Thomas and Friends: Halloween Havoc

by The Blue EM2

Pipp Petals' Monster Mash

Pipp brought Sophie to a stop after a long day out on the line. Today had been a fun one, but a long one as well. The railway had been running its Halloween offerings for a quite a while, and some trains ran during the day rather than during the night. This was partly to take advantage of the heavy fog that had rolled in over the Isle of Purbeck, which helped to make everything nice and spooky.

"Everybody having a good day?" Sophie asked, as she was released from her coaching stock.

"As good as can reasonably be had with this bore in my ear," Charles replied. He had been sidelined due to an electrical fault and was currently awaiting spare parts. "How an engine can talk at such incredible length about the importance of track circuit monitoring systems I will never know. Most visitors don't even think about that sort of thing!"

"Well, they should do," Ray replied. "Because if those systems weren't there, the journey they take on the railway would be a lot less safe. Dispatching trains on the time interval system is flawed, as a train stalling on a hill is vulnerable to being affected. Armagh, for instance, or the Norwich crash, or-"

"Let's not get into picky details about minor things like that," Charles interrupted. "I believe you've got some sort of event going on at the House today?"

Pipp nodded as she shut down Sophie's engine. "You bet! It's the annual Halloween party today, and this year's party is going to be extra special!"

"How so?" Porter asked.

"It's the first year I'll be celebrating Halloween with my friends!" Pipp replied.

Rebecca looked confused. "We all met last summer."

"We did," Pipp answered. "But we didn't meet again until Christmas, and seeing as we live half the year here there's six months where Zipp and I are away from them, so meetups like this become especially important. We'll be returning the favour by popping over to Falmouth for Thanksgiving."

She climbed down the cab steps and took her key to lock up.

"Be wary of spooky scary skeletons!" Salty said.

"Don't they send shivers down your spine?" Rebecca asked.

"Why not reference a good Halloween song?" Charles said. "Like the one you wrote, Ray? The one about toast?"

There was a moment of silence. "Sorry?"

"The one from the film about a group of guys with lasers and backpacks!"

Ray sighed. "He means Ghostbusters. And I didn't write the theme song. Ray Parker Jr. did."

Pipp checked out the door. "Guys, you really need to get your pop culture information sorted out, as you're muddling a lot of things up!"

She took a look at her phone to check for events, and noticed that some things were on. "Hmmm. Not so sold on a Saw marathon. Perhaps some more light hearted Halloween fare?"

She focused her thoughts as she walked down the streets. Tonight was going to be a grand old party indeed.

---

After checking the main hall was up and ready to go, Pipp headed upstairs to get ready. As was tradition at these parties, the dress code tonight was fancy dress, and guests were encouraged to wear costumes referencing classic horror movies and film monsters.

Pipp had settled on something vaguely Egyptian inspired. After fixing a somewhat wobbly and elaborate headdress to her head and complementing it with a gown that would not have looked out of place in the collection of Queen Neffertiti, she made her way downstairs. "Now, where is everybody else I wonder?"

Suddenly, a portion of a door fell away, and a figure poked their head through. "HERE'S IZZY!" Izzy said suddenly.

Pipp looked unimpressed. "You have thousands of horror films you could have referenced, and you picked The Shining? Oh well."

Izzy closed it up, and seconds later appeared wearing a hockey mask. "Are you ready to be scared?"

Pipp rolled her eyes. "Jason Vorhees doesn't have any dialogue. And he doesn't even appear until the second film in the series!"

The door was put back together, and Izzy exited the door normally. "Just how do you know so much about horror, anyway?"

"I've always liked spooky stuff," Pipp admitted, as the pair headed off down the corridor. "I did my first haunted house at age six, and I've never looked back. I'd love to try one of the Alton Towers scare mazes some day, but it's a bit of a long drive from Dorset."

Izzy looked over. "I see. What are you dressed as?"

"An Egyptian Queen, of course! Seeing as The Mummy is an all time classic, it seems obvious to reference it."

"Do you mean the 1933 film, or the 1997 film, or the 2017 one with Tom Cruise?"

"The 1933 one. The Tom Cruise one was awful!"

---

A few hours later, the party was underway. The drinks were flowing, and the food was being eaten by visitors. Those who had come in fancy dress had agreed to participate in a sort of fashion show. Three young girls (who seemed to be particular fans of Pipp) had come dressed as mildly creepy triplets, whilst Zipp had disguised herself as a knight- which severely limited her movement speed as the armour was very heavy and the visor was stuck in the down position.

Nobody was quite able to figure out who the clown was supposed to be, and Hitch freely admitted that he hadn't had enough time to put his outfit together (hence why his outfit was just him with sunglasses).

Sunny's intruiged them all, as it seemed to consist of mysterious blue armour. Whilst made from lightweight materials, the crowd couldn't help but feel it looked rather familiar. The lack of light and the glowing moon probably helped to accentuate the appearance of the objects.

