This story is dedicated to my hamigo Heather She gave me the idea and ambition while we were watching N.M.B.C. so I'm gonna try the best I can to see this story through. None of the characters belong to me; they are all creations of Tim Burton and Danny Elfman (music wise). With out further ado, here we go . . .

WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS MILD LANGUAGE, SEXUAL SCENES, AND YAOI!!! THINK OF THESE FACTORS, BEFORE READING!! DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU!!!

"Gimme a sammich!!!!!!"(Heather XD). KZC

~ Barrels of Fun ~

Thick green bubbles . . . oh the sensation, the overwhelming feeling of just some frothy green bubbles. Normally, bubbles such as these wouldn't even fascinate me, but there are just some things that tend to mysteriously 'intrigue' me. Because of my gaze, people find me . . . eh, what do they call it? "Stupid?" What 'intrigues' me the most is their personal classification of me. I will admit I don't speak up to any authority, but apparently, to the 'simple-minded' it means I have no thought-processing ability whatsoever. Not like I care; I, myself, find it amusing to watch them belittle me, whilst at the same time, I am belittling them. I mean, who do they think the real leader is? Shock? Don't make me laugh! By far she is a pushy bitch, but in that way I love her; and don't get me started on Lock. He's so simple-minded that I almost feel threatened when he calls me 'stupid' . . . almost. But none of that really matters now; they can think what they like, but all in all, there's only one true heir to Oogie's throne. Me.

I go by many things, many names and alias, but I'm mostly referred to as Barrel. I've been called it for so long that even Mister Oogie Boogie himself takes the honor in calling me so. Ah, tis a shame that he is so easily . . . crushed. How many times have I seen the resurrection process? It's too numerous; but every time I see those beautiful sickly bubbles, my mouth waters (which is saying something, because I am considered dead). The churning of the glowing goop, the absolutely horrendous odors; how I simply lust for them. Ah, resurrection. Such a sweet process; especially if it brings my king back to me. It brings me the utmost joy seeing Shock doing all of the clockwork arrangements, while Lock looks on and acts as if he's actually doing something.

"Bring me that vial! Oogie can't resurrect himself you know!" Shock was always so demanding. I find her quite annoying, but at the same time quite interesting. She always acted as if she knew what she was doing and went with it; whether or not Oogie or Lock could saw was beyond me, but I found that she's one of the easiest books to read. Unlike most girls her age, she never bothered to comb her hair nor keep her clothes neat and well kempt (but then again this IS HalloweenTown), and unlike her appearance, she actually acts very boastful and obnoxious. You would figure a girl who plays with crystal balls and hones some of the most powerful spells would be a recluse; but with Shock, I can say differently. At times I can say I absolutely despise her, but there's that characteristic; yes, that characteristic that she 'believes' that she is all powerful and don't to mention 'beautiful'. In my opinion, I don't find her remotely attractive . . . however, I find Lock very, very appealing. Yes, the way his hair parts like the devil's actual horns and the way he poses his slender body; simply delicious. The only person I find attractive is the one person that I am forbidden to have. But that is another matter.

"Pick up the pace! I need more Iguana tongue!" Lock stuttered for a moment and ran into a shelf (oh, how I love his absolute idiocy). I couldn't help but notice the glare that Shock was directing at me. "Well, help me you dumbbell!!!! Fetch me the Snake eyes!" I stood there for a moment with the biggest grin on my face (everyone thought that I grinned because of 'idiocy' which to say in actuality represents my amusement), and like the 'dumbbell' that I am, I then ran off looking for a jar of Snake Eyes, purposely knocking into the wall and making a few jars shatter on the ground. "You idiot!!! Clean that up!!!" "Yeah! Clean that up!" I turned to see Lock trying to imitate Shock's foolish attempt at intimidation; ah how I loved his simple-mindedness. As if she had nothing better to do, Shock snatched the jar from my hands and handed me a broom and waited until I finally decided to start sweeping.

