see who will win between the two of them."
[Commentary ends]
As Claire was arranging the dolls, Phil went to check on them one by one, but as he left, Luke grabbed the doll and placed the disk speakers inside their clothes.
The doorbell rang, and Alex ran to the door, "I'll get it."
Jenna and Elsa were standing in front of the door, with a clothes bag in their hands. Alex asked, "Where's Enid?"
"She went to Ed's house to peek at what he's doing. Jenna's mom is there too." Elsa replied giggling and added, "Jen is so mad she can't do the same thing now."
"HEY!" Jenna retorted. Alex said sarcastically, "You know what, I've been hanging out with you guys for too long, I've forgotten that stalking is not what normal people do."
"We aren't stalkers!" Jenna retorted to Alex this time. "We just like him a lot, and want to know more about him."
"By…stalking him." Alex added teasingly, which made Jenna roll her eyes. Suddenly Alex realised something, "Wait. Why is your mom there?"
Jenna shrugged and said, "I don't know." As Jenna replied, Enid ran towards the girls and grabbed Jenna and Elsa from behind. Startled, the girls turned towards their breathless friend.
Enid said pantingly, "I just…heard…something…awful… Ed…Is…Going…To…" She paused, which made the girls become anxious. Jenna snapped and asked, "To what?!"
"Haah…Haah.....College." Enid replied after catching her breath.
…
In Longines's boutique, Maggie, after getting permission from Haley, went there with Selena and a few of her friends. The black, bald African American gay man greeted the girls sassily after they arrived, "Uhum. With the way you guys are dressing right now, no wonder Haley sent you all to me."
Vanessa Hudgens was startled and she stepped forward, "Wait. Am I included in that comment?"
"Honey, you're basically wearing drapes right now." Longines said while snapping his finger. "Come with me. All of you. Luckily for you guys, you're going to a Halloween party, and there's no one else in the world other than me who knows how to dress up as something other than myself."
The college girls' costumes were found pretty easily. Vanessa took out a horror movie themed dress– the ghost from the Ring movie's outfit and wig.
Maggie was curious and asked, "Why do you have so many dresses? Are these all Haley's?"
Longines shook his head and replied casually, "No. I took orders from a lot of people. The ones you guys have right now are costumes from last year no one came to pick up. Haley's over there, but…"
Longines looked at Maggie from top to bottom, making her feel conscious, "I think it's too small for you. Hudgens may be able to squeeze into it, but girllll, we need to find you something adult size and not fun size."
Suddenly Maggie saw a Spiderman outfit hanging on the rack near her, "What about that? Who is that for?"
"That's for Edward actually. It was too tight for him, too small, especially in the you-know-what area." Longines said crassly while hinting at the girls, which made both of them fall in disbelief.
"It's Ed's? He's going as Spidey? But he said he was going to dress up as Batman? Did he lie to everyone?" Maggie bombarded Longines with questions.
Longines replied while crossing his arms, "Girl. I don't know what you mean. He made a lot of those, not only the Spiderman one. I'm also the one who made that Batman suit he showed in his Insta-Live. If he made a lot of them, maybe he wants to have the options? "
…
[Edward POV]
As I entered the house, I saw Jenna's mom, Mrs Karlsen sitting at the living room couch while I was putting down the pumpkin. Vader jumped down and ran to the kitchen to get her food and water.
"Hi. You're here." I greeted her cheerfully.
"Hi Ed. You said you wanted to see me?" Mrs Karlsen asked in confusion.
"Yeah, let's go upstairs for a bit. I have something to give you." I replied before looking to see where my dad was. But I didn't see him, or Frankie, so I asked Mrs Karlsen, "Wait. Where did my dad go?"
"?" Mrs Karlsen was confused, "He said he was going to go look for you. I don't know where he is. He left after letting me in."
"Alright then. So we're alone." I replied before I said, "Come upstairs."
At that moment, I didn't realise that my words could be misconstrued as something else to Mrs Karlsen. It was as if she heard everything I said with a sultry filter, and her heart skipped a beat as she followed me.
