Andy W.'s Rotten Halloween Adventure

A story about Jack and a hero who he is interested in. Set to begin in the Gamecube towns.

Andy W. - The hero of our story who has just moved into Ivalice. He has light brown hair with spikey bangs, brown eyes and a thin unsmiling mouth that doesn't give away his actually very helpful nature. With his red shirt and teddy bear face on it, shorts complete his ensemble.

Andy hummed to himself happily as he looked out over the happy town he had made for himself. He'd arrived months ago and had worked really hard to upgrade it. As a result there were many animals who stayed. It could almost be considered too crowded, but he liked the feeling that people liked his town.

Night was quickly falling but Andy noticed a crowd around a house. Right away, he could hear Ava squawking.

"Oh, I'd be happy to not have gotten one of those ghastly invites, dearie." Ava chirped with her heading tilted up. Robin, a somewhat shy bird, looked like he was about to speak, but was interrupted by the frog standing near him.

"Ten-hut! Shut your beak Ava. Can't you tell Rosie wanted one?" Camofrog huffed and crossed his arms and stared at the hen who was trying to appear like she wasn't bothered.

"Whatever you say dearie." Ava replied.

"What's goin' on?" Andy walked up and hefted his golden axe over his shoulder.

"I just really wanted one was all." Rosie, a black cat sighed. She was lounging against Robin's mailbox and chatting to the others, especially leaning into a golden lab named Goldie who was listening attentively.

"Wanted what?" Andy asked. He was quietly watching Robin who kept trying to talk.

"Jack's Invite!" Rosie perked up looking at Andy and started explaining away, "He's this critter with a Jack-O-Lantern head! And you have to get him candy! Everyone wants to meet him, but he only comes out when everyone dresses like him, so nobody can find him! He's reeeeally intense!" Rosie was practically squirming with happiness. At Rosie's outburst, Robin gave in and went inside his house, leaving the animals to chatter in his yard. Andy bet the door was locked for the night. Camofrog was standing casually and listening to her and chatting right back. Pretty soon her elephant friend Sally was coming over to talk. Apparently Jack was going to come around Halloween, and sent invites this day. That's why everyone was out and about, hoping for late invites. So far no one had received one.

Andy walked home, putting his golden axe away into his bag. His little red flag was up and he walked up, hoping for some fossils back. That is what he got, but there was also another letter. A purple one. On the flap was a candy corn, and when he opened it up a pumpkin head was on the header with little faded black candy corn on the sides.

"My loyal followers!

Halloween is here, and I demand some candy! Go get me some to celebrate! Join me on Halloween night, or else you'll be in big trouble!

Jack the Czar of Halloween"

Andy stared at the letter. He had actually gotten Jack's letter which was the talk of the town.

Andy shrugged and went on with his night. He decided to make a bridge tomorrow. He went the next month without even so much as thinking about Jack again, only when the other animals brought him up. He was quickly reminded of his presence when October 31 came upon the town and everyone started to dress up in cloaks with pumpkin heads. He could not tell who was who, not with everyone joining in the craze and dressing up. There were lots of giggling and pranks going on. So far the mischief had cost him a T-Rex skeleton that had been stolen when that owl Blathers had been dozing. When he had woken up, he had personally sought him out to apologize. Andy had just sighed and waved him away. Next some kids had trapped the mayor on the bridge and chopped it down. The mayor had been washed downstream and almost over the cliff's waterfall, but thankfully Tank the rhino had been fishing and had saved him. All that was left was for the mayor to get a fishing hook out of his body.

Andy walked forward with a sigh. He'd been clearing out trees for some new fruit he'd gotten from a distant town, and he was just sick and tired of trunks. He strolled and watched everyone playing and acting like kids. He didn't feel the need to join in, but it was fun watching everyone running around and stealing candy from each other.

Ahead he heard Goldie and Rosie chatting amiably. He could not tell who they were, their outfits hiding them, but he knew their voices sense he talked to them enough. The girls chatted as he approached, but one turned towards him. He heard Rosie say goodbye, Goldie did the same and then she was gone. Rosie approached, and Andy stopped in his tracks when a male voice came from her pumpkin.

