JAC stood in the ring, his Hedon self having dressed up in cranberry velour. He held the microphone. "Attention, there has been many questions for Beast Games. But while for a while there was a once every two weeks update policy, that swapped as soon as After Dark was made. And while we are not officially affiliated with After Dark, I must say this. Beast Games will be airing new episodes EVERY Monday in the month of November. And After Dark has promised new episodes on Fridays. Now some of you are slow and hate math. We call those people Berand."

He waited for a response.

"Nah, that's fair," Berand said.

"Okay, thanks," JAC said, as he resumed. "Well, basically, November 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th will all be episodes of Beast Games. And November 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th will all be episodes of After Dark. But to compensate for this increase in episodes, there will be less content. Overall, all episodes will be four segments, except After Dark will have only two. And as such that means it will be about 5000 words a week. Also, there is now a Time Limit system. A fight will last at most 20 minutes. That will be all."

The lights turned gray, then black.

As they turned back on, Slash, Coconut, and Marshmallow paced around JAC, but JAC rolled out of the ring. He stepped back from the swarm of sharks, and knew they'd be facing off in Halloween.

***

Richard Littles: Citrus Snow, it appears you are facing Leroy in Elements. Now, you have the worst record in all of Beast Games. How's that make you feel?

Citrus Snow, who sat in the ring, sprung to her feet and said, "That's quite a direct question! I admire your journalism, but I would have to ask that for the sake of my ego, and your chances of living to see puberty, that you ask me something a little less personable."

Richard Littles: Okay. You are facing Leroy in elements. How will you react when you lose?

Citrus Snow glared at the scolded announcer and said, "Basically, I am way smarter than some gamer boy. And I'm gonna whoop him and then I'm gonna whoop his big brother."

Richard Littles: What would a win mean to you?

Citrus Snow said, "Would mean a lot now that Swillow's gone AWOL."

"Dark days are up ahead and in my mind." As Leroy's theme played out, the aforementioned lizard stomped into the battle field, his sword a microphone. "Citrus Snow."

The wolf perked up.

"It has come to my attention we must meet in the next few days, during Halloween, as to have a game of Elements. And you and I are both in the same boat. You always lose, and I have a fifty fifty record. But it seems that, I have no majors wins, and neither do you."

"Are you getting anywhere, little man?" Citrus Snow asked.

"Just getting that, despite everything, I will beat you at Elements. And, when I do, I will be advancing onwards, and going to face Swillow. And like the SOS tried to do, from its ashes, I will rise and take down the force, and become a revolution."

"The only revolution you know of is dance dance, virgin gamer of the year," Citrus Snow snapped. "Maybe if you dropped the Mountain Dew, and picked up a weight, you wouldn't have the upper body strength of a brittle bones kindergarten math geek."

Leroy said, "Last I checked, if I jumped from your win record to your loss record, I'd break my legs."

"If I went from your win record to your loss record, I'd encounter Rexcelsis on all the good points, and I'd ask him why he allows his bottom bitch to compete all the time."

Leroy said, "If I'm a bottom bitch to Rexcelsis, then aren't you bottom bitch to Swillow?"

"If I'm bottom bitch to Swillow, then that's a hell of a lot better than being bottom bitch to bottom bitch of MEW3."

"Rexcelsis was never under employment by MEW3!" Leroy said.

"Wow, if he can't even get employment in the SOS, how good could he possibly have been? Rexcelsis hasn't been able to win a match if it wasn't against a jobber, and last I did my math, correct my calculations, my girl Swillow flat out knocked his ass cold, and I'm not afraid to repeat her success on you."

Leroy growled, and said, "I'm going to beat you in towers, because I'm smarter than you are. And unlike you, I can get a positive win record, and I will beat you."

He dropped the mic and walked out. But before he headed out, Citrus Snow said, "Oh by the way, this match is a Hanged Man's Elements Card Game. If you don't know what that means, it means both players are doing it in the haunted house, and loser gets thrown off the roof. Hope you have a helmet, buddy, okay?"

Leroy gulped, not having a helmet.