And Izzy... well, Izzy was Izzy. She had disguised herself as numerous famous characters from horror fiction- all at the same time. A hockey mask here, a black jacket there, and even a tricicyle.

Pipp glanced about. "Where's Misty?" she asked, before heading backstage.

---

She found her soon enough. Misty had stuck a mask on as part of her look, and combined it with a dark blue Edwardian style gown that Pipp had given her. She seemed to be breathing quite heavily. "No, no, no! I can't do this!"

"Can't do what?" Pipp asked.

"Go out there!" Misty replied. "I look silly! Everybody will laugh at me!"

"No they won't!" Pipp replied. "Misty, you look great. I think the crowd will appreciate the Phantom of the Opera homage- even if the gown is a bit late in terms of design."

"Really?" Misty replied.

"I bet! Now let's go! Make sure not to trip!"

As the pair left, another figure entered and switched on a radio. "I'm in," he said. "I am ready to initiate Operation Confusion on your order."

"You have my clearance," said the voice of Opaline on the other end. "Even if my last strike against them failed, a little victory like this will give me some clout." She then began laughing. The other person joined in.

Opaline coughed. "Seriously? You're as bad as Misty when it comes to that sometimes."

---

Pipp strode onto stage with her friends, who had assembled for the main event of the night. "Now, who's ready to rock the night away?!" Pipp called.

The crowd cheered, indicating they wanted to do precisely that.

"Hit it!" Sunny called. A tune that Pipp had specially composed began to play over the speakers of the hall, and this got the attention of the visitors.

"There's somethin' kinda creepy/
Happenin' tonight!" Pipp started.

"So call your favorite ghoulies/
And get your costume right!" Sunny added.

"They may look freaky/
But I promise they won't bite!" Hitch added, as he warded off a shark moving his way.

"And they say the place is haunted/
But the dancing's a delight!" Pipp finished, before they launched into the chorus.

"It may look scary/
But don't be afraid!
'Cause nothing's what it seems/
At a monster partay!

"It may look spooky/
But don't have a fright!
'Cause at this monster party/
We will rock all night!

"Bah-dah-dah-dah-dah!
Bah-dah-dah-dah-dah!
'Cause nothing's what it seems/
At a monster partay!"

But all sorts of chaos was breaking out across the ballroom. The apples in the apple bobbing appeared to have gained a life of their own as they floated about the bowl in which they sat. A mint chocolate fountain had turned into a geyser, spraying everybody around it in chocolate.

Meanwhile, Misty was trying her best to deal with the mountains of complements she was getting.

"Nice mask!" Izzy said, looking closely at the mask Misty was wearing. "Did you make it yourself?"

"I had a little help from my friends," Misty admitted, nervously adjusting it. "I'm not too good when it comes to most arts and crafts."

Zipp said something as well, but her helmet visor made it completely impossible to make out.

Misty seemed ready to continue the conversation, but suddenly jumped as the chocolate flood approached them. "Get on the table!" she said, as she jumped up as best she could. "Pipp's gonna be so mad if I get this dirty!"

Moments later, the lights went out. "Who turned out the lights?" asked a voice.

"It's a ghost!" said another.

Pipp acted quickly and grabbed a nearby remote that switched on the emergency lighting. "Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm! As you can probably see we are having a slight problem with the sound and light system. I hope this isn't causing you too much distress." She looked over. "Hitch, can you go and reset the circuit breaker?"

The mysterious figure had retreated to the edge of the room, and got on the radio. "Party comprehensively crashed."

Opaline seemed pleased, based on her response. "Good. Retreat to a safe distance and ensure you're not seen."

After a few minutes, the circuit breaker was reset, and the party could continue. The situation fixed, the team simply chose to cut loose in the night. After all, it may have looked scary, but there was no point in being afraid. After all, nothing's what it seems at a monster par- tay.

Author's Note:

This chapter is based on, and serves as an expansion of, the TYT episode Nightmare Night Party. The basic story remains the same, but elements needed to be tweaked to fit with both the setting and Misty switching sides considerably earlier than she does in canon. See if you can spot all the references to classic horror movies I left in there,

Charles' remark about toast is a reference to Toastbusters, a food related meme that went around when I was a child.

Comments

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

"The 1933 one. The Tom Cruise one was awful!"

Well, guess I know 1 Tom Cruise movie I won't be watching in the future.

As the pair left, another figure entered and switched on a radio. "I'm in," he said. "I am ready to initiate Operation Confusion on your order."

Not good!

"I had a little help from my friends," Misty admitted, nervously adjusting it. "I'm not too good when it comes to most arts and crafts."

Pipp was right Misty, you had nothing to worry about.

[shining paladin]

great chapter mate keep it up

[The Blue EM2]

11730529
Glad you enjoyed.

[The Blue EM2]

11730439
1. A wise decision indeed.

2. Hardly.

3. They could have done without the sabotage, though.