It was another beautiful morning - in that dreary, desaturated, decayed, Halloween Town kind of way. Just beyond the southern graveyard and Spiral Hill stood a lone structure: a treehouse built haphazardly over an enormous pit. It was rather isolated and far from town, but had it been closer the townsfolk would have heard similar sounds at various times every day: the bickering, shouting and laughing of three children, as well as the occasional explosion. On this particular morning there was a lot of shouting going on. Lock had lost at their game of poker yet again, so it was his turn to act as the moving target for Shock and Barrel to practice throwing darts at - again. But just like every other time this had happened, before long it had turned into a dart-throwing free-for-all until one of them (usually Barrel) finally gave up, which then made it less embarrassing for the other two to give up, too. Now all three of them sat at opposite corners of the living room, pulling out darts and licking their wounds.
"Why do you always start throwing them back? You're the one who lost." Barrel grumbled as he pulled a dart out of the back of his leg. Fortunately it hadn't punctured too deep, thanks to the thick fabric of his costume.
"You think I'm stupid enough to just stand around like a dummy while you two throw darts at me?" Lock said, removing a dart from his foot. Luckily for him it had stuck into the curly point of his shoe and missed his toes this time.
"That's the rule!" huffed Shock, wincing a bit as she slowly extracted a dart from her upper arm. She had already removed several from her hat already. "And besides, you're not supposed to just stand there, you're supposed to run. If you don't like it, then learn how to play better!"
"I play poker fine, it's just that you two cheat!" fumed Lock, although that was a lie and he knew it, as did the others.
Shock looked at him in disgust. "No, we don't cheat, you're just terrible! You always think your cards are better than they are and you're awful at bluffing! You need to learn how to do a good poker face, like Barrel!"
"Barrel doesn't have a good poker face, he just grins like an idiot the whole time, like always!"
"Maybe so, but it works! You don't see him getting darts thrown at him every other week!"
"Guys, what should we do now?" interjected Barrel. He was tired of their bickering. Sometimes it was really fun to watch Lock and Shock fight, especially when there was physical violence involved, but other times it was just boring. They had already gotten into it at least three times that day and it wasn't even lunchtime yet. The trio had already eaten breakfast, drawn some more graffiti on the wall and made their daily offering to Oogie Boogie: as many bugs as they could catch, and this time they had even managed to trap a crow and send it down the chute, so he was sure to be extra pleased with them today.
"Why don't we go strand Mr.-Excellent-Poker-Face over there up on the roof?" pouted Lock, still sore about being called out on the fact that he wasn't the best at something. Barrel stuck out his tongue, but only after Lock wasn't looking at him anymore.
"Don't blame him because you stink at poker." said Shock, finally pulling the last dart out of her dress. The extra fabric of her costume made her the easiest target, although at least that meant that the darts usually hit her clothing instead of her body. Lock was trying to think of something clever to say when there was a sharp knocking at the window and then a loud 'caw'. A raven was sitting on the windowsill and tapping its beak against the glass, clearly trying to get their attention.
"What's that crazy bird doing here?" puzzled Lock. Any animal with any sense knew to avoid coming near their treehouse. Getting too close was a surefire way to get hit with a slingshot, caught in a net, sedated with poisoned bait or otherwise trapped and sent down the chute to Oogie Boogie, or else just tormented by the children for the sake of their own amusement.
Barrel rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Ooh, let's catch it and give it to Oogie Boogie! A crow and a raven in one day? We'll be on his good list for sure!"
"Hang on, it's got something tied to its leg…" said Shock, walking over to open the window.
"Let's give whatever it is to Oogie, too!" Lock chimed in.
Shock gave him an annoyed look. "Not until we know what it is, bat-brain!"
It was a note written on very fancy-looking stationary. Shock untied it from the raven and it immediately took flight once again, clearly smart enough to know that this wasn't a good place to stick around. She opened up the envelope and the boys crowded around her. They almost never got mail, so it was a truly momentous occasion.
"What does it say?" said Barrel, hopping up and down with excitement.
"Yeah, what is it?" Lock added, nearly pushing Shock over in his eagerness to see the note.
Shock cleared her throat and began to read, feeling quite important and superior to the boys. She was the only one of them who knew how to read yet, although Barrel was trying to learn. Lock said he thought reading was a waste of time, but clearly he wouldn't have thought that during a moment like this. Shock personally suspected that he was just too dumb to read. "It says, 'To Lock, Shock and Barrel, Halloween's finest trick-or-treaters,'" she began, and all three children swelled with pride to be addressed this way. "'My dear Sirs and Madam, your presence is requested at your earliest convenience in the Town Hall. There is an urgent matter of business that needs attending to, and to which your talents and skills are uniquely suited. There is no need to wait in line when you arrive, please come speak with me immediately as your mission is a top priority. Yours very sincerely, Jack Skellington.'"
"What's that supposed to mean?" said Barrel. There were an awful lot of big words in there.
"It means Jack wants to see us right away because he has an important job for us to do!" said Shock excitedly.
"Top priority!" exclaimed Lock, and they all grinned. Besides causing mischief and havoc, nothing felt better than being important. Surely a top priority mission - and coming from the Pumpkin King himself! - would bring with it lots of attention and a great reward. Usually they took their orders from Oogie Boogie, but really they would work for anyone as long as a reward was involved, even if that reward was just being considered important and being the center of attention for a while. They were children, after all, and any praise was welcome praise, no matter who it came from.
