This story came to me at work when a customer bought some pumpkins and I was wearing my Jack Skellington necklace and I was like, 'Oh, this idea would make a great story!'. :)
Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. The Nightmare Before Christmas belongs to Disney. I only own Rachel and Sasha.
Part Of The Fun
Jack walked around Staybrook in broad daylight, gazing at the houses decorated for October and at the colorful leaves on the trees. The people of the town looked at him curiously, but assumed he was simply someone in costume on stilts. He headed up for the Grant Mansion, but paused at some pumpkin patches to admire the pumpkins. He saw one little girl pick a big pumpkin and her father picked it up. "This one, Daddy," the little girl said. "It's a big, big pumpkin."
"It is, kiddo," the older man said.
Jack smiled at that and would have continued except what he saw next made him stop short. A couple people were selling pumpkin pies by the pie and by the slice for those who just wanted a piece of pumpkin pie. Another person was carving a pumpkin with carving tools and digging out seeds and the stringy flesh, making a scary face on the pumpkin.
Seeing this was too much. The skeleton fainted and fell backwards, startling everyone around him, who were unsure if he had just lost his balance, or if something worse had happened.
Rook Blonko, who was wearing his human disguise, drove into town in his Proto-Truk, heading for home when he saw a group of people gathered at a stand and around someone. Curious when he saw pure white, he pulled over and stepped out to take a look, eyes widening when he saw it was Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King and a dear friend of his fiancée Rachel and her sister Sasha. Quickly, he moved toward the skeleton, seeing he was passed out. "What happened?" He asked.
"We're not sure," said one lady. "He just stopped and fell over. Is he alright?"
"Hopefully," Rook answered, managing to pick up the lanky skeleton, who was thankfully very lightweight.
"Is he your friend?" A man asked.
"Yes, he is," the Revonnahgander answered. "A very dear friend of mine and my fiancée. Don't worry, she and I will see to him."
He got Jack into his truck and quickly headed for home. Rachel, who opened the door as soon as he pulled up, came out with a smile. "Rook, you're home!" She said, running up to him and hugging him. He returned the hug, but gently stopped her before she kissed him.
"My love, I'd love to kiss you breathless right now, but someone needs our help urgently right now," he said.
"Who?" She asked.
Rook went over to the passenger side and gently pulled Jack out of the truck. When Rachel saw one of her oldest friends passed out, she gasped. "What happened?"
"From what some bystanders told me, he just stopped and fainted," he said.
Rachel blinked. "Jack…fainted?" She said incredulously. "What on Earth would make him faint? He's the Master of Fright."
"Let's get him inside and hopefully he'll wake up soon."
Sasha, who had been putting up some decorative gourds in the hallway, stopped in shock at seeing Rook carrying in a limp Jack Skellington. "What happened to Jack?" She asked.
"Something made him faint," Rachel said. "The question is: what?"
Rook set the skeleton on the couch and Rachel and Sasha instantly began tending to him, gently wiping his bony skull with cool washcloths and doing a quick check for injuries and thankfully finding none. After a bit, Jack groaned and opened his eyes, finding both girls' faces looking at him in worry. "Jack, are you okay?" Sasha asked.
He sat up and held one hand to his head before looking at them, his facial expression serious, something they had never seen him look before. "Girls, can you both clear something up for me?" He asked.
"We'll do our best, Jack," Rachel said. "What is it?"
"Do humans eat pumpkins?"
The girls blinked. "Um, we don't follow," Sasha said, looking confused. Her older sister also looked confused.
"I saw some humans today eating pies that had pumpkin in them and one was cutting into a pumpkin with some odd tools," he said. "Why?"
Rachel's eyes widened. "Wait. The person cutting into the pumpkin. Did they cut triangles and king of a jagged mouth?" She asked.
Jack nodded. "Yes, she did," he said. "She was even scooping out the flesh and seeds."
The blonde-haired girl gave a slow nod of realization. "Jack, she was carving a jack-o-lantern," she said. "Pumpkin carving is a huge part of this time of the year. You scoop out the flesh and the seeds, give your pumpkin a face, and put a candle inside it so the face lights up."
"And you can toast the seeds, which are really tasty when toasted," Sasha said, now catching on too. "And some people do use pie pumpkins to make pumpkin pie, which is also really tasty and a big part of this time of the year too."
The poor skeleton looked disturbed. "But…what's the fun in it?" He asked. "Doesn't it…hurt them?"
The sisters looked at each other before Sasha's eyes widened. "Are jack-o-lantern's real where you're from, Jack?" She asked.
"Yes," he said. "And they have feelings like the rest of us."
Now both girls understood. "Jack, the pumpkins here in our world are a little different than the ones in your world," Rachel explained. "Why don't we show you?"
"Maybe we could even get you to try some pumpkin pie!" Sasha exclaimed, running to the kitchen. Jack actually began to look pale, which was quite something for a skeleton.
"But…that would be…strange," he said.
Rachel chuckled. "Jack, you're the Pumpkin King," she said. "Therefore, you need to know everything about pumpkins."
