Spice of Life: The Mawile Amulet
 
 
Spice skipped merrily through the market square, his tails wagging back and forth and spreading the scent of pumpkin spice wherever he went. It was the day before Halloween, the spookiest time of year, and all of Clearspring was celebrating. The marketplace was full of vendors selling pumpkins to carve into jack-o-lanterns, and parents huddled around stalls to buy materials to make their children costumes, all while trying to keep said children from getting distracted by all the candy that was about.
 
 
Spice himself had already planned how to dress for Halloween, since he was sure there would be a party at the Den like there was last year. He had opted to use the chance to dress up in something fancy, and so he had chosen to be a vampire on the grounds he got to wear a cloak and a suit. The Ninetales grinned, tugging his cloak about his shoulders as he turned his nose up, revealing the fake fangs that jutted out from his muzzle. Oh yes, he loved Halloween.
 
 
And of course, Halloween brought about vendors pawning of strange items and claiming they were enchanted. While rarely as magical as the vendors claimed them to be, the stalls were often a good way to find vintage human items, and so Spice would make an effort to visit them whenever he could. He found himself wandering up to one such stall covered in crystal balls, flasks, scrolls and pins.
 
 
There was a rack of necklaces, but none caught his eye quite like the one sitting by itself, propped up on a red velvet pillow. The amulet appeared to be a set of silver Mawile jaws holding a red ruby, which sparkled and shined as the Ninetales picked it up and turned it in the light, only to have it struck from his hands by a stick. “Ow!” he cried, nursing his wounded paw.
 
 
“That is not for sale.” the Delphox behind the stand told him, taking the dropped amulet and placing it back on the pillow.
 
 
“Then why would you have it on the table with all the things you -are- selling?” Spice huffed, his tails swishing adamantly as he pointed to the amulet with his paw, “This ruby is stunning, I haven’t seen anything like it since I left my life as a trained pokemon. How much do you want for it? I’ll pay anything.”
 
 
“It is not for sale.” the Delphox repeated, his eyes narrowing on the persistent Ninetales as he gestured over the amulet, “The Mawile amulet bears a terrible curse. Giving it to a pokemon who does not understand the consequences of wearing it would be disastrous, not just for that pokemon, but for the entire town. Perhaps even this entire world.”
 
 
“Oh please, after everything I’ve been through I think I could handle one ‘cursed’ amulet.” Spice replied, waving his paw dismissively as he snatched the amulet and tossed it over his head before the Delphox could stop him, turning to look in a nearby mirror, “Come now, at least let me see what it looks like in the mirror.”
 
 
“You fool!” The Delphox cried. Spice gasped and lurched forward, grabbing his heart, then he fell on his back, kicking his paws in the air. The Delphox ran around the stand, watching the Ninetales writhe on the floor, gathering a small crowd around him due to his yipping and yelping. “You idiot! Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
 
 
“A-ah! What’s happening! Oh no, no!” the fox cried, kicking his paws as he rolled in the grass, his tails flailing dramatically, “I-I’m… I’m-” he choked, his eyes rolling back as his pupils shrank, his chest lurched into the air as if something was going to break loose from it.
 
 
“...Perfectly fine, you hustler.” Spice finished his sentence with a huff as he got up and shook the grass out of his fur. “This amulet is made of pewter, isn’t it? Hardly as valuable as I would have thought, but I suppose now that I’ve worn it I ought to buy it. Seeing the look on your face when I pretended to be cursed was worth the price, I’d say~”
 
 
“Take it, it’s your burden to bear now.” The Delphox replied, narrowing his eyes as he returned to the other side of his stand and began to rearrange the items the Ninetales had upset in his little performance, “But heed my words and beware, Spice Blaise. That amulet bears a terrible curse, one that will consume your mind.”
 
 
“H-how did you know my name?” Spice gasped, staring at the Delphox in horror as he started to feel the weight of the amulet around his neck.
 
 
“...Are you kidding? You’ve been introducing yourself to every vendor in the marketplace. You’re so loud about it I’ve heard your name at least ten times already.” The Delphox replied, flicking his ears back, “Alastor, by the way. Thanks for introducing yourself to me too.”
 
 
“Oh, uh… yes. Well, very nice to meet you, Alastor.” Spice blinked, offering his paw to shake. The Delphox looked down at the paw with a distasteful glance before glaring at the Ninetales once more. “Um… goodbye then?”
 
 
“Bye.” Alastor replied flatly, going back to fixing up his stand, “‘Beware the curse’ and all that stuff.” he added off-handedly.
 
 
“A-ah, yes… right. The curse.” Spice replied, rolling his eyes as he moved his paw over his new amulet. It had been quite an uncomfortable purchase, but it still did look beautiful on him. He was sure he’d feel better once he got the approval of the rest of the Winners. Were he not so preoccupied with getting back to the Den before his break ended, he might have noticed the tips of his tails were beginning to glow red, just like the ruby held in the jaws of the amulet around his neck.
 
 
* * *
 
 
“How are the decorations looking?” Cyn asked, turning to the door behind her as she heard it open.
 
 
“S’all good, Cyn. We’ve got cobwebs and dust and skulls and stuff. The Den has never looked messier.” Rune the Umbreon replied as he moved to the shiny Liepard’s side.
 
