Chapter 241: Halloween Trick or Treating!

[Edward POV]

I stared down at my tiny hands in disbelief, the familiar string burn marks still visible on my fingertips, so I knew that I hadn't changed my body, but instead, I had regressed in age.

"Whoa. I'm Tiny," I muttered with a childish voice, examining the drastic change in my physical stature. My Hogwarts-inspired robe now dragged along the ground, the once-perfect fit now comically oversized.

I quickly pulled out my phone, the device appearing massive in my diminished grasp. Peering into the screen, I took in my transformed appearance with a slight surprise - my once-long brown hair now falling just past my neck, making my head look slightly like a mushroom, my chiseled jawline softened into slightly puffy cheeks.

"Damn, I still look cute at 7 years old," I said, a hint of reluctant amusement in my voice. But the realization of my precarious situation quickly set in.

"This is dangerous," I muttered, my brow furrowing with concern. "I really hope I won't attract any 'forceful invitations' to a private island in this state."

I held my hand into the sky, rays of light penetrating through the gaps in my fingers, "How did Sage do this? Did she give me the drug Conan used?" I assumed and decided to keep the antidote close to me. She told me before that it won't work if I eat it now, so I had to wait until the perfect timing.

Suddenly, I saw a group of SWAT team members scouring the area.

"Shit." I turned backwards on the street and ran away from them quickly. "Damn it Sage. How the hell should I explain this?!"

I pulled out my phone again and called, "Robin, I need you."

"Sorry, Unauthorized Personnel." I made a mistake and Robin started to lock up my phone's accessibility. 

"Wait- Robin it's me! EDWARD! I have been turned into a small child by an evil god– Wait, no time to play, Override code, HarambeIsTheKey..." I continued on to tell her the 64 combinations of letters and digit code before she accepted my override code.

"Override accepted. Hello sir."

I breathed in relief, slightly patting myself on the back for thinking far ahead.

"Robin, I need you to adjust my voice to be my original one, and connect me to Agent Smith– Wait, I need to call Sage first." But, I soon cursed my luck as I couldn't get to her. 

As intrigued as I was with my transformation, I was also a nervous wreck about getting caught looking like this. Luckily for me, the neighborhood kids had already spilled out onto the streets to go trick-or-treating as darkness fell.

I hid behind a tree, shrouded in my oversized clothes, when suddenly a kid in a Phantom of the Opera costume and mask approached me, his trick-or-treat bucket swinging in his hand.

"Hey kid," I whispered, waving him over conspiratorially. The boy paused, then slowly walked towards me, his curiosity piqued.

"Are you supposed to be Harry Potter?" the boy asked, eyeing my ill-fitting robes. "Did you get your brother's hand-me-downs?"

"Yeah, too bad for me," I sighed dramatically. "What's your name, kid?"

"Henry. And you're also a kid, so don't call me a kid." He said sternly.

"Well Henry, I'm...Harry," I said, cringing inwardly at the lameness of my alias. To my amazement, the boy bought it, hook, line, and sinker.

"Awesome. You even have the same name!" Henry exclaimed with innocence. "What's up, Harry?"

I cleared my throat nervously. "Well, Harry...this might seem like a weird request, but..." After several minutes of easy bargaining and pity story, the boy walked away wearing my oversized Harry Potter costume and clutching $1000 in cash. I gave him everything I had in my pocket right now.

His bewildered parents watched him go, momentarily stunned into silence by the wad of bills in their son's hand. 

"How– Wait, even if you changed the costume with him, isn't the amount too much?" The dad asked in shock.

"How did he even give you 1000 dollars?" His mother asked with disbelief.

"Well, I told him to give me 10 bucks, but he only has 1000 dollars. I asked him if they are the same thing, he said it might be, so he gave it to me." Henry told his parents. To be honest I felt bad about tricking the kid so I decided to just give him the money. And I already predicted the outcome, so I left a note inside the stack of cash too.

"Wait. There's a…handwritten note." The father found it. 