"Hello Andy." ? said. Andy stared, puzzled by this turn of events.

"Hi."

"I'm Jack. And I wanted you to join me. You never even answered to my invite."

"Well, yeah." Andy started awkwardly, "Um. I just did not... want a part of it I suppose." Andy stared at Jack, and Jack stared back for a few seconds.

"You'll really regret this. I spit on your town. Everything you touch will be cursed!" Jack snarled and flipped in a puff of smoke.

Andy sighed and stretched his shoulders. There sure were a lot of interesting characters in this town. He shrugged off the weirdness which seemed to love holidays around here, and just went home and locked his door against offending Halloween hooligans. He'd had enough of Halloween. Holidays really weren't his thing.

The next day Andy woke up earlier than usual and started to walk outside when he noticed an area of weeds. He crouched and grabbed ahold of one of the offending plants between his feet. He froze when it wiggled in his hand, but that was the wrong move. It wrapped up and snared around his wrists when he hesitated and jerked him down a few inches. More than a little surprised, he whipped out his axe and started whacking at it. One handed he wasn't such a great shot and missed. The weed managed to jerk him down and enveloped his hand. He gasped, pain shooting through the tightening, and he wacked hard at the roots despite the chance he could cut his hand. He hit them once and another hit had him free. He stood up, staring in shock at the weed that shook at his feet. He stared around at the field and saw the weeds popping up everywhere. They were everywhere and people were about to wake up. What would happen once they woke up and tried to walk through them?

Grimly, Andy tried to shake off the feeling that he had made a wrong choice, and bent down to dig up more weeds. He did this only to find the weeds were popping up faster than he could pull them out and with a few more weeds trying to drag him down into the ground he was quickly realizing he was losing a battle. He only had two hours before Nook's woke up for the day. He had a feeling he wasn't going to get any shopping done today. An hour later he realized he wasn't making process and headed over to Nooks to get signs. He was going to have to hurry and place them everywhere, just to give the animals a fighting chance.

On his way he panicked as he saw some animals already walking around. The early birds of the town. He yelled at them to watch the weeds. Some seemed to believe him while others just kind of chuckled or looked amused and waved him away.

Later with an inventory full of signs and Nook ordering more for him, Andy raced across the town and placed them everywhere. He'd had to save a few startled and tangled animals along the way. He had a feeling that an animal or two might be leaving his quaint little town soon. He smashed the last post into the earth. As he bent to write his message, he stared at a ripple in the earth near the sign. He smiled slightly as he finished his message and then walked over to it. Fossils fixed everything in his life. They were that one great thing. He loved collectibles. Andy pulled out his golden shovel and swung it up and over his shoulder, into the crack and started to pry. He knelt down and reached for the fossil, snagging it and pulling it partially from the hole. The earth crumbled away and he shoved the blade in further to edge the rest of it out.

Andy gasped when a rumble went through the earth around his feet and the already crumbling earth started going even faster. He jerked back and lost his footing on the cracks that were spreading. Whirlwinding his arms he tried to catch himself. The fossil got flung the right way and into the grass, but his golden axe went plummeting into the ground. Andy scrambled backwards, watching it fall into the hole that was rapidly becoming a big sink hole apparently. Today was just a very bad day. First weeks, now holes. With a heavy sigh, Andy turned and stared at the fossil.

"I hope your worth it." He went over and picked it up and stuffed it in his pocket. He'd have to make a quick stop at his home for stationary. Several months later, his museum had been getting pretty full. He really liked collecting things. It didn't really seem to matter, though. A full museum didn't seem to be much of an attraction to bring people in... The animals had slowly been leaving. Some were outright saying they hated the town, some tried to cover it up with sugary words and apologies. He understood, though. The weeds wrangled any space away from the flowers. They also choked up the roots of the fruits trees and left little food. Everything had to be bought at Nooks, where he did imports. Unfortunately Andy's orchards of rare fruits were slowly dying off. The only good thing to come of it was the fact that while trying to diligently dig up weeds, he had found many fossils.

With that in mind and pockets full of fossil filled stationary, he headed to the post office. He stopped at two posts the lined the river.