 
“It seems awfully strange trying to make the Den look like it’s been haunted or abandoned, but I suppose that’s the look we’re going for when it comes to Halloween.” Leaf added as he stepped through the door, looking over at Cyn, “Everyone’s ready in their rooms too. I wonder how our customers will react to a ‘Haunted house’ experience.”
 
 
“There’s something for everyone. Mad Scientist’s Laboratory,” she pointed to Leaf, “Full Moon room,” she pointed to Rune, “Typh’s got his ‘Swamp Monster’ room set up, Malus is working on some kind of ‘Devil’s Playhouse’ and I’m going to be in the Vampire room.” Cyn grinned, revealing the fake fangs in her muzzle. She wore a long black dress, and an uncharacteristic amount of dark eye shadow that had covered up the natural pink circles of her eyes.
 
 
“Wait, I thought -I- was in the vampire room.” Spice gasped as he walked through the door, a similar amount of black makeup covering his face. “Well, one of us is going to have to change, and it’s not going to be me.”
 
 
“What?” Cyn turned to him, her ears pinning back as she began to growl, leaning over the desk in order to get closer to the Ninetales. “I told you to be a zombie! What’re we supposed to do with the graveyard room?”
 
 
“Hmph, I’d never agree to be a zombie. Zombies are ugly.” Spice turned his nose up at the thought, his new amulet jingling against his chest as he turned away from the Liepard, “-You- be a zombie.”
 
 
“Arceus, you’re impossible.” Cyn muttered, resting her paws on her face as she leaned on the desk. “...It’s okay. I don’t think anyone’s going to go looking for a good time in a graveyard anyway. Maybe we can just shut that room down and have… two vampires.” she shrugged, “I guess it’s not so bad, we’ve got one male and one female, we should be able to take care of whoever comes in.”
 
 
“Glad you two were able to work that out.” Leaf grinned awkwardly, looking over at Rune for support. The Umbreon was busy munching on the bowl of candy on the front desk, “Rune, that’s for the guests.”
 
 
“I’m justh tasth testinff.” the Umbreon replied with his mouth full before spitting out a couple of wrapped sweets and gagging, “Some of these aren’t very good anyway, the plastic tastes awful.”
 
 
“You’re supposed to take that off… here, let me.” the Leafeon chuckled, picking up one of the pieces of candy and unwrapping it, revealing the gummy skull underneath it. He held it out for the Umbreon, who took it from his paw with his mouth and began to chew it. He let out a happy murr and wagged his tail, “Better?”
 
 
“Way better. Candy is awesome! Bree~!” Rune murred, his blue rings shining brightly as he swallowed the candy and then turned to the treasure trove of wrapped candies he had dropped a moment ago. He began to rapidly work on unwrapping them and eating them one by one, “Heh, gotta make sure these are all okay for the guests, right?”
 
 
“And where’s your costume?” Spice asked, turning to face the Umbreon and leaving his tails sweeping over the desk, almost knocking over the various decorations on the front of it, though Cyn was quick to keep them held up with her paws.
 
 
“Don’t need one, me and Volt are werewolves.” Rune grinned up at him, gulping down what was in his mouth before sighing happily. “I just have to look like a ferocious predator, and I’ve done my bit!”
 
 
“You couldn’t look ferocious if you tried.” Spice chuckled at the thought.
 
 
“I could eat you, fluffy.” Rune replied with a playful smirk. “Meet me under the moonlight, I’ll show you how ferocious I can bree~”
 
 
“Hey Spice,” Cyn called over the desk to him, pushing at one of his tails with her paw, “I think your fake tail-mouth is leaking.”
 
 
Snap! Cyn let out a gasp and quickly retreated her paw as the mouth in the tip of Spice’s tail snapped shut where her paw was moments ago. “A-Arceus, what the heck was that?”
 
 
“What was what?” Spice asked as he turned back to face the Liepard. His pupils shrank as his tail caught sight of him and gave him a wide, welcoming grin. The Ninetales let out a girlish scream and began to run around in circles, “AH! It’s on my tail! Something’s on my tail!”
 
 
“Spice you dork, that -is- your tail!” Cyn yelled over the commotion, watching as the Ninetales destroyed the decorations they had spent the evening putting up in his panicked frenzy. Lamps fell, pumpkins were smashed underpaw and cobwebs were tangled up in the flurry of golden tails.
 
 
Finally Leaf gripped tightly onto the floor with all four of his paws and shot out several vines, tangling up the Ninetales’ legs and leaving him collapsing onto his front with his tails in the air, still flailing about and snapping rapidly at whatever was in reach. “I-I’ve seen this before with Corona. Spice, did you eat any of the defective berries from my garden?”
 
 
“What? Hff, of course not.” Spice wriggled his rear, trying to get his paws free of the vines long enough to stand up. “Can I please get up? I’m feeling quite vulnerable in this position.”
 
 
“Not just yet, let me go get one of my paddles. You just destroyed our front room.” Cyn snapped at him, stomping her paw on the desk, “You’re going to tell me what’s going on -right now- Spice. This isn’t funny anymore.”
 
 
“Hmph, well I’m glad we’re agreed on that.” Spice muttered, managing to get one of his forepaws free long enough to look down at the amulet dangling from his neck, “No doubt it has something to do with this amulet… I suppose it really is cursed after all, who’d have thought this would be what it would do?”
 
