A/N: 6.15.11: I've gotten notes on this in the past, so I'd like to clear the air. As I've mentioned, the Nightmare Before Christmas is my favorite Disney movie. Now, you'll see below that I poke fun at Jack's character a lot. This is for the sake of comic relief as well as the fact that he's sort of portrayed like a moron in the KH series. Again, I love that movie, and I love Jack; it's all in good fun.

Old: If any of you are wondering about the mysterious lack of Elie, don't. ;D She'll be back soon enough. I know this chapter came fast, and it is rather... small, but I promisepromisepromise that the next chapter will be long and very entertaining. Trust me, 'kay?

Disclaimer-Still don't own Kingdom Hearts or Aladdin or a certain favorite Disney movie of mine that is also featured.


The few hours that were spent in Agrabah flew by very peacefully. Naminé and Kairi were ecstatic in helping Jasmine with the baby, leaving the men to go into the city and chat. Aladdin decided to have them go into more detail about their lives, so they did. When Sora and Riku weren't speaking, both were thinking the same thing: how much their lives had changed and how different they were. Both of them knew the truth about the world now, so they could no longer live in a fantasy world; not that it mattered as their innocence, and ability to daydream, had been torn from them at such a young age.

By this age, they would have had to give up their fantasies, anyway. When the sun began to set, they returned to the palace and found the girls in the courtyard. Kairi was lying on the ground, petting and playing with Rajah, nearby Jasmin was sitting and bouncing Hashim on her knees, while Naminé sat on the edge of the fountain and sketched them.

"Hope we didn't ruin your fun," said Sora, arms resting behind his head as he grinned.

Kairi frowned, and sat up, causing Rajah to roll onto his side. "Aw, is it time to go already?" Jasmine got to her feet with the help of her husband while Naminé tucked her drawings and things into a messenger bag from home.

Roxas quickly joined her so that he could admire her artwork. "It's great, Nam." Smiling, she placed a kiss on his lips. Riku, likely having his fill of all of the happy couples around him, headed for the green docking point in the corner of the courtyard with the others on his heels. When they reached it, they all turned around.

"Thanks a lot for the company, guys," said Sora.

Kairi nodded. "It was so nice to be back."

"Oh, do you really have to leave now?" Jasmine asked in a pleading voice. The group nodded their heads sadly.

Aladdin put a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder. "They'll be back soon enough," he said, looking up. "They always are." Roxas and Sora grinned and, now that Aladdin thought of it, the two of them really did look alike.

"We'll be back," reassured Naminé as she and Kairi strode forward to shake baby Hashim's hands goodbye.

"Be good for mommy," said Kairi in a sweet voice to the baby who babbled and laughed.

Riku waved. "Take care."

"I hope you find your friend soon." Jasmine smiled. "Stay with your friends and you cannot go wrong." And with that, the keyblade wielders pulled back and were transported to the gummi ship.

XxX

Quite soon after that, the group found themselves costumed and standing in Guillotine Gate. Sora was donning the same costume as ever, but everyone else's was new and different as they had never been there. Kairi was wearing a short, sleeveless, purple witch's dress with frayed collars, black and white-striped arm warmers, black and white knee-high stockings coupled with black boots, with a buckle around her waist and one around her wrist. Her hair was straighter, part of it covering her right eye, and a black witch's hat sat atop her head.

The top part of Riku's face was, like Sora's, covered in black so that the only thing you could see was his piercing sea-foam eyes. He had a short demon wing hanging off his left shoulder while his hands were covered by black gloves. He wore a sleeveless red shirt, dark blue pants with stitches running up them, and the studded black belt remained around his waist. When he smiled, two fangs were exposed.

Roxas wore a long-sleeved white shirt beneath a black cape with a silky red interior. His pants were similar to usual, only read, and he kept the same shoes. Like Riku and Sora, he also had vampire teeth. Naminé was wearing a long-sleeved, low cut witch's dress that ended above her knees. She was wearing black stockings that were only a little visible over knee-high black leather boots. A black ribbon was wrapped around her neck numerous times and, atop her head, she wore a fluffy witch's hat.

"You always said how cool Halloween Town was, Sora, but I just never believed you," admitted Kairi a bit sheepishly as she examined her outfit; Naminé seconded.

Riku, also pleased with his own outfit, looked around, but all he could see was the winding alley, "Where to first?"

Roxas answered before Sora had the opportunity, "To see Jack, of course."

"As Mayor of Halloween Town, I order you all to get out!" A loud voice ordered from somewhere a little farther away. The voice wasn't angry; its owner sounded like he was on the brink of tears. "Leave now! Jack, I need help with this, I'm just an elected official you know...!"