"You have got to be kidding me." Andy said in a whisper. The bridge was gone. His bridge that he had paid for was gone. The bridge... where had it gone to? He followed the water mutely to the cliff and stared. The bridge was no where in site. It might have been washed away into the sea? He stared around feeling hopeless. One bridge was gone. He didn't even know how it happened, but he supposed that he would find out in tonight or tomorrow morning's gossip.

B-I-N-G-O. He was C-O-M-P-L-E-T-E-L-Y right about the gossip bit. Andy went to the post office to send out some mail to animals moved away. Pelly was leaning over the counter and gossiping to Sally who was leaning in and talking to Fang who was lounging and being friendly.

"Yeah, yeah!" Pelly gushed, "They were totally still pumpkin headed! And they were whacking at the rope with hatchets!" Andy inwardly was very pleased that he got up early to hear the gossip before it got diluted or dramatized by the animals.

"What else darlin'?" Fang grinned at her and Pelly blushed, liking all the attention, as Tank and Goldie were also watching and listening attentively.

"And they, were, well, totally just hacking away! It just clumped down into the water and they didn't make a sound, it was all so... solemn... it wasn't like, mischief. I think they were uhm... doing it for a reason." Pelly seemed bothered and looked down at her wings. When Andy walked up to the counter her head shot up towards him, "What I can do for you this fine morning?" And with that her bothersome thoughts were gone. Fang turned to Tank and grinned.

"You'll keep us safe from hooligans won't you?" Fang said and grinned harder. Tank buffed up immediately and closed his eyes.

"Of course I will!" Tank said. Fang chuckled and Tank smiled at him. Andy walked out and only ended up hearing more about it through the day. Although, it was like he had thought. Gossip became diluted or useless after a while.

"That was a shoddy piece of work. I wondered what they were doing using THAT kind of lumber." Ava sniffed as she watered her flowers. Out of all the houses hers was the only one that still had flowers. She had determinedly held onto her plot of land and refused to leave the town. And that meant keeping her land how she liked it, with a neat, tidy row of flowers. Goldie was kneeling down and sniffing the flowers appreciatively. She had followed Andy out and had been talking to them when she spotted Ava. Actually, Ava had spotted them and brought them inside to ask how her wallpaper looked, saying she was afraid it was tacky. In reality it was just too shove off how exquisite it was. Goldie was very friendly and came over anyways despite her attitude. She loved flowers but had given up on them some time ago, what with all the weeds...

With a wave, Andy went on with his days and months, leaving the animals to try and keep their houses tidy.

It was April and Andy was awakened by a loud, crippling boom. He shot out of bed and jumped out, knocking his foot hard on a spinning UFO and almost crushed his train underfoot as he hopped forward to the door, still in his pajamas. He came out to see the animals coming out. Ava who lived right next door was out and huffing at the noise. Tank was barreling past, having lived up the hill. Across the river he saw Goldie peering nervously over her little fence. There was another crack and they all looked across the field. The museum roof was at a weird angle.

Oh no. He had way to much invested into that place. Andy took off running through the field, scattering tulips as he went and tried to get there as fast as he could.

As it turned out, it really didn't matter how fast he went. The damage was already done. When Andy arrived at the back of the museum, even before he arrived from across the field he could see that the angle of the roof was all wrong. The two sides to the steeple were caved in and parts were leaning against each other. There were huge holes in the ceiling that were completely gone.

Andy walked slowly forward, watching as a fire started to shoot out of the top. If the falling rubble hadn't killed his precious bugs and fish, that surely would. And his priceless paintings he had had to haggle from Redd were gone. And all the age old fossils were smashed. All those things he had had to travel far and wide for... gone. A few were gifts from friends that had long since moved away. He watched and then slowly looked around, sighing heavily. There was Blathers, hooting and freaking out over the fire but unable to do anything. Camofrog was sitting on a hill while eating an apple and watching the fire. He waved. Andy waved back and shrugged at him. There wasn't really either one of them could do and they knew it. The others animals were either frantically gossiping. Tank and Fang had been trying to throw water on the fire, but when they realized that there weren't enough of them they slowly stopped and watched the building burn.