"Yes, yes, yes! It's almost complete!" With that whimsical notion that all girls tend to portray, she beckoned us to the giant black cauldron to which those ooze-infested bubbles originated. "One final ingredient . . ." She looked around as if it was going to miraculously appear out of thin air, and then glared at me. "Where'd you put Oogie's body?" Being the 'dense' one of the three, I just shrugged and pointed in two different directions (when actually Oogie's crushed body was safely secured inside one of my skeleton jumpsuit pockets.) "You lost Oogie's body?! How could you lose Oogie's body?!" With Shock's natural temper, I just watched as she stamped her foot on the ground and acted like a child. I find it funny that even the town finds us to be just mere children. In fact, I am older than quite a few people here. Just because I am a child does not make me a child on the inside; I wish I could say the same for Shock.

"Oh, here it is." I said as nonchalantly and coolly as possible. "I don't know why I trusted you with Boogie's body anyway! I mean, you could've lost him forever!" When resurrection pops up, I tend to be the one who carries Oogie's body; and to be truthful, never have I lost him. I find it more interesting to create a more 'dramatic' experience however. . . She gently (which is unlike her) took the body, which was some sort of beetle I believe, and placed it in the bubbling cauldron. "Now we wait."

Not too long after the body was placed, the liquid ooze turned a red rosy color and then exploded in scarlet smoke clouds. "At last. You have returned to us, O' Great King Oogie Boogie." Don't be fooled; there's not much to see besides the lights and smoke. Out of the cauldron, crawled a beetle about the size of my hand. It placed itself hastily in front of us, and with its' minute voice, it said "Bring me bugs."

Luckily for us, we had bugs by the barrel full (a joke on my part), because like the other resurrections, they couldn't be completed without bugs. We each grabbed a barrel and tipped it over, letting bugs crawl out from left and right. Eventually each bug found its' way to the head beetle and began assembling in the shape of a ghastly creature that we know better as our Oogie Boogie. By this time, his voice was much more masculine and respectful. "Bring me the sack!" Lock and Shock brought in a large sack, and with that the bug form of Oogie, placed it upon himself, forming the complete Oogie Boogie.

Shock turned to me at this point; "Well don't just stand there! Stitch him up!" Call me feminine, but out of the three of us, I was the only one who could sew. Sure, if he needed to, Oogie could patch a few seams, but then again; it was his handiwork that made him fall to the hands of defeat in the first place. As quickly as I could (I can't keep the slow charade forever you know.), I began stitching the sides of the bag and in only ten minutes, Oogie Boogie was completely secure. My mouth could only help but water; I was looking at our king, our hero, our one and only 'Boogie Man'. In return for the stitching, he laughed insanely and began buttering us with compliments.

"A good job as usual boys."(He referred to us all has his boys, even though Shock was the oddball of the group.) "Have your stitches gotten tighter Barrel?" They all turned to me; I just shrugged and nodded my head in a yes-like motion. He laughed again, "Maybe then, Jack won't be able to disassemble me so easily." Oogie was known for his laughter and so I pleased myself in hearing it, but I hated when Shock pitched her high-pitched squeal in as well. She was such a suck up!

For as long as I can remember Shock was the biggest suck up. She pleasured herself in going out of her way to attend to Oogie's beck and call; it's just easier to say that she had the sickest obsession. "Mister Oogie Boogie, is there anything that I can get you?" Oogie scratched his head and replied "How about roasted skeleton with a side order of Halloween royalty?" In layman's terms, he was referring to Jack.

Who was Jack? More precisely, who WASN'T Jack?! Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King himself, was better known to all ghosts and ghouls as the 'King of Halloween'. Every year, Jack would stun the residents of Halloween Town with daring stunts and wonderful effects. Everyone loved Jack, except for Oogie Boogie. In fact, Oogie Boogie loathed Jack, and Jack loathed Oogie Boogie. As obedient as I am to Mister Oogie Boogie, I can't help but be amazed by Jack. Call me giddy, but I often have fantasies of Jack and well . . . of me of course! Not that I have anything against Oogie or anything, but if he found out about my strange and warped thoughts about Jack, all chaos would ensue.