"The Mayor," mumbled Sora, Ultima Weapon appearing in a flash of light. "Let's go." The others mimicked his actions and followed him through the winding alley and beneath a gate that spilled out into the town.

It was not unusual for Sora to see the square filled with Heartless, but it was quite shocking to see the amount of Nobodies and Heartless currently crowding it. The fountain with green acid was a little broken, and the buildings and gates surrounding the square had obviously been beaten up on a few times too many. "Mayor!" Sora and Roxas cried in unison. Before the City Hall building, the Mayor turned to his right to see the group of teenagers.

"Sora!" The Mayor cried, ignoring all the rest. "Get rid of them, they're wrecking the town!" He jabbed his finger angrily at the fiends.

"Where's Jack?" asked Roxas as the others got into fighting stances.

In a desperate voice, the mayor responded, "I'm not sure; I haven't seen him since this morning!"

"Let's get rid of these guys first," suggested Naminé. The others nodded their agreements as they surged and, for a while, all that could be heard was the clashing of keyblades and occasional parry from a Heartless or Nobody. As each fiend was defeated, a cloud of darkness would temporary blind the warrior that had finished it off. After a good seven minutes, the square was emptied.

"Thank you, thank you!" cried the Mayor through his megaphone, the distraught, white face replaced by his normal one. "Now, go find Jack! I believe Sally is in Dr. Finklestein's lab."

"Are there more?" Riku asked with a mixture of surprise and disgust.

"There might be," the Mayor replied, now much calmer with the absence of Heartless and Nobodies. "I saw someone in a black cloak. When I tried to get their attention, they summoned those things and ran off."

"Organization XIII," the group sighed as one. "We should have thought as much," added Sora in a sour voice as he turned toward the others. "Let's go see if Sally knows where Jack is." Sora led the way across the square, ducked around the iron fence, and went up the steps that led to the lab. The lab was not as big as the others had imagined it to be and was also quite dark..

Three little children were gathered around an old man sitting in a wheel chair, one in a devil costume, another in a skeleton one, and the final in a witch's outfit; the four of them were reading from a large book. 'Not another experiment,' sighed Roxas and, sensing his thoughts, Sora nodded in agreement.

Sora approached the four, who had not looked up at their entracne. "What are you experimenting on now, Doctor...?" The children turned around with devious smiles, and the doctor wheeled around, a look of pure agitation clear on his face.

"You'll find out when I finish," he snapped before turning back to his precious book.

The witch told them, "We're helping the doctor." Her look of pure evil unnerved the wielders.

"You've been behaving, haven't you?" demanded Roxas.

The devil waved a hand, clearly irked. "We have to since Jack's constantly watching us."

"Sora!" A woman's voice called from behind them. Standing in the doorway was a tall rag doll with long red hair and a patched up dress. She cast a nervous glance at Lock, Shock, and Barrel reading the spell book before returning her attention to Sora and the others.

Sora smiled, pleased to see someone he actually liked. "Sally." He followed her gaze at the others. "That's Roxas. He knows you because the last time that I was here, he was a part of me; he's my Nobody. Naminé is Kairi's Nobody, and the girlfriend of Roxas. Kairi is a Princess of heart and my girlfriend. Last but not least, this is my best friend, Riku; they're all keyblade wielders."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Sally said, smiling softly, "Especially you, Kairi, Riku. Sora spoke most highly of both of you." Kairi blushed and shuffled her feet while Riku grinned. "You must be here because of the Heartless and those strange white creatures..."

"That's what the weaker Nobodies look like," informed Roxas.

Sally nodded knowingly, "So those are what other Nobodies look like. There's also someone wandering Halloween Town in a black cloak."

"And that's a member of Organization XIII." Naminé stated bleakly.

"Where is Jack?" wondered Kairi. "We'll need all the help that we can get."

Sally became thoughtful for a minute. "I think he said something about checking up on Mr. Sandy Claws." She told them. "He set off a while ago, though, and I'm worried."

"Don't worry, Sally, we're on it." Sora replied with ease, his arms casually placed behind his head. "What's that on your finger?" Noticeably, there was something white around one of the rag doll's fingers; if possible, Sally's cheeks flushed somewhat.

"Jack and I are engaged." She announced, holding out her hand. Since Halloween Town wasn't exactly equivalent to a normal world like Christmas Town, instead of a ring, Sally appeared to be wearing some type of a small bone; Sora hoped that Jack had not broken off part of his finger to propose.

Grinning, Sora remarked, "I was wondering when the two of you would get around to that." Sally flushed darker.