 
“An amulet? ...let me take a look at that.” the Leafeon blinked, stepping closer to the Ninetales and moving to go around him. One of the tails seemed to follow him as he went, its tip always pointing at him as it curled over before opening wide, leaving drool dripping down over his head.
 
 
“Leaf, look out!” Rune shouted. But it was too late, the tail maw came down over the doctor, engulfing his upper body in one go and leaving him trying to pull it free with his forepaws. His vines unwrapped from the Ninetales, who watched in stunned silence as the tail began to slurp up the Leafeon, dragging his hind legs into it as the other three pokemon watched in horror and confusion.
 
 
“Spit him out, Spice!” Cyn snarled at the Ninetales.
 
 
“I’m trying, I can’t!” Spice whimpered, shaking his tails as much as possible. All he seemed to be doing was getting the doctor to descend faster, and as the tail flicked up it tossed the last of the Leafeon into it before closing its tip and letting out what sounded like a gulp. “Uh… oops?”
 
 
“‘Oops?’ Your tail just ate Leaf.” Cyn narrowed her eyes on him before making her way around the desk and grappling with the tail, trying to pry it back open, “Leaf! Are you okay in there?”
 
 
“Mmph mmph!” Leaf replied, his paws pushing at the walls of the tail and leaving Spice shuddering in bliss. Despite the situation, he couldn’t help but admit the pokemon felt heavenly inside his tail, as he turned back to admire the bulge the Leafeon was making his eyes widened in alarm as the tip of his tail turned green.
 
 
“Wh-what’s happening?” Spice gasped, grabbing the tip in his paws and stroking down the fur in order to check over it, “Why is my tail going that colour? Is it sick?”
 
 
‘No… it is absorbing his power…’ a voice echoed in the Ninetales’ mind, causing him to stare into space as it spoke to him. ‘You have the grass type… now… hunt the others… become… perfection…”
 
 
“It does look strange, being the only tail with a different colour from the others.” Spice muttered to himself, his other tails curling around him as he silently counted them. “I’d need eight other Leafeons to make them all look the same again, but I’m fairly certain Leaf is the only Leafeon in Clearspring.”
 
 
“Or you could make them all look the same again by spitting him out?” Cyn suggested, flicking her ears back, “Come on, Spice. We need him tonight. No one else can work the mad scientist room.”
 
 
“But he -isn’t- the only eeveelution in Clearspring,” Spice continued his train of thought, Cyn’s words completely lost to him. “Eight eeveelutions, plus one for Eevee. They wouldn’t all look the same, but at least that way I’d have a theme going with the colours of my tails.”
 
 
“That doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Rune pointed out. The Ninetales’ wicked smile left a cold chill running down his spine as he began to advance on him, one tail curling around to point at him, “Why are you looking at me like that, Spice?” he gulped, backing away.
 
 
“Oooh Ruuuune~ Lend your dear friend Spice a paw, would you?” the Ninetales asked in a sing-song voice, his other tails swaying back and forth as the one pointed at the Umbreon opened wide to accept him, “Or better yet… your entire body~” his voice echoed as his eyes turned blood red.
 
 
“Oh no you don’t!” Cyn snapped, pouncing onto the Ninetales and pinning him to the ground under her paws, “You’re not about to eat two of my employees in one night, that’s a customer privilege!”
 
 
“Gotta run!” Rune yelped, leaping past the pinned Ninetales and ducking as one of the golden tails snapped at him before racing out the door. Spice growled, using his tails to pick up Cyn and throw her against the opposite wall before chasing after the Umbreon into the night.
 
 
* * *
 
 
Spice panted, keeled over a bench in the town square as he tried to catch his breath. “Ah.. hff, he’s fast… hfh.. F-fastest umbreon ever…” the Ninetales complained, holding his side to nurse the stinging pain of a stitch. He knew he shouldn’t have run after eating, even if he had eaten with his tail. The Umbreon was going to pay when he found him, but Rune was also an adept at hiding. Perhaps it would be best to leave him until last and focus on the other eeveelutions first.
 
 
Perhaps a sweet Sylveon and Glaceon, Spice thought, grinning as he saw the couple sitting on a table outside the cafe, enjoying a drink in the autumn air by candlelight. The Ninetales took a moment to fluff out his tails before sauntering over, grinning all the while as his tails swayed high behind him.
 
 
“I just don’t want to go, Kalsea. It’s really not the sort of place I’d fit in.” The Sylveon told his partner as he took a sip of his berry juice, “Besides, you know -he’s- going to be there. The last thing I need is something proving that his thoughts on me being prey are accurate.”
 
 
“What, Spice? You’re worrying too much, Sugarsnap.” the Glaceon grinned over at the Sylveon, reaching out her paw and resting it on his as she gazed into his eyes, “C’mon, it’s just a night of Halloween fun. What’s the worst that could happen?”
 
 
“Spice? Oh Arceus, I had forgotten about him. I was talking about Malus.” Solomon winced as he recalled the Ninetales. He shook his head and glared off towards the market square, looking over the empty tables left behind by the vendors, “In any case, that’s just two reasons not to go. Couldn’t we just spend some time together? We don’t have to go to the Den.”
 
 
“I agree, you don’t have to go the Den.” Spice grinned, making his presence known now that he was looming over both of them with his nine tails spreading out behind him, revealing the eight maws on them, and the one green tip, “The Den has come to youoOoOoo~” he laughed, waving his paws in an attempt to look like a ghost as his eyes flashed red once again.
 
