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Challenge #01072-B340: Pursued Knowledge

Someone that can see, or at least somehow perceive, Lewis/the deadbeats and is determined to study them -- Gallifreya

A shot of the old haunted house. Then a mirror, in which someone was wearing a headcam.

"They've left the house," said the person. "This is my chance to investigate the phenomenon. I've been living in the neighbourhood and I've seen a few weird things. I know something else is in there. They never lock their doors so I'm going in."

The mirror vanished, and the view quickly went inside the house.

"Now. I'm being very careful not to do anything illegal while I'm here. I just want to observe and measure. And maybe make sure I'm not... well. You read my blog. You know what they say about me."

The camera picked up a fuzzy pinkish... thing down a hall. It looked like a giant finger puppet.

"There's one," whispered the investigator. "I'm going to try talking to it."

The fuzzy finger puppet appeared to solidify as they crept closer.

"Hello? Can I talk to you?"

It had a simple, cartoon of a face. Currently in a bemused expression. It sang, "Omomomo?"

"I'm just here to investigate, I promise. Why are you here?"

"Omomomomomo..."

"I'm sorry. I don't understand you." Desperate scribbling on a piece of paper. It had YES on one side and NO on the other. They faced it towards the figure. "Can you understand me?"

A voice said, "The Deadbeats are puppets," it was a voice that didn't use breath to speak. "If you want to talk to a ghost, look behind you."

The camera whirled to face a formal suit's chest. Panned up to face a floating skull with firey hair.

"'Sup?" said the ghost.

The camera view scrambled wildly through the house. Out the door. Over the fence. Down the street. Crashed into a stand of bushes.

"O god, o god, o god, o god... that was... that was... that was incredible. That was real? Omigod... I got that on camera. Tell me I got that on camera..."

And anyone who followed their blog, who saw that footage, would know that they would be coming back.

(Muse food remaining: 22. Submit a Prompt! Ask a question! Buy my stories! Or comment below!)

Challenge #01071-B339: One Good Apple

A TV psychic with genuine ability and their crew end up on "This Old Haunted Mansion" -- Gallifreya

Pamela Aerie ran a very small psychic show on the local PBS with a budget so small that they had to recycle their shoestrings. She filmed a lot of it with the one camera she'd owned since 1988 and the help of her husband and children.

And she was one of the few who actually asked permission to guest on their webcast.

The instant

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Challenge #01070-B338: One Slow Afternoon at Unsuitable Food Eat

EUREKA!

Which is greek for "This bath is %*£&ing cold!" -- Gallifreya

"I thought it meant, 'hand me a towel'."

"I heard it was, 'there's a cockroach in the bath'."

"No, no, no. It really means, 'is my time up already'."

Shayde, gloomily watching her joke plummet like a leaden balloon that was currently on fire, tapped the countertop for another fudge sundae. "What goes around comes around," she sighed. "And this one went around so often it's no' a joke

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Challenge #01069-B337: Out in the Rain

The Underground residents and Weather. -- Gallifreya

They were all clustered together inside the nearest police station. Mostly, clustered around Frisk in a protective and comforting manner. The cluster of monsters tightened a little as the ceiling made a noise.

"W-w-what is that?" quavered Alphys.

Frisk signed, Rain.

"I saw that in your animes," whispered Undyne. "Clear water just... falls out of the sky." She grinned widely. "I have got to see this!"

The monsters swarmed out into the parking lot. Even

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Challenge #01068-B336: A Reason to Sing

Sans, you have a lovely singing voice! -- Gallifreya

[AN: This prompt references this fan mix of a song called Drop Pop Candy. CAUTION: That song is an ear-worm. Do not listen until you have something that trumps everything.]

Sans hadn't realised he was singing out loud until Frisk began clapping. He hadn't been in a mood to sing since... O Gods... since the first time they had escaped the underground. So many resets ago.

It had been over a year. Things.

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Challenge #01067-B335: They've Been Hiding up There For Ages

http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/043/748/cc4.jpg

Frisk the undisputed monarch of hide and seek (and massive troll) -- Gallifreya

One thing the files said about Frisk, was that if they didn't want to be found, the seeker would never find them.