When Andy's eyes settled on the harbor he saw a boat with two figures on it. They were dressed in robes and had those pumpkin heads on that he was starting to hate. When he stared for a few seconds they, in sync, raised their paws, wings, whatever, and pointed at him. He stared at them and he raised his axe silently. They stared at each other, even as one pushed off and they floated away beyond the wall.

He really hated pumpkins now.

Andy slowly dragged himself home. He thought of the weeds, the fossil holes that quickly changed into sinkholes. His poor flowers and fruit were all gone. A lot of those fruits had been cultivated in distant lands and island. They'd all had to be carefully crated and brought back and then planted. But most importantly, all his collectibles... all gone. He'd lovingly come to the museum often to help feed and care for the critters. He'd even named several. Nono the mantis, Halibel the shark, Luppi the octopus. He loved his babies and they were dead. He didn't have the energy to heft his axe, it just dragged and created a trail as he walked.

Andy walked into his home and walked past all the little things that could be switched on and fell face first onto his bed, eyes slowly closing and his feet hanging over the edge. This had been the worst blow so far. There was suddenly a very loud hiss and Andy jerked out of bed, falling backwards and almost falling on his axe. There was a very freakishly large cockroach hissing at him from onto of his bed. His jaw dropped open. He had never heard a cockroach hiss before. His skin crawled when the rug underneath him started to writhe. In his surprise he had not noticed how lumpy it was. Very quickly the rug was starting to move under him and cockroaches were streaming out in every which direction. Andy stood up and started stomping on them, but now that some were riled up, he saw more streaming out of the desk nearby. He quickly turned and slapped on the light switch to find them sitting on the walls. Whenever the light came on their antennae started to twitch frantically and the hissing noise became a wail that was blocking out everything else.

Andy wanted to stay and fight, he did. The roaches were eating his furniture, actually eating it, even the metal stuff. Paper and wood was just... disappearing in their hungry little mouths. When they started at him, biting at his shoes and hissing, he turned and ran. He ran out of his own home and slammed the door and ran forward. Running up the path, shaking, he saw the lights on at Nooks. As he ran past, he saw Nook trying to put up plywood to cover the hole in the window that was large and jagged. As he ran past the building he saw all the windows were riddled with holes or completely shattered and broken out of the frame. The two little Nooks who were visiting briefly from another town were helping but they couldn't reach most of it since they were so little and short.

Andy ran past anyway, even though normally he would have stopped without a thought and helped. All he could think was, my home, my home, my home has been invaded. He didn't have a bed to go home to. None of his gyroids dancing for him, no funky UFO. He didn't know where he would stay tonight, all he knew was where he couldn't go. Over another hill, he saw another critter, Goldie his good pal, running out of her house squealing and covered in roaches. With tears of panic in his eyes Andy ran over and started hitting them off her. Together they stood and watched as her house was consumed by roaches. She whimpered and cried into her paws as he hugged her.

He walked her to the train station himself early in the morning. Even he had had to realize that the town was dying. Before morning when the trains ran, him and Goldie had both decided to go back and help Nook who, with an older man sigh of relief, happily thanked them. They had grimly put the plywood up and then gathered inside. As the bugs spread, people saw the lights on at Nooks and came. Together, when light broke, the few remaining creatures gathered at the train station with their suitcases close by. They all stared at the train, where the monkey normally stood. In all the years that some of them had lived there, he had never been late for a single morning for work. Very often he would be sitting to the side and eating his breakfast before starting work, early to a fault. The animals all looked up at the station, and then at Andy. Andy was the guy who got things done. He built bridges, he ran errands, planted delicious fruits, pulled weeds. He did everything. Right now he stared back and them and just continued to hold Goldies hand. They had been clinging to each other since their very scary night with the bugs. There was a loud snort and Fang jumped forward as she rolled up her sleeves.

"Alright, I got this." She hopped up the stairs quickly and went inside.

"It ain't right to let a lady go alone." Camofrog huffed and hopped up after her and walked in. Tank of course had to follow, unable to let his pride stop him. Andy covered his face for a second, and then turned to Goldie and pet her hand and gave her a weak smile. She smiled at him and kissed his cheek, and he turned and walked to the train.

