A/N: This chapter is a personal favourite of mine.
Hourglass
Chapter 4: A Pair of Jacks
Sora, Riku, and Kairi were met with a cold and rainy blast when they exited the Corridors of Light. It was presently nighttime on the world they just stepped foot on and there were heavy winds blowing cold rain and ocean water around. The ground beneath their feet rocked and swayed. Sora shielded his eyes as a powerful wave crashed into the side of the ship they were standing on. Through the noise of the waves and winds, Sora could hear orders being shouted out frantically. Around him, people in shabby outfits were running about performing various tasks.
"Uh… are you sure we're in the right place?" Riku asked loudly over the noise.
"My heart told me this was the place to open a door," Kairi explained, covering her head as another wave bombarded the ship. "Sora?" Sora was scanning for a familiar face among the people running around.
"There!" he called, pointing to the helm of the ship. None other than Captain Jack Sparrow was desperately steering the Black Pearl wildly left and right. "Captain!" Sora ran up the small set of stairs to reach Jack. "Captain Sparrow, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sorry, no time to talk," Jack said quickly, steering sharply to the left. The teens had to grab onto the railing to keep their balance.
"But Captain, we need your help!" Sora pleaded, following Jack when the stressed pirate ran over to where a rope came loose while simultaneously checking his compass. "There's going to be an attack in a year and we need you and your crew to help fight!"
"Busy!" Jack snapped, pushing past Sora to get to the helm again. "Busy, busy! Savvy?!" The ship shook violently as if struck, but there were no other ships visible on the water. Sora was about to question it but received his answer when a giant tentacle arm rose from the water and slammed down on the stern, taking out a cannon and two pirates.
"What is that?!" Kairi shrieked.
"It's the Kraken!" shouted another voice. Sora turned to see Will Turner who was tying a thick rope to a metal pole. "Seems Jack made some kind of deal with Davey Jones and now the Kraken's here to collect." He didn't sound pleased at all about it. The teens summoned their Keyblades upon hearing the explanation and prepared for battle. The ship shook again as another tentacle made its appearance above the surface of the ocean.
Sora was the first to react, jumping in the air and striking down the tentacle as it began curling around the mast. There was a loud roaring noise as the tentacle retracted and swung out, knocking Sora back against the edge of the ship mere inches from falling off. Kairi and Riku dove at the flailing appendage, slicing at different points. More howls of pain indicated they were having an effect on the sea beast.
Riku was unprepared when a tentacle shot out of the water and wrapped around his leg. He cried out in surprise when the monster pulled him off his feet and dragged him across the deck towards the starboard side while another tentacle smacked Kairi into the staircase.
"Riku!" Sora yelled out, leaping to his feet and running after Riku. He made a dive to grab Riku's arm but was a moment too late as the Kraken hauled Riku into the watery depths. Without a moment of hesitation or thought of personal safety, Sora jumped off the starboard into the ocean after them. His body seemed to freeze on contact with the icy cold water but he foraged on. Through the murkiness and rushing waves, he could barely see the shadowy form of a giant squid with monstrous eyes and an even more terrifying mouth of razor sharp teeth. Struggling in one of its arms was Riku, flailing and attempting to land a hit with his Keyblade. Sora wasted no time cutting off the tentacle that was holding Riku captive. He got a hold of his best friend's arm and together they swam to the surface, gasping for breath.
"Are you okay?" asked Sora worriedly.
"I'm fine," Riku replied, still taking deep breaths. "Thanks."
"Sora! Riku!" Kairi called from the ship as she tossed down a rope. "Grab hold!" Doing as they were instructed, they were dragged back on board with the others.
"What are we supposed to do?" Sora whimpered. "That thing's unstoppable! It's got like a million arms and every time we cut one off, another ten grow in its place."
"You're exaggerating," Riku scolded, walking toward the helm. "We just gotta keep working on it. It'll go down eventually."
"Not true," interrupted Jack, who was finally paying attention to the trio. "I've been outrunning the creature for days. What we've got to do is make landfall. Squids don't like land, last time I checked." He paused to give his compass a good whack. "Problem is, I've gone and angered a sea goddess and now we're lost in a storm. Can't make heads or tails of this blasted thing." He pointed to his compass, which was spinning rather oddly. He thrust the little box into Sora's hands. "You give it a shot, lad! See what comes of it!" The moment Jack relinquished control of the magical device, it pointed solidly in one direction off the port bow. "Ah ha!" He jumped back to the helm and turned the wheel left, barking orders as he did. "Arr, scurvy dogs, rope the mast, port bow!"