***

(Written with Bethany Clark95.)

"I am about to show you all about someone who forever dreams," Lilith said. "A dream within a dream. What you are about to witness, ghouls and ghasts, is the tale of someone who, stuck in their infinite recollections, goes to the point of their utmost humiliation and despair, and seeks to right that wrong, but instead ends up making a deal with the devil..."

Harper and Swillow entered the steel cage, and Swillow asked, "Shall we greet?"

Harper eyed the tall Dire wolf before her. She wouldn't lie, her heart was racing with anticipation. "Since I'm in a different land with strange traditions, lets greet each other the most logical canine way. What say you oh Champion Swillow?"

Swillow leaned down and sniffed her bottom. "Great, I always liked this. But Citrus won't allow it. Because it brings issues."

"Hah, that's unfortunate for Citrus," Harper remarked. She sniffed Swillow's bottom as well. "It's in our most inner instinct to figure out who and where a canine has been by sniffing." She looked up at Swillow and flashed her a playful smile. "Now your scent is forever edged in my memory. I hope we don't become enemies one day, cause I'll be able to track you."

Swillow said, "I won't forget your face too often. You know, since you have that mask on." As she sniffed, she said, "By the way, no DQ means one thing." She bit down on her bottom and tried to drain her soul.

Harper yelped in alarm and viciously broke away from her, some marks now adorning her behind. "Your fangs are weak!" Harper laughed as she aimed for Swillow's chest. "I'll show you real fangs." With that she sunk her long canine fangs straight into Swillow's chest.

The sharp, dagger like teeth entered Swillow's chest, but Swillow growled and aimed for neck. But Harper weaved past, posed for Swillow's leg, and threw her off balance.

And blood spilled from Swillow's wound, spraying from her bosom as she rolled away, towards the cage. She got handholds and proceeded upwards.

Harper whooped with joyful agitation and pursued, using her entire body weight to ram the chain wall. It's jerking preceded Swillow's fall, but she landed on all fours. "You'll need more power."

Harper grinned. "Good! Cause I'm just getting started." She pounced onto Swillow's shoulder, wrapped herself around in a complex maneuver, and used Swillow's own body weight to drop her on her head.

Swillow flipped over, on her head, and sat up with a gasp. Violent throbbing exploded in her brain, and as she got on her feet, Harper rammed her again.

Harper paced Swillow, grinning ear to ear. Her body burned hot with the thrill of the fight, and she licked Swillow's blood off of her teeth. Her heart pumped to a defeaning tempo in her ears. While Swillow was insanely fast, Harper inhaled sharply and danced around Swillow's attacks.

Swillow ran headfirst at Harper, but a hop over, and Swillow instead popped the cage off its hinges. She rebounced upon her tail, a new gap opened. Still, Swillow was too stunned to take advantage.

Harper huffed with victory, seeing the all too easy opening Swillow left. "Thanks for the exit hole." and with that, Harper kicked Swillow right in the face. Harper spun around and causally strolled through the opening.

Swillow, previously dazed, fell backwards from the kick, before sitting up in shock. She shot up, about to rip into her, until JAC gave Harper the crown. "Stop! She should not have won!"

"Meet our new queen, Harper!" JAC said. "As GM of the land I shall now serve you!"

Harper beamed with pride when everything spun.

Suddenly, she found herself laying down. Why was the laying down? She was alone and the cold air reminded her that she wasn't wearing her mask. "No...it can't be!" Harper reached up and her paw moved through where the crown was. She slumped down and pawed at the ground. "It was all a stupid dream. Gosh, I would do anything to make that a reality."

"You would, because I gave you that dream." Harper's private chamber was now alit red, and the phrase hot as hell came to mind. A woman, little around five feet tall, stood in all black clothes. "Welcome to your death."

After extricating a paw from her face, Harper blinked and said, "Excuse me? Just who are you?"

"My name is Lilith." She threw down a card with a skull on it. "And you're in Hell."

"Oh gosh, this is definitely a dream. I knew getting hit that hard on the head would do some damage latter." She looked at the card. "What kind of game?"

