Chapter 4: The Potion | SLAP | An Unknown Secret

Jack ran over to Doctor Finklestein's house and knocked on the door, hoping with everything he had that Sally wasn't there to answer the door. Small footsteps could be heard coming. Jack sighed angrily until he heard the old voice of the doctor interrupt the footsteps. "Sally, I'll get it. You get back to work." Jack smiled as the door opened.

"Oh, Jack. How may I help you?" Jack was about to speak when he realized something, "May I come in. I need to speak to you in private." The doctor moved aside, allowing Jack to walk in. They walked up the ramp, and Jack made sure not to make eye contact with the ragdoll below.

When they reached the lab, the doctor turned to Jack, "Now, what's this about?" Jack began to explain, "As you may or may not know, Rachel Terrera, one of the newcomers in Halloween Town, has the ability to read minds. I have a plan that will require that I get the ability to block her mind reading skills. Or I can turn it off and on at will. Can you help me?" The doctor stared up at the skeleton for a moment before his duck-like mouth curved into an evil-looking grin. "I may have just the thing. Come with me."

Meanwhile, Rachel Terrera was walking around town with Damon Gothen. They were both admiring the scenes around them since this was the first chance they got to explore the town. Being that they were usually cooped up in The Extra Realm's Nightmare Base, they didn't get to see much of the rest of the world.

"Nice town, right Rachel?" Damon asked his companion. Rachel nodded without a word. Damon looked at her, "You know, it is times like these where I wish I had your mind-reading power. What are you thinking?" Rachel turned to him, "I'm thinking about the upcoming battle. It seems far away in time from now, but I know it isn't. It's strange. Time is strange."

Damon laughed, "You're strange too." Rachel smirked, "Yes, I am."

Jack took the vial containing a purple liquid from the doctor. "So this will do what?" He asked. "It will give you the power to block her from your mind whenever you want your thoughts to be kept secret. If you keep the block too long, however, you'll begin to get a headache. An hour and twenty minutes is the max for now. I'll work to make it longer."

Jack nodded his thanks and drank down the liquid in one gulp. He blinked once before closing his eye-sockets as he coughed. After seven coughs, he stood up straight as he felt the control over the block form. "Wow…" He mumbled. He turned to the doctor, "Thank you Doctor Finklestein. This is brilliant."

The doctor waved it off. "Anything else?" Jack thought for a moment. A random image popped into his head: Rachel with her sword. Jack smiled as an idea formed, "Do you think you could make it so that the Soul Robber can morph into different weapons?" The doctor smiled and nodded, "That'll take time though. I'll get right on it. Come back tomorrow." Jack smiled brightly, "Thank you, doctor!"

Jack left after that. When Jack got outside the doctor's gate, he immediately bumped into Rachel and Damon, who had their backs facing him but turned when he ran into them. "Whoops! Sorry about that! I should really watch where I'm going." Rachel turned and eyed him. "No one has ever been able to bump into me before because if they get close, I can hear their thoughts. But now, I hear nothing."

Jack held back a smile, "Well, sorry but I can't help you with that. It's not my fault your powers are failing you." The Enchantress's anger flared, "MY POWERS NEVER FAIL!" Jack's calm expression didn't falter even though a huge gust of wind blew in his face. He smiled, "Well then, what other word can I use?" Rachel stood up straighter even though she already was pretty straight and looked him in the eye sockets. She was about two to four inches shorter than him.

"You did something to your head…I know it! My powers have never stopped working ever since I died! WHAT. DID. YOU. DO!" Jack smiled, "I made a minor adjustment. That's all. It was why I was at the doctor's house. He gave me a special potion to block your power. You can no longer read into my thoughts." The girl before him gasped angrily and moved so fast, Jack didn't know what happened until it hit him.

SLAP!

Jack staggered backwards as his left hand moved to his left cheek. His eye-sockets were wide and his mouth was open from shock. No one had ever slapped him before. Not since he'd died anyway. Oogie Boogie had tried probably, but that was a different story. This girl had literally crossed that line and slapped him across the face.

There were several gasps from behind Rachel, and the warlock next to Rachel had joined in and gasped as well. He knew Rachel was violent, but she had never struck anyone on the side of goodness unless it was in training. But this wasn't training. No, this was bad…

Damon took a step away from Rachel. He had noticed her whole demeanor and appearance had changed. Her whole body, which was originally covered in blue and black, now, had red instead of blue. Even her eyes were a blazing red. Her hands were clenched into fists and a fire began to burn around each hand. Damon knew this was the right moment to stay out of her way.

Quick footsteps could be heard coming up behind Rachel. They turned as the Mayor came into view, "Miss, how dare you slap the Pumpkin King! Apologize at once and then come with me! I need to have a word with you about manners!" Rachel turned to face him fully and glared defiantly down at him. He shrunk as she spoke, "Bite me!" With that, she blasted into the air and streaked over to the graveyard outside of town.

Jack, who had watched her the entire time, knew he should've felt angry at her for slapping him. But all he was able to feel from their recent encounter was pity. She had so much anger in her, and she couldn't control it or let it go. It was sad really. There was something about her that she was hiding, though. That much he could tell. And it wasn't something that had already been brought up, like her age. It was something much bigger than that. But what?

Little did he know what would be coming soon enough…