She took his hand and gently pulled him into the kitchen where a large pumpkin sat and Sasha was just pulling out a freshly baked pumpkin pie from the oven. She set it aside to cool while she went over to the big pumpkin and Rachel pulled out a chair and had Jack sit down. "Okay," she said with a big smile. "What kind of face should we give our pumpkin?"
"How about we give him a mouth with one tooth and laughing eyes?" Sasha suggested.
"Okay," Rachel agreed. "You do the eyes and I'll do the mouth?"
Her sister nodded and Jack watched as they took markers and carefully drew the face on the pumpkin. "Don't forget the nose," Sasha said.
"Oh, yes. Can't forget that," her older sister said as they decided on a rectangle nose, something that seemed to pique the Pumpkin King's interest and he looked a bit worried when they got out the carving tools and cut the top of the pumpkin off. Rachel noticed. "Jack, it's okay," she said. "Here, you can help us scoop out the loose flesh and the seeds."
He hesitated, to which Sasha gently took his hand and put it inside the pumpkin, helping him scoop out some of the flesh. He blinked before scooping out some more of the flesh and gazing at it in wonder. "Do humans eat this part?" He asked.
"We don't," Sasha said. "But I imagine some people do."
"The white pieces are the seeds," Rachel explained, pointing to a nearby bowl. "If you put the seeds in there, we can toast them while we carve the pumpkin face."
Between the three of them, they cleaned out the pumpkin and got all the seeds in no time at all. Jack watched as the girls put oil and salt into the bowl with the seeds and mixed it around before spreading them onto a flat cooking sheet and putting them in the oven to toast. As the seeds were in the oven, Sasha and Rachel took hold of the carving knife and began carefully carving the eyes. It was a small challenge, but they managed it before tackling the nose and the mouth. Again, Jack watched, curious as he saw the pumpkin wasn't making a sound and the girls looked to be having fun. "There," Sasha said, putting the top back on. "That's ready to light up later."
The timer sounded. "And the seeds are done," Rachel said, going over and pulling out the tray of toasted seeds. "Okay, now for one of the best parts."
"What's that?" Jack asked.
"Eating the seeds and some pumpkin pie," Sasha said, smiling.
While he wasn't disturbed with the pumpkin carving and toasting the seeds, the skeleton didn't look too thrilled about trying pumpkin pie or the seeds. "I think we'll have to really convince him, sis," he heard the owner of the Grant Mansion say.
"Yeah," the younger sister agreed. "He doesn't look like he believes us."
Rachel moved behind Jack while Sasha brought some toasted pumpkin seeds over to him. "Come on, Jack. They're really good," she said.
"I…I don't know," he admitted unsurely.
Sneakily, Rachel wrapped her arms around Jack, keeping him in the chair while Sasha smiled. "Rach, work your magic," she said.
"You got it, sis," the older girl said before her fingers wiggled into the skeleton's sides, making him flinch before he began chuckling, chuckling that turned into a few giggles when she reached up for his ribs, but when she reached one hand down and got his left knee, the poor Pumpkin King nearly leapt out of his suit and began laughing a bit harder.
Giggling, Sasha carefully placed a couple seeds in his mouth, smiling as he grew curious and tried them, his eyes widening when he realized they tasted really good. "Now was that so bad?" The brown-haired girl asked with a smile.
Jack didn't get to answer as Rachel focused her attention on his knees and tickled them so much that he laughed his hardest.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! RAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAACHEL! NOT THERE! THAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT TIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHICKLES! PLEAHEEHEEHEEASE!"
Both girls laughed with him and Rachel winked at her sister, who winked back and her fingers wiggled into Jack's sides. "Try the pumpkin pie and Rach and I will let you tickle us to pieces," Sasha said. "But if you don't try it, we'll bring out the feathers."
The skeleton's eyes widened as he laughed. "Okay! OKAY!" He pleaded through his laughter, which made them stop and Sasha brought him a slice of pie with some whipped cream on top.
He watched as they got some and began eating it and from what he could tell by the looks on their faces, they enjoyed it. He finally took a deep breath and tried it, chewing it slowly and his eyes widened again. "I…I don't know what to say," he admitted.
"Do you like it?" Rachel asked.
"Yes, I do," he said. "It definitely something I wish I had known earlier."
They gave him smug looks. "Told you it was good," Sasha said.
Jack grinned and got up, going up to them and wrapping them in a hug before looking devious. "Now, I believe you two promised I could tickle you if I tried the pie," he said.
The girls instantly burst into laughter as he tickled their stomachs. Rook and Whampire, who heard them and came into the kitchen, had to smile and their smiles grew at seeing the toasted seeds and pumpkin pie. "So, what did make the Master of Fright faint?" Whampire asked.
"The fact that humans eat pumpkin pie, pumpkin seeds, and carve pumpkins," Rachel said as Jack let both her and Sasha have a breather. The skeleton looked very sheepish.
"Well, I no doubt would have the same reaction if you girls hadn't shown me the pleasure of all this," he said.
"It's a big part of the fun of this season, Jack," Sasha said, hugging him.
"Just like how a fun scare from you is a big part of when you visit us," Rachel said with a smile.
Jack smiled at them, happy to have learned something else about humans, especially the two humans he was very close to.
I'm not sorry. :) I just had to. :)
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GoldGuardian2418