"And we don't have to wait in line!" said Barrel - he'd understood that part - and the others agreed that was definitely a bonus. Few things were worse than being expected to wait for their turn. Their earlier quarrel was completely forgotten as they immediately ran to grab their masks and slingshots before jumping into the elevator cage and descending through the trap door, bubbling with excitement and fully prepared to run all the way to town to see what was going on. They hurried across the rickety bridge and up the hillside trail in the direction of the main town, congratulating themselves all the way at being a 'top priority', for that rarely ever happened. Once they reached town they were given somewhat of a wide berth and cold reception by the other residents, as most of the townsfolk found the trio annoying at best and downright infuriating at worst. Nobody wanted to be on the receiving end of one of their childish pranks but the trio didn't mind their reputation one bit. What kind of trick-or-treaters would they be if they didn't play plenty of tricks? They went straight to the Town Hall and saw a great line of people in front of Jack and the Mayor, and once again the children were glad they weren't expected to wait in line - though if they had been they would have just tried to cut in at the front anyway. Jack and the Mayor hadn't noticed them yet, too busy talking with Dr. Finkelstein so Lock whispered:
"Let's hit that stupid Mayor in the face!" He grinned wickedly and pulled a rock out of his pocket to load into his slingshot. Shock and Barrel snickered quietly and followed suite, putting rocks and pieces of bone into their own slingshots. "Ready… aim… fire!" Lock whispered again, and they let them loose - their aim was true and the Mayor's yelps of surprise and pain were highly satisfying, then they scurried up the ramp onto the stage with Lock leading the way.
"What are YOU doing here?" the Mayor said, his head quickly swiveling to show his dislike of the children and his alarm at their presence. Clearly Jack had not let him know that they were coming.
"Jack sent for us!" Lock said proudly.
"Specifically!" added Shock, coming up to stand beside him.
"By name!" piped up Barrel, squeezing his way into the middle. All three children repeated their names, as if to bring the point home to the Mayor that they were indeed welcome for once. Jack at least seemed happy to see them and once again addressed them as 'Halloween's finest trick-or-treaters' before kneeling down to get as close to their level as his tall, spindly frame would allow.
"The job I have for you is top secret," he said, "It requires craft, cunning, mischief!" It was really quite remarkable how complimentary Jack was being towards them considering how often he had scolded and disciplined them in the past, so much so that Shock felt compelled to make a joke about it.
"And we thought you didn't like us, Jack." she said in as sugary-sweet a tone as she was capable of - which is to say not very sweet at all - and pulled her littlest cohort into an overly-sappy hug. The three of them giggled at that, but Jack ignored them and continued:
"Absolutely no one is to know about it, not a soul! Now, listen carefully." He pulled them in for a close huddle and whispered, "You are to go through the east forest and stay along the main trail for quite some time until you reach a clearing surrounded by a circle of six trees. On these trees will be carved, colored doors. I want you to go through the bright green door that is somewhat triangular or cone-shaped, with several pointed edges and many bright, colorful little items all over it." Jack hoped that description would be enough for the children to remember, trying to keep it simple and basic, but also because he honestly had not given the other doors much notice and didn't know how to describe the Christmas Town door in relation to the other five doors. "There will be a long drop but you will safely land on soft, white, fluffy ground in a very cold and magical place with little houses and many-colored lights. It is called Christmas Town and you are to capture the king of this land and bring him to me. His name is Sandy Claws, he is large and red with some white, and lives in the biggest house there. The other houses belong to his little helpers, whom you are to avoid - do NOT pull any tricks on anyone while you are there, simply capture Sandy Claws and bring him here to me, alive. Once you've caught him, you simply return home through the jack-o-lantern door. Understood?" The children nodded and Lock gestured to the others and started to head off, eager to begin such a fun-sounding adventure but Jack grasped him by the tail and pulled him back. "And one more thing," he said very sternly, picking up the little devil to look him straight in the eyes - for he knew that out of the trio Lock was the most likely to disobey - "Leave that no-account Oogie Boogie OUT of this!"
He put Lock back down and Barrel stepped forward. "Whatever you say, Jack."
"Of course, Jack." added Shock, again in her most sugary-sweet voice.
"Wouldn't dream of it, Jack." finished Lock, and they couldn't contain their evil, excited laughter because they knew without having to look that all three of them were following their standard team protocol whenever they were told to promise something: crossing their fingers behind their backs just in case whatever they promised needed breaking later on - which it almost always did.
They hurried back home to their treehouse, chattering excitedly and singing a little song as they formulated all sorts of devious plots for capturing their prey. Lock's ideas went off the rails into the absurdly-violent like they always did, and Shock had to rein his imagination back in until they settled upon a more practical tactic - one that wasn't likely to blow Sandy Claws to smithereens. They collected several items that they thought might be useful in their quest: an axe, a bear trap, a spear and a spiked mace, rope, a box full of scorpions, a ball-and-chain, a firecracker and their large black bag, inside of which they planned to stuff Sandy Claws once they caught him. They threw all of this into their semi-sentient, walking claw-footed bathtub that was their primary means of transportation over long distances, since Jack had said that this would be a fairly long journey. Plus, they didn't want to have to drag Sandy Claws all the way home by hand. Finally feeling prepared, they hopped into the tub themselves, donned their masks, and the tub lumbered out of the back door and down the great, gnarled tree and trundled off into the woods as fast as it could go.
**Author Note** Shout-out to the lovely greeneyes00 for all the inspiration and giving me the courage to attempt to write these little guys as the actual children that they are in the film. I brazenly borrowed her idea about them playing poker, because it was just too perfect. :)