Here is chapter four! :D No song in this chapter, either. X3 Not much else to say, but enjoy!

XXX

Peach knocked on the door of Professor Frankly's current abode three times, before the door opened, revealing Goombella. She grinned upon seeing the three of them, especially Mario.

"Hey, Mario!" She greeted, stepping aside to let them in. "Hello, Luigi, Peach! What brings you guys here? It's been like, a while!"

"We're here to see Professor Frankly." Peach smiled. "Is he busy?"

"Nope! He's just in his study, re-arranging some stuff." Goombella replied. "C'mon! I'll take you to him!"

Mario and Luigi both grinned and tipped their hats to her in thanks, while Peach smiled all the more and nodded. The trio followed Goombella toward a room in the back of the house, pushing the door open as they came into Professor Frankly's study.

"Hey, Professor! Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach are here to see you!" Goombella told him.

Looking up from his books, Professor Frankly jumped. "Oh! Mario, it's you! Well don't keep me waiting sonny boy, tell me what's up!"

"We're wondering if you know anything of the Holiday Doors." Mario told him, nodding toward Princess Peach.

"It's a bit of a long story, Professor." Peach went on. "But do you think you could tell us something about them?"

"The Holiday Doors?" Goombella questioned. "I haven't heard of those! Have you, Professor?"

"As a matter of fact, I have! Though I only heard rumours of them, and hadn't thought to research the topic just yet, since I had a lot of other things to look into first. But I do believe I have some books on the subject!" Professor Frankly said, and went over to one of his book shelves. He browsed, hopped onto one of his stepping stools, and then took out a book. He brought it to the table, and opened it up, reading through a couple of pages. "Aha! Here it is right here! The Holiday Doors, they are indeed located here in the Mushroom Kingdom! It seems that they are located right in the deep depths of Forever Forest!"

"So they exist? What the heck are these doors, anyway?" Goombella wanted to know.

"The books say that they are what the name implies." Professor Frankly went on. "There are seven Holiday doors, depicting the worlds of the seven holidays. Valentine's Day, St-Patrick's Day, Easter, Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas! The doors all lead to towns that are embodiments of these holidays, where they come from, it seems!"

"Wow!" Luigi exclaimed. "Doors that lead to places that represent holidays? Amazing!"

"That's pretty neat, Professor!" Goombella said, and turned to the trio. "But why do you want to know about 'em, anyway?"

"A woman, a rag doll, came to me requesting for help in finding the doors." Peach told them. "She says she was from Halloween Town, and that she came through a door that leads to our world. A door in the shape of a mushroom. I told her to come and see you, Professor, thinking you may have answers to this matter. However, due to a freak accident...she ended up kidnapped by Bowser and his minions in my place."

"Say what?.! Oh man, that's not good!" Goombella exclaimed. "So we've gotta find these Holiday doors and then rescue her from Bowser?"

"That's-a it." Mario nodded.

"Three kids are trying to kidnap her, too!" Said Luigi. "They kidnapped Peach by accident, apparently mistaking her for this woman."

"Oh my!" Professor Frankly exclaimed, and shook his head. "This is indeed quite a conundrum! Hmmm... Then that settles it! We must formulate a strategy at once!"

"What should we do, Professor?" Goombella asked. "We've gotta find the doors and wherever the heck Bowser is, and then save this girl before those kid freaks find her first!"

"I'm getting to that!" Professor Frankly said. "Here's what we'll do! Mario, you and your brother are to search for where Bowser has taken the rag doll woman from Halloween Town! Goombella, I would like for you to escort Princess Peach to find the Holiday Doors!"

"Man...I was hoping not to go through Forever Forest...but then again, I've been through worse before!" Goombella said, nodding. "You got it, Professor!"

"All right then." Peach nodded, despite she was quite scared of going through Forever Forest.

"Okay! We'll do it!" Luigi grinned, obviously glad that he wasn't being left out on the adventure.

"Mm-hmm!" Mario agreed, nodding.

"You tykes head out, I will stay here and keep on researching this very topic!" Professor Frankly said.

Before either of them could say anything, they heard screaming coming from outside. Alarmed and confused, the Mario brothers hurried out ahead of them, with Peach and Goombella at their heels. They came outside, and saw some of the toads running around wildly in fright.

"We gotta get outta here!"

"What was that thing?"

"It was a skeleton man!"

"Run for your life!"

"Before he takes ours!"

"Everyone! Stop!" Peach yelled, trying to get their attention, but to no avail.

"Oh my gosh! Look at THAT!" Goombella cried in surprise.

