Disclaimer: I own none of the characters that are mentioned here. Heck, I don't even own the first part of the plot, since this chapter's going to start with a rewrite to lead into the rest of the story.
A/N: Sorry if the summary seems a little vague, but the way I'm planning to write this chapter will be ruined if I tell you too much beforehand. Also, while the other chapters will be mostly movie-based, this part is based on the book, so the Other Mother always looks at least partially human; she never has the needle hands. The only exception to this is that the Others are still filled with sawdust like in the movie.
The Lesser of Two Evils
Coraline pushed the door open and stepped into the flat, closely followed by the now panicked-looking cat. Her gaze flicked around to check the shadows. She took another step and spun around as she heard the door click shut behind her. She found herself face to face with the cold black buttons that were the Other Mother's eyes.
"Well now, I see you found the souls".
"Yes, I did." Coraline answered the comment coldly.
"Come now, that's hardly a way to talk to your mother."
She started walking forwards, towards the drawing room, leaving Coraline no choice but to back up into the room as well.
The Other Mother strode confidently to the center of the room, but Coraline wasn't going to get too close, she stayed near the edge of the room, making sure there was lots of distance between her and the thing that had called itself her mother. The cat slipped through the door to the room to stay with her. Never taking her gaze off Coraline, the Other Mother said, "You may have the souls, but that isn't all of the game, is it?"
"No, but I know where my parents are, so I'm going to win."
"Oh, really? Well where are they then?"
The ghost children had warned Coraline not to trust the Other Mother to keep her end of the promise, and she knew that they were right. If the Other Mother was desperate enough to keep her here that she would hold Coraline's parents hostage, there was no telling what other tricks she would try.
Suddenly, Coraline got an idea. If she could get the Other Mother to open the door, she could probably get through it and lock it again, getting everyone back to the real world safely.
"Well, I looked everywhere in the house while I was searching for the souls of the other children and I didn't find any trace of them, so they must be somewhere else. And the only place there is where you could have hidden them is behind the door back to my world."
The Other Mother's button eyes glinted for a minute, but the look disappeared almost as soon as it was there. She spun around and started walking towards the old door on the back wall to hide her smirk. Rummaging through her pockets for a second, she pulled out the big black key that she had taken from Coraline just a little bit earlier. She slipped it into the lock and pulled the door open.
While she was out of the Other Mother's sight, Coraline moved as quietly as she possibly could over to the mantle and the snow globe the was her parents' prison. She reached up and grabbed it just as the Other Mother finished unlocking the door.
"Ha, they aren't there, daughter. Now you will stay and… What!?"
The Other Mother's gloating was cut short as she saw Coraline, snow globe in hand, running for the door that had just been opened. Angry, the Other Mother slammed the door shut again and thrust her hands out.
Coraline ran for the door, but was stopped by the Other Mother, who was a lot bigger and stronger, and was able to throw her to the floor easily. Unable to control it, Coraline's grasp on the snow globe slipped and the globe fell away from her. She looked up to see the Other Mother towering over her, fury glowing in the jet-black buttons.
"How dare you! You filthy cheating girl! You lost, and you will stay!"
The Other Mother dove down at Coraline, but Coraline was able to roll out of the way and up to her feet. The Other Mother turned back to face Coraline and came at her again, determined and angry.
Coraline turned to run, but the whole Other World seemed to be reflecting the anger of the Other Mother. The floor of the room pulsed with her emotion, tripping Coraline as she tried to run and sending her falling again.
The Other Mother had gotten a needle, thread, and two dark black buttons from somewhere. As she came above Coraline, she pinned the little girl to the now-still ground and raised the needle and one of the buttons, preparing to finish her 'game'.
Suddenly, a black blur shot towards the Other Mother, jumping up to slash it her hands with a set of sharp claws. As the cat distracted her, the Other Mother stopped putting pressure on Coraline, who was able to get up again.
"Aughhh! Filthy vermin!" the Other Mother screamed as the cat continued to slash at her. There was a terrible scream as his swipe sliced through the threads holding one of her button eyes on. As the button fell to the ground, Coraline was running back towards the door home and the snow globe that held her parents. As she scooped the globe back up and pulled on the door, she yelled,
"Come on Cat, let's go!"
As the cat jumped down, Coraline started to pull the door, but it was heavy, and didn't close nearly fast enough. The Other Mother was furious, and dashed over to the door, trying to stop Coraline. A pale, bony hand closed around the door and started to pull it back open.
Coraline grunted and tried to pull even harder, but it was no good. The Other Mother was too much stronger than her. Suddenly, she felt the hands of the three ghost children and her parents grasp her hands, and she pulled with renewed strength. Slowly but surely, the door slid more and more closed.
In a desperate attempt to keep Coraline from escaping, the Other Mother grabbed the door with her other hand, but the heavy door had built up too much momentum and her final scream of rage was cut off as the door slid into place, splitting off both her hands. Coraline watched, relived, as the two hands stopped moving. Suddenly she realized that there was sawdust rushing out from where the hands were split off.
Sawdust? How is that possible? She can't be just a doll. She was the one in charge of this world!
She thrust the door open again, fuelled by panic. A terrible scream echoed from the Other Mother as she saw Coraline again but was unable to grab her. The cat rushed forward one more time and slashed with his claws. The Other Mother looked down with her one remaining eye to see the gash across her stomach, just in time for sawdust to rush out and make her collapse. Coraline looked down at the dead and draining body of the Other Mother, glad to see that she had finally been beaten. For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Then she realized what it was. Even with the Other Mother killed and powerless, the Other World was still the same as ever.
A/N: Well there's the first chapter. Hopefully, you can all tell what the Other World being unaffected by her death means; I tried to make it fairly easy. Also, since this the first fic I've tried to write, there are probably some characterization issues. If you see anything, feel free to mention it and I'll try to work on it for later chapter. For all the Wybie fans out there, I promise he'll be in the next chapter.