 
“What’re you supposed to be? A vampire who just got out of his crypt?” Solomon huffed, looking over the Ninetales’ suit and cloak, which were covered in cobwebs and half-eaten candy due to his panic in the front room of the Den before. As the Sylveon eyed the candy he raised an incredulous eyebrow, “Who… then went to a candy shop?”
 
 
“Well, I was a vampire before, but then I found myself wondering…” the Ninetales turned his back, lowering his front until his head was covered by his cloak. His tails stood on end, lashing at the air. “Why not be a Hydra instead?”
 
 
“Creative.” Kalsea complimented him, grinning up at the tails, admiring the detail that Spice had apparently put into the maws. As one lowered to her, she couldn’t help but take a peek inside of it, admiring the dark, fleshy passage before her. “Wow, check out the maws… they look just like Corona’s, so real.”
 
 
“Hm, they are quite well made, aren’t they?” Solomon replied, having to agree to that at least as he reached out and rested one of his paws inside the tail maw, feeling around it curiously. “What is this, plastic? Rubber? ...it feels slick, it’s almost like…”
 
 
SLrrrrp~ the tail wasn’t about to allow the Sylveon to reveal its secret. He pulled back against it, gritting his teeth and trying to pry his paw free with his ribbons, only for the tail maw to open wider and accept them too, using them to drag Solomon in up to his head. “Kalse-mfff!”
 
 
“Starting to think this isn’t a costume…” Kalsea muttered as the tail maw she had been petting shot forward suddenly and engulfed her up to her chest in it’s slimy, fleshy walls. The maws closed around them both, each slurping and sucking to drag the eeveelutions down as though they were caught in a race with each other.
 
 
Spice murred, casually sitting at the table and drinking Solomon’s leftover berry juice and nibbling the slice of cake that Kalsea had bought. He didn’t want their tea to go to waste, after all, and given how rapidly his tails were devouring them it was unlikely they’d be getting out before they were spoiled by the night air. He shuddered and murred with delight at the feeling of their squirms, the two tails that held them wrapping around each other in a romantic hug as their hind paws disappeared into them.
 
 
“Oooh~!” the Ninetales shivered, gripping onto the table and wrapping his free tails around the one holding Kalsea as it suddenly became very cold, though as they worked together rubbing down her struggling bulge it finally returned to its normal temperature as the tip of the tail holding her went light blue, and the one holding Solomon went pink.
 
 
“Thanks you two.. Three down, six to go.” Spice murred, swishing his tails in delight as the amulet around his neck shone brightly, the glow reflecting in his own eyes, which had turned from purple to red over the course of the night. He idly stroked the bulges in his tails, listening to the two lovers talking to each other, though he couldn’t understand a word they said. All he could hear was the amulet, encouraging him to continue; to feed his tails, to become perfect again.
 
 
“Hey, do you need anything else?”
 
 
The Ninetales snapped out of his daze and glanced down at the Flareon, wearing an apron and carrying a tray with the dirty cups and plate from the table stacked on top of it. His name tag read ‘Blitzen’, though Spice simply smirked as one of his tails crept up behind him. “Make that ‘Five to go’,” he thought out loud, his tailmaw engulfing the Flareon’s big bushy tail in one go.
 
 
“Wait, what?!” Blitzen yelped, digging his paws into the ground and grunting as he tried to drag himself away from the tail maw that was rapidly working over his backside. The Flareon was much bigger than Spice’s previous meals, though his tails seemed to adjust well to their new status as predators.
 
 
The tail maw grinned and opened itself wider, scooping up the Flareon’s paws out from under him and tossing itself upwards to stand on its end, leaving the Flareon sinking as he tried to use his forepaws to keep himself on the outside of the fluffy appendage, “H-hey, come on, I only just got a Reviver seed, I don’t want to waste it!”
 
 
“Well, clearly you should have bought two.” Spice grinned at him, staring into his eyes as his tail took another gulp, bringing the Flareon in up to the fluff that covered his chest. “But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be getting a nice big tip… or maybe a tip will be getting you~”
 
 
“H-Help! Somebody! Evan! Ethan!” the Flareon yelled, struggling to hold the maw open with his paws as it tried to close around him, “G-guys! Get out here, there’s a crazy Ninetales trying to eat me!”
 
 
“Ninetales?” the door opened, revealing the first Delcatty.
 
 
“And it’s trying to eat Blitzie!” the second Delcatty gasped, his head poking out above his brothers. The two raced out of the shop, dressed in similar aprons to Blitzen as they hopped up to try to get the Flareon out, though the Ninetales simply moved him out of reach. “H-hey, you can’t just eat him. He’s meant to be doing the late shift tonight!”
 
 
“Also, I’m NOT FOOD!” the Flareon yelled, his eyes shutting tightly as he slipped further in, his paws finally disappearing into the tip of the tail. As Spice noticed the two pokemon trying to help him his eyes flashed bright purple, and soon the two Delcatty were staring at him in silence, their eyes mirroring the colour of his own.
 
 
“Go inside.” Spice told them.
 
 
“...Kay…” The twins muttered in response, taking a few steps back before turning and calmly walking inside. The Ninetales grinned, he could always count on his hypnosis to make a meal easier. Usually he’d have wanted to eat them as well, but something lurking in the back of his mind left him focused on just one… and that one was squirming delightfully down his tail.
 