[Dear Parents,

Your child Henry performed admirably in our recent social experiment conducted in the neighborhood. Despite having to give up his costume and likely miss out on trick-or-treating, he chose to help someone in need. An admirable quality we were trying to find in a child! As a token of our appreciation for your exceptional parenting, please accept this monetary compensation. Unfortunately, we cannot disclose the name of our organization as we are working confidentially with the government. Thank you for raising such a wonderful child.

Sincerely,

The Experimenters]

The parents were dumbfounded for a while before the mother retorted, "It's obviously a fake note!" The handwritten note, despite being neat, was written with a pencil. The mother turned around to search for me, but at this time, a gust of wind blew several leaves into her face.

"Ugh– What the hell–" She cursed as she tried to get the leaves off her face. 

I seized the opportunity to casually slink away, slicking my hair back and sliding on the Phantom's iconic half-mask.

The father suddenly said, "Well…There's a note, so we'll have no problem with the IRS."

"What the–" The mother cursed in disbelief before realizing something, "A thousand dollars will help a lot. Henry, do you still want the Darth Vader costume? I can swing by the store and pick it up."

"I WANT IT!" Henry shouted excitedly.

"Well..." I chuckled to myself, relishing the absurdity of the situation." That actually worked out…Maybe, I can trick Agent Smith too?"

I asked Robin to modulate my voice to my older one and called the agent, telling him shortly and simply that I'm currently hooking up with someone's mom, and will be back within 2 hours before I hang up. I wasn't sure if he bought the story, but it was my best shot at the moment.

Then, brimming with mischievous glee, I raced back to my own neighborhood just two blocks away. I darted up to the first house I saw and aggressively rang the doorbell, bellowing at the top of my lungs while breathing heavily, "TRICK OR TREAT!"

"Aww you're so cute. Are you the phantom from the phantom of the opera?" The kind old lady opened the door and gave me a full size snickers bar, dropping it into my bucket. 

"I am. And I'm here to kidnap the most beautiful girl in town. I believe that girl is you." I said cutely.

The old grandmother melted in my adorableness and said,"Here you go lovely. In fact, since you're so cute, take 2 more."

"Thank you Grandma! You're the sweetest!" I complimented her while smiling sweetly. The grandma let out a touched gasp before saying, "Awww! You're so lovely! Take it! Take as many as you want!"

While smiling sweetly on the outside, I hid a devilish smile on the inside while secretly thinking, 'Muahaha! My talent is in full effect! I'll conquer today's Halloween trick or treating!"

"By the way dear, where are your parents? You're not going out there trick or treating alone aren't you? It's not safe out there." The grandma suddenly said, snapping me out of my delusion.

"Shit." I cursed whisperingly before making a run for it.

…

[General POV]

In the alley where Sage was having the confrontation with Gong Shin. With quivering eyes, Sage slowly moved her pupils away from the direct eye contact with him and said, "I don't know~"

As they were in an awkward position with Sage being trapped in Gong Shin arms that were pushed to the walls, a mother had to cover her son's eyes as they passed by, snickering at the sight of the couple as she passed. They were so close together that one might misconstrue that they were having intimate moments with each other.

"Liar. Alright, so you took it. And you gave it to Edward, right?" He initially asked her a question about whether she took the APTX pills from him, but truly, that was just a formality question as he had already known about it. 

Sage was flabbergasted before she became angry. She glared at him and said, "It's just for 2 hours! I'm letting him be a kid for just 2 hours! And let him live the childhood dream he always wanted! Is that too much to ask!?"

Gong Shin's exasperation was palpable, his hands grabbing Sage's shoulder as he spoke, "I don't care about the pills— I DON'T EVEN…care about him wanting his childhood back. But do you know what you have done? Since you took the pills from me, I'm..." He paused, his expression shifting, a flicker of vulnerability crossing his features before he schooled his expression once more. "...being locked out."

"Locked out from what?" Sage asked nervously, her breathing becoming quicker.

