Prompt: Tell the story of Halloween from the perspective of a piece of candy.

The leader of Clan Twix slammed his pretzel stick staff on the kitchen counter with a booming crash, and the percussive sound silenced the rest of his kind.

"Candies!" He announced in a loud voice. "Today we recognize the events that will take place tomorrow eve. Behold, the horrid Halloween!"

The Twix gasped in horror and cowered back from the massive pumpkin that loomed over their heads, or the fall garlands that decorated their temporary home, the kitchen. The season of slaughter and massacre that occurred annually struck fear into their delicious caramel- filled hearts.

"But this festival of death ends now!" Chieftain Twix announced, and the Twix gave weary cheers. "With the help of the other clans we will finally vanquish the human scum and their sweet teeth!"

"Did you say help of the other clans?" A Fun-Sized Twix cried from the edges of the group.

"That's right!" Chieftain Twix hollered, and the cries of the Twix Clan were drowned out by the high-pitched sounds of another candy clan - Clan Skittles.

The Skittles were powerful only because they were so numerous, and exceedingly hyper because of their high sugar content. At the first sign of trouble they were on the front lines, swarming any attackers with delectable candy goodness. So when Halloween drew near, they began to band together, forming attack plans to retaliate against the humans who devoured their masses. The Skittles had a hierarchy in their ranks - Red was always the best, then Lime green, then Orange, then Yellow, then Purple, because no one likes Purple. Sour Skittles, Desserts Skittles, Wild Berry Skittles, Darkside Skittles and Tropical Skittles were sometimes added to the Skittles Clan, but were rarer than the Original flavors. The Chieftain of Clan Skittles was a large Red Skittle who was armed with a toothpick tip as a spear. There was a commanding tone in his voice when he ordered his troops into color ranks and saluted to Chieftain Twix and the other clan.

"I heard you needed support! I've called in the cavalry." Chieftain Skittles rolled over to Chieftain Twix's side, inspecting his high-calorie army. "Clan Skittles will accompany you in battle, good friend."

"Thank you for your help, Chieftain Skittles." Chieftain Twix said. "When the rest of the forces arrive I will discuss our battle plans."

"Excellent. I can't wait to make those pesky humans taste the rainbow - slogan copyrighted." Chieftain Skittles trembled with anticipation.

The next wave of support came in the rambunctious ranks of Clan Reese's, following their leader, the half-pound Reese's cup the mom of the household had bought for Halloween celebrations. Instantly recognizing their Alpha, the other Reese's had flocked to him, and the Clan Reese's had a Chieftain. The Reese's were, by any stretch of the word, nutty, and not only because of their peanut butter filling. The Reese's were crazy war-hungry creatures, as eager as the Skittles for a fight. Chieftain Twix knew they would make good allies in the oncoming storm.

"Clan Twix welcomes you!" Chieftain Twix called up at the massive half-pound Chieftain Reese's.

The milk-chocolate monstrosity boomed back, "Wouldn't miss it for the world! Glad we Reese's could be of help." Clan Reese's erupted into a frenzy of celebrating, wrapper-shredding, and cheering, and couldn't be subdued for several minutes.

"Excellent." Chieftain Twix said once the riot was over, slightly disgruntled. "Who else are we expecting?"

He was answered by the red vine-like tendrils that crept over the kitchen counter, forming an elaborate staircase that was ascended by the Clan Twizzlers. Their usual solid form had been split to the middle to form legs, and the Chieftain Twizzler stood before his troops, who were swarmed by a sea of red when the Twizzlers Bites caught up to the rest of the Twists, lining up for battle.

"Welcome, Chieftain Twizzler!" Chieftain Twix said, and the other candy Chieftains came to greet their new ally. The bendable, peel-able Chieftain accepted their recognition and showed off his armada with a sweeping gesture of one of his Twizzler strands.

"I present to you my soldiers! Here are the Twizzlers Bites, the Twizzlers Twists, and the Twizzlers Pull-And-Peels! Versatile in any situation! I hope we will be able to assist you, my colorful companions!"

The Twizzlers soon joined their other fruity friends, the Skittles, and Chieftain Twix turned to Chieftain Reese's.

"Do you know who else is coming?" He wondered aloud, and Chieftain Reese's laughed so loudly the Skittles all scattered across the counter from the shock waves.

"Indeed! Rumor has it that M&Ms themselves will make an appearance, and the Clan Kit Kat! You summoned a sizable force, Chieftain."

