Agent's Sweeping Ovation, and a Raccoons Meow

'Trick or Treat’ is a relatively fun phrase, that most children relish, and some adults fear. A holiday such as ‘Halloween’ is naturally when the children receive their delectable treats, and potentially commit some form of prank or trick. Though it's also when the wicked forces that lurk in the shadows come out to play, for what other time of year is so fraught with magic? None, believed the gothic sorceress Vanessa, and she was certainly going to have fun tonight…

Out in her lonely manor situated deep in the woods, her two friends were busy making preparations for the evening. The duo were hanging (presumably) fake cobwebs in the corners of each individual room. But they couldn't forget to shove (hopefully plastic) skeletons into every other closet they saw. Thankfully the porch was already littered with pumpkins complete with varying expressions of; happiness, anger, and a failed attempt of making one look sad that they figured was “good enough”.

One of the hard workers was an anthro raccoon that was normally dressed as the faithful maid to the female practitioner. Tonight though, he was ironically dressed as a witch himself. Though his outfit was of a more cutesy design, with; a primarily purple colour scheme, a star covered vest, purple and yellow stripped stockings. And of course he couldn't forget the witches hat, with his being topped with a star on the very end.

The raccoon, Dominic, was working with a thin looking human named Agent, whom appeared to be dressed as a cowboy of sorts. His attire included his signature red shirt and denim pants, which were in turn partially hidden by a thick brown coat. Attached to his belt was a trusty lasso, and of course, he also had a signature Stetson atop his head. Though somewhere along the way, he had unfortunately lost a lavish bandana, which almost completed the look.

Looking around the chambers, which outright could've belonged to one of nobility, Agent couldn't help but admire their efforts. Perhaps if they attached some cords with rubber spiders to the ceiling, Vanessa would go easy on him for once. Though he couldn't fool himself, as the woman could do far worse to him on any other day anyways.

Briefly looking up at the ceiling in thought, he called out over to his friend with, “Dom? Have a ladder to get up there?”. In turn, they soon the hurried skipping of the young witch, whom was naturally carrying broom.

Granted, it wasn't particularly impressive. It appeared to have been an old fashioned besom, with some bristles falling at the slightest movement. The wooden shaft even appeared split in some areas. All in all, it was probably a forgotten item from the attic, that's more guaranteed to give you splinters than a pretty sight.

‘I see where this is going’, Agent thought with an eye roll. Crossing his arms, he remained ever so quiet.

Giggling, Dominic held the broom above his head. “Who needs ladders with magic at our disposal?”, he exclaimed excitedly.

Not one to interfere, Agent took a step back as Dominic held the item between his legs. Closing his eyes, the anthro whispered, “Oh spirits roaming the earth on O’ Hallows Eve, grant me the power of flight!”

Tragically...Nothing of note happened. With a grunt, Dominic slapped the handle of the broom. “Obey me!”, the furry teen shrieked. Though the broom only sputtered, with the straw bristles tied to the end giving a sad ‘pfft’ noise in response. 

“...Does it need fuel?”, Agent asked, having noticed the broom coughed out some smoke. Admittedly, he was mildly shocked the thing generated the hacking noise, as such a dilapidated 'antique' looked less magical than a block cement.  

Before Dominic could answer however, an ominous laughter erupted throughout the building. The lights flickered, before plunging the inhabitants in nothing but darkness. As the two moved closer together out of concern, their ears perked at a sound of something being dragged along the floor.

Weilding the broom with the bristles facing forward, Dom was reluctantly the de facto lead in this scenario. Although he was less than pleased over the matter, blaming his cursed raccoon sense of curiousity.

As they peeked into the main hall, they could see the lunar rays shining in through the wide open doorway of the front enctrance. The blue tinged glow illuminated the outline of a hunched figure, draped in a grey cloak.

As lightning suddenly flashed from behind the being, their hideous appearance was partially more visible. Their skin was leathery, with a melted nose taking the magirity of their sagging face. It reached forward with an abnormally long and outright rotten hand, adorned with a hand composed of twisted fingers.

They shuffled forward, dragging their feet along the ground. As it's red eyes looked at the duo, it wheezed a moan toward them. This moan began to evolve into a gurgled cackle, the fur on the anthro standing on end.

Dominic suddenly collapsed onto the floor, his tail fur having puffed out in fright. The Hag and cowboy froze in place and looked at him in surprise. “That didn't take much, did it”, the hooded entity murmured.