It was his fault that these people were suffering. It was his fault their town was disintegrating. He had to go see if the train was working. Whenever he got inside he saw Fang kneeling down over the monkey who was shaking and tied up, tears streaming down his face and bruises all over him. Whenever Fang got the gag out of his mouth he just started spouting.

"He told me if I left the town he would kill me." He sobbed, "He broke the train levers. Others did some other stuff, I don't know." He sobbed hopelessly, shaking. Camofrog came forward and picked the guy up, the first time Andy had ever seen him touch someone.

"There there, ten-hut, I gotcha. Nobody gonna hurtcha... Come on Tank. Lady..." He carried the monkey out, Tank and Fang following him. Fang stared at his face with a sly look in her eyes, but passed him without saying anything. Andy stared at a patch of blood on the aisle of the train. Now people were getting hurt, not just their town or their homes. It was really time to talk to Jack.

Andy spent every evening and night looking for Jack, way early into the morning. It was only April with Halloween a whole half year away. No matter how much he looked, Jack did not appear. He was gone, but that did not mean his influences disappeared with him. Along the way, with more sink holes appearing and raging waters taking down the second and last bridge, Andy would occasionally see those cloaked figures. Sometimes a single one, sometimes a small cluster. The most he ever saw at once were three. They were always destroying something, or causing mischief. Sometimes they were simply running way from what they had done to escape into the night and to wherever they were going.

The animals were miserable. If the trains had been running everyone would have left in one huge drove. As it happened, not everyone was equipt to just run off. Goldie had retreated sadly. She and Andy had been staying at Nooks. Robin was also there, as was Camofrog. Camofrog had just muttered something about not feeling right leaving animals behind and had stretched out on the floor contently. He honestly didn't seem all that bothered to have lost his home, but Robin wouldn't quit staring mournfully out the window. Ava was a sturdy old fowl, and had put her bonnet on and had strapped everything of hers onto a rolling cart and had taken off with a determined expression on her face. She walked right up to the tracks and started following it. Fang had seen her taking off and had hopped up, dragging Tank by his hand. Those two had followed Ava down the tracks.

The others had all just sat and watched as the small group trekked off. They went to Nook's and sat miserable on the floor or the chairs Nook was allowing them to use. He'd thoughtfully turned on the radio and played some tunes for them to stay cheerful on.

Apparently the exploration/escape party had not gotten far. About half a day later they had come back. Ava was looking absolutely foul. Her hat and luggage was gone. Tufts of Fang's fur had been ripped out and she was limping. Tank had scratches all over him and his face was broken out into huge bee sting whelps. They had come back to Nook's. For once Ava had been silent and just sat and drank some hot tea made from the camp fire they had started. The electricity had just gone out. Tank sat on the ground. Fang sat in his lap, apparently deciding not to hide their relationship anymore. She just started their short lived tale.

"We got pretty far, actually… I think whatever is cursin' this town wised up though. These roots and weeds just started getting' real thick and hard to step through. And then there were groves of trees, and there were bee hives everywhere. Tank found out that one the hard way. And finally, after we had hacked our way through a lot of those monstrous weeds, we hit a huge thick patch of them. I hit it with my axe and the whole thing shook and those hissing roaches just streamed out. The go all of Ava's stuff. We tried to get past them but they just kinda followed in on us and started biting on us." Fang raised her sleeves and shoved some truly nasty bite marks on her arms, "And then we just came back. They didn't give us much trouble coming back. I think whatever is cursing us wants us to stay here."

Andy stared at the three and then down at his toes. Halloween seemed so far away. It wasn't far that the villagers had to be stuck here. He should be the only one to be stuck.

The first day of the beginning of the end, or at least what seemed like it, came. It was October 1st. Andy walked listlessly around, winding up at the shore and fishing. He walked back and forth to Nook's all day, glancing at his mailbox every time he passed it. After eleven or so passes with a full inventory of fish, that little flag was up. Andy silently walked over to it and opened up the mailbox. There was a green envelope this time, with a wax blob and a pumpkin head stamped into it. He opened it up and read the invite. He stared at it and tucked it under his arm and went to bed. He really didn't feel like fishing anymore. He went inside and put on K.K.'s Dirge. One by one he tapped his gyroids on and then went on his bed to curl up and watch them dance.