Gong Shin released Sage and walked a few steps away. "It means, I can't help him at all! No matter what happens to him. He can be put in child protective services. Or he will be under deep scrutiny when he becomes an adult again. I have no way of actually being there to help him avoid all of that!"

Sage was shocked and walked closer to him, "Why can't you?!"

Gong Shin's demeanor became more agitated as he explained, "Because it's the rules! As guardians, we cannot interfere with the affairs of the mortals, but since you took it from me, the matter directly correlated to me! So right now, I don't have any powers either! I'm just an ordinary guy."

Sage heard it and froze for a bit. Then, she decided to run.

"Where are you going?!" Gong Shin yelled at her angrily.

"I need to go find Edward! so, I can help him!" Sage called out as she turned the corner, her figure disappearing from view.

As Gong Shin watched Sage's retreat, his angry expression suddenly transformed into a relaxed, almost satisfied one. He massaged his face and muttered, "Oh god. Acting is hard."

"Now, for the next phase," He muttered as he acted anxious and worried again while taking out his phone. He dialed someone, " Listen to me very carefully…Something terrible has happened…" His body slowly turned to nothingness, and the alley turned empty soon after.

His last sentence, spoken in a tired voice, reverberated in the empty space, "One has a heart of ice, logical, but has no humanity. The other one is too human, but has something wrong with her brain. Why am I the one who's supposed to take care of them?"

…

In Edward's house, the FBI agents who were supposed to guard Edward were helplessly trying to track him down.

Agent Gobble asked tiredly, "Can we track his phone?"

Agent Smith let out a resigned sigh, "Can anyone?"

There was a brief silence before Ted spoke up, "What did Ed tell you when he called?"

Agent Smith hesitated for a moment, but then replied, "He told me he's...hooking up with someone…older, and wants some privacy. Is it possible for him to do something like this?"

Ted opened his mouth, but then his eyes widened as he realized the implication. "Um..."

Smith caught Ted's reaction and exclaimed, "Wait. It's possible!?"

Frankie chimed in carefully, "Not that any of what we're saying is confirmation, but he does have a slight tendency to go...after women...older than him."

Gobble interjected with a wink, "Alright, we'll be honest with you guys. We've seen a lot worse. Everything we see is confidential by our contracts, so there's no need to worry about us using it against you."

No one really believed him, but Smith moved on, "Is there anyone who might know who he's with right now?"

Ted's eyes flickered, and he muttered, "Max."

"I'm sorry?" Smith asked, unable to hear him clearly.

Ted turned to Frankie first, then to Smith, dodging the question, "I mean, if anyone knows about it, it must be Max."

"Can you call him and find out?" Smith requested.

5 minutes later, Max answered the phone, and Ted put her on loudspeaker. "Hi. I've only been here 2 days. Miss me already?"

"Ed is missing, do you know where he might be?" Ted asked bluntly.

"Wow, no foreplay at all, right to it, huh? But again, sometimes I like it that way. It means there's not much talking to be done," Max replied with a dirty joke, making Ted roll his eyes. The agents remained unfazed.

Frankie smiled and said, "I do miss you, Max."

"Frankie! I miss you too! Alright, did Ed say anything before he left?" Max asked.

"He said he's going to go hook up..." Ted replied, but Agent Smith added, "With someone's mother."

Both Ted and Frankie were shocked, turning towards Smith. Max, however, replied casually, "Who's mother? There's a lot of sexy mothers around him that he has the hots for."

In New York, Max slightly counted the mother figure around Edward and mumbled to herself, "Gloria for sure, Claire too, Desire? Alexandria– That girl's an ex-playboy model, so it's possible. Or is it someone who acted as a mother in TVs?"

"What?!" Ted asked with shock. Agent Smith nodded in understanding and muttered, "So this is a normal thing. Thank you, Miss Max Black."

"Hey Stop using my full name. I'm trying to make less people know me." Max said before Agent Smith cuts the call. After the call, Max became curious and she called Edward, not expecting him to answer. She was so surprised when he did.