 
The tail took one more gulp to bring the Flareon in up to his head before snapping around it, suckling on the fire type as the bulge he made slowly descended to the middle of Spice’s tail. The tailmaw opened up, letting out a belch as the Flareon’s drool-soaked apron came flying out and landed on Spice’s face, causing him to gag in disgust and peel it off. “Lovely.” he muttered, watching as the tailmaw closed and turned orange.
 
 
He grinned and swished it as he tapped his chin, tossing the apron to one side, it’s front pocket now empty of the Reviver seed that the Flareon had eaten for safekeeping. “Now, what were the other ones I need?” he muttered to himself, “Jolteon, Vaporeon, Eevee, Umbreon and…”
 
 
The Ninetales’ eyes drifted to a flyer on a nearby table, a ‘spooky school night’ where students could tell scary stories, and of course it was lead by ‘Mistress’ Rose. “...Espeon.” he licked his lips, as did one of the empty tailmaws that dangled behind him. He padded off towards the school, his tails swinging heavily behind him as the occupied ones struggled and squirmed. Rune watched him go from the shadows, holding his breath as he hoped the Ninetales hadn’t noticed him.
 
 
He had to get to the school first.
 
 
* * *
 
 
“She thought she was safe, but she tripped and fell! The monster was upon her, his mouth opening wider and wider to devour her whole!”
 
 
The group of pokemon gasped as they stared at the Espeon, her gemstone lighting her face in red. Ebony lowered his head a little, his tail tucking against him in fear as the story continued. The Umbreon had agreed to be a chaperone for the event, but he hadn’t thought it’d be so scary… then again, the other two chaperones seemed to be too busy comforting the children to pay attention to the story.
 
 
“His drool dripped through her fur, soaking her from head to toe as he loomed over her. ‘I’ve got you now, my delicious little treat’ he whispered to her, holding her beneath his paw. His tongue ran over her cheek, tasting her berry perfume.” Rose continued, a blush crossing her muzzle as she closed her eyes, “She couldn’t fight it, she knew it was her fate, to be food for the hungry monster…” she let out a purr, “...the tongue trailed lower, tasting every inch of her body, her heart racing in del-- I mean, defeat...”
 
 
“Eheh, Rose?” the Umbreon spoke up, blushing at the vivid imagery the Espeon was giving the group of school children, “Maybe um, skip this part? It seems a little.. ‘Scary’, for the kids.”
 
 
“Oh come on, you’re a grown Umbreon.” the Jolteon chaperone spoke up, smirking at the male’s apparent terror, “Eric and I aren’t scared, so you shouldn’t be either.”
 
 
“That’s right, Gene and I are fine.” the Vaporeon agreed with a confident grin before turning to the children, “What about you guys, are any of you scared?”
 
 
“I-I’m a little scared.” an Eevee spoke up, cuddling up against the Umbreon as he wrapped his paw around her, “Wh-what if a monster comes and eats me up?”
 
 
“O-oh, it’s okay! She doesn’t get eaten!” Rose spoke up quickly, “B-because, she’s smart and quick thinking, and she uses her psychic to throw him off her, and then jumps back into the town where she’s safe. The End!”
 
 
“That’s a dumb story.” A snivy in the circle spoke up, “And why are all your stories about monsters eating people, Ms Rose? You should tell one about an axe murderer, or something cool!”
 
 
“Nooo!” the Eevee cried, hiding against the Umbreon’s chest as Ebony awkwardly continued to hug her, rubbing her back to try and comfort her.
 
 
“Yeah, they’re really scary. My dad says that there are a bunch, especially in wildy towns like these.” the Snivy smirked, crawling across the circle and closer to the trembling Eevee. “I’ll bet you’re going to get chopped up when you go home tonight, Fae!”
 
“I don’t want to get chopped uuuuup!” the Eevee sobbed, clinging onto the Umbreon’s fur. The Snivy began to laugh and point at her, leaving Ebony glaring at him in response as he continued to try to comfort the terrified Eevee.
 
 
“Lucien, that’s enough, you’re scaring her.” Rose snapped at him.
 
 
“Then I’m doing your job for you.” the Snivy replied, crossing his arms over his chest, “Hey, maybe -I- should tell the next story, I’m clearly better at it than you are, Teach.”
 
 
“Maybe we should just cancel the whole event and go home, it seems like no one wants to hear spooky stories anymore.” Rose noted, reaching over to turn on the lights. As she did so she was met by a fluffy object, and as she looked up she saw a monster with ten heads looming over her, his piercing red eyes watching her.
 
 
She shrieked and leaped back, only for Spice to step into the circle with an unsettlingly pleasant smile. “Just me, Rose. I thought I might stop by and tell a spooky story of my own.” he grinned, his eyes drifting over the circle as he sat down.
 
 
“O-Oh! Spice!” Rose chuckled, her fear subsiding as she sat by the Ninetales and cuddled up against him. “You’re just in time to tell a story, if you’d like.”
 
 
“Well then I shall!” Spice beamed before looking down at the children, “My, look at you all… you must be up past your bedtime. Good thing you have these... nice pokemon to protect you…” he chuckled ominously, his eyes drifting from the Espeon to the Jolteon, then to the Vaporeon next to him and finally to the Umbreon, cradling the startled Eevee.
 