Oogie Boogie respected me; heck, he trusted ME more than anyone; which made me feel important (not that I needed him to make me feel important to begin with.) More or less, Oogie is my boss, and that's all he is to me. Out of the three of us, we were the closest pair (I even remember him calling me the 'Son that he never would have bothered to create', which, is a compliment considering what he considers Lock and Shock.)

For a moment we all exchanged different expressions, until Oogie broke the silence. "Now, for the matter of Halloween itself." He cleared his throat and began again. "Tell me now, how many days did it take to gather the supplies?" Shock stepped forward gracefully. "Why, I myself snuck into Finklestein's lab, and hand-picked each and every ingredient, just for such an occasion."

"I don't think you understand." Here it comes. "I asked you HOW LONG DID IT TAKE?!?" Oogie was known to be very impatient; he didn't like the foolish games that Shock played, nor did he totally convince himself that he even liked her. Like a scared infant she backed up and said "A week?"

"A WEEK?!?" Oogie hated wasting time; or more likely, he hated if 'we' wasted time. "How long do we still have until Halloween then?" Again Shock kept in that scared state "W-well, if we hurry, we'll have three months to plan." You might as well have put a sticker on Oogie that said "No shit!" In the state Oogie was in, it was best if we retreated, which was what Shock was already doing. "Well, um, I guess we'll come back tomorrow Mister Oogie Boogie, sir. I'll do whatever it takes to make up for these idiots mistakes!" She looked at me when she said that by the way. Shock bowed courteously and backed away, with Lock following close behind and mimicking her every move. I watched as the two of them took the cage elevator outside of Oogie's lair.

"Three months is plenty's time." Oogie turned to me and nodded "That Shock is a royal pain in the ass isn't she?" I nodded this time. "She is narcissistic, which to say, in my opinion is most girls that I've seen." He laughed; it seemed that Oogie opened up to me so much that, at times, it was hard to tell if he was the same Oogie Boogie that tried and failed many times to take over Halloween. "Not Sally . . ."

Ugh! I hated Sally! She was the obstacle in itself! At first, I liked and admired her once because of her wits, but just the fact that she can have Jack to herself, makes me sick! Often times, I have visions where I see Sally and Jack hand in hand leading onto a luxurious looking bed. Hands turn to arms and, arms turn to thrusts. I don't know what Jack saw in her . . . I mean, Jack was very ambitious, adventurous, unpredictable, and somewhat wild, while Sally was just . . . Sally. She was always too quiet, too smart for her own good, and not to mention meddlesome. It just goes to show that all the good men have bad tastes; and Oogie was no better.

In previous encounters, Oogie has tried many times to court Sally, but with that 'Jack and Sally' chemistry going on, it has forced Oogie to either try to destroy Jack, or in some cases, try to destroy Sally. As long as I've known Oogie, I've known that he fancies nice breasts, an hourglass figure, and not to mention, his weakness for fine legs. He is perverse and lecherous, but that's his nature, not mine. Like I said, he's my boss, and nothing more.

"Shall we start fresh tomorrow Mister Oogie, sir?" He turned around, waved his baggy-sack-like hand, and from there, I dismissed myself. He needed some time to think, and maybe that wasn't a bad thing. Time was of the essence, and come to think of it, time was sounding pretty good right about now. I decided to head back to Halloween Town, maybe walk through the cemetery in order to get my thoughts straight. Lock and Shock had already gone home by now, so I needn't worry about being ridiculed by any supposed 'peers'. I loved walking through the dark and dreary streets at full moon. The walks were interesting, and they gave me time to think, to plan. Don't think for a second that I'm just some mere henchmen included in Oogie's plot; oh no. There's much more to it . . .