The answer to the frightening was not too far off to the path north of them, which they followed to see what was up. A very tall, thin skeleton, dressed in a dapper pinstriped suit, wandered around, trying to speak to the toads. But anyone he approached, they fled in fear. The skeleton man looked very perturbed and worried, not bent on scaring everyone.

A few toads saw them all, and grinned, rallying his friends. "Everyone! It's Mario and Luigi! We're saved!"

"Now you can't do anything, skeleton man! We've got Mario here!"

"And he'll turn your bones into dust!"

"Everyone, quiet!" Peach ordered, and everyone did. She cautiously and slowly approached the skeleton man, a bit nervous, but none the less concerned. There was definitely something about him, that seemed completely sincere. "Excuse me...sir...skeleton man? May I ask what is going on?"

"I'm very sorry to cause you so much trouble!" Said the skeleton man. "I don't mean to scare or harm anyone, I swear."

Peach gave a smile, nodding. "I could see that...you seemed more worried than bent on scaring someone." She nodded to the others, and they came over to stand behind her. "What is your name?"

"I'm Jack, Jack Skellington...I am the Pumpkin King." Jack introduced himself, feeling a bit more at ease of the situation. "Can you help me? I am looking for someone."

"Oh, of course! My name is Princess Peach, and these are my friends, Mario, Luigi, and Goombella." Peach said. "Now, who is it that you're looking for? Can you describe them?"

"Her name is Sally, and she is my dear lady friend." Jack said, and held his hand up to Sally's approximate height. "She's a rag doll, about this tall. Her material skin is very pale blue, her hair is rusty red, she has very big eyes..." He seemed to drift off for a moment, and then came back on topic. "She was also wearing a patchwork dress I believe, and...that is her cloak!" He exclaimed upon seeing the cloak Peach was wearing.

Upon her description, Peach's eyes grew wide. "Oh! Yes...Yes, I have seen her! Her name is Sally, then? She came to me, asking where the Holiday doors are...are you from Halloween Town as well?"

Jack nodded quickly. "Yes! I am! Where is Sally? Where did you last see her?"

A guilty, ashamed look came to Peach's face. "Yes...oh, I'm so sorry of this, Jack. You see, she had been kidnapped due to her accidental interference with the actions of the Koopas, the minions of Bowser, the Koopa King, who had been trying to kidnap me. Instead, however, they kidnapped her in my place by accident. Then these three children kidnapped me, mistaking me for Sally, but I escaped them. It seems that they too are trying to find Bowser to kidnap Sally, while Bowser meant to kidnap me."

An utter look of shock, worry, dismay, and heartbreak came to Jack's face. The thought of his beloved Sally, trapped and kidnapped by some evil villainous type in a foreign land was heartbreaking. "...Sally..." He moaned in worry, and then grew angry. "What scum! I will not let him get away with this! If he dares touch a hair on her head...I will show him no mercy!" He paused, and then looked to them with a calmer, but fairly pleading look. "Princess Peach, those three children you just mentioned...did they happen to dress like a devil, a skeleton and a witch?"

Peach thought for a moment, and nodded. "Yes, they did! They also wore masks, but had taken them off at one point, too. Why?"

"I knew it! Lock, Shock, and Barrel, they are Halloween Town's most notorious pranksters! I was told they were trying to kidnap Sally." Jack clenched his bony fists in fury, but again calmed himself as his expression took on a pleading look. "Listen, this may be much to ask, but I need to know where this Bowser character is! I have to save Sally!"

Peach turned to the Mario brothers, all the while Goombella spoke up in a soft voice to them.

"Wow, Mario! You gotta admit, this guy's pretty dedicated! He came all this way from Halloween Town, and he's willing to go out there to save this Sally girl from Bowser!" She said. "She must mean a lot to him if he's willing to do all of that just to save her! I think we should help him out. Don't you?"

Mario nodded. "We were going to save her, anyway."

"Yes!" Luigi agreed. "We'll take him with us!"

Peach smiled, and turned back to Jack. "Well Jack, Mario and Luigi were just going to save Sally from Bowser, anyway. You can go with them if you'd like."

"Really?" Jack looked immensely relieved, and very grateful. "Oh, thank you! I can't begin to tell you how much this means to me."

"Hey, it's what Mario and Luigi do, Jack!" Goombella winked. "They've got your back! They'll help you save your girlfriend!"

A sheepish smile came to Jack's face before he cleared his throat. "I appreciate that, very much!"