The Black Pearl rocked sideways as it changed course a little to the left. Another loud roaring noise reminded the crew that they were still being pursued. Sora dumped the compass back into Jack's hands and ran to the stern to fend off attacks from behind. Sure enough, a tentacle was reaching after the ship. Sora, Riku, and Kairi used their weapons to deflect any attempts by the Kraken to sweep across with its deadly limbs. To slow it down, Sora and Riku were casting various spells at it.
"Land ho!" shouted a pirate near the bow of the ship. The crew only had a moment to brace themselves before the ship crashed onto the beach of Port Royal at high speeds, then lurched to the side from the lack of water beneath the hull and the crew were flattened or thrown from the ship. Once the Black Pearl came to a complete stop, the first people to move were the most terrified of the group, followed quickly by Jack Sparrow himself, who wanted nothing more than to put as much distance between himself and the beach.
"Jack, get back here!" Will yelled as he jumped to the beach after the notorious pirate. "We had a deal!"
"Just what is going on here?" Sora shouted out of frustration. "What deal did Jack make? Why does it warrant the use of a giant squid? What sea goddess did he piss off? And why was his compass on the fritz until he passed it to me?"
"It's a long story, but I don't have much time to explain it," Will said before briskly running after the fleeing pirate. Sora and his friends had no choice but to follow. The path from the beach took them to a small port town with walls surrounding it to protect it from naval attacks presumably. They were eventually able to catch up to the winded Jack Sparrow and the angry Will Turner.
"Tell you what," Jack said between catching his breath. "New deal. Sora, if you and your friends can kill the Kraken, then I'll agree to help you with whatever you were rambling about and we can all be on our merry way, savvy? We have a deal or not, lad?"
"What about our deal?" Will asked impatiently. "You said you'd give me the compass so I could free Elizabeth! Her life is at stake!"
"Wait, what?" Sora snapped. "Oh god, will someone please tell me what's going on?!"
"Elizabeth and I were arrested for helping him," Will explained, referring to Jack with contempt. "The man who arrested us said if we could bring him Jack's compass, he'd drop the charges and we'd be free to go, otherwise we'd be executed." Sora made a hissing noise, disapproving of that punishment. "Well I tracked down Jack only to find out he's gone and angered every ocean deity from Davey Jones of the Flying Dutchman to Calypso of the seas. So we made a deal that if I brought him the key to the chest containing Davey Jones' heart, he'd give me the compass. Well that was days ago, Jack! And you still haven't given me the compass! Elizabeth meanwhile rots in a dungeon!"
"Why is Davey Jones after you?" Sora asked Jack. Jack made a guilty face and seemed to try to find a way to avoid answering the question.
"Well, bein' a pirate is hard work for beginners…" he trailed off. "I just needed… a little starter. I asked Davey Jones to let me captain the Black Pearl for ten years… And here we are ten years later… The price, of course, was my very soul."
"You gave up your soul for a ship?!" Sora shrieked, getting more and more aggravated by the minute.
"Hey!" Jack said indignantly. "Not just any ship! The Black Pearl!"
"Well why not fight that thing yourself?"
"You think I haven't already tried? The beast is nigh unbeatable by ordinary means. But you three…" He pointed at the trio. "You all have those swords. They seem to be the only things strong enough to leave a scratch. You're the only ones who can kill it!"
"I don't believe this…" Sora groaned, rubbing the temples of his head as he felt a headache coming on. "And this is one of the men King Mickey wants helping us fight against Maleficent?"
"So do we have a deal or not?" Jack butted in. "Kill the Kraken, win a Jack Sparrow. Sounds good, eh?" Sora didn't exactly like the idea of fighting Jack's battle for him, but at the moment, he had no choice. It was the only way to get Jack and his crew on their side. Sora looked to his friends for some kind of indicator of what they were thinking. Kairi smiled weakly, shrugging. Riku sighed and nodded.
"Fine," Sora said at last. "We'll kill the stupid thing. Just promise me! Pirate's code or whatever, you'll uphold all your deals. And I mean ALL of them!"
"Pirate's honour!" Jack said, trying to put on an innocent face while holding his right hand up. Sora nodded and waved his friends to join him on the beach again. From the edge of the beach, they could see the monster squid swimming in circles where the water was deep enough.