The lights flashed on once more, as the crone pulled back their cloak to reveal balding white hair. Standing straight up, the hunch vanishing, their ancient skin began to glow with life, becoming more youthful. Brushing her lengthening brown hair back with her grotesque hand, the rot peeling away to reveal healthy flesh, she smiled at the sights of her abode. “Given that it's only been about a few hours, I'd give this a C for effort”, she said jokingly.

“Nnhhgh..”, Dominic uttered as he crawled to his feet. “Th-That wasn't fair, M-Ms. Vanessa!”, he muttered under his breath, before gripping his muzzle shut in fear of punishment from his boss. 

He fell to the floor once more as Vanessa skulked towards him, her hair twisting into wild tendrils. As she loomed over him, she whispered into his ear, “Boo”. And that was unsurprisingly enough to reduce her servant to a quietly whimpering mess.

Pulling him to his feet, Vanessa eyed both of the males that tried to ‘spice up the place’. Vanessa straightened out her purple gown underneath the cloak, her hand brushing against a small leather punch that hung from her waist.

Picking the ancient looking broomstick, she looked at with disgust. Without warning, the other two watched as she broke it over her knee and set it on the dining room table, setting the cloak from earlier on a chair. Then she proceeded to slump in one of the seats after it moved itself to offer its services to her. The usually dignified woman kicked off her heeled shoes, and began to rub her temples with a disgruntled groan.

Instinctively deciding to massage her shoulders, Dominic asked his employer, “Whatever is the matter..?”.

After a few moments, she spat out the word “Fairies” with a noticeable amount of disgust. With a pop of her knuckles, she reiterated, “I hunted a few south of the nearby town, but the pesky vermin flew into pixie territory. So all off a sudden, I have jinx's being blasted all around me”. 

Though she soon began to chuckle snidely as she held up the pouch tied to her thin waist. “Then they had a rather angry witch to deal with. Never stood a chance!”, she said with a proud snicker.

Agent glanced at the small baglike object, wondering if the thing held the remains of cute mythical creatures that media glorifies as wish granters. Though, almost having read his mind, Vanessa looked at him with disgust.

 “Do you think me a monster? No, I stole their dust and left the dragonfly knock offs without any magick!”, she said with offence.

Unsure of what fate is technically worse, he held up his hands in surrender. So as Vanessa waved off Dominic’s massage, she opened the small leather sack to look upon the white powder held within. It glistened with golden energy, a light humming resonating from the substance that the furry's ears picked up

The talented woman was ecstatic in her own right, keeping a childish need to squeal deep within. But no matter what, her facial expression was one of desire. In truth, why shouldn't she be this interested over the dust? It was power in physical form, that any accomplished Mage would use as a catalyst for their favourite spells, or curses.

Finally speaking up, Dom softly asked, “...How does it work..? Isn't it pure magick or something..?”, albeit in an oblivious sense.

Raising a brow at her maids intrigue, she relented somewhat. “My aura will be able to customize its properties, since the alignment of this is flimsy at best", she revealed. “But it'd be hell of a lot more fun if it was 2020 already”, she huffed with annoyance in regards to that year being the soonest occurrence of a full moon on Halloween night.

“Are we going to be helping you with this...well, maniacal plot you've undoubtedly prepared for the evening?”, Agent asked her. 

It seemed to take a few moments for her to ponder her answer, but she only gave a shrug of her shoulders. “Depends on how things work out, honestly. Though, I did promise the kid to take him out this year for the sugary rewards, due to his loyalty”, she admitted.

The anthro shook his head, his hat falling over his green eyes. “Y-You c-can forget that, I wouldn't mind forgoing candy for a night of magick..!”, he offered meekly.

Climbing out of her chair, she began to stride towards the grand window without the room. “Or, shall I repeat myself further, and offer a night of 'Trick or Treating'?”, she asked without facing the two others. Though given their nervousness, they were unwilling to speak up.

She cursed under her breath and spun around and gave them both a dumbfounded expression. "Seriously? When have I been known to pass up a chance of fun", she asked rhetorically, placing the back of her hand on her thigh.

Agent appeared perplexed, and thus quietly inquired, “In what way..?”.

With a soft snicker emanating from Dominic, he whispered to Agent; "I think this is where the mouse runs away".

Sure enough, Vanessa had her sights set on the western styled male, whom was slowly beginning to back away. As Dom stepped to the side to avoid being caught in any crossfire, the Mistress of the house slowly lowered her hand into the small pouch, clutching some of its contents between her fingers.

"Let's skip the formality of the countdown, alright dear?", Vanessa said playfully as her hand patted the sack on her waist.

Taking a hint, Agent bolted for the doorway, foolishly believing he still had a chance in this story. Sure enough, the imposing female was merely waiting for him to film. As he had spun around on spot, Vanessa was able to snatch the rope on his waist, acting as a lasso. 

