"What does the 'trick' mean in 'trick or treat'? I've only gotten treats so far."

"No one actually gives tricks," the military man told the panda costume. "If they don't have treats, they will simply turn their lights off."

"Dudes, you got it all wrong!" said America. "'Trick or treat' means you give a trick if you don't get a treat. It's like a threat! Not that anyone ever does that, of course..."

We were nearing the edge of the city. It was darker here, and somehow even more magical. The wind moaned softly and brushed over a hill at the end of the road. It seemed as if the moon shone brighter than anywhere else...

"Alright, this'll be the last house, and then we'll head back home!" America led the group to the door.

"What is this about?" A wrinkled man opened the door.

"Trick or treat!"

"I'm sorry, I don't have any treats."

"Aww," said America. "You must have something to give us!"

"I've got nothing."

Some of America's friends were leaving, but I knew the man was lying. I could smell that there were treats to be found here, and much better ones than the disgusting candies from the other houses. I could hear a ticking noise... I peered through the window. Against the wall stood an enormous clock. It was the most wonderful thing I had ever seen.

The perfect treat.

"C'mon guys, let's go home. This man's a bummer." America turned around and went after his friends.

"Just go," said Tony, following America. "Let's not be rude."

But I stayed. It was just me and Italy at the door now. I pulled my eyes away from the window so I could look straight into the wrinkled man's face.

"I told you, I've got nothing."

"Give me the clock."

"What?!"

"Give me the clock," I said louder, still looking directly into his eyes.

"Don't be silly, Steve!" said Italy with a nervous tremor in his voice. "I'll buy you a clock... We're friends, after all!"

"I want this clock," I said.

"You can't have my clock, boy," said the wrinkled man. "Get out of my yard!"

"Trick or treat," I said. "I play by the rules." I lifted an arm, and while I lashed my claws at the man's chest, I yelled:

"Trick!"

The man fell backward, but soon picked himself up again and grabbed a stick from the kitchen: the thing Tony calls a "broom". I waited my turn. I let him thrust the broom into my face. I caught it with my mouth and watched his horrified face as I easily bit it in half.

"My turn," I growled in my own language, and I lashed at his cheek. One of my claws sliced through his ear, and there was blood flowing everywhere. His face was priceless. This was what he got for disrespecting the Halloween rules.

"Stop! P-please stop!" Why was Italy sobbing? Earthlings made that noise when they were sad. I didn't want him to be sad. This intensified my anger at that man. I would make sure Italy would get the biggest treat of all. I would make sure I'd see him smiling again.

I waited for the man to take his turn in combat, but instead, he turned his back to me and fled. The coward! I ran after him and pounced onto his back, digging my teeth into his shoulder. I chewed and swallowed, then bit into his neck.

"Treat," I said, turning around to smile at Italy, but he was only sobbing louder. The man's blood was on my arms and dripping down my face. I went into the living room and picked up the majestic clock. I hugged it tightly, then bowed down and placed it at Italy's feet.

"For you."

But Italy couldn't look at the clock. He could barely look me in the eye.

"N-no, Steve... I can't... you can't do this..."

I pushed the clock closer to him and muttered: "Friends... forever..."

"No, Steve!" Italy's face looked pained. "If you're so... so horrible... then we can't be friends. I'm sorry!" He turned away and hurried to the door.

"Don't leave..." I wanted to cry, but I didn't have tears like Earthlings did. I wanted to strike him, but the big clock was in the way. I could hear its ticking like a heartbeat, and when Italy ran away from me, I hugged the clock and let the ticking take over my body.

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock...

"What in tarnation has happened here?!" It felt like ages later, even though the clock only showed me a minute's difference. I recognized the voice of England, and I lifted my face up slightly.

"Make Italy return," I whispered, but England shrieked: "Good lord!"

What is it? I wanted to ask. What have I done wrong? I didn't understand.

"What the fuck?!" America ran into the house, followed by Tony. The two Earthlings looked horrified. Tony just looked sad.

"You can't go around killing people," he said to me in our language. "That's disrespectful. It goes against all Earth's rules..."

It wasn't fair. It truly wasn't fair. All I did was follow the rules. I didn't get a treat, so I could play a trick. And Italy knew that. He knew I meant well, and yet he left me! He'd said we would be friends, and then he took that promise and crushed it! We would've been bonded for eternity, but he decided that he couldn't even last a day! Not even one short day...

I've been betrayed!

I let out a roar. America jumped back, then grabbed a weapon and started shooting pieces of iron at me. It only hurt a little, and I knew he'd run out of those before I could possibly die. England held some sort of stick in his hand and his words made light shoot out of it. A lightbeam hit me and I flew into the wall, so then I knew I should dodge those. A bookshelf caught fire, and then a table, and a carpet... I ran around the house, up and down the stairs, collecting every clock I could find and putting them all inside my mouth. Treasures, trophies, sources of control. When I came back to the hallway, Tony and the two Earthlings were running out the door to escape the flames. I gently lifted up the big, beautiful clock that had caught my eye and that still mesmerized me, and I felt its soothing heartbeat against my chest. Then I noticed that England had left his bag of spell books here inside the burning house. Carefully, I took the books out of the bag, and put them into a little door inside the clock. Summoning demons, cloning yourself... All this black magic sounded interesting, but the most fascinating was the one about time travel. I put this book in the very heart of the clock and ran out of the house. An icy wind howled past my face, but I felt warm from the blanket of flames and the ticking of clocks all around and inside me.

"Steve?!" I vaguely heard Italy's voice in the wind behind me as I ran over the hill to the other side. There was another house there: bigger, better... Treats for Italy? Treats for me?

I couldn't knock with the giant clock in my arms, so I pushed the door open. It was unlocked, and the key was still in it on the inside. The house seemed deserted. I put the big clock down, took the other ones out of my mouth and set them beside it. I could feel that the flames on my skin had died out. I held the key in my hand and took one last look outside. I could have sworn that I saw Italy's face, and I waved at him, softly. I knew he would come back here sooner or later, but we would no longer be friends. He had broken our friendship, and I would make sure to return the favor.

So long, Italy.

I explored the house. I found a broken mirror and a fountain pen. I examined myself in the mirror. I wasn't badly injured: I would recover within a week, perhaps within hours, depending how long weeks and hours were, of which I wasn't quite certain. The only noticeable change was that my skin had turned a darker grey from the fire.

I then took the fountain pen. Tony had tried to teach me... I tried to scribble something, but to no success: the pen was empty. So I let the blood from my chin and teeth drip inside, until the pen's insides were filled with the old man's blood. I took England's time travelling book and wrote my name in it. It was mine now. But no one would know even if they read it. It wouldn't read "Steve", nor would it read my real name, because I didn't know how to write. It would probably vaguely resemble some other name from some other language in some other story, somewhere...

I settled down after a while. I could live here... With this key, I was the master of the house, and there was no other inhabitant to claim the place, and if there was, I would turn him into a mochi: I remembered having glimpsed a spell for that in one of these black magic books... I laughed to myself. They would come back here, perhaps a year from now, or many years, or any other time, and whatever time it was, they would be just on time for my revenge. They wouldn't even remember me, except possibly Italy, and if he did, it would only be a vague memory somewhere in the back of his mind. I would be their worst nightmare, over and over again. I would let Italy write his name in that book, right there under mine, and we would be bound to each other forever, no, much longer than that. I would always remember his cruel rejection of what I was, and what he too could so easily become without the treat of trust and friendship. He was - and they all were - like the old man, not giving me what I deserved to have. And every time they came to my door with their unknowing faces, I would relive those moments of that Halloween evening, and think to myself:

Trick