 
“Now, how about we get the circle a bit tighter? It is a spooky story after all~” the Ninetales suggested. The students and chaperones looked at eachother, then shuffled a bit closer together to close the circle. One of Spice’s tails curled around to measure the circle, and to his surprise it stretched out along the floor like a snake and was easily able to reach the Vaporeon’s tail. “Aah, yes, that’s perfect… now, the spooky story. Where to begin?”
 
 
“Maybe at the start, grandpa?” Lucien suggested.
 
 
“What’s your name, little one?” Spice asked, looking down at the Snivy with a warm, reassuring smile.
 
 
“Lucien Moss.” The Snivy replied with a bratty grin.
 
 
“...There once was a little boy named Lucien, who no one liked.” Spice began.
 
 
“Hey!” Lucien snarled, though Rose was quick to shush him as she grinned up at the Ninetales, who winked at her as he prepared to continue.
 
 
“Lucien was miserable and lonely, because he was fat and stupid, and smelled like rotten eggs even when he had just bathed.” Spice continued the story with a smile, watching as the Snivy quietly fumed. “One day, he decided that he would do something to make pokemon like him, and so he went to a strange shop no one had ever seen before…”
 
 
“What did they sell at the shop?” Fae asked, her eyes widening with childlike enthusiasm as she came out of hiding behind the Umbreon.
 
 
“Oh, all sorts of things. Silver staffs, crystal balls, jars filled with… eyes and Joltik eggs.” Spice rambled, his eyes glancing away as he tried to think of things such a shop would sell while his tail prepared to come down on the Jolteon’s head. “But there was only one thing he truly desired, and it was a special hat, called the Muk Hat.”
 
 
“Ew, why would I want that?” Lucien gagged at the thought.
 
 
“Oh, so you -are- the Lucien from the story?” Spice grinned, causing the Eevee and other school children to laugh at the spoilt Snivy.
 
 
“I am not! This is… this is bullying! This is slander!” The Snivy growled as he stood up to leave. “My dad’s going to hear about this, and then you’re going to be sorry, you… you jerkface!”
 
 
“Oh, sit down, Lucien. I was only teasing.” Spice rolled his eyes. In all honesty, he didn’t want the Snivy to leave until he had secured the eeveelutions in his tails, the distraction of him getting up might cause the four to notice the tails dangling over their heads.
 
 
“Come on, Lucien. I want to hear what happens in the story.” Fae begged him, “You aren’t scared, are you?”
 
 
“...No.” Lucien grumbled, sitting back down again, his arms crossed over his chest as he huffed. The Ninetales let out a pleased chuckle and continued where he left off. As he did so he let out a loud yawn, the sound distracting the other pokemon from the sound of his tailmaws coming down on both the Vaporeon and Jolteon’s heads at once.
 
 
He gritted his teeth before hamming up the yawn to cover up the muffled yells of his two captives, “Aaaah, Oooh, Yawwwwwwn.” he yawned, growing louder as his tails rapidly gulped down the two struggling eeveelutions. Surprisingly his story had captivated his audience so much they didn’t even turn their heads away from him, allowing the two males to disappear into his tails without a trace.
 
 
Finally the last of the Vaporeon’s tail flapped its way into the tailmaw, which turned blue as it entered. The tail holding the Jolteon had turned a lovely shade of yellow, and the Ninetales bit his lip to contain his pleasure from having two more pokemon entering his tails, “Mmhh…”
 
 
“Mr Spice? Are you going to keep going?” Fae asked, raising her paw to get his attention.
 
 
“O-oh, yes, right!” the Ninetales cleared his throat, retracting his tails to hide back behind him until his two latest prey had settled down a bit.“The Muk Hat was a very special item, because it allowed him to turn his body to slime. He used his new powers to go around engulfing the pokemon who had been so mean to him before, covering them up with goo before absorbing them, getting bigger and bigger with each prey, until soon he was more Muk than Snivy..” his eyes twitched, a dull pain in the back of his head seemed to slowly crawl across the sides of his brow and finally up to his temple. “He became… the Muk Man.” Spice finished the story, his eyes beginning to glow once more as his empty tails drooled on the floor, begging to be fed.
 
 
Fae let out a scream and curled up in a ball, shivering and shaking in terror as the other students looked on in suspense and horror. Even Lucien seemed scared by the story. “Th-the Muk Man isn’t going to come and eat me, is he?” Fae managed to whimper.
 
 
“Ooh, I don’t know… he does love little Eevees.” Spice chuckled to himself, the tail maw sneaking closer opening wide enough to engulf Fae, leaving a trail of saliva over the floor as it went. “Especially when they curl up so he can eat them in one BITE!”
 
 
Ebony gasped and grabbed the Eevee, pulling her away just as the tailmaw got a mouthful of wooden floor. The children screamed and turned to their teacher for guidance, but all that remained of the Espeon was her forked tail, which flicked as the bulge she made in the Ninetales’ tail squirmed around. It slurped up her tail like a string of spaghetti and spat out her red framed glasses before snaking back to join the others, the tip turning purple as it did so.
 
 
“Wh-what the heck, Spice?” Ebony gasped, watching as the children fled out through the front of the school, all but for Fae who was too afraid to move from his side. The Ninetales grinned, his eyes glowing bright red as his two free tails opened their maws, curling around either side of him, “Wh-what’s going on? Why are your tails like that?”
 