After we got into my room, I walked to the table and picked up a script for her. "I remember what you said about the audition, and here–"
However as I turned, I saw that she was tying her hair and almost kneeled on the floor, opening her mouth seductively. But she was surprised when she saw the script and went back up immediately. "Wait. A script?!"
"Um, what just happened here?" I asked teasingly, but she didn't even blush a bit. Her eyes were glued on the script, so I gave that to her.
"It's for the role of Skyler White, the wife of Walter White in the new series the company's producing." I explained. "Is she the main character?" She asked excitedly.
"The face of the series is Walter White and Jessi, but Skylar is a main character too." I explained. Mrs Karlsen suddenly hugged me excitedly and said, "Thank you ED! THANK YOU!"
"Calm down. I'm not finished yet. I'm not giving you the role. The auditions are starting next week, and I wanted to give you a head start."
"Doesn't matter. This is the first time I've ever got the script for the main character." She said with tears in her eyes. I was amazed and said, "Wow, this is a huge deal for you isn't it?"
"I've been auditioning for 14 years. And never once did I land an important role. So yeah, it is a big deal for me." She said before she added teasingly " In fact, if you want me to really do what I thought you wanted me to do, I'll have no problems with that."
I rolled my eyes at her and changed the topic, "I'll put in a good word for you with the director. Ah, but I have to warn you, Skylar's character can be quite annoying, so the audience may hate the character."
"Oh, she's going to be pregnant at an old age…" Mrs Karlsen ignored me and skimmed through the script before she teased, "Hmm…Do you want me to be pregnant for real, or?--"
"I can't roll my eyes anymore than this. Go home and read it. I need to get ready." I said as I chased her away.
"Get ready for what?" She asked with a permanent smile on her face. She touched her cheeks and said, "God, this is so embarrassing. My face can't stop smiling. I'd probably need to get botox after this."
"Don't do that." I laughed a bit and replied, "I have a special date today, with a few special ladies."
"A few? Wow! I need to make Jenna stay away from you." She joked. She left soon after with a huge grin plastered on her face while I had some lunch and changed my outfits.
I wore circular glasses, a Gryffindor scarf and Hogwards robes, I drew a lightning mark on my forehead. My dad returned at this time and saw me.
"Well well well, if it isn't the great Harry Potter." He said. I chuckled and pointed my wand at him, "Petrificus Totalus!"
He pretended to be paralyzed for a second before he laughed. "I thought you'd be going as Batman." He asked.
"Batman's for the Trick or Treating thing. Oh shoot, I need to go now, so can you take care of Vader?" I darted off to the front door as I knew I had to go now if I wanted to make it in time.
"Wait. Ed, Dr Gabblehauser–" My dad tried to explain, but I dismissed him, "Later. I really need to go!"
…
[General POV]
Jenna's mom went to Alex's house to share the good news with her daughter before she left. And at the same time, she jokingly shared that Edward was going on a date, which made both Enid and Jenna startled.
"He has a date?! Where!?" Jenna asked.
"With who?!" Enid asked.
Mrs Karlsen was dumbfounded and said, "Um…I don't know."
Claire, who has been eavesdropping, also shouted, "He has a date with multiple girls at once, or they meet him at different times?"
"I seriously don't know anything about it." Mrs Karlsen said with disbelief.
In the children's hospital where Edward went with Haley before.
"Edward's here!" The children shouted excitedly as he came into the ward and brought some gifts for them.
"Hey! Ed! I saw you on TV!" One of the girls said excitedly.
"Are you Harry Potter?" One of the boys asked.
"Are you staying with us to watch the Wizards of Waverly Place?!" A small girl with burn marks on her face– on her left forehead asked meekly while holding a teddy bear.
Edward patted her head and said, "Of course. I promised that I would watch the show with you guys, didn't I? That's the whole reason I went and shot the show in the first place. Here, have some candy."
Edward placed his paper bag on the ground and pointed his wand at the bag, "Candy Bombarda!" He chanted. The spring mechanism in the bag was activated and it shot the candies to the air like a volcano.
The children cheered thunderously as they saw that, some even starting to believe that Edward was a true wizard because of it.