"Okay, here's the plan," Sora began explaining. "Two of us are going to go in first and start cutting off its arms. While it's distracted, the third person is going to attack its head and take out the eyes so it can't see us. Then together we'll…" He felt uncomfortable saying the next part. "We'll cut its head off."
"That's brutal," Riku muttered.
"Look, it's not exactly my ideal way of brokering a deal with Jack, but killing the beast is the only way to get him to join us." Sora rubbed his face tiredly. "God, I hope we don't have to do something like this on every world we travel to…"
"So who's the first strike team going to be and who takes out the eyes?"
"No eye-popping for me," Kairi said with a cringe. "I'm only just getting used to the idea of cutting wiggling tentacles off."
"I'll take out the head," Sora said, shivering. There was something about stabbing giant eyes out that made him squeamish. "Alright, let's go!"
Riku and Kairi charged across the beach into the water. They got in range and began hacking and slashing at the tentacles of the Kraken. Sora counted to three and ran into the water after them, swimming carefully around the moving limbs to get to the Kraken's head. He broke the surface for a moment to take a deep breath, then submerged again and plunged his Keyblade deep into one of the Kraken's eyes. It roared loudly in pain, shaking the water like a tsunami, and used one of its free arms to slap Sora away. Sora recovered quickly, surfaced again for another deep breath, and swiftly took out the other eye. At that, the Kraken began violently thrashing about blindly, striking to and fro with its remaining limbs.
The trio backed off for a moment to regain their strength and avoid being hit. After a few minutes of the Kraken struggling to find its enemies with no avail, the trio went back in for another round. Riku and Kairi were on tentacle-slicing duties while Sora went straight for the head. He very nearly closed his eyes as he delivered the final slash straight through the middle of the beast's body from top to bottom. Kairi gagged as the water around them turned a sickly crimson with blood. They only lingered a moment to ensure the creature was dead and then jetted back to the beach.
Sora collapsed on the sand, feeling somewhat sick. He glanced at his Keyblade and his sick feeling increased dramatically. The blade was covered in a jelly-like substance from the squid's eyes. This had to be the most disturbing battle Sora had ever fought. Most of his enemies in the past were Heartless or Nobodies and they vanished when defeated. Sora had never really killed an actual living creature before, let along one that big.
"That was so gross…" Kairi gasped, laying flat on her back. "There was so much blood…"
"I think I'm traumatized…" Sora moaned. He knew that image of the Kraken coming apart in two pieces would stay with him forever. The trio's brief moment of relief was cut short as Jack came running onto the beach.
"So how'd it go?" he asked excitedly.
Sora gave him a weak glare. "It's dead."
"Perfect! Now what was it you wanted from me?"
"You have to join our army." Sora sat up. "We need soldiers to fight off the attack that's coming. You and your crew are now Soldiers of Light." Jack gave a blank look that quickly turned confused.
"Soldiers of Light?" He paused, looking at the ocean, then to his ship, and back to Sora. "You want me to fight a war?" Sora nodded. "Well see that's going to be a problem. I'm a pirate, you see. I have a reputation to uphold. I can't go doing good deeds like fightin' a war for Light Soldiers or whatever."
"Oh come off it!" Sora snapped. "You've done stuff like this before! You helped defeat Barbossa a year ago! How is this any different?"
"Because, lad, it's an army called Soldiers of Light. Savvy?"
"Does everyone hate that name?" Sora groaned.
"It is kinda cheesy, you have to admit," Riku piped up.
"Fine, forget about the name for a minute! We're all in danger of being killed by an army of evil little Heartless monsters! Every world is in danger! That's why we need to take you and your crew to Disney Castle! Is that enough incentive for you?"
"Traveling to Disney Castle, eh?" Jack asked. "Well in that case, sign me up. I could use a bit o' fun to lighten up my days."
"What he means is," Will interrupted as he joined them on the beach. "He'll take any excuse to get out of Port Royal and the Caribbean. He's a marked man here, but somewhere else, he'd be free from his debt to Davey Jones. Isn't that right Jack?"
"Technicalities, mate," Jack said as he waved Will off.
Sora made a strange face. "You're not a very brave pirate, are you, Jack?"