 
“Ooh, they’re just hungry... hungry for you… hungry for her…” his voice echoed, sounding distorted as he prowled towards them, “But don’t worry… after I devour you both I will be perfect… just like in the story…” his tails hovered over them, dripping drool onto their faces as they slowly descended towards them. “I will become the more tails than mon… I will be.. The Tailtales.”
 
 
“That’s a stupid name.”
 
 
Spice turned just in time to see the bookshelf fall on him, trapping him under it. Rune leaped down from his position on the window ledge and onto it before jumping off and moving over to the other Umbreon, “Quick, we need to get out of here! The amulet is making him crazy.”
 
 
“Where are we going?” Ebony asked, following after Rune as he bolted out the door. Spice snarled and used his now powerful tails to launch the bookshelf off of him. Ebony pulled the door to the school shut and turned the key, locking the Ninetales inside before the trio raced around the corner of the school.
 
 
“I’m pretty sure there’s a fire exit.” Ebony noted as they fled, looking over his shoulder at the building behind them. He could see blasts of fire lighting up the room, and the shadow of the Ninetales scrambling about as he searched for a way out of the schoolhouse.
 
 
“Quick, we can hide in there!” Rune said, pointing at the nearby playground. The three raced to a large plastic hill shaped like a diglett and climbed under in, pressing themselves against the walls as they waited in silence and caught their breath.
 
 
“W-woah, that was scary.” Fae whimpered, looking up at the two Umbreon, “Th-thank you both, I never would’ve chaperoned tonight if I knew it’d have been that bad.”
 
 
“Wait, you’re not a student?” Ebony blinked in disbelief before glancing over at Rune, who returned his confused look with a shrug. The three hardly had time to think about it as they heard a loud bang from the school, and a quick peek through the hole they had entered through revealed the Ninetales shaking off the debris of the door as he began to look around.
 
 
“Everyone stay quiet.” Rune whispered, keeping himself pressed up against the inside wall of the plastic Diglett. Moments went by with nothing but their nervous breathing and the sound of the Ninetales padding around outside to focus on. Suddenly the footsteps began to draw closer, moving from grass and leaves to sand as the Ninetales approached them.
 
 
The trio held their breath as the Ninetales’ muzzle crept in through the hole they had entered, but it was clear the Ninetales was too big to come in himself. He sniffed, taking in deep breathes as he searched… before finally retracting his muzzle. Ebony and Rune exchanged a terrified, but relieved glance. They nodded, allowing themselves to breathe out.
 
 
Two of the tails shot back in, grabbing at whatever they could. Fae screamed and banged her paws against the wall before retreating to the other side of the Diglett, meanwhile Rune and Ebony held back the tails with all their might. Finally the tail on Ebony diverted and instead focused on grabbing Rune.
 
 
“No, NO!” Rune cried, digging his paws into the sand as the tail rapidly gulped up his body, slurping over his fur as the Ninetales outside moaned in bliss at the delicious meal he had caught. The Umbreon gritted his teeth, trying as hard as he could to drag himself back into the diglett hiding place, only to find have the maw close over his head and drag him out of sight.
 
 
Glrrk… “Mmmph!”
 
 
Glrrp.. “mmph…”.
 
 
‘Urrrrrrrrrp~’
 
 
Ebony tucked his ears back and looked over at Fae sulkily, pawing at the dirt nervously as she hugged her tail and whimpered. They both knew what it meant, and as the black tipped tail came into view through the entry hole they confirmed it.
 
 
“Delicious~ well worth the hunt too.With this Umbreon I’m one step closer to completing the ritual.” Spice spoke, though his voice was so distorted he no longer sounded like himself. “Umbreon… I know you are in there… you have her, don’t you? ...the girl… the eevee.”
 
 
Ebony gasped, his heart stopping as he glanced back at Fae. The eevee stared at him in terror, curling up in a ball. “I can’t reach her… she is too far away… bring her to me, Umbreon… bring me the eevee… make me perfect...” Spice’s voice echoed around them. “Bring her to me… and I will spare you…”
 
 
The Umbreon stared towards the hole, and then over at the girl. He bit his lip, terrified tears appearing in his eyes as he considered his options. Fae was small, he could easily overpower her, even when he wasn’t the strongest pokemon. His eyes narrowed, and he nodded to himself. “...Okay.” he replied, “She’s… she’s coming out. I’m sending her to you.”
 
 
“Goood…” the Ninetales spoke in a rumbling murr, his last empty tail snaking its way into the diglett. He could feel the paws of his prey pressing into his tail’s fleshy throat willingly, and even as it took its first gulp the prey continued to squirm to get deeper.
 
 
“...Wait. This tastes… familiar…” The Ninetales narrowed his eyes. He yanked his tail back from the hole, but it was too late, the Umbreon’s tail was already disappearing into the tip of his own.
 
 
“No… NO!” he growled, using his paws to throttle his tail in an attempt to get it to spit Ebony back out. But the Umbreon was too far down, with a final slurp he had disappeared and the tip of the tail turned back.
 
 
“You fool! You idiot! Now I’ll never complete the collection. I’ll be imperfect forever!” the Ninetales shouted at his tail, not even noticing as the terrified Eevee began to creep out of the diglett to watch the scene unfold.
 