Lilith went to a table, and slapped down a deck of tarot cards. She spread them all out, and said, "Flip a card." Upon the backs were images of skulls and spiders.

Harper leaned forward and glanced up at Lilith. "Um okay. So what's this card?" She flipped over an image of a giant spider with many smaller ones surrounding. The Empress.

"The empress is the eternal protector," Lilith said. "It means you have patience and love within you. This has to be true about you, as, after all, I have come to understand under your possession is a kingdom? A kingdom almost like an offspring."

"You bet!" Harper barked. "I may not be as patient as I want to be, but I'm working on it. And as Queen, it's my duty to not only protect my land, but all who live in my domain. I adore my subjects. They are my pillars of strength."

"Pull out three cards," Lilith said. "Past, present, future, let's watch your past." She flipped over a card - and had an 8 on it.

Harper grimaced. Her past was bloody and depressing. She wasn't looking forward to hearing this.

"It seems like you brought change in the past. Like a skill to it. How have you made your kingdom a different land than your parents did?"

"Easy," Harper began. "My mother as a spotted Hyena thought they were the supreme species over the other three types of Hyenas that roam the land. When I began my reign, after the war I brought down the boarders and announced all types equal. We all had to fight on the same battlefield at one time. That proves we can live together in peace. I am the first Queen to allow any type of Hyena to live and thrive in my kingdom."

"Understandable," Lilith said and waved her hand. "Alright, now this second card is a two, and the symbol says that you are in an indecisive state now, that your trip in life is full of hard choices and you aren't sure where you're headed."

"Agreed. Kinda creepy how you're getting this, if I'm be honest," Harper laughed. "It is a dream after all, of course you would know me." Harper looked down at her paws. "Yes, this new land I've traveled to has brought on several hard choices. Ones that I am still making. Pth," she snorted. "Who knows where I'm heading. All I know is that I'm stuck serving that Swillow character."

Lilith said, "All is in the cards." She put down a four, same symbol as last. "This one says that in your future you are to relax. I can make you relax. While you regain your place in this world." Lilith took a step from the table then. "Well, I guess that's that. Shall we go on to the games?"

"Relax? Hah, we shall see. This land is full of battles and snarky remarks. We shall see."

She tilted her head sideways. "I guess we could play some games."

Lilith said, "First, I'd like for you to meet who my friends." The world turned black and white like an old movie. Three wild dogs came out. The Ghosts. Slash, Marshmallow, and Coconut.

Harper rose to her paws and wagged her tail at them in greeting. "Nice to meet some new faces around here, especially canine's. And I'm liking the effect. Very different."

Slash gave her a grin. "I am the leader of the Ghosts. You and I will know each other soon. Have you played 'hangman'?"

"It's a pleasure Alpha Slash," Harper greeted. She eyed the teammates. "Looks like ya got a good crew here. And no, that phrase is foreign to me. I'm afraid I am a stranger in these lands."

Slash told her, "Then let's start our first game, Harper." A noose wrapped around both Slash and Harper, right around the neck, as a pillar rose up. "The goal of this game is you have to figure out the word. If you do that, I get hanged. You have seven guesses."

------ ---- --- ------ "Guess a letter once at a time," Slash said.

"Ah....alright then," Harper frowned. She knew she couldn't truly die in her dream. Still, she swallowed hard and called out B.

A bit of the pillar fell off, leaving her less space.

"Drats," Harper muttered "D?"

Once again the pillar began to break. "If you need, you can just jump off now," Slash said with a laugh. "That means five lives left."

"I'll stay. L?"

"Four guesses." It was hard to stand now. It was a perfect cube of one feet across, one foot wide. this mean she'd have to balance as well as win.

"R?" Harper rasped.

Then it read out, --R--R ---- --- ------

"N!"

That brought her down to three lives then. "You are bad at this." Slash shook her head.

"Just terrible. I know," Harper laughed. "E!"

--R-ER ---- --E ------

"T!"

--R-ER ---- T-E ----T-

"H!" Harper barked.

H-R-ER ---- THE -H--T-

"A!"