Cobblestone to cobblestone, I found myself tracing my feet through the cracks (not like bad luck effected me anyway), until surprisingly, I was in front of Jack Skellington's house. Right there, I could touch the slenderness of the bars, and feel the cold metal feeling when I touched the gates. How I longed for him; Oh! I couldn't help it. I lusted, I wanted, I needed him! Jack was wonderful. He was extremely tall (much taller than me; me being in a child's body and all) and bony (which to say I am in favor of S&M, if you catch my drift). To feel those sharp bones on my body would be an absolute dream. Just the way his pupil-less eyes would gaze at me. Oh, if only for a day . . . I could just imagine his long bony fingers caressing me with every ounce of passion in his immortal body. It was all planned out. In the predicament, I would be his 'Sally'. He would brush his hands against my cheeks and with each stroke; he would repeat it again and again. He would begin kissing me tenderly up and down the body, and then he would begin undressing himself so delicately. By the time he was done undressing himself, I would also find that I too was unclothed, without my knowledge of how-so. Ah, and my favorite part; skin to bone. It wouldn't matter what position we made love in, just as long as he was the one who took the dominance. Then it would happen, the absolute thrill of it; the thrusting would get harder and harder and harder still; the bones tearing into my undead skin; so exhilarating! I'd be screaming in pain, yet at the same time, screaming with excitement and passion. For eons it would seem like it would go on that way, until I myself tired before Jack, and he began to slow to a romantic hold. Finally, he would hold me close in his arms in a slumber that neither of us could awaken from.

I shook my head; if I kept thinking this way, I was going to have a pretty serious bulge to try and explain to any passers-by. What could hurt to stare a little longer though? My eyes traveled to the top window, where I hoped to see Jack. Patiently, I waited only to find absolutely nothing . . .

Wait! It was a sound; a small sound, but a sound nonetheless. I looked again to see Jack and Sally talking . . . wait was that . . . arguing?! Was I blessed with them arguing??? I had to know! Considering my hearing is by far, the most developed of the senses that I still have, I decided to hone in on the conversation, and to my fortune, it was arguing.

"Jack, you can't go around messing up other people's holidays. Don't you remember what Santa said last year?"

"Yes, I know Sally, but I'm not doing Christmas; it bores me now. I want to try something like . . . Easter, or better yet, Thanksgiving."

"Jack, I love you, but this has to stop. I understand that you feel empty inside, but I thought we could make each other complete. . ."

"Sally, I love you, but you've just got to understand I-"

"Enough Jack, let's just go to bed. We'll talk about this at early dusk."

Just as they had appeared, they had also vanished from my sight. I can't believe Jack and Sally fought. Jack and Sally!?!?! They were considered the most perfect pair (supposedly) by all of the people in town; this was too good to be true! An evil plan came to me; if I could get rid of Sally; Jack would be overwhelmed with grief and would resort to anything to try and cover up the pain. Jack would be all mine soon enough.

The same thoughts twisted and twirled in my head till early dusk, where I (yet again) waited patiently for him to come to the window. As I watched, I saw silhouettes (hoping that it wasn't the thrusting silhouetted nightmare of the two that I absolutely detested) moving and making such a racket. Ooh, a light turned on. Yes! It's Jack! He approached the window in a kind of sad and sleepy motion; how simply delightful! He rested one of his bony elbows on the sill and by this time, I was drooling pools. How dainty he was; but yet he had that masculine charm about him. Then, there's the fact that he is a perfect gentleman. Ah! I must stop! The more I thought about it, the more erotic I was feeling; what if Jack saw?! How would I react to that?!? Wait . . . maybe it wouldn't be so bad if Jack saw. Maybe he'd feel the same way . . . who am I kidding?! He had Sally!!! If only I could get her out of the picture, then my dreams would become the utmost reality. How to do it, how to do it . . .

"Jack, I know we haven't been as close lately, and I'm sorry . . . it's my fault that you think the way you do . . ."