"I just agreed to help you fight a war. And I'm not brave?" Jack started making his way back to the Black Pearl. "Besides, Davey Jones isn't one to laugh about. Anyone would be terrified of him. Living out eternity as a mindless soul forever trapped on his ship or in the wastelands of Jones' locker. Neither are pleasant." He began making the climb back onto the deck. "So where is this Disney Castle? Let's set sail immediately."
"Uh… actually, Captain, it's not on this world. We'd have to open a door to the Corridors of Light." The blank confused look was back on Jack's face.
"I'm not following you, lad. Where is it?"
Kairi sighed and decided a demonstration was in order. She held up her hand and opened a door almost immediately that shone as brilliantly as the sun in the sky. Many pirates, including Will Turner, jumped back in fright.
"Witch!" one pirate shouted. "She's a witch!"
"Oh knock it off!" Kairi growled. "This is how we're getting to Disney Castle." Jack jumped down from his ship and came forth to examine the magical portal. He walked all around it, scrutinizing every angle, every side. Finally, he grinned.
"Well, lassie, I don't know how you did it, but if this is my ticket out of Port Royal, I'll take it." He gestured to his still-stunned crew. "Arr, scurvy dogs! Fall in line and prepare for departure!" He tossed his compass to Will. "Go save your bonnie lass." Will nodded graciously and jogged off. Jack turned back to Sora and his friends. "So how do we go about bringing along the Black Pearl?" Sora and his friends exchanged looks.
"Uh…you really don't need it where we're going…" Sora tried explaining. "Besides, how would we transport it?" Jack's face fell.
"Not bringing her? I didn't spend years trying to get her back from Barbossa only to leave her behind!"
"Sorry Jack, but we're just not equipped to bring her. Let me talk to King Mickey when we get there. Maybe he could have a team bring it later." An idea suddenly popped into Sora's head. "Or maybe we could upgrade it so it can fly like a gummi ship!" Jack became thoroughly confused at that.
"A what ship?"
"Never mind, we'll work on it later. Let's just get a move on to Disney Castle. We still have a lot of worlds to get through." Jack nodded and waved his crew through the golden portal. Once they were all through, Sora breathed a deep sigh of relief. "I can't believe this is only the second world we've be to…"
0o0o0
Some time had passed since Sora had gotten the crew of the Black Pearl settled at Disney Castle. Goofy was in charge of briefing the new recruits on their mission and the training they'd be undergoing. Now the trio was back in the Corridors of Light on their way to the next world.
"Before we go any further," Sora announced, stopping his friends. "I should give you these." He held out two black rings.
"Polygamy?" Riku joked. Sora rolled his eyes.
"Oh yes, dear, so long as you get to wear the dress. Anyway, these are magic rings that Donald designed. When we equip them, they allow us to blend into unusual worlds, such as the Pride Lands or Atlantica." Riku and Kairi accepted the rings and put them on. "All right, let's go." Kairi proceeded to open an exit door.
The moment they stepped through, their appearances changed. Sora donned his familiar black vampiric outfit with white accents, fangs, and an orange pumpkin on his head. Kairi made a squeak of surprise when she saw him.
"I'm guessing this is one of those worlds you were talking about?" she asked. Her own outfit had changed from pink to black, there was a chain around her waist, a black sheer addition to the bottom of her dress, her shoes became knee-high boots, and she was donning a little metal crown.
"Uh… guys?" Riku's voice had a somewhat worried tone. His change was the most interesting out of the three. His outfit had become completely devoid of colour and he had an almost transparent appearance.
"Cool!" Sora exclaimed. "Riku's a ghost!" Riku was looking down at himself.
"This isn't permanent, is it?" But his question went unanswered as Sora and Kairi waved their hands through his ethereal body. "Hey stop it!"
"So guys, what do you think of Halloween Town so far?" Sora asked excitedly. "C'mon, I want you to meet Jack Skellington!"
"Another Jack?" Riku groaned.
The trio made their way through the graveyard to the town's main gate. Next to the gate was Zero the ghost dog. It began barking happily when it saw the trio coming. It ran up to Riku and starting jump up his side.
"Looks like someone likes you!" Sora laughed. "You know what they say. Birds of a feather."
"They also say shut up."
They walked through the gate into the town square. It was lavishly decorated with Halloween decorations and tables with delightfully disgusting-looking goodies and treats. In the center was a large stone pot with bubbling green goo. The only thing missing was the people. The town square was completely deserted. Sora scratched his head slowly. It looked like the townspeople were on the verge of celebrating Halloween, except they weren't there.
