Chapter One: Missing Lock, Shock, and Barrel
Lock, Shock, Barrel had always been a trouble making trio, but when they suddenly disappeared, it caught the attention of everyone in Halloween Town. Even the two-faced mayor was in a state of panic.
The morning of their disappearance, Jack had been sleeping in bed, while Sally fixed him some breakfast, when there was a knock on their door.
Sally, brushing her rag doll hands on her apron, slowly opened it to reveal Santa, of all people, nervously standing on the Skellington's porch.
"Why hello Mr. Sandy Claws", said Sally, smiling despite the chilly weather.
All of the people in Halloween Town called Santa, "Sandy Claws", and being the nice man he was, he never corrected their mistake.
"Hello Sally", for the first time in a long time, Santa wasn't smiling. "Is Jack home?"
"Why, yes he is." Sally turned in the doorway and yelled inside "Jack! Jack! Mr. Sandy Claws has come to see you!" She turned back to Santa. "He must be asleep", she said. Then she walked into the creaking house to wake her husband.
Jack was still asleep, even though his alarm clock next to his bed, clearly read 10:18 am, which meant in exactly 12 minutes, it would be time for toad's eye tea with the witches that lived next door.
He had gotten very little sleep that night. He had stayed up to show Lock, Shock, and Barrel how to properly fish in the marsh next to Halloween Town. In fact, he hadn't gotten in the house until 1:04 am and he had had to listen to Sally tell him how he should have told her where he was going, because she was worried sick about him, est. for an hour, so roughly, he had gotten to bed around 2:12 am. And now, here she was, shaking him and telling him to wake up.
"Jack! Jack! Mr. Sandy Claws is here! He seems dreadfully worried about something! Jack! Jack!"
She bent down so her mouth was next to his ear. Then she screamed "Do you hear me!"
Jack moaned softly, and rolled over.
"Yes", he mumbled into his pillow. 'Yes, Sally I'll get up in a few minutes…"
"No Jack", she said. "You'll get up NOW!"
She then pulled the covers off him and left him in their small bedroom.
Santa Claus was still standing there, when Sally appeared and told him, "Jack will be up in a few minutes. Come on in and make yourself at home".
Santa Claus had a very tough time making himself at home, when their house smelled of a particular foul odor, that Sally proclaimed as "Bat-wing brew", the only food on the small table next to the sofa was a bowl of what looked like little creatures swimming in a brown liquid, and their was no sheep skin rug, only a pale textured mat that looked oddly like human skin. No, the Skellington's house wasn't exactly your average American house.
But, Sally did offer him a cup of tea that didn't taste as revolting as it looked, and she tried to make conversation with him; asking him about the elves, and Mrs. Claus and the presents at the North Pole.
Finally, Jack appeared in the doorway of the living dead room, his usual black tuxedo flimsy on his skinny limbs, his hollow where his eyes should be looking droopier then usual.
"Hello Mr. Sandy Claws", Jack said drowsily. "What can I do for you?"
"Well…ah…you know Lock, Shock, and Barrel no doubt?"
Jack laughed to himself. The once Oogie Boogie's henchmen, had become Jack's friends after the death of Oogie Boogie.
"Yes, I'm surprised you even mention their names, seeing as how they gave you to the evil oogie boogie last Christmas!"
"Yes, well, last night, they were in my front yard, trying to fish in the marsh behind my house, insisting you has taught them how, when a large shadow came over the children and…"
Jack's eyes were wide. "And?"
Santa sighed. "And. well…then they were…." He gulped "Gone…"
"GONE! How could they be GONE!"
"I don't know. There was a large shadow, almost looked like the on of oogie boogie, but that can't be…I mean…"
"Oh gosh", Jack sighed, grabbing his coat and running out the door.
"Oogie Boogie is back!"
Chapter 2: Finding Oogie Boogie
"If I were Oogie Boogie, where would I be", Jack mumbled, walking through the Frightful Forest Behind Halloween Town.
Santa, Sally, the Mayor, the witches next door, the thing under the sink, and him had been searching for any clue to oogie boogie's new hideout for two hours and had no luck.
"Maybe we should just give up" proclaimed the smallest witch.
"Yah, I mean Oogie Boogie is one tough guy and it was already hard enough for you to defeat him last time", exclaimed the thing from beneath the sink.
"No", Jack insisted. "I know we can do this. Last time, I had to save Christmas too, and also there are more of us. Last time, I had to defeat him by myself. But, this time, he will already be weaker from the last time I defeated him, we can fight him in a group, and he doesn't have all of the equipment he had last time. We can do this".
The group continued walking, until they reached the very edge of Halloween Town.
"We can't go any farther, Jack", said Sally.
"But we have too!"
Sally shook her head.
"It's too dangerous! No one has ever left Halloween Town. There are too many rumors; stories of things, not frightening things like us, but evil things. Things that kill other things for fun. Things like Oogie Boogie."
"Exactly! That's exactly why we have to keep going! What if you were Lock, Shock, and Barrel? I mean, they are trouble makers, but they learned their lesson. They finally understood Oogie Boogie isn't they way to go!"
Sally shook her head again and sat down on the ground.
"I am not leaving this spot Jack!"
"Fine, you, the witches, the mayor, and the thing under the sink stay here. Santa and I will find Lock, Shock, and Barrel."
Santa and Jack trudged through the damp leaves that lay in their path and made there way into unknown territory.
Suddenly, they both fell, fell and fell, until they reached hard solid ground.
They lay still for a while, until a shadow rolled over them.
"Welcome to Oogie Boogie's cave!", said an all too familiar voice.
Chapter 3: Getting Lock, Shock, and Barrel Back
Jack looked up to see what he dreaded most. There standing in front of him was, of course, Oogie Boogie.
"I see you two have found my new hideout. So nice of you to come!"
He scooped up Santa and Jack and threw them into a large cage.
"Make yourself at home boys!"
Jack looked around. He spied a large pot, and a bigger one filled with boiling water.
"This can't be good", he muttered to Santa, pointing to the pots.
Oogie Boogie locked the cage and went over to another cage, one that contained Lock, Shock, and Barrel.
"I thought that every good villain had henchmen. And, I had three faithful ones, or so I thought were faithful, but once Oogie Boogies gets defeated once, they scurry away and leave like yellow bellied Jack followers!"
He opened the cage and took out the three frightened masked creatures and threw them into a large pot.
I thought I could trust you three. I thought I could trust you three with all of my plans and ideas. But I was wrong…Now I will have Lock, Shock, and Barrel stew as your punishment!"
He began to lower the pot closer and closer to a large pot of boiling water.
"NO!"
Sally came up behind Oogie Boogie and smacked him in the head with a frying pan.
Oogie Boogie fell to the ground with a clatter.
The mayor ripped off the cloth holding Oogie Boogie's bugs inside and scooped up as many bugs as he could and put them in a jar that the thing under the sink was holding.
The mayor shook his head slowly.
"Oogie Boogie should have never been resurrected", said the Mayor, handing the jar to one of the witches.
He took the keys that oogie boogie had been holding, unlocked the cage holding Jack and Santa, and then helped Lock, Shock, and Barrel out of the pot.
"How did you find us?" Jack asked.
Sally smiled.
"We saw you two fall and knew you guys must have fallen into Oogie Boogie's new hideout. Then we looked for a door".
"Well thanks", Jack said, blushing, and giving Sally a hug.
"No problem", Sally said as they walked back to Halloween Town, hand in hand.