"Party Hat, are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked my friend as we made our way to the house.

"You gotta live a little, Shieldy! Besides, it was a dare, not much I can do about it." Party Hat replied, not breaking his stride. "Why are you coming with me, again?"

"Just making sure you don't get hurt or anything. This IS a haunted house, after all."

Party Hat laughed. "This is the same place we were in for episode seven's challenge! It wasn't even haunted in the first place!"

"Still," I shook my head. "It kinda gives me the spooks. It's old, run down, not to mention a lot of time has passed last we were there."

"Hot Dog just wanted to scare me; I don't believe there are ghosts in there. What could go wrong?"

A lot of things, actually, but I kept that to myself.

"Look, Shieldy, if you really don't like this, you can just..not come with me. It isn't necessary, ya know!" Party Hat stops, eyeing me.

"I'll look like a chicken if I go back," I sigh, shaking my head. "Plus, it's probably scary to be inside by yourself."

"Looking like a chicken isn't that bad!" Party Hat scoffed, looking offended.

"You know what I meant!"

"Just teasing ya!" He laughs playfully, resuming his walking.

I groan. It's kinda hard to really be mad at him though.

"Can't we just..go inside, take the pictures, and stay outside for the rest of the night?" I ask.

"We could..but that'd be no fun! Once we're inside, you'll see there's nothing to be scared of!" Party Hat replies.

"Sometimes I wonder whether your mental age grew any further than five.."

"Heyyy! That's mean-!" Party Hat bumps me, laughing. I laugh with him.

"Seriously though Shieldy, there's nothing to be worried about. I'll be fine, you'll be fine, everything's gonna be fine!" He reassures me once again. We were at the door of the house now.

"Alright..let's just go in." I rest my hand against the cold doorknob, and turn. The door opens with a whine.

Party Hat enters first, snapping a photo of the lobby. "Everything's so old and dusty!" He commented. "Mm..and dark.."

"Hey Party Hat, should I-?"

The wooden door closes behind us, leaving the only lights coming from the open windows from the next room over.

"..nevermind.."

Party Hat shudders. "Creepy.. Could probably just be the wind though."

"I really wish we had a flashlight right now.." I sigh. "It's scarier now, and how are we gonna take pictures in the dark?"

Party Hat holds up the camera. "We could always use flash. And this camera is great quality anyway, so we should be fine!"

"Okay then, onto the next room."

We head towards the light emitting from the kitchen, where everything seemed to be unmoved. Even the giant hole in the wall Big Orange Chicken made wasn't patched up.

"Okay, picture taken!" Party Hat exclaims. What's next?"

I think for a moment. "The library! Shelly told me she scared Chocolatey away there."

"Great, let's go."

As we were walking down the corridor, Party Hat snickered and turned to me. "Hey, remember when YOU got scared out of the house?" He said, chuckling.

"We- Well-!" I sputter. "What would you do if you saw something strange and dark trying to grab someone else's foot!?"

He laughed even harder. "Kick it away, probably! I definitely wouldn't run off like a little girl!"

"Oh shut up, we're at the library, so just take the picture and we can head upstairs."

Party Hat let out a long sigh of fading laughter and snapped a photo. "It's still funny."

I took the lead. "Ah whatever, let's just go upstairs and not discuss this ever again."

"Hm, come to think about it, I don't think we've ever been in those sections of the house. Who knows what kind of spooooooky things are up there?" He smiled evily.

I rolled my eyes. "You're not helping."

Party Hat follows me heading up. The stairs were still creaky as ever, and when we got to the top, we were met with yet another large, empty room.

"Huh. I wonder why I'm not surprised."

"How many large, empty rooms does one house need to have?" Party Hat gazed around. "There aren't even any pictures on the walls, just two windows."

"Hah, I never realized you had an eye for design! Next thing I know, you'll buy this house and change it completely!"

Party Hat clicked his tongue. "Well, I can't say I'm a good interior designer.. buttt, I AM a great fun designer!" His eyes widen as he starts hopping around.

"Maybe I could line the stairs with confetti- no, balloons! NO- balloons, AND confetti! And, and, I could stock the fridge with INFINITE cakes! Ooh, I could make a mirror hall in the corridors, and I should probably do something about that hole in the wall.. " He gasps and runs right up to my face. "I could maybe even make the floors all BOUNCY!" He exclaims, giddy.

I laugh, grasping the rail for support. "You might wanna slow down the ideas there Party Hat, it mayy be a bit too early to start thinking about a funitectural career!"

"But Shieldy, once the waterfall of imagination starts, you can NEVER stop it!" He yelled, practically bouncing off the walls.

This made me laugh harder, I almost fell to my knees! Always leave it to Party Hat to turn any situation into something laughter-filled.

"Okay, okay, but don't burn yourself out! Take the picture, and let's see what other room you can fun design next."

The ever energetic Party Hat skipped to the stairway, and snapped a shot of the whole room. "Okay, left or right?"