HAR-ER ---- THE -H--T-

"P!"

HARPER ----- THE -H--T-

"O"

HARPER -O-- THE -HO-T-

"S?"

HARPER -O-- THE -HOSTS

"G!"

HARPER -O-- THE GHOSTS

"J?"

HARPER JO-- THE GHOSTS

"N?"

HARPER JO-N THE GHOSTS

"And I!!!" Harper barked.

HARPER JOIN THE GHOSTS. Slash's pillar broke. A snap came as the rope kept the wild dog up while the noose around Harper broke out. It seemed she had won. Lilith would clap.

"Victory!" Harper whooped.

Lilith said, "You get one win, but you will still have to beat the other two ghosts." Marshmallow and Coconut sneered. The fight began, a two on one match.

Harper whopped in excitement and met them head on, teeth bared.

Marshmallow and Coconut circled her. Marshmallow charged first at Harper with her head.

Harper just laughed and stepped sideways. She grabbed the side of Marshmallow's face with her teeth and slammed her to the ground.

Coconut jumped over Marshmallow, and cannonballed under the hyena's legs to knock her over. Harper fell onto her chest and scrambled to her paws, but Coconut and Marshmallow snatched her arms.

Harper struggled, trying to free herself. But they kicked both legs out from under her, thus forcing her to smack her head.

A rock, sharp, stabbed into her skull. As Harper was released, blood flowed from the wound. "Oh, I'm starting to like you two." She swung her back legs up, and slammed her feet into their faces.

But they slipped under her, and she'd drape across their backs. The rope broke from Slash, and she jumped onto the hyena's back, flipping Harper over.

21 World.

As Harper fell onto her back, all three ghosts pinned her.

Harper cried out in shock. "What the?" She gasped.

"I guess this was three on one," Lilith said. "We are tied now."

She threw down a card. "Welcome to your Death." The card rose up before a skull with flaming eyes bit down on it. A bestial sphere appeared, a thousand arms protruding from its form.

Harper feared failure, and Harper feared being alone, and as she stared, she saw her fears reflected in the beast.

"Arcana Demon, Empress," Lilith said.

"Oh goodie, " Harper said, eyeing the beast. "This dream keeps on getting weirder and weirder."

Lilith said, "This is you, but you have no idea yet. Let it take you over. Just accept it, and this will go well."

"This is me? Wow, talk about needing a make over." Harper snickered. She slowly approached "herself." "So, what's this gonna do to me? Give me extra strength." Harper bit down on it, but it turned to smoke.

Harper held her breath, as it filled her vision. However, she was now, alone... "Oh no," Harper whispered and she shook. "Where am I?"

And then Harper saw a flash of red and-

Harper's chest heaved as she caught her breath. Weirdest, freakiest dream perhaps ever. She stood and then felt an amulet around her neck. "Don't freak out, don't freak out." That didn't come from the dream world, right? After all, Swillow must have put it on her as a sign of her being underneath the wolf's service?

The night would be dark.

***

(Written with kgy121).

Richard Littles: So our main event for the evening, right before Thanksgiving where we will see Swillow versus Leroy for the first time ever. Also, we're having a five way disciplinary match, because the wheel of punishment is getting thrown out.

Richard Biggs: Under orders of JAC in fact, and since Swillow's taking no more prisoners. I heard Ahmond's taking place in that game or something, right?

Richard Littles: Yes, if Ahmond fails this match, she ends up in the punishment chamber for the last time ever. If she wins, she instead becomes Darkest Champion. And wins her family their first ever belt.

Richard Wood: Introducing first, our challenger. Weighing in at 98 pounds, and standing in at 3 feet tall. She represents the ice cream family, and comes from Sunnyvilla, Wysdom from Vytyl.

Ahmond! Ahmond ran up into the ring with a grin.

Richard Wood: And her opponent, weighing in as a professional fatass, he represents SOS, and comes from... The woods! The Wrecker of the Woods, Berand!

Berand strutted up to the ring, climbed onto the ring, and was rejected by the bottom rope. With a grunt, he went around and climbed the pole to get in instead.