Finally the day came, that October 31st. As the sun started to fall, the day slowly started to get crazier as more and more of the animals started in on the mischief as usual. At 6 the town was thick with swirling cloaks and pumpkin heads. Andy had a good eye though. There were patterns on Jack's outfit. And the bigger animals with bulk were definitely out of the question. After searching high and low for him, Andy turned and saw a figure by the beach. He walked to it slowly.

Andy stared at Jack over the earth that was now brown and barren of all things green. He'd finally found the one he needed to talk to after almost a full year of horrors.

"Why did you ruin the town? It wasn't their fault that I said no..."

"Because I wanted you." Jack said. Andy couldn't tell a thing about his face. His pumpkin head just kept smiling at him.

"Please take me." Andy said quietly, in a humble tone. Jack stared at him and smiled.

"Maybe next year you'll be a proper member. I didn't get to choose when to get you, and you don't get to choose when your city is saved. For now you're being punished for not doing as I said!" He answered, "Try to rebuild your store. And get my candy ready. I want three time as much next year." Jack scuttled off, flipping into a smokey burst and Andy was left in his barren city. He turned and stared up at the cliff that he knew hid a dead down from view. He had one year to save these animals and keep them alive before he left. Or did whatever it was that Jack wanted him to do. Andy looked at the weeds bitterly as he walked up the hill. Was this how life was going to become in this town? A reoccurring cycle of horrors? When would this end? He supposed whenever Jack decided to end it.

For the rest of the year, those bad things still happened. Thick, nasty weeds sprouted. Dug holes became gaping monstrosities. His museum stayed smashed. Slowly though, through the hard work of the towns people, weeds started to be fewer, the holes lessened and became fillable and Blathers had started the construction of a new museum. The town was slowly starting to take shape again. Fang once told him that she thought whatever had cursed them had forgiven them or was in the middle of forgiveness. Andy just smiled at her and shrugged. Everything was slowly becoming normal, even the hissing cockroaches disappearing to who knows where. But on October 31st Andy started the day wearing a cloak, something he had not done the past two Halloweens, and ended up that day missing from town.

The next day, Goldie became worried. They'd always been pretty good buddies, her and Andy, but since that terrible day when the roaches had appeared they had really become best friends. They had gone from gossip buddies to buddies who traded the best furniture and got each other's best fruit. Andy always told her when he was going away on new fruit expeditions, or trying to find fish or bugs which he had been doing more often since the collapse and fire of the museum. He hadn't told her a thing, and even though the other animals didn't even think it was important enough to talk about, she thought something had happened to him.

Days later, the whole town started to talk. Andy never left the town for long. Everyone knew that it was his pride and joy since he loved taking care of people. Deliveries he had promised hadn't been made and Nook kept glancing out his window. If he wasn't buying something he was always selling, not like the rest of the lazy town. By that time Goldie was absolutely beside herself and crying every day for her friend to return. She was now going daily to the wishing well and hoping for his safe return.

Weeks later and everyone had just kind of waved off the fact that Andy was gone and wasn't coming back. He had probably just gotten on that train and gone off to who knows where, maybe to a new town. Maybe he just thought that this town was complete, or maybe had just gotten sick of rebuilding it after that big curse of 2004. Either way he was gone. By this time Goldie had left a poster on the billboard and a sign in front of her old and now empty house for Andy and had left the town. She was done with it now that he was gone.

Years later, after the town had become inhabitable again, nobody remembered Andy W. Anyone who remained like Ava who stubbornly refused to release her town, or Camofrog who honestly didn't mind the weeds and stumps and had weathered it out had just thought he had up and left like the other animals. He had passed from their memories like most of the animals, except for the statue of him near the train station. By this time Goldie had forgotten him. Only in passing and Halloween did she think of him, especially when she saw pumpkins and remembered what he had told her briefly about the letter and Jack. She'd never gotten mad at him for what he had started, but now that didn't matter since he was gone.