"Anytime, Jack!" Peach said. "Goombella and I will be searching for the Holiday doors in Forever Forest. Hopefully...when you return, we'll know where to take you to get back to your world."

"Let's-a go!" Said Mario, beckoning Jack.

"We're ready now!" Luigi agreed.

"Good luck, you three." Peach said softly, and leaned down, kissing Mario on the nose, and giggled at how he blushed.

The three of them then set off, with the girls waving them off.

"Good luck, you guys! Totally kick Bowser's butt, and bring back Sally!" Goombella called to them as they retreated.

"Goodbye! Good luck!" Peach called to them as well.

As they went along, she prayed to the stars to keep them safe on their journey, and succeed. It was all she asked for.

"Well Peach, we should head to Forever Forest! Get this whole search thing over with!" Goombella told her.

Peach nodded, looking down at her. "Yes, we should get going as well, Goombella."

Because they were going on a potentially dangerous expedition themselves, they felt it was a good idea to stock up on some items that would be helpful just in case of anything. Peach retrieved a satchel and her favourite parasol from the castle, and then the two headed back to town to buy some various items in the two shops that the town had. A few healing items, as well as some attack items. Goombella also told her not to worry, her bonking abilities would probably be all that they needed.

Once they were stocked up and ready, making one last prayer to the stars, they set about on their way through Forever Forest.

XXX

"Where are we now, anyway?" Barrel asked yet again.

"I don't know! Now shut up!" Lock shouted crossly.

The Trick-or-Treating trio were now on a wagon that was being pulled by two donkeys. With no other method of transportation, they settled on hi-jacking this wagon. Or rather, they stole it when no one was looking. They were far off from where they'd taken it, long gone. Lock was at the front, holding a carrot at the end of a string on a stick.

By now, they'd been going on for well over an hour. It felt like an eternity, especially since they were in a foreign place they had never been to before.

Shock looked up at the sky, seeing that it was reddening, with dark purple clouds bellowing around. This was strange, seeing this kind of dark effect in a place they saw was so bright and happy. So much so that it made them want to cringe. As glad as she felt to see something looking all dark and creepy, she couldn't help but feel that it was out of place. Was something going on? Where were they?

"Hey, what's with the sky? Wasn't it all blue before?" Barrel seemed to speak her thoughts as well, since he looked up.

"WHOA!" Lock stopped the donkeys in their tracks, his eyes going wide. "You guys...look!"

The trio looked far ahead, through the dead trees, along the path straight ahead. Further off, there was a cliff, leading down into a pool of lava. A rocky path led along over the lava, and toward a large stalactite in the middle of the pool of lava, kind of like an island. Atop it, was a huge castle. It was completely unlike the castle they had seen earlier back in town. This castle was something of a creepy fortress, the kind of castle Oogie Boogie would surely love. Surrounded by lava, tall, with spikes along some areas, very dark and gray, with a metal drawbridge gate, and a huge head above the gate.

"So this is where they took her..." Shock murmured, eyes wide.

"Oogie Boogie would love it here!" Barrel exclaimed.

"Guys, shh!" Lock hissed. "There's definitely armed guards wandering around here, we'll have to be careful!"

"HALT!"

The three froze, turning upon the sight of a creature flying at them on a broom. It looked like a witch, considering it was flying on a broom, had a witch hat, wore a witch outfit, and holding a rod with a red jewel at the end of it. The witchy creature appeared to be female, dressed in dark purple, and wore round glasses.

"W-Who the heck are you?.!" Shock wanted to know.

"Me?.! How dare you ask such a thing, especially when you're wandering on King Bowser's territory! But if you must know, I am Kammy Koopa!" Said the witchy creature. "You three are just kids...shouldn't you be running to your mommies and daddies?"

"Hey! We're not just some kids, lady!" Lock protested. "We gotta see this King Bowser guy, he's got something we want!"

This made Kammy Koopa mildly puzzled. "...What could he have that you three possibly want? Not that it shouldn't be obvious, of course, he IS King Bowser, after all!"

"Take us to see him! He's got someone we want!" Shock said. "Right now!"

Kammy sighed, shaking her head. "I'm too old for this... Very well! I'll take you to see him...but step out of line and you WILL face the consequences! King Bowser shows no mercy!" She hopped down to the ground off her broom. "Come then!"

Lock, Shock and Barrel all shrugged, took their bag, and hopped off the wagon to follow after her toward what they now knew to be Bowser's Castle. What they wanted was in there, Sally. After all, if they came back empty-handed, Oogie Boogie would be displeased for sure.