"I wonder where everyone is…" he murmured. They wandered around for a few more minutes trying to get an idea of what happened to all the people. When they arrived at the town hall, they could hear a faint sobbing noise. Investigating it, they found the Mayor sitting on the front steps of the town hall, crying overdramatically while Sally sat next to him, patting his back gently.
"Mayor? Sally?" Sora said, stepping forward. "Mayor, what's wrong?"
"My festival… My beautiful festival…" the round mayor sobbed. "Ruined!"
"How? What happened?"
"Oh, it's what didn't happen! It's half an hour before the start of the annual Halloween festival, and Jack Skellington, the King of the festival, is nowhere to be found!" The Mayor broke down again. Sora winced.
"Is he in Christmas Town again?"
"No, I already checked," Sally answered. "He promised he wouldn't go back there again. Oh, where is he?" Sora turned to his friends for help and they merely shrugged.
"Uh, maybe now's not a good time to ask, but could we ask for your assistance? You see, Maleficent is planning an attack on everyone in a year and we need everyone's help to prevent it."
"No!" the Mayor cried, still bawling his eyes out. "I won't help you unless you find Jack for me."
"Are you serious?" Sora groaned. "Sir, we're talking about the fate of the universe type deal here."
"This is far more important than your silly universe! My festival must go off without a hitch!" The Mayor stomped off to his town hall and slammed the door behind him.
"I apologize for his behavior," Sally whispered. "But Halloween is the single most important thing here. If our festival isn't better than last year's, our reputation would be ruined. It would mean the end of Halloween Town."
Sora sighed. "I guess we're on the hunt for Jack Skellington. Let's move out." The trio went out to the forest with the large tree trunks containing the doors to other holiday towns like Christmas Town. "Okay, so we know he's not in Christmas Town. Let's try… Easter Town." They opened the colourful egg-shaped door and walked through.
Their outfits changed once again. Sora's gloves became fuzzy paws, his shoes became furry bunny feet, and the orange pumpkin on his head became a pair of floppy bunny ears. Kairi's dress went from black to white with a pink zigzag running around her waistline, the hood of her dress sprouted bunny ears, and the little crown on her head became a multicoloured egg in a yellow egg-holder cup. Riku's body became corporeal once more and his outfit turned white with yellow accents.
"…Okay, this is weird…" Riku said. The area they were standing in was a beautiful bright meadow with large trees containing the same doors to other towns. Hopping past were a multitude of white rabbits with brown egg-filled baskets in their mouths. "I stand corrected. That was weird."
"Welcome to Easter Town!" said one large rabbit the size of a child. "I'm the Easter Bunny, mayor to this fair town. Would you visitors like to have something to eat? We have chocolate cafes and restaurants that serve a variety of egg meals!"
"Uh, no thanks!" Sora said with a smile. "We're just looking for a friend of ours, Jack Skellington. Have you seen him?"
"I'm afraid not," the Easter Bunny answered. "We're usually quick to greet all visitors to our town."
"That's all right, we'll just be on our way now." The trio looked to the other doors. "Let's try… New Year Town."
"G'bye strangers! Come back any time!" called the Easter Bunny as the teens walked through the party hat-shaped door.
"God that was weird!" Riku said with a cringe. "Everything was so… bright!" Loud cheers and noisemaker toys interrupted his next thought as they exited the door. All around them, confetti was sprinkling from the air like rain from an unknown source. There were hundreds of people standing about with cocktail glasses in one hand and noisemakers in the other, party hats on their heads, and fancy attire on their bodies. It looked like one wild party all around them. The teens looked down at themselves to see what their outfits had changed into this time.
Sora and Riku were wearing tuxedos and mini top hats while Kairi was wearing a long red halter dress and a petite crown on her head.
"5…4…3…2…1!" the crowd chanted. "HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!!" They erupted with a wall of noise so loud that Sora, Kairi, and Riku had to cover their ears until the racket subsided.
"Excuse me!" Sora called to the nearest group of partygoers next to him. "Have you see a tall fellow recently? Sort of skeletal? Black and white stripe suit?" Either the group didn't hear or care what Sora had to say because they went right on cheering and blowing on their noisemakers and sipping their cocktails. Sora tried another group. "Excuse me! Sir? Ma'am?" But his attempts to communicate were for naught. The people were far too engrossed in their party to notice the teens.
