Chapter 1- A Rough Start
------ 'Oh man! i hope they're not too mad that i'm late,' I thought as i frantically raced down the alley. You'd be running fast too if you were an hour and a half late for plans that were made WAAAAAAAAAAAY in advanced (even if they were plans to meet in some secret bar that served to underage kids).
------ After making an extremely sharp turn at the end of the alley, I crashed into a fairly tall man. He looked like he was 19, approximately a year younger than me, with brilliant red hair and bangs that looked like devil's horns. He had on a red short sleeve shirt that allowed his toned arms to breath, and his loose-fitting jeans weren't doing a very good job of hiding his swaying tail.
------ Behind the devil-themed man was an even taller and lankier man who looked like he was about 18, and obviously had a thing for skeletons. He had an outfit of a black pair of pants and a black shirt with bones all over him that made him look like he really was a skeleton. I noticed dark blue-green hair sticking out from underneath his black hat with a skull on it. Both of my old friends had a look of surprise on their faces.
"I see you guys haven't changed your appearance much in the past ten years," I stated as i picked myself up from the ground. Even if one of the two men had offered to help me, I would have refused out of pure pride.
"No, but you sure have!" Lock, the one with the tail exclaimed. I was a little surprised that he was shocked(haha! pun!) by my appearance. I had always thought that I looked the same since the last time we saw each other; stringy hair, a rather plain body of average height, always adorning at least one purple item (along with my witch's hat), and a big nose. So, me being my usual forward-self, i went right out and asked him, "What are you talking about? I look exactly the same!"
"I have to agree with my brother on this one...you look A LOT different! But...in a good way..." Barrel, the one with the skeleton obsession, agreed. Which (if I remember my childhood correctly) was usually never...unless, of course, it was either an undeniable fact (i.e. 2+24) or hell had frozen over.
Barrel trailed off into own little world, searching for something from the distant past. He gave me another look-over and restated, "Definitely a good way!"
"Will you 2 just SHUT-UP about how i look?!" I shouted, now annoyed at the two idiots. "We are NOT here to discuss our latest fashion interests! We're here to try and figure out how we're going to get back to…Halloween Town!" My voice lowered at the mention of our old home.
------ If it were the 'good old days,' then one of the guys would have said something like, "Someone's touchy!" or maybe, "Man! I smell PMS in the air!" But, since it wasn't the 'good old days,' we all became lost in our own thoughts at the mention of that magical and mysterious place. My mind brought me to the day we made our pact; the day we were forced back to the Real World. We had promised each other that we would find a way back to Halloween Town no matter what the cost.
------ Barrel was the one that brought me back to reality. Everything seemed distant at first, almost like i really had left the Earth, but then my body adjusted and i heard the tail-end of what he said. It was enough to know what he was talking about.
"...Anyone got any ideas?" He asked a little too hopefully. I could tell that he did a lot of research, but with little proof to show it. I felt kinda bad that I hadn't found much either; especially since I'm a decendent of an ancient witch clan. i looked over at Lock, and saw the same depressed yet hopeful look on his face as Barrel.
"I know how y'all can get to Halloween Town," said a deep, dark, husky voice with a heavy southern accent.
------ i turned around and saw a person wearing a huge overcoat that reached the ground. He was quite short as far as height goes, and was wearing a brown hat that covered his face completely. I could only guess it was man by how their voice sounded, but that was all I had to go on.
------ i lunged forward and grabbed the collar of his overcoat as soon as i saw him and started the process of interrogation.
"How do you know about that place? Who sent you to spy on us?!" I slammed him against the wall he had been leaning casually on just seconds ago. "I want answers! NOW!"
------ The mysterious stranger remained as calm as ever while being thrown around. His simple answer was, "Ah was sent by mah Mastah. If y'all want details, ah suggest you come with me."
------ Lock, Barrel, and I huddled together and discussed our options.
Option#1: Follow him and hope he's telling the truth.
Option #2: Follow him, but have a weapon on him so we know he's telling the truth.
Option #3: Play it safe and don't follow him and continue our search for a portal on our own.
Or, Option #4: Beat him up so we know he's telling the truth(and for the fun of it ), and then follow him with a weapon on his back for DOUBLE the truth.
------ Being the trick-or-treaters that we were, we went with Option #4. Hey, we may have grown up, but that doesn't mean we still can't be rambunctious! The only weird thing about it was how his coat and hat never moved. Sure, he writhed in pain, but his clothes never seemed to give anything away as to who he was...
------ Anywho, he led us through alleyways, backyards, and dark streets, and finally, after what seemed like hours, he stopped at an old run-down factory. There was glass from broken windows everywhere, and the paint that had spelled out the factory owner's name had peeled off long ago.
------ Inside wasn't any better. There was a conveyor belt that loop-de-looped all around the building, but it looked like it hadn't been used in years. There were empty boxes all over the place, and the grey walls didn't help brighten the look of the building either.
"This is where your 'Master' lives? This place is a DUMP!" Barrel said rather bluntly. I had to agree with him, though. It wasn't the worst hide-out, don't get me wrong. It still beat ours by a long shot. It just wasn't necessarily what i had expected from this 'Master' guy, if it even was a guy.
"Yes, this is where he lives. Gotta problem with it?" our guide asked with a threatening tone.
"Not really. I just expected something a little bit more...extravagant, is all."
"Yeah, well-"
"Welcome to my humble abode!" said an oddly familiar voice. "It's a pleasure to finally see the famous Lock, Shock, and Barrel after all these years. Please, have a seat!"
A/N: Hey peeps! Now, before I continue, I need an okay from you, the viewer! So, go to the little box in the lower left hand corner, and TYPE IN SOME GODDAMN REVIEWS!!!!...Oh yeah:
Lock, Shock, and Barrel belong to the almighty and all-powerful Mr. Tim Burton(a.k.a. God)
The mysterious stranger and whoever the voice is belong to the even ALMIGHTIER and ALL-POWERFULLER moi!