"What?"

"Left or right? There are more hallways on the other end."

"Oh, uhhh..left!"

Party Hat pointed with his foot left. "Onward!"

Laughing, the two of us turned down the hallway, which led to more rooms with doors. A single window cast starlight in our direction.

"Hey! There are bedrooms here! And BEDS!"

"Party Hat, don't-"

Despite my half warning, Party Hat dashed past me and leapt onto the mattress. A massive cloud of dust shot up, completely covering him. He sneezed and coughed, rolling off the side of the bed.

"Ohh.. Shieldy, I don't- ACHOO! ..feel so good.." He moaned, sneezing again.

"Well what else did you expect from a dusty old bed?" I mutter, helping him up.

Party Hat sniffed, making a small groaning sound. "I didn't think it would have so much dust.. Come on though, what else do you expect me to do when I see a bed, NOT jump on it?"

I don't reply, just put my hand to my face and shake my head. He does have a point though, beds ARE made to be jumped on.

"You're okay though, right?"

He nods and sniffles again. "Yeah, the dust isn't that irritating." He snapped a picture of the room. "There's another bedroom opposite of this one. I'll go get the photo, and we can move on!"

Party Hat goes into the next room as I close the door behind us, and the click comes from the camera.

"By the way Party Hat," I say to him as he exits, "What do we do after all the pictures are taken?"

"I don't know, get comfortable for the rest of the night, probab...wHAT IS THAT!?" He shouts, pointing into the large room we were previously in.

"What.." I peek around the corner, and gasp when I lay eyes on what he was hollering about.

At the end of the room was a tall, dark figure, outside the light from the window. It didn't look like it was approaching though.

"Shieldy...we should go..like, right now." Party Hat whispered, tugging on my leg.

I nod. "Okay..no sudden moves." I inch my way past Party Hat, heading for the right hallway.

Bewm!

A laser fried the spot my foot would be next, and I halt, catching my breath before I could make a sound. Wide eyed, I look from the now burnt wood to the stranger, who was now coming towards us.

The light hits his face, and I know exactly who he is.

"It's the Hacker.." I say under my breath. Party Hat does a slow nod beside me.

"I'm back, suckers." He hisses, "lazer" gun protruding from his back. Except this time, it looked a lot more menacing, bigger, and with multiple slots for more lasers.

"What are you doing here?" Party Hat asks, a tinge of fear in his voice. "We aren't even in a video game!"

"Yes, but you must not underestimate the power of..the Hacker." He eyes each of us, not blinking even once. "And I am here.. to get my REVENGE!!"

"Dude..REALLY not in the mood for this now, why don't you go do something else with your life?"

The Hacker points a stick arm at me. "You were the one who defeated me last time! I'll deal with your friend, and then you're next!"

I looked to Party Hat for his reaction. He didn't appear scared anymore, just mad and annoyed, really.

"I'm not scared of you, weirdo! You won't be able to hurt us!" He shouted in defiance.

In response, the Hacker shot a laser at Party Hat, who swiftly dodged.

"I have upgrades," The Hacker said, "And I know how to delete you two..from LIFE."

That, made me worried. Last time we saw the Hacker, he killed everyone in the video game. The only reason I beat him was because I could deflect his lasers.

Party Hat, on the other hand, could easily die.

Without warning, the Hacker shot again, and I leapt in front of my friend, shielding him from the blow. The Hacker stepped aside and laughed.

"Ha! You think I'm dumb!?"

"Shieldy!" Party Hat whisper-hissed. "Are you hurt? Why'd you do that?"

"I'm protecting you! Unlike me, you can easily die!"

"Shieldy-" He protests, but I cut him off.

"Let ME deal with him. Now get into the room!"

"Wai-"

I shove Party Hat into the nearest room, and shut the door. Then I turn to face the Hacker.

"Go on, shoot me." I say. "You can't hit this."

Deadly looking chainsaws sprout from his arms, and they begin to spin. I gulp in some air.

This doesn't look so good.

The Hacker slashed, I dodged. He sliced the air repeatedly, aiming for my face. One of the teeth came dangerously close to my eye as I slid away laterally.

"Come back here and DIEEEEEE!!" He shouts, chasing me. A chainsaw blade comes crashing down, and I jump away, the wood splintering right where I was.

It became a game of cat and mouse, only the cat had deadly claws that scratched up the ground. We ran around the room again and again, until I heard a sound other than the whirring of chainsaws behind me.

Something collides with my back, and I fall down, painfully. I push myself up, only for me to be slammed against the wall. Groaning, I look up.

The Hacker is in front of me, an enormous hammer in hand. He pulls out his chainsaw and grins.

The glint of the silver metal wakes me up, and I squirm, but to no avail. Metal grinded against metal, I was being held by one of his chainsaw arms..!

"Time to be deleted!" He smirks. The blade switches on, and the whirr becomes louder as spinning death comes closer and closer to my face.