"Sora! Stop embarrassing her!" Kairi ordered, grabbing his arm. "Let's go find Jack." She charged forward, determined, then stopped when she realized she had no idea where she was going.

"Alright, alright." Sora agreed, heading for the doors.

Sally cast a nervous look at the lab. "Oh! I'll come with you."

XxX

"What use would I have with Santa Claus?" mumbled Reixka to herself. Her hood was still pulled over her head as she trudged through the thick snow. "I could see if I'm on the Naughty or Nice list," she added with a smirk. With every step she took, the snow crunched and her foot would sink. Dusks danced around her in a circle as Shadows slid noiselessly through the snow, appearing to be moving ink blots. She finally passed a merry-go-round and entered the door of a large house. "Well, Xemnas did say that it was one way to gain control of this world. I'm presuming he'll want me to watch him." When she went down the hallway and made to turn a corner, a small elf stood in her way.

"Your kind is not welcome here!" He barked. For such a small guy, he certainly was very brave.

"My kind?" she demanded, a cold smile turning up the corners of her lips. Behind her, she could hear the anger of the Dusks. "You may want to rephrase that, I think you hurt my companions' feelings." The Shadows, still in two-dimensional form, slid across the floor and entered the room. The elf put on a brave face as Dusks sprang at him.

Upstairs in the toy factory were several more elves, a large man with a white beard and red suit, and a tall skeleton dressed in a black pin-striped suit and a bat bow-tie. "Jack, there is nothing going on in Christmas Town." Santa Claus huffed at Jack Skellington, who had way overstayed his welcome.

"Mr. Sandy Claws, sir-"

"That's Santa Claus!"

"Yes, Mr. Sandy Claus, but you see..." Santa sighed in defeat as Jack paused to listen to something below; there was the sound of crashes and a short scream, then all was quiet again.

"If it's those three naughty children again, I'm giving them a good spanking," murmured Santa in a gruff voice as he exited the room with Jack hot on his heels. After walking down the first slope, though, the both of them stopped. Standing before them was a person dressed in a black cloak, "A friend of yours, Jack?" Santa asked, surveying their mysterious guest.

Jack shook his head, "No one that I have ever seen before." As he said these words, Reixka dipped in a low bow.

"Mr. Santa Claus, sir, it is such an honor to meet you."

Santa's face softened at such politeness. "Ah, I bet you want to know if you are on the naughty or nice list. Well, if you'll just come with me..."

"Oh, no," she replied, a cold smile decorating her expression once more. Reixka shook off her hood, pulling an extremely long braid out of her coat. "Actually, I'm here for you."

"Excuse me?" he asked as the cherry blossom keyblade flashed into her hand. "Are you a friend of Sora's?" he asked, this time hoping her answer was positive.

"Sora?" She repeated, feigning thoughtfulness, "Never heard of him." Her stance told Jack all he needed to know, and a blast of fire sent Reixka flying backward. She snapped and pointed forward; the Dusks and Shadows sprang into the room and headed for Jack and Santa while Reixka attempted to get her head on straight. "You've picked the wrong girl to mess with."

XxX

Back in Halloween Town, Sora, Riku, Roxas, Naminé, Kairi, and Sally had just reached the Hinterlands. All but Sora, Roxas, and Sally looked about with mild curiosity as they headed for a tree straight ahead, a tree with a small christmas tree-shaped door on it. To the left was a tree with a turkey and to its right was a tree with a scary-looking pumpkin. "That door would lead right back here, wouldn't it, Sally?" wondered Roxas as he surveyed the tree with interest.

The rag doll nodded her head. "It probably would if it could open." Upon examining it closer, Roxas realized there was no door handle on it.

"All of these doors lead to different holiday towns?" asked Riku as he examined a tree with an Easter egg door.

"Yeah," answered Sora as he pulled on Christmas Town's doorknob. "But we've only been to Christmas Town, and, of course, Halloween Town."

Naminé stood beside Riku, staring at the door with excitement. "Can we got to Easter Town?"

Roxas chuckled and kissed her hair. "Maybe later, Nam."

"It's weird that we haven't seen any Heartless or Nobodies since we first got here," noted Kairi with suspicion as a cold wind blew from out of the Christmas door.

"Very," agreed Riku as everyone stood behind Sora and Kairi.

"Kai, you wanna go first?"

She shook her head vigorously, "You first." Sora shrugged his shoulders before jumping inside. He fell downward before a light transported him to another world. Kairi stared into the depths with fear and Naminé joined her. They exchanged looks of understanding and held hands before Kairi jumped in first, towing Naminé behind. Roxas, Riku, and Sally followed them immediately and they were all transported to Christmas Town.