One rather malevolent foster parent called the police to search for them, and the child just spontaneously turned up in the rear of a squad car. With a friend who was not so good at

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Challenge #01066-B334: Touch Feast

You mentioned Frisk being tactile - so they probably don't mind at all if the monsters take every opportunity to pick them up, carry them around, hug them or hold them (and one time pretend to suplex them) -- Gallifreya

The first thing people noticed about Frisk was their silence. The second thing they noticed, assuming they got past the silence, was that Frisk was rarely out of the arms of a monster.

It didn't matter which one. Whatever came along to

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Challenge #01065-B333: Santa Claws

The Santa Suit in King Fluffybuns' wardrobe. -- Gallifreya

The first rays of Christmas morning lit the snow with gold. This was a day of magic. A day of miracles. And the best miracle was that Frisk had a family now.

Mom Toriel and Dunkle Sans. And Uncle Papyrus. And Aunties Undyne and Alphys. And a whole host of others who would be sharing the feast at the Really Big table.

The grin on Frisk's head wouldn't go away. Their breathless giggles

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Challenge #01064-B332: The Pros and Cons of Cute

That one ambassador that has at this point given up on avoiding being picked up and cuddled/held/used as a large teddy bear, and just gets on with paperwork (or listens/chats/relaxes/reads a book/takes a nap) while their fur/scales/feathers are groomed by whoever got them this time, so long as they don't have any appointments to get to. -- Gallifreya

[Re-using Ambassador Ha'ri from story #00761, available for purchase in the next Instants Anthology (coming soon)

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Challenge #01063-B331: The Ambassador... the Hat

A skeleton looks much less scary with a small child sitting on their shoulders/draped over their skull -- Gallifreya

The monsters had not waited for permission to build. A new city sprang up on and around Mount Ebott. Practically overnight. Replete with paved roads, plumbing, and all the amenities. They certainly did not wait to celebrate their freedom.

And they invited the humans to come join them.

Some came expecting to be scared. Officer Honicutt came to make certain that the

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Challenge #01062-B330: One Miserable Evening in a Wave of the Future Science Outpost

Strange how believing in "the greater good" makes doing "necessary evils" so much more tolerable... -- Anon Guest

[AN: I saw your comment on this, RecklessPrudence. Was this you? If so, I'll re-attribute]

Rael was supposed to be resting in his heated tank. Certainly, his body was resting, but he was not insensate. He could hear the argument going on between his creators and the owners of Wave of the Future. He could not see them, and he didn't particularly want to.

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Challenge #01061-B329: First Impressions

The large, intimidating and scary... King Fluffybuns -- Gallifreya

Authorities were still trying to lure the silent Frisk away from the gathered monsters. Frisk had worn themselves out trying to tell them that the monsters were her friends.

Now they were just clinging to the nearest leg for comfort.

Toriel patted her head. "I know, my child," she soothed. "It is very hard to convince them. Humans do tend to judge by appearances. Have no fear. They will understand."

And then, the

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Challenge #01060-B328: In the Middle of a Faery Tale

http://paintdripps.tumblr.com/post/133942666585/magic-aus-for-all-your-magic-au-needs

And a third -- Gallifreya

Gloria had been combing her hair by the river when a wandering man stumbled upon her. He stood there, gaping like a landed fish, until Gloria started braiding it up.

"Fair maiden, I beg your boon," he began. "I am labouring under a terrible curse. A foul witch decreed that I must never refuse an opportunity for generosity until such time as a maiden bestows her true love's kiss."

Hm.

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Challenge #01059-B327: Reset... Reset...

http://paintdripps.tumblr.com/post/133942666585/magic-aus-for-all-your-magic-au-needs

Pick a second -- Gallifreya

Sans had let a fine layer of snow settle on him again. It didn't really matter. Skeletons were generally immune to the cold in the first place, and he just didn't care for the second.

Every time he opened his eyes, he saw the sky... Blue sky. Real stars. Clouds... it didn't matter.

Crowding didn't matter. Not any more. There were seemingly boundless areas of mountainside and forest in which

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Challenge #01058-B326: Desperate Measures

http://paintdripps.tumblr.com/post/133942666585/magic-aus-for-all-your-magic-au-needs

Pick one -- Gallifreya

Cam had had enough. Their entire adventure across half the realm had been full of bailing out of flirting. Near misses and excruciating closeness mixed with nigh-intolerable formality.

It had been painful. Didn't Bes know how awesome she was? How wonderful she was for everyone around her. It wasn't that she had a Bard's natural glamour. It was all charm and charisma. And... just being Bes.

All Cam could think about

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