I look away and shut my eyes.

All I hope is that Party Hat found a way to escape and-

"Hey weirdo! Bet you can't get me, nah nah nah!" A raspberry sound follows straight afterwards.

How did he-?

"Who? What?" The Hacker scans the room for Party Hat.

But his voice wasn't coming from the room, it was coming from the ceiling..

How did Party Hat get in the ATTIC!?

I spot his eye peeking out from a hole a ways away from us.

Unfortunately, so did the Hacker.

"Grr, how dare you ruin my perfect victory!?" The Hacker growls. He thrust his chainsaw arm towards the hole, but Party Hat's eye disappears before contact was made.

"Ooh, not quite! Try again~!" He singsongs. His footsteps patter like rain above us, running all over the place. The Hacker fumes and rages, smashing the chainsaw into the ceiling again and again.

Was Party Hat trying to create a diversion?

But whatever he was trying to do, this was my chance to escape! I'd give him a piece of my mind later.

I couldn't alert the Hacker though. What around here could I use to get out? Squirming didn't work, so maybe I could push the chainsaw away..

Worth a shot.

I bend my legs and press them against the flat side of the weapon. Bracing my arms against the wall, I push with all the power inside me. The Hacker loses his balance and falls over, making two giant holes in the ground.

"Nice job, Shieldy!" Party Hat exclaims from above me. The Hacker, however, is livid.

He screams in frustration and throws the chainsaws around wildly, the latter buzzing as they sliced whatever was in their path.

"Ah!" I roll to the side and duck, narrowly missing a blade to my head. Massive cuts scarred the floor, roof, and walls, and a few holes were made. He swipes at me again, and I run. I zip past him, and he yells again, chopping up the floor.

"Hacker! Up hereeee!" Party Hat yells, and the Hacker wastes no time spearing that spot. His blade follows Party Hat's mocking voice, sending flying wood chips everywhere.

The ceiling rumbles, and more wood splinters, creaking and cracking. I race to a corner just as a huge chunk of it falls..

Right on top of the Hacker.

Party Hat whoops triumphantly. "YE-HAH! HOW DOES IT FEEL TO GET DELETED..TWICE!" He laughs. "Shieldy, that was awesome!"

"Yeah, yeah..!" I laugh while wheezing, still trying to catch my breath. "That was great, now get down here so I can figuratively RIP YOU TO PIECES!"

He drops from the attic, grin turning into a slight smile. "I saved you Shieldy, how about some gratitude?"

My hand flies to my face. "You could've been killed!"

"And if I didn't intervene, you WOULD'VE been killed!"

Another slab of ceiling comes crashing down, almost making us fall over. Dust erupts from the debris. I exchange glances with Party Hat.

"And if we don't get out of here now, we'll both be killed! Let's go!"

Party Hat follows me in the dash to the stairs, and we practically fly down them. The lobby starts falling apart as well, I hop over a piece of roof in my path.

I shove Party Hat out the door, tightly following him afterward. We keep running until Party Hat falls over, exhausted.

"My legs give..! Are..are we safe?" He panted, rolling over to face me.

Looking back at the building, only a small part of it remained standing. But, we were far from the destruction.

"Yeah. We're okay." I wipe sweat from my forehead. "You good?"

He nods. "Just a scratch, but I'm fine. You?"

"No injuries, surprisingly. I'm just really sore and my legs feel like jelly." I laugh weakly. "Tonight was crazy..! You think anyone will believe us when we say we saw the Hacker?"

Party Hat merely shrugs. "I'm just glad we made it out alive!" He rolls over again. "Let's just spend the rest of the night right here, I'm too tired to move."

"Good idea." I say, laying down next to him, hands behind my head. My heartbeat slowed as I breathed more regularly. "Hey Party Hat.."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for saving me. I, uh-"

"No problem." He smiles. "It's what friends do."

I chuckle. "Yeah, uh, how did you get up to the attic anyway?"

"Oh, there was an entrance from the room I was in. No biggie." His face forms a slight frown. "Although, I left the camera behind when I climbed up.."

"Eh, if they don't believe us, their loss."

Party Hat laughs. "Their loss!" He sighs. "And Shieldy, thanks for coming with me. I had a lot of fun."

"Really?" I ask, confused. "Even though you were in danger and almost died?"

"Yes, even though I was in danger and almost died! If I had to be in a life or death situation with anyone, I'd be glad if it was with you." He furrows his eyebrows. "That..came out a little wrong."

I crack up. "Nah, I get it! After all, friends make it better, no matter the weather, right?"

His eyes light up. "Couldn't have said it better myself, amigo!" Party Hat's mouth opens to say something more, but instead, a yawn comes out.

"Sleep sounds great right about now. See you in the morning, Shieldy." He closes his eyes and rolls over.

"Yeah.. good night, Party Hat."

I close my eyes and let the warm night wash over me.