There was Sally and by the look of it, the argument was continuing. Come on Jack, let her have it! Tell her she's not good enough, tell her she's a whore, tell her she's a bitch, "GODDAMMIT JACK TELL HER SOMETHING!!!" I slinked around the pillar of Jack's gate and bit my lip. Unbelievable . . . I said that out loud! Slowly, I peered around to gaze at Jack again; both he and Sally were looking about at the window. Luckily for me, I was well-hidden, but how unfortunate for me to be so . . . careless. Hell, I was known to be the quiet one; the one who never talks! Why now?!? To my satisfaction, they returned to their conversation, and I continued listening from afar.

"Sally, please don't think it's your fault. Perhaps there's just something wrong with me. Please, just don't believe it's your fault."

"We'll see if we can get you help, but first you have to give up on stealing the other holidays. If you don't give up this obsession, Halloween Town will cease to be Halloween Town, and it will become a mixed confusion of all the holidays."

I heard Jack's beautiful sigh, and he replied sadly, "All right . . ." Then it was over. Wait! They were going to kiss!!! No don't kiss her, nononononononononoNO!!! I can't watch; it's too unbearable. No no no no "NO!" Again, I clasped my mouth; why was I so talkative today? But, yes! It broke their kiss; yes, yes, yes! I happened to look again, to find Sally leaving in a huffy state. My heart felt at ease now; it was just me and Jack. At that moment, I wish he could've seen me, the same as I could've seen him.

I started slapping myself. Get a grip! Oogie needs you . . . wait, Oogie needs me. This gave me an idea, and it would play right into my hands, if it worked thoroughly. No, it would work thoroughly; all of my plans did. It would, it would . . .

It was raining. Yes, it's just easy to put it that way. It was raining, but better yet, it was raining on Sally's parade. I couldn't help but think of those thoughts while I walked to Oogie's Hideaway. Jack would be mine, Sally would be gone, I would become the important one, but in all importance, Jack would be mine. The rain began pouring harder, which gave me the idea, that maybe I should put my skull mask back on. Lately, I've noticed that I haven't been wearing it; Lock and Shock always wore theirs, but I just found no ambition to wear it anymore. And not to brag or anything, but despite my weight, I believe that I do, in fact, have a somewhat charming and cute face. Now, I can see why Shock wears a mask, though her mask looks about the same as her actual face: Big-nosed, and sickly green. As for Lock, I hated when he wore a mask; he really did have a charming face, but he always seems to follow Shock in whatever we do. I truly do believe that he has no ability to think and truly act for himself . . . It saddens me to see that such a beautiful boy such as he, has to abide by the actions of a narcissistic tyrant. Speaking of which, there they were; same time as I, going in the same direction; all of us headed to Oogie's base of operations.

Just as we reached the entrance (or more precisely the cage elevator), Shock turned to us (more along the lines of me), and said "If you make Oogie Boogie angry, I will cut every part of your body up into little chunks, and separate them in different holidays!" Lock gulped, but I wasn't worried; she didn't need my help to make Oogie mad. As we descended, I began noting in my head the different ways to get rid of Sally. Possibly fire, no, no, no; fire was too risky. I could just as easily set myself on fire, since my skin was already dry and decaying. Then it hit me! Voodoo! She was a doll. If I tricked Shock into conjuring up some hexed pins, she would be the perfect puppet. And humiliation! Since it would be so easy to control her, I could hand her over to Oogie Boogie, and he could have his 'ways' with the little wretch. Simply delightful; smooth sailing would be predicted ahead. Well . . . except for Sally. Oooh! Another plan! Maybe it would lure Jack, and I would stage it to where Oogie thought he won. Jack would lose everything, Sally, his title, but he would have me! How splendid. The constant grin on my face couldn't have been bigger, even behind the mask (which I decided to take off, due to lack of rain). Shock nudged me thinking that I was being a complete moron. "Quit smiling like that. You really creep me out!" Lock turned and uncertainly repeated, "Yeah, quit smiling like that!" I giggled; how could I help it?