Kairi and Naminé were hurled out of the tree and landed into the cold snow. Sora held out his hands to help them up before the others appeared, and they shivered at the cold. "You'll adjust," he reassured them. Sally landed gracefully on her feet, but the two boys were launched face-first into the snow. The others chuckled as the two of them managed to crawl to their feet and dust the snow off.

After ten minutes of crawling through the snow-blown town, the wielders and Sally wound up at Santa Claus's house. The door was wide open, blowing snow inside. They exchanged nervous glances before entering. In the corner of Santa's room, an elf was lying fast first, appearing to be unconscious. More nervousness filled them as they stepped into the workshop.

Sally ran forward when they spotted Jack laying on the ramp leading to the present-making factory. "Jack!" She cried breathlessly as she knelt beside him and lifted up his head.

"Jack, what happened to you?" Sora asked as they followed after Sally.

Jack adjusted himself and slowly sat up, "Sora, how nice to see you again."

"What happened, Jack?" demanded Sally.

The skeleton needed no more prompting. "A girl wearing a black cloak kidnapped Mr. Sandy Claw. I fought her, of course, but I'm afraid that she was not all that weak..."

"What did she look like?" inquired Naminé, her stomach lurching at the answer.

"Brown hair with silver streaks; it was very long and tied in a braid." He told them. Sora, Roxas, Riku, Kairi, and Naminé exchanged looks. "What? Do you know her?"

"Kind of," admitted Roxas.

Riku, however, was extremely excited. "Where did she go?"

"She disappeared into a black portal." He said, looking a little confused at Sora's group. "Goofy and Donald look a lot different now, Sora, but who are the other two?"

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "I guess we've got a lot of introducing to do, but, first, do you have any idea where she would have taken Sandy, uh, I mean, Santa Claus?"

Sally turned to face him. "I don't think that she went to a different world with him, but I have a bad feeling that something bad will happen if we don't find them soon."

XxX

"Whatever am I to do with you, old boy?" mumbled Reixka from where she sat on the remainders of a particularly large roof. Her heart was pounding, but it was not out of anxiety; it was more like it was trying to say something important was near. On the ground, a foot or so below her, was Santa Claus with his arms and legs tied by some very intricate darkness. Although she had made her keyblade disappear after winning the fight with Jack Skellington, once she had gotten to this place (which appeared to be the ruins of some building), it continued to reappear, so she had finally given up on calling it off.

In the time that she had been sitting here, waiting for an idea to come to mind, flashbacks kept coming instead. Not hers, of course, but Stefa's, and it was starting to seriously annoy her. It was worth it, she decided, if she could feel. At the same time, that could be a burden, too, like now with her heart hammering against her chest.

"You'll never get away with this!" Santa Claus shouted, knocking her out of her reverie.

Smugly, she replied, "I think you'll find I can." After capturing Santa, the first thing she did was summon many Heartless and Nobodies to hold off anyone in search of him while she came up with a plan. Reixka jumped off of the rotting piece of roof and began to pace around the old man. She knelt down and stroked his face, her eyes sparkling with malice. "What can we do for fun until I know what to do with you...?" Of course, she would never waste her time with Santa Claus, but it would be fun to see his reaction.

Santa immediately stiffened, "Evil child!"

Reixka smirked and released him as she turned to face the cliff wall. "I think I know one way to put this world under my power..." She muttered before turning to face the old man again, this time with a very dark look. "All I have to do is kill you to take control of Christmas Town and then kill Jack Skellington to take care of Halloween Town." The moonlight reflected off of the keyblade. "Ah, and I already have my weapon, too... Well, this is just too perfect." Reixka took one step forward to see how Santa would react, then two more.

Somewhere beyond the fence in the distance, a portal was summoned as a dark figure disappeared into it.

XxxxxX

The portal appeared in the meeting room in Castle Oblivion as Saïx stepped out before his Superior, who was still sitting at the table. "I've just returned from watching her." He quietly told Xemnas. (A/N: /End stalkerish Saïx xD)

"And? What is your current report?" His voice was mostly indifferent with only a stroke of interest.

Saïx smirked. "They're on their way to rescue the fat one." Xemnas did not question who 'we' was. "She's already planned to kill him and the skeleton."

Xemnas inclined his head, a faint smirk appearing on it. "Retrieve the others and bring them back here. Then, we will go to that wretched Halloween Town and reclaim our hearts. It's only a matter of time before Riku gets to her and calls the princess back from the darkness."

"Do you really think he knows what to do?"

"If he doesn't," replied Xemnas, "His heart will guide him to the answer." The two chuckled, a sound that would freeze the blood in anyone's veins.


A/N: Uh-oh