Suddenly, there was a loud voice over an announcement system. "Thank you ladies and gentlemen." The crowd went silent almost immediately. "The next New Year celebration will begin in one hour."
"One hour?" Kairi repeated, confused. "That's a little over-excessive." Now that the crowd was quiet, Sora attempted to talk to one of them again.
"Pardon me, but have you seen a man named Jack Skellington here recently?" he asked a gentlemen who appeared to be a maître d'.
"Nope, sorry, his name's not on the guest list," the maître d' replied, flipping through a booklet full of names. "And for that matter, you are…?"
"Leaving," Sora said, laughing nervously. "Thank you anyway." He grabbed his two companions and quickly made their way back to the set of doors. "Okay, let's try St. Patrick's Town." They walked through the green cloverleaf-shaped door.
The moment they stepped foot through the door, they were bombarded with the strong smell of beer and whiskey. All their outfits changed to green. Riku and Kairi were sporting green bowler caps while Sora was wearing a green top hat.
"God, this place stinks!" Kairi hissed as she covered her nose. The forest they were in wasn't far from the town and it was a short walk to the town square. There were lots of people standing around wearing green outfits, holding hearty mugs of beer in hand. Some men were slumped over against the walls of pubs and bars. Sora cautiously approached one man who seemed not as drunk as the rest.
"'Scuse me, have you seen a guy named Jack Skellington?" he asked.
The man swayed slightly as he answered. "Nah, but I seen a fellow by the name of Jacob Shellyson. Er… I think that was his name. Tall fellow, could use a bit more sun…" The man pointed to a pub where there were cheers emanating. Sora shrugged and walked over to the door.
Inside the pub, there was a crowd of people circled around one table. Sora pushed his way to the front to see what was going on. Sitting at the table was Jack Skellington having a drinking contest with another patron. He had fifteen shot glasses in front of him and was working on his sixteenth. In between them was a pot of gold that they were presumably betting on.
"Cheershsshs!" Jack yelled out, holding his glass up high. The crowd went wild as he downed the whole shot in one gulp. His competitor, a very short man with flaming red hair and a pipe in his mouth, eyed Jack dangerously and picked up his own shot glass.
"C'mon Shamus!" one onlooker shouted. Shamus wobbled as he carefully brought the glass to his lips. Before he could drink it, however, he fell off his seat and passed out. The crowd roared with laughter and applause.
"Jack!" Sora shouted over the cheers.
"Ah, Shora… my wittle fwiend!" Jack exclaimed happily. "I haven't sheen you in… in like a million yearsh!" He attempted to stand up, but swayed and stumbled, falling back into his chair. "Whoa! Not trying that again! Oh look, ma shot glass ish filled!" He picked up his seventeenth shot. "To famimia… farimila… falimia… familiar fwiends!" Sora snatched the shot glass from Jack before he could drink the golden liquid.
"I think you've had enough," Sora said nervously. "Now come along, we've got to get you back to Halloween Town in time for the festival!"
"But I like it here…" Jack whined. Sora ignored his whining and the groans of the disappointed crowd as he hauled Jack to his feet. As they stumbled away, Jack made a grab for his prize pot of gold, but Sora pulled him away. Riku helped him get Jack outside the pub and up the street to where the forest with doors was located.
"Great, how are we gonna get him sobered up in time for the festival?" Sora groaned, struggling to keep Jack on his feet. It didn't help that Jack was at least a good two feet taller than Sora and Riku.
"Coffee?" Kairi suggested.
"Where are we going to get coffee from?" Riku asked.
"You know somethin'…" Jack slurred, tripping over his own feet. "You guys are da best. I mean it! You Donald with your… silver hair… and Goofy with your boobs. You guys are jus' great!" He started laughing. "Hey Goofy, can I-can I touch your boobs?"
"Most certainly NOT!" Kairi snapped, slapping away Jack's wandering hands and turning to Sora. "We gotta sober him up fast!"
"Jack, do you have any idea what you're supposed to be doing right now?" Sora asked desperately. "You're supposed to be managing the Halloween festival! You need to be in top shape for that! You'll let everyone down if you don't!" Jack made a fizzing noise as he suppressed a giggle.
They passed through the pumpkin-shaped door leading back to Halloween Town and walked through the graveyard to reach the town square.