"It would seem so." Chieftain Twix said, observing the mingling candies.

The Clan Kit Kat arrived next, twin pairs of soldiers armed with penny shields in strict lines. The White, Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate Kit Kats were the first to emerge, unscathed from their journey from the cupboard. Next were the Kit Kat Minis, bearing no shields, and their Chieftains followed them, two King-Size Kit Kat bars with the mom's sewing needles for weapons. They were greeted by the other Chieftains and the Kit Kat soldiers mingled with the other chocolate candies, forming a mob of high-fructose corn syrup on the countertop.

"Thank you..."

"For your summons!" The Kit Kats announced, and Chieftain Twix led them over to the cluster of soldiers. "Thank you for coming."

"Always come for..."

"A friend in need!"

"The Halloween massacre..."

"Needs to cease."

"Rightly so." Chieftain Twizzler said. "Our soldiers devoured by the greedy, snatching hands of those humans, wearing costumes to mock us in our ineptitude... Never again!"

Chieftain Skittles was so moved by this speech he burst into loud sobs, and had to be consoled by Chieftain Reese's.

"Who are we..."

"Waiting on?"

"Only Chieftain M&Ms has yet to appear." Chieftain Twix replied, and Chieftain Skittles bristled.

"You're letting that no-good, rotten-hearted, sour excuse for sugar in on our plan? Doesn't he have enough soldiers to not stress about losing a few more?"

"The same could be said of you, Chieftain Skittles." Chieftain Twizzler rumbled, and Chieftain Skittles turned redder still, but did not retort.

The onslaught of the M&Ms was heard long before it was seen, the sound of candy shells rolling against the marble countertop. The M&Ms were numerous, but on meetings of the Clans one could truly appreciate their vastness. Peanut, Pretzel, Dark Chocolate, Coconut, Crispy, Almond, Mint Chocolate, Orange Chocolate, Wild Cherry (blaring 'Play That Funky Music White Boy' on an iPod shuffle), and Premium flavors filled the masses as a tidal wave of M&Ms spread across the counter. Their Chieftain was a gargantuan glob of gluttonous goodness, a factory mishap that had crushed five M&Ms together in a lumpy blob, haphazardly glazed blue. He strode forward confidently, cheered on by the rest of his clan.

"Where are the Sour Patch Kids?" He asked, and Chieftain Reese's answered him.

"Past their bedtimes."

"How about the packs of gum? Kids love gum!"

"Apparently they're a choking hazard."

"Perfect." Chieftain M&Ms grumbled. "Now I have to work with you numbskulls."

The other M&Ms roared their approval and swarmed into the crowd of candy, greeting the Clans with significantly more warmth than their Chieftain.

Once all of the Clans had settled down and been organized by their Chieftains, Chieftain Twix began his presentation of their battle strategy.

"We'll be dumped into that pumpkin bucket on top of the fridge." The distant smudge of orange grinned down at the candy ranks with an unwavering forced smile. The Twizzlers Bites and Fun-Sized candies shrunk away from its constant gaze.

"Here, the Twizzlers will assemble by the edges. When the trick-or-treaters come then Clan Twizzlers will emerge from their wrappers and form ladders for the candies. Using your wrapper as a parachute, you will leap from the edge of the candy bucket and from there to the freedom of the bushes. Survivors will regroup and flee to safety."

"Excuse me..." A small Yellow Skittle asked nervously, "But did you say 'survivors?'"

"There are casualties in war, kid. Suck it up." Chieftain M&Ms called back, and the soldiers shifted about, muttering to themselves.

"Those on the bottom of the candy bucket will escape when those armed with toothpicks or other sharp-pointed object will carve holes in the bottom of the bucket. If you don't know what to do, ask another candy for help. If you are in a wrapper with multiple candies, plan how you will parachute to safety together before you enter the bucket."

Chieftain Twix observed the crowd of candy standing before him and his fellow Chieftains with pride. "Every year thousands, millions, die at the ruthless hands of the humans. But this time, it will be them receiving the tricks, will it not? We will not be in that number! We will fight!"

"Fight!" Clamored the candies, filling the air with their saccharine shouts.

"Will we be devoured like our brethren?"

"Never!"

"Will we fight for our freedom, and protect our clans?"

"Yes!" A few particularly rowdy Reese's leaped into the air.

"What say you, fellow Chieftains? Will we prevail?"

"The humans will never again feast upon our kind! The name Twizzlers will be feared! We will strangle them with our peel-able bodies!"