 
“You’re the one who is a fool, Spice.” the Ninetales growled at himself, snapping his head to the left as his eyes burned in crimson light, “You have devoured many and hold them in your tails. Simply utter the incantation and they will join your body. You will have their powers forever!”
 
 
The fox’s head jerked back to the right, his eyes turning purple as his ears wilted and his tails tucked, “But if I do, I’ll always look like this, right? Two black tips. They’re not even symmetrical, they’re right next to each other. I.. I can’t stand for this, we must release them immediately!”
 
 
“Do your friends matter so much to you? More than unlimited power?” The fox snarled aggressively, his eyes turning crimson red. His paws began to shakily make their way towards the amulet hanging around his neck. “You could rule this wretched world or destroy it! None could stand against you, dragons would bow at your will, the skies would tremble as you rose to devour the universe.”
 
 
“Y-yes! But none of that… makes me… PERFECT!” the Ninetales shouted, finally forcing himself past the psychic energies that held him. He grabbed the amulet and pulled hard on it, breaking the chain and throwing it against the floor. His tails burst open in a blinding white light, spitting out the various eeveelutions that had been trapped in them before.
 
 
“O-ow, ow… tails.. tails!” Spice whimpered at the shooting pains of his tails returning to normal. He took out his aggression on the amulet, stomping on it with his paw before turning to face the others, his tails feeling much lighter now that they were free of the eeveelutions. They had also returned back to their normal colours, which the Ninetales was doubly pleased about. “Ah, well, I suppose all’s well that ends well.”
 
 
“Yeah, I mean, other than traumatising all those school children.” Ebony pointed out, still catching his breath as he laid on his back, covered with drool and saliva, “Ugh.. I need a bath.”
 
 
“Join the club…” Rune muttered, “I mean, we weren’t digested or anything, but… gross.”
 
 
"I can't believe I let the amulet control me like that," Spice pouted as he brushed the dirt off his tails, "I suppose the moral here is that absolute power corrupts absolutely."
 
 
"I'm pretty sure the moral is 'Don't go on a random eating spree', Spice." Rune spoke up, having finally caught his breath. "Seriously, who takes advice from a spooky cursed amulet?"
 
 
"Oh, yes, that too." Spice cleared his throat as he tucked his ears back and fumbled with his paws. "Speaking of which, you're not... upset about that, are you? I wasn't exactly myself tonight."
 
 
"Spice, you know we forgive you. The amulet was corrupting you, and we're your friends." Kalsea told him softly, only to gesture over to the furious Flareon, Jolteon and Vaporeon who were each preparing their own elemental attacks. "Those three, on the other hand, are complete strangers to you."
 
 
"A-ah, so they are... um... water under the bridge?" Spice grinned sheepishly. The Jolteon responded by firing a thunderbolt, which soared between Spice's ears and left his fur standing on end from the static. He let out a yelp and fled, running as fast as he could as the trio chased him back towards the town.
 
 
"That looks like good karmic fun.” Solomon noted as he finally got to his paws before looking over at Kalsea, “Do you want to go fox hunting?”
 
 
“You hold him in place with your ribbons, I freeze his paws to the ground.” Kalsea grinned over at him before the two chased off after the others. Solomon was glad to have found something else to do tonight, and Kalsea was glad to spend time with her mate.
 
 
"Oh boy, I am -not- looking forward to -that- hospital visit." Leaf winced as he watched the distant sparks of lightning and the glow of flames as they flew through the night. "With all the bandages I'll have to use, Spice might as well go as a mummy for Halloween."
 
 
"Ha, yeah..." Rune rolled his eyes before shuffling a little closer to the Leafeon, "Y'know, I don't think Cyn is going to expect us back at the Den tonight. Maybe we could go enjoy the moonlight? I'll protect ya."
 
 
"Heh, alright Rune. Lead the way." the Leafeon replied, blushing a little as he began to follow the Umbreon along, hoping to distract himself from everything he had been through tonight.
 
 
“Ebony, I don’t suppose you want to help hunt Spice down, do you?” Rose asked, moving over to the Umbreon’s side, “I could use some help finding the students and making sure they all get home safely… well, that and finding my glasses.”
 
 
“Oh, I’m not going to join in with that. I’m not really the hunting type.” the Umbreon chuckled, shaking off his fur once more before leading the Espeon along, using the light of his rings to guide her, “Come on, I think your glasses should still be in the school…”
 
 
Once the group had dispersed, Fae made her way out of the plastic diglett and over to where Spice had dropped the amulet. She brushed the grass off of it and picked it up, placing it into a ziplock bag and tightening it before reaching to the flower ear clip halfway down her left ear.
 
 
“Agent Fae reporting in. It was a close one, but I got the artifact.” she muttered, looking down at the bag. “A Ninetales got it, pretty much the worst scenario possible. Good thing you put your best ‘vee on this mission.”
 
 
“...”
 
 
“It’s pretty. Might try it on myself.” Fae replied with a gentle chuckle, turning the bag in her paw before tossing it a few inches in the air and catching it. “When’s my evac getting here?”
 
 
“...”
 
 
“That long, huh? ...it’s alright, I can wait. They’ve got a swingset and everything.” The eevee replied, tucking the bag into her backpack and wandering off to play in the park until the flying type arrived to take her to her next mission.