Richard Short: Alright, you two, during this match nothing is off the limits-

"Woah, wait," Ahmond said. "I'm not fighting him with no disqualification."

She pulled out a contract. "This here says that I fight with no DQ, but if you read the fine text-" Richard Short put on his finest spectacles and peered at the deeper text. "Berand may be DQ'd and has to follow rules of a normal fight, including no magic."

"Well, what do you know," Richard Short said.

"I can't read that," complained the illiterate bear. "I'll crush you anyway."

Richard Short: For the rules of this match, Berand can only win via pinfall or submission. During this match, only Ahmond is allowed to use magic and weapons. If Berand gets counted out or DQ'd, then Ahmond is the new champion."

"Submission, huh? I hope you like pain little wolf."

Ahmond said, "I won't be the one feeling pain unless I lose! Wait, that's how it works right..." She stared down. Hm, maybe she wasn't so smart after all.

Richard Short rang the bell, and Ahmond ran at Berand, but Berand fell forward. Ahmond gasped, and rolled out of the way of a squash.

As heaven and earth shook from Berand's weight, Ahmond realized she barely survived. She jumped onto his back, and said, "Ice Cream Yank!" The ultimate submission move of the Ice Cream Pack. She bit on his tail, and yanked back hard as she could.

Richard Biggs: Ahmond is sure one traditional member of her family.

Richard Littles: Indeed. Berand's title reign may end sooner than we expected.

Since he was just on his stomach, Berand pushed up onto all fours and walked backward slowly as Ahmond pulled. Ahmond spat out his tail, figuring he wasn't tapping yet. So she grabbed his tail with her paws and cranked back.

Richard Biggs: Extra leverage!

Richard Littles: Genius!

Feeling an increased pull on his behind, Berand took his movement a step further and jumped backward. Ahmond released his tail, and scampered out the ring before she got ripped apart. She knew he'd weigh at least three, four, six times what she did.

Slamming into the ropes, the bear arrested his momentum. He was pretty sure that there were rules against being out of the ring too long, and didn't want to be disqualified. Moving back to the center of the arena, he stood up and roared to the audience.

Ahmond stayed on the outside of the ring.

Richard Biggs: She's being quite a coward.

Richard Littles: Coward? This is brilliant. If he wants to maintain the belt, he has to pin her, but he gets counted out, she never will.

Thinking as hard as a bear could think, Berand directed a question to the referee. "Does the ring count as a weapon?"

Richard Short: "No, you can use the ring to your advantage."

"Great," he responded, and tore into the matting, until the ring has a jelly filled bear filled center. He lifted the ring.

Richard Short's almost fell over as the bear lifted the ring. Ahmond's pulse quickened.

"You won't be in the ring, I'll bring the ring to you!" the bear roared, stepping slowly toward the much smaller beast.

Ahmond scrambled to get away from the mad bear, but he caught up and dropped the ring around her. She jumped through the hole. "All you need to do is tap the mat three times," the bear stated matter-of-factly. "Until then..." He placed a foot on her tail.

Ahmond pouted.

"Now where we," the bear mused, moving his foot off the tail. "Right, legs to shoulders."

Ahmond's eyes widened as she heard him. "Wait, what?" She didn't know he was going to actually submit her.

Pressing her left leg to her right shoulder, Berand grabbed her left shoulder and pulled upward. Both directions at once!

Ahmond's eyes widened and... She tapped out.

Richard Wood: Your winner and still your reigning, undefeated champion, Berand!

Standing up, he stuck his paw down to help Ahmond back to her feet. Ahmond blinked but said, "Uh, thanks for helping me back up."

"No problem. You are very brave, but maybe not the smartest for trying to wrestle a bear."

"Yeah, I guess I am brave," Ahmond said with a small smirk.

Until, Leroy appeared on the screen. "I know I was out here earlier for Citrus, but this is from Rexcelsis. Berand, be prepared, because Rexcelsis and I are coming for you and your title, this Halloween."

"If you want this title, you can rip it from my cold, dead, arms!"

"That will be arranged," Leroy said.