"Tremble at the name of Skittles! They will faint at the sight of us!"

"There's peanut butter inside of us Reese's, but also the need for vengeance! For our fallen brothers!"

"Sure. M&Ms, whee."

"Tomorrow we fight!"

Afterwards each clan departed, heading back to their bags in the cupboard, and the Chieftains bid each other farewell.

"Tomorrow, then." Chieftain Twizzler said, sounding emotional about the upcoming event.

"We have always held Halloween as a massacre, friends. Now it is a revolution! Leave in haste, for the mother will be home soon."

"See you tomorrow, then."

The candies stayed up all night fretting about the day of Halloween when they would for the first time confront their oldest enemies, the humans. Since they had never seen a human before rumors spread throughout the ranks of the soldiers of what a human really was.

"I hear they have ten long grabby things, and three of them are solely for taking candy from people!" An Orange skittle told his brothers, who gasped at the grotesqueness of the creature being described.

"They dress up as princesses or superheroes whose sole job is to destroy all the candy in the world! They don't sleep all night, just plunder each house, never satisfied with their killing."

"They have six eyes, and sometimes they have lenses over their eyes to see their prey better."

"They run between each house for maximum time/candy efficiency!"

The Chieftains fretted about the good of their clan and their decisions, running over their plans again and again. And all night the sinister Halloween bucket stared down at them, always smiling, always watching.

"Are we gonna die?" A M&Ms Blue asked his wrapper-mates, and they laughed.

"The Chieftain said we're going to be fine. Don't worry about it, okay?"

"Sure, but why aren't there any candies here from last year?"

None of the candies knew how to respond to that, so they didn't.

Finally the sun rose on Halloween morning, and the mom came and put all the candies in her big bucket. The eyes of the bucket followed the candy clans as they were dumped in, relishing their shouts as they clattered of top of each other, yelping when another flood of sweets fell on top of them. The free-fall was terrifying, but when they landed everything was still and silent. The Chieftains worked their way to the top and instructed the Twizzlers to the edges. Soon the bucket was perfectly rimmed by the red slender candies and they had run the ladder drill at least ten times by the time the mom came back and brought the bucket to the front door. The sun had begun to set and it was time for the first round of miniature murderers to claim their prizes. The candies braced themselves; it was time. It was finally time.

The doorbell rang, tolling the deaths of the clans in its lilting chime. The mom picked up the bucket, headed to the door. A few of the candies whimpered and muttered prayers to the great god Sugar Cane or whispered goodbyes to their friends in case they didn't make it out. The Chieftains were still assembled at the top of the pile, stoically waiting for what would come next.

With a creak the door opened, revealing three of the conniving humans, their avaricious hands clenched around their own buckets, painted with the grisly pumpkin smile that was mirrored on the mom's bucket. Their teeth were bared and white, pointed fangs were revealed as they looked at the mom, who bared her teeth back.

"What do you say..." Another human behind them asked, who had presumably not taken part in the carnage.

"Trick or treat?" The humans sang, like a nursery rhyme, and the mom tittered.

"Of course! And who are you dressed up as?"

"Steady, men..." Chieftain Twix whispered.

"I'm a fireman!"

"I'm Elsa!"

"I'm a mummy!"

"All right... You can have two pieces." The mom said, and extended the bucket to the savages.

"Now!" Chieftain Twix bellowed to Clan Twizzlers, and they began to snake their way up to the edge of bucket. The humans were fast, far too fast for their scrawny frames, and their pincers whipped out and plunged into the depths of the bucket, sifting around in the contents, snatching up soldiers who vainly fought to escape the humans' grasp. Three arms dug around the bucket, and it all was a gamble, a gamble of life and death.

"No, nooooooo! Help me, help!"

"Get down! Hide!"

"Hurry with those ladders, will you?"

"To the sides! They reach for the middle!"

Chieftain Twix was watching the candies' futile attempt to flee when suddenly he was plucked from his perch and lifted into the air, tilted to the side, watching the bucket speed away from him. He faced the human now, who glared back at him, eyes narrowed in the concentration of a predator examining his captive. Instead of being thrown into the human's bucket Chieftain Twix's wrapper was torn away and he was clutched in the human's sweaty fingers. Then, slowly, the human opened its mouth and drew him to the cavity, to the pointed teeth and the darkness of imminent death.

"Goodbye, cruel world." Chieftain Twix muttered, and the last sounds he heard were the cries of his clan, begging for rescue.