The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Seven Holidays King
New York, Central Park, December 21st 1995, 11:05pm
It was a curious and unsettling night in Manhattan. Curious, in that almost all of the city was sleeping soundly without so much as a baby crying, and unsettling, with the full moon that hung overhead, the fog that shrouded the streets and the overall deathly silence in the air. The stars glimmered brightly upon the city and there was not a cloud in the night's sky that would suggest that strange things were soon to be happening. Then amongst it all, upon the street leading into the forest of central park, the fog wavered and parted, as if it were a curtain at a theatre lifting to reveal a performance about to start, and a dark figure, as foreshadowed as his surroundings, stepped through and stood, silent and resolute, at the gateway
Professor Malicious looked at the gate leading into Central Park. He had suddenly become uncertain of were his route was taking him. He reached into his pocket, took out his PDA, and checked the GPS program he had downloaded. Yes, this was the place all right. He sighed, quite a remarkable feat for a man such as him, as he no longer had any breath with which to sigh.
The Holiday World Nexus. It was only by chance that he had found out about it, and when he did, it was in the way most things of the sort are discovered, through a drunken old man at a seedy bar. He had not learned much before the man had collapsed in a stupor, but what he had gleaned thus far was most intriguing
Apparently, there existed seven different alternate realities based on the modern day perception of the Christian and American holidays. No surprise there, Professor Malicious could well imagine the odds of such worlds existing in this crazy, mixed-up web of realities. What was infinitely more interesting was that the worlds actually patterned out their respective holidays on earth year after year, and they could all be accessed from a certain forest clearing, the eponymous Nexus.
The location of the Nexus, however, was a 'closely guarded' secret, and cannot be found, except by those who already know where it was…or, alternatively, those who had a map. After the drunken man went home, Professor Malicious had tracked him, ransacked his home and eventually found a map, which he downloaded onto his PDA and followed all the way…to here. This is where it was supposed to be, but why here, of all places, in such an obvious place? It didn't make sense.
Just as he was pondering this, there was a sudden murmuring noise from below. "Yes, we are 'there yet', or rather, here now, I think." replied Malicious in his usual emotionless, metallic tone. There was a hissing sound as a compartment opened in his steel waist and a 30cm tall creature resembling a featherless monobrowed vulture flopped out gasping for air. "Geeze Prof, ya really need ta get some airholes in dat thing."
"The problem, Jasper, lies entirely in your refusal to shower-"
"Blah blah blah." Interrupted Jasper, and hopped onto Malicious' shoulder, "Jest get us were we're supposed ta be so dat I can get some shuteye." Malicious growled and swatted Jasper off his shoulder in one swift movement. Soon, the Professor thought, soon I can finally get my revenge, and the humans will be sorry that they ever evolved!