Having enough magic in reserve, aware there wasn't a knot on the end, she gave the item a mighty toss. It soared through the air, colliding with Agent before coiling around his chest. Then with a hefty tug from Vanessa, her prey was pulled to the ground. 

Skidding on his back to a halt, he hastily rubbed his dorsal area as a bruise began to form on his skin. Naturally he was soon distracted from the action as his predator walked towards him with a light sway to her hips.

Vanessa smiled down upon the nervous man, savouring his look of anxiety. "I won't sugar coat it, this is my favourite part", she whispered in his ear.

Letting the end of the rope she still clutched in her hands fall to the ground, she lowered her fingers into the small pouch. Unseen to the others, the woman had sliced the skin on her index with her thumbs fingernail. A single drop of her blood fell onto the powder, being absorbed by it. The substance flashed red, before shifting to a light violet shade, corrupted by her essence.

Taking a pinch between her fingers, the woman flicked some of the powder at Agent as he scrambled away. This action knocked him back to his knees, as the dust collided with the trunk of his body with an invisible force.

The glowing specks were then absorbed into the rope tied to his midsection, which suddenly began to twitch. But Agent hardly noticed this as Vanessa gave a quiet hiss.

As the sorceress and furry watched, getting ever so closer to the slight, the latter they witnessed as Agent’s formed was being thinned out. With the level of how much he was being compressed, one should've seen the body’s juices staining the floor. But nonetheless, the victim kept struggling as he was reduced to the thinness of a pole.

As Vanessa reached down, she received a surprise as Agent’s arms popped out from the ropes. They flailed wildly, trying to make sense of their current situation. So as the woman shook her head in annoyance, she took hold of both arms, and yanked so very hard. And with a ‘crack’, the still wildly flopping limbs were detached from the main body.

Agent thankfully wasn't deceased, and given the magick at play, he was still able to feel his remotely controlled arms. But having his mass reduced to a ridiculous extent had drained him of his energy and will. By this point, it was a common theme in his life of TF.

The rope slid off of Agent, to reveal his stick like figure. Dominic sniffed the air above the wriggling mass of their friend out of instinct, and backed away unnerved. “Beats yoga, in my opinion”, Vanessa said as she set the severed arms on a table, before picking Agent up ever so slowly. “But I bet you wish this was it”, she muttered slyly.

Her grip on Agent’s pole like body grew in temperature. Mustering all the strength he could, he was able to bend his absurdly mobile frame enough to watch as his skin and clothes peeled away, to reveal hardened wood underneath. Trying to struggle against the TF witch as he was being reduced to a wooden object yet again, he couldn't help but glare at her. Especially as the last trace of his face itself peeled off, leaving a wooden staff behind in his place, that was almost as tall as the woman responsible.

Though the change wasn't perfect, for his arms somehow managing to break free of the ropes during the process left his red sleeves unchanged. This inturn had embedded them into the quivering rod. Groaning with mild displeasure, Vanessa tugged on the sleeves and stretched them out. Releasing her hand, they snapped back into place with a violet hue, with a noticeably longer length. And the sleeves proceeded to twist themselves into a prominent bow that grew in size.

“Hm, I suppose it is cute”, Vanessa said with a chuckle as she gripped the wooden staff. With a tighter clench, an inflated lump traveled down the stick, fresh looking straw bristles bursting out of the bottom. Alas, that final change left what was once Agent, without the energy to move, his form setting.

Holding her new broom in her hands, she trailed her finger along the rod as she walked to where she had set the leftover appendages of the man. Looking at them without a care, she held one of Agent arms high above her head.

Squeezing the starting point of the arm with both of her hands, she slid one of them along the limb, transforming it into a thin silver rod. Though, as if it was a balloon animal, all that forcibly reduced mass seemed to cause the hand to inflate with the fingers stretched out in all directions. Then with an enormous pop, the palms burst as the surviving aspects of the hand turned into a golden star, complete with a hole in the middle.  

Beginning to chuckle with more amusement, she sprinkled a pinch of the fairy dust on the rope, which had suddenly curled up by her feet. It shivered before slithering onto the sorceress’s shoulders, then down along her arm. 

Setting the new metallic wand onto the tabletop, she took hold of the rope in one hand. Then in the other, she clutched onto the remaining arm of Agent's, which had weakly attempted to pull itself away to no avail. Holding the items outwards, she brought them both together in a mighty clap that echoed noisily throughout the halls. Agent’s arm and the lasso glowing brightly as the rope wrapped around the appendage.

