"Thank you all, so much, for finding my Hanging Men." The Hanging Tree said with gratitude. "Without, them I wouldn't be much of a Hanging Tree, would I?"
"No you wouldn't, I guess." Sly replied with a casual shrug. "One question though; where are all these skeletons coming from?"
"I noticed some of the tombstones in the Graveyard are overturned; the skeletons might be coming from there."
"Then that means we'll have to put them back up." Bentley suggested with a flip of his Inferno Racket.
"Yes, that should work." Jack said in agreement with the turtle.
"But there are grave all over this cemetery!" Carmelita whined with widespread arms. "Who knows how long that'll take?"
"Well, how many are there?"
"Eight." Murray answered which made everyone, including the Hanging Tree and Men, stare at him.
"Murray, how do you know?" Bentley asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I saw them while we were running around to find the Hanging Men."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Carmelita demanded with hands on her hips.
"I didn't think it would matter, sorry." The fake Billy Ho said with his ears low.
"Well, if there are eight, we should to do four each if we split up." Jack speculated a bit. "You guys will do fine with out me, right."
"We can handle ourselves just fine." Sly replied with confidence. "With our new gear, the Cooper Gang is ready to rock!"
"And while you're doing that, I'll see if any of my Hanging Men have seen Sally." The Hanging Tree added which made everyone nod.
"Sounds like a plan to me." Bentley said with a smile.
"Okay, those tombstones might weigh a lot, so we'll have to use our weapons for support." Sly said with much urgency.
"Roger that, boss man!" Murray said with a salute.
"We'll meet back at the giant tree, okay?" Jack asked as he saw Sly and his friends rush off, but not before Sly gave him a thumbs up.
It was in no time that the group had found the first tombstone, which was not too far from the tree.
"Okay, now what do we do?" Bentley asked as he scratched his head.
"Murray, you go behind and push." Sly instructed as he took out his Chain Canes, connected them, and extended out the chains. "Bentley, Carmelita, help me wrap the Chain Canes around it so we can pull."
"Alright, but before we do that, can we ask you something?" Bentley asked as the Chain Canes were fastened around the tombstone.
"Ask what?"
"What happened when you were in the sleigh in Jack?" Carmelita asked which made Murray curious was well.
This made the young raccoon freeze up entirely; he knew that his friends would ask one way or another, but now that it was brought up he felt like he could speak at all.
". . . Things." He merely replied.
"Things?" Bentley asked as he and Carmelita became confused.
"Look, guys, I promise I'll tell you, when the time comes." Sly said as he still felt shock from falling 30,000 feet. "But now we need to be focusing on rescuing Sally."
"Oh yeah, I hope she's okay." Bentley said worriedly.
"Okay, this conversation is far from being over!" Carmelita said as sternly as her father would. "But, we'll respect your decision."
"Just, please, we're your friends and we want to help you."
"Don't worry I will, I will."
With teamwork as the key, the four were able to move the tombstone straight up and shift back into place.
"Alright, one down and three left to go." Sly said as he placed his Chain Canes away.
"Uh . . . guys . . .?" Bentley squeaked a bit.
The reason behind the squeak was that the group was suddenly surrounded by a horde of skeletons!
"The things we do for Jack." Carmelita murmured as she took out her Shock Pistol.
"Looks like we're going to be busy after all." Bentley said as he held his Inferno Racket.
"I here that." Sly nodded as he twirled his Chain Canes.
"Let's murderlize them!" Murray yelled as they ran into action.
Long story short, the gang had mopped the floor with the skeletons and rushed to find the remaining tombstones around the cemetery. It was then that they realized that every time they had set a tombstone back in place, more skeletons would appear, but with the help of their weapons they made short work of each that would attack. It took some time, but they managed to place all four tombstones back in place and even though the raccoon, hippo, and vixen were in better shape, their turtle friend was panting heavily as they awaited for the Pumpkin King at the giant tree.
"I got four of the tombstones back in place." Jack said as he had finally caught up with the group. "What about you four?"
"All accounted for Jack." Murray gasped with his hands on his knees.
"Thank you all, very much." The Hanging Tree said as he approached the group. "Now that you're here, Halloween Town will be back to its old self."
"That's what we're aiming for." Sly replied with a twirl of one of his canes.
"And I have good news, one of my Hanging Men just told me he heard a woman singing from under the ground."
"Wait, as in underground?" Carmelita questioned in confusion.
"Hey, maybe it's a new resident; The Mysterious Mole Woman!" Murray proclaimed which earned him odd looks from his friends, but thoughtful looks from Jack and the Hanging Tree.
"Yeah, just keep telling yourself that." Bentley said as he patted the hippo on the shoulder then saw something flying above them. "Uh, guys?"
"What is it Bentley?" Sly asked as the turtle pointed above them.
"That a paper plane from Sally!" Jack gasped as the plane flew away. "Where do you think it came from."
"If I've done my math right, and I always do . . ." Bentley calculated as he pointed in another direction. "It must have come from over there."
"Down that way, lays the old burial chamber." The Hanging Tree said which made the group, excluding Jack, twitch.
"Burial . . . chamber?" Carmelita repeated slowly.
"It's the largest grave in this area." The Hanging Tree explained a bit. "It's filled with spiders and cobwebs; oh, how romantic."
"Sure it is." Sly said but, along with his turtle and vixen, cringed a bit.
"Yes, that's where Sally must be!" Jack exclaimed as he, followed by the rest of the group, rushed off to that single location.
"Hang on Sally; we're coming!"