"Wait. Why did you pick it up? I just want to bother you so that you won't be able to enjoy your time properly." Max blurted out her planned mischief, her face blushed red with her own embarrassment of herself.

"Haha. Very Funny." Edward replied with the voice modulator. His panting breath as he was running from grandma, made Max have a wrong idea. 

"Dude. At least focus on her." She said, giggling.

"Cutie~ Come here! I promise I won't spank you!" The grandma shouted from behind Ed, but through the voice modulator, the voice turned into a sultry woman's voice.

"I've got to go." Edward said suddenly. "That crazy bitch is relentless." 

"By the sounds of it, she does seem like that." Max said teasingly before she said as she cut the call, "Enjoy."

Edward was confused and he muttered, "Why the hell did she even call me?"

…

Edward finally escaped the grandmother's pursuit and went trick-or-treating in his neighborhood. As he walked down the street, he spotted some familiar faces - Luke Dunphy, dressed as Luke Skywalker, and Manny Delgado, in a matador costume, were trick-or-treating together.

"Are we really going to do this, Luke? It's the first time our parents let us go trick-or-treating by ourselves. What if we get into trouble?" Manny asked nervously.

"Halloween rules - if you give bad snacks, you get the attack," Luke said as he pulled out a carton of eggs from his bucket. "Are you wimping out or are you going to help me?"

Manny tried to defend the homeowner, "But he gave us apples-"

Suddenly, Edward popped up beside them. "So he deserves it. Let me have one," he interrupted, reaching for an egg.

Luke and Manny let out scared yelps before glaring at Edward. "Who are you anyway?" Manny demanded.

"Who cares? He's egging the house with us, he's part of our team now," Luke said happily, handing the egg to Edward. "I'm Luke, and this scaredy-cat is Manny."

"I'm Harry. Harry Styles," Edward replied as the trio pelted the house with eggs.

The irate vegan homeowner ran outside, yelling, "Hey, you brats!" But the trio quickly escaped.

"Hey, you're cool. Want to join us trick-or-treating?" Luke invited Edward.

"Sounds good, let's go," Edward replied. But as he turned, the old grandmother suddenly grabbed his hand from behind.

"Sweetie, I finally found you!" she exclaimed.

"AHHH!" Luke and Manny shrieked in horror before fleeing.

"Hey, help me!" Edward cried out, but his new friends had already taken off.

"Let's go, child. I need to have a word with your parents about letting you out alone," the grandmother scolded.

"Ugh, no," Edward groaned, trying to pull away. But then he spotted a familiar face - Mrs. Henderson, his teacher, walking nearby. Her hair was uncharacteristically loose, and she seemed anxious, likely searching for someone.

"Mom!" Edward called out. Mrs. Henderson looked confused, then her eyes widened as she recognized the young boy. She was shocked inwardly when she realized the situation, and why she was called for help before. 

"Mom? Oh, you must be his parents. I'm so sorry, I thought he was out by himself," the grandmother said, releasing Edward. He darted behind Mrs. Henderson's skirt, eyeing the grandmother warily.

"I-I wasn't trying to kidnap him," the grandmother said defensively. Edward relaxed a bit, then said, "I know, you had good intentions. But my mother is here now, so you can go. Thank you for the candy."

The grandmother's expression softened. "Aww, you're still a sweet boy. Okay, I'll leave you to your trick-or-treating. Goodbye." She turned and walked away.

After making sure she was gone, Edward turned to Mrs. Henderson. "Thank you for pretending to be my parent, Miss Henderson."

Mrs. Henderson stared at him silently, making Edward feel uneasy. "Why are you looking at me like that? I'm not alone, I just need to find my brothers. They're trick-or-treating with me."

"Alright then, let's go," Mrs. Henderson said suddenly, which startled Ed. She said gently, "I'll take you until you find your brothers again. I can't let you go out here alone at night."

Edward looked confused. "Wait, go where?"

"Trick-or-treating," she replied. "I'll accompany you." She extended her hand to Edward, which in his confusion, grabbed it without even thinking.