The bright glow seemingly signified the fusing of the twine rope to the limb, converting it into the same yellow material. So as Vanessa set it down, she shook her head as she sliced opened the once sentient object, causing it to unravel into a pile of string that began to reform as a sheet. 

Gripping hold of her new wand, she gave the sheet a light tap. The area her magical tool made contact with the material became a starting point for a spread of purple that sound enveloped the material. But this had an extra bonus of converting it to a soft velvet as well.

By setting her own arms on the fabric, the cloth turned into a fluid, whilst somehow maintaining the velvet texture. The ‘puddle’ collected on her extended arms, forming gloves that reached to her shoulders. The rest of it pooled along her legs, creating stockings of the same violet colour.

The dumbfounded anthro looked at his mouth with a hanging jaw, giving a modest clap as an applauded for her deed. "Th-That was unexpected, but k-kinda neat, Madame..!", he said whilst still processing the actions that had taken place. However, he was also silently wondering if this was planned in advance.

In this state, Dominic hadn't noticed his boss pull a black giftwrapped present from out of thin air. That is until Vanessa had prodded his forehead with her finger, illiciting a small jolt of surprise from him.

"How about this to ease your nerves?", she offered kindly.

Clutching at the box with intrigue, he immediately tore into it. The sight of the item within caused him to swish his tail with joy. His eyes gazed upon a sleek black collar, complete with a platinum bell around the size of a golf ball. Typically for a simple minded individual like himself, he put it on in a heartbeat.

Placing Dominic’s discarded hat along her head, sparks were created as her fingers slide along the the wide brim. The shade darkened, whist the star on the pointed end popped into the form of a skull. And with a whistle, the newly formed broom couldn't help but lift into the air to drift next to its Mistress, suddenly feeling the desire to please her with a beautiful flight.

Sitting atop it in a side saddle fashion, as her dress suddenly shortened to knee length, Vanessa gave a flick of her head. Furniture moved out of the way, with the doors opening wide for their Mistress. Placing Dominic on the hilt of the broom, with a comforting hand on their head, Vanessa swung one of her legs over the rod to ride it traditionally.

With the wand and pouch of fairy dust on hand, Vanessa stroked her pet's ears. So with a bright flashing pulse from the bristles, the TF witch rode the new vessel out of her manor, and into the night sky.

The cat clenched their eyes shut as their claws extended into the wooden rod, afraid they'd both fall off. Though, Dominic was amazed to see themselves soaring high above the town below, relieved they hadn't somehow fallen off. But it was also possible a silent protective charm was in place, of course.

Vanessa grinned with joy, proceeding to dunk the golden head of her wand into the pouch. The rod absorbed the energies within, the glistening star beginning to glow with enchantment. Thus, with a deep inhale, she gently blew upon the shining star. 

Spheres of pulsating fairy dust were created that floated leisurely around them, before silently bursting into dark clouds that would spread across the sky. ‘Best to set the atmosphere for the show’, she thought eagerly. 

Watching the smoke form above the town, Vanessa could see the minuscule specks of children beneath her. Closing her eyes, she took a handful of the remaining dust from the pouch, and began to carefully let it spew from her palm. The clouds crackled with mixes of green, red, teal, and any variation there of, as she channeled her magic to cast one of her grandest spells of the year...

So as is typical, no one down below was none the wiser. As clouds filled the night sky, most simply ignored it as yet another storm. Even when flashes of neon colours erupted from within the mist, they merely awed for a few moments at the 'fireworks'. But when specks of light started to rain upon the community, that's when the confusion finally began.

Struck by momentary bouts of dizziness, those in costume were oblivious to any zippers or Velcro on their costumes fading away. But no one could ignore the sights of masks merging with the faces of the children, or wings of fairy princess costumes suddenly begin to flutter to the owners whims.

So as the mastermind of the spell began to lower her broom to the earth, her heart fluttered at the sights of parents panicking, and of a stray kid become one with his spider costume, spewing webs on a whim. To keep things entertaining, it appeared as if anyone caught under the spells effects had forgotten their pesky inhibitions and fears in regards to their temporary alterations.

Transformation is the greatest treat in Vanessa's eyes, and she certainly wasn't in the mood for her creations to hunt her down in revenge. Granted, out of kindness the effects will wear off by sunset, hoping at least a few will have enjoyed her 'gift' deep down, recalling the incident fondly. And with media of course, the knowledge of this occurrence will spread, as she didn't particularly care either way.

Keeping true to her promise however, she touched down to earth once more, and carried her familiar throughout the town to retrieve a few bags of candy for the hard working cat. The broom on the other hand was so desperate to please its owner that it swept the path ahead of her for the rest of the evening.