"Mayor!" Riku called. "Mayor, we found Jack!" The Mayor burst out of the town hall and came rushing over to the group along with Sally.
"Thank goodness!" he cried. "Jack, where have you been? The festival's about to start!"
"What's wrong with him?" asked a concerned Sally. "He's walking funny. And he reeks of something awful!"
"I found the mos' wonderful place!" Jack replied, pushing Sora and Riku away so he could stand on his own. He promptly fell over and passed out.
"Oh no!" Kairi gasped, kneeling beside the unconscious drunk Jack.
"Wake him!" the Mayor yelled frantically. "Wake him! Quickly! The people won't arrive until he starts the festival with the traditional Halloween song!"
"C'mon, Jack!" Sora growled, shoving Jack roughly. But the skeleton wouldn't awake from his drunken slumber. "It's no use! We're going to have to do it without him."
"You can't!" the Mayor argued. "No one will accept you as the King of Halloween! I have an idea! Set Jack on fire! That should wake him!"
"No!" the group shouted at once.
"I think we can pull this off without him!" Sora insisted. "What song does he normally sing? How does it go?"
"Um, let's see here…" the Mayor said. "'This is Halloween, this is Halloween, pumpkins something or another'. Oh it's no use! It just isn't the same unless Jack is leading the procession!" Sora started pacing. He glanced up at the pot of unknown green substance.
"What's that green stuff there?"
"Oh that's just liquid from the toxic fountain. Said to have magical properties. We collect it and have a toast after Jack makes the announcement at beginning of the festival. But now it's all gonna go to waste since Jack won't wake up!" The Mayor started crying again. Sora took no notice to the antics of the Mayor and snatched a cup from the table in front of the giant pot. He scooped up some of the green liquid and brought it to Jack, pouring some in his mouth.
"Maybe if the drinks of St. Patrick Town make him drunk, the drinks of Halloween Town will sober him. Worth a shot, right?" A few seconds passed before Jack stirred.
"It's working!" Sally praised.
"Start singing!" Sora instructed. Sally was hesitant for a moment but finally opened her mouth and let the words of their town's song flow out.
"Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange?" Sally sang beautifully. She nodded at the Mayor, encouraging him to join in.
"Come with us and you will see," he sang with Sally. Jack was rousing slightly.
"This, our town of Halloween!" sang Sora, Riku, and Kairi, picking up the melody from Sally and the Mayor. Jack squinted slightly, opening his eyes, looking around, and then he smirked. He leapt to his feet.
"This is Halloween, this is Halloween,
Pumpkins scream in the
dead of night,
This is Halloween, everybody make a scene,
Trick
or treat till the neighbours gonna die of fright,
It's our town,
everybody scream,
In this town of Halloween!"
Doors burst open as the townspeople and every ghoul, monster, and creature of the night came forth, joining in on the song. Sora and his friends smiled wide. The Mayor cheered, jumping up and down. Sally smiled quietly to herself. The song soon ended and the townspeople applauded happily.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm so glad you could make it!" Jack announced, bowing before his people. All signs of his earlier intoxication were gone. "Let the festivities begin!" The town square was buzzing with activity now. If it weren't for the sinister nature of many of the events and games going on, Sora and his friends would have joined in. But they were on a mission and they still needed to complete it.
"Thank you so much, Sora!" Sally said, giving the teen brunette a hug. "We couldn't have done it without you!" Sora grinned sheepishly.
"It was nothing." Jack took a moment to break away from the group of people conversing with him. He grabbed Sora's hand and shook heartily.
"I am so sorry about the trouble I caused you!" he said. "Is there any way I could make it up to you?"
"Well… there is one thing you could do." Sora snapped his fingers to get the Mayor's attention. "Mayor, about that request of mine…" Sora started saying as he walked with Jack and the ecstatic Mayor. "Can I count on you, Jack, and your people helping our armies?"
"Tell me more about this threat of yours," said the Mayor, eating a batsicle. "And I'm sure we'll be able to work something out."
"Anything to help a dear friend," Jack agreed.
Sora grinned. "Glad to hear it."
0o0o0
A/N: So I thought I'd start things off fun with my two favourite KH worlds, Port Royal and Halloween Town. I hope you enjoyed the funny antics of the two Jacks. And I'd just like to say, I have never been more uncomfortable about writing the word 'tentacle' so many times. :P Coming up next, trouble in Wonderland!