The elevator finally reached its descent and being the little dictator that she is, Shock decided to push her way off the elevator first. Lately, she was pissing me off. It still somewhat stings that she told Oogie that SHE was the one who single-handedly resurrected him. Originally, I was the one who found the recipe for the resurrection, I was the one who single-handedly snuck into Finklestein's lab and stole the chemicals, and I was the one who proposed the plan. But who am I kidding? Shock was just a stupid bitch; hell, if it wasn't for me, I don't know how she would act. Then again, if it wasn't for me; there might have been a lovey-dovey kind of relationship between the overbearing Shock and the belittled Lock. If those two paired, I would be utterly pissed! For one, Lock might be stupid, but he shouldn't belong to her. Shock was unbelievable; truthfully, I believe that if those two paired, it would be disastrous. Noted, I would continue to enforce that. As far as I'm concerned, in the end, both of them would be my little toys. Lock would be my very special toy, while Shock would be my buttered up slave.

For some odd reason, I felt the urge to have Lock as my lover; well at least until I got Jack anyway. Perhaps, this would work to my advantage. I mean, Lock was incredibly good looking and not to mention, I wouldn't mind spending some 'quality' time with him. This was assured; I would also make Lock mine. Seriously though, how could Lock resist me? It's not as if he knew how to fight back. The funniest thing about the whole lover thing was that we aren't actually siblings, like the town thought we were. Just because we hang together as a team, doesn't mean that we are siblings. In fact, I would die, if I were related to Shock. Whatever though, let them think what they want; I've got better things to attend to.

"What took you?!?" Oogie yelled half-wholeheartedly and half impatiently. "Blame these idiots, Mr. Oogie, sir." She nudged us both, which made us both blurt out "Ow!" despite the fact that it didn't hurt. "Well, whatever, I've got a plan." We all huddled in to listen, but I had a feeling that in actuality, he didn't have one at all . . . "I say that we make some Special Snake and Spider stew, but we need those certain holidays to do so." Lock and Shock nodded; I pretended to actually listen. "Now, you know the drill. Bring me the holiday masters, and leave it all to me."

Normally, Oogie was good at coming up with plans, but lately his resurrections weren't so sweet, nor were his schemes. The past few resurrections led to him sitting alone in the dark gambling. It was official; Oogie was losing his touch.

"May I suggest something Mr. Oogie?" I threw in attentively. They all turned to me. "Like what?" Oogie drew closer and closer to my face; so close that I could actually see a few spiders and cockroaches climb out of his open mouth. "Well, you know Sally, right?" He "Uh huh-ed" in return. "Well, don't we have some of those toxic pins for 'certain' purposes? Again they shook their heads and agreed. "And tell me if I'm wrong, but isn't Sally a doll?"

"She sure is mighty fine isn't she Barrel?!" Oogie laughed. Apparently he took me the wrong way . . . "No wait! I've got an idea!" So it finally struck in Shock's head. "She's literally a doll Mr. Oogie Boogie, sir, and if we possibly use those toxic pins for hexing purposes, we could make the perfect Voodoo slave!!!" You do have to admit, Shock can be bright when she tries. I always love to make her sound like the smart one; it amuses me to see how stupid she really is.

Oogie laughed; "Ha! That's rich! If I hex Sally then she'll be my own personal little slave and toy. And then Jack'll have to come and rescue his poor little wench, and that's when . . ." he paused. Like I said, he was losing his touch. "Oh! Let me do it Mr. Oogie, sir!" They all turned to me again. "I'm pretty sure that I can set up a trap by myself to trap Jack, and once the trap is done, I guarantee that you'll have his skeleton in little pieces to use in your delicious Snake and Spider stew."

If this didn't make Oogie the happiest thing in the world, I don't know what would. His laughter filled the entirety of the Hideout, and I'm pretty sure that you could even hear his crazed laughter throughout all of Halloween Town. "I think that this plan will end up resulting in the very best Snake and Spider stew that will ever be conjured." We all laughed maniacally, I mean after all, it was pretty fool proof. Just goes to show you who the real brains behind everything is . . .