The Last Halloween
NOTE: This is inspired by AMX's Ed, Edd N' Eddy/Nightmare before Christmas crossover, and I have permission to do this.
DISCLAIMER: "The Nightmare before Christmas" was created by Tim Burton, and "Ed, Edd N' Eddy" is the property of Danny Antonucci. The original idea for crossing these two belongs to AMX.
Halloween. A day when kids dress up in a variety of costumes and run from house to house, asking complete strangers to give them candy, Halloween is considered one of the best days out of the year.
Dead leaves were crunched under feet as children ran about, and the sounds of "Trick or Treat" filled the air.
One boy, about 17 or so, stood by himself, the wind blowing back his vampire cape. A normal person would suspect that he would be too old for Trick-Or-Treating, but then, he wasn't exactly a normal kid.
Behind him, there was the sound of movement, but he didn't turn. He knew who it was.
A tall, skeletal figure in a pinstriped suit strode up to him, then bent down and whispered in his ear, "Ready to go?"
He nodded, and seconds later, was whisked away to Halloween Town, a place where it was Halloween all year round. Well, actually no, Halloween still only came once a year, but the inhabitants looked like something out of a haunted house.
The twosome, Jack Skellington, and Baron, as the teen was known, spent the evening joking around with the Vampire Brothers (who really liked Baron's costume), playing with Jack's ghost dog Zero, and even joining in the annual Halloween Celebration. But Jack couldn't help but notice the fact that Baron looked a little said.
"Something the matter?" he asked, after the celebration had ended. They were both sitting on Spiral Hill, looking down at the pumpkin patch below.
Baron turned to face Jack, and simply looked at him for a moment before speaking. "It's just…I'm going away this year… for college."
"That's…"
"Disappointing? Yeah, I know."
There was silence for a moment. Then, Baron spoke up again.
"Hey Jack… remember when we first met?"
Flashback
The child stood alone, hands clutched tightly around the handles of a paper bag filled with candy.
He stopped to push the bomber pilot goggles up his face where they had slipped down, and realized that his mother and younger brother were gone. As he looked around, worried, he suddenly realized he wasn't alone.
"H-hello? Mom? Eddy? Is that you?"
Out of the shadow stepped an inhumanly tall figure dressed in a pinstriped suit with a bow tie that looked more like a bat than anything else. With a sudden gasp of shock, the boy realized the figure was really a skeleton.
The skeleton gave him what must have been a friendly smile. "Well hello, little boy. What are you doing out here by yourself?"
"I'm uh…lost. And," he added indignantly, "I'm not just a kid! I'm the Red Baron!"
"Well then, Mr. Baron. I'm Jack Skellington. It's very nice to meet you."
End Flashback
"Hey." Baron turned towards Jack, as he handed him a piece of weathered-looking paper.
"What is it?"
"It's a map to Halloween Town. You kniow, if you ever get the chance."
The young man smiled. "Thanks." Then he stood up, saying, "I guess I have to be going now."
Jack sighed sadly. "I guess so. But if you ever get the chance, come back, okay?"
"Of course."
Epilogue: Three Years Later
The young man sighed, and threw himself across his bed, after yet another boring, lecture-filled day of college to add to the calendar. His eyes roamed over the room, coming to a halt when they reached a package on his desk, which his roomie must have put there earlier.
Getting up, he strode over to his desk and picked up the manila envelope. The return address was from Peach Creek… he opened the envelope, and then turned it upside down. A small stack of papers, stapled together fell out on his desk. Throwing the envelope aside, he looked at the mess handwriting on the paper.
It began, "Dear Bro…"
The young man sat down, and spent several minutes reading the letter, eyes growing wider with each sentence. As soon as he finished, he read it over again several times, before putting it down.
"So… Eddy found the map to Halloween Town, huh?" He sat back, a smile on his face. Then he took out a piece of lined paper and began to write.
"Dear Eddy,
I see you found my old map. Good. I figured you'd locate it one of these days. But I bet you're wondering how I got it. See, it all bean about nine years ago…"
The End of One Story…and the Beginning of Another …
And that's it. Hope you liked it; though please tell me if I need to make any changes.
Until next time, have a Happy Halloween, Boys and Ghouls!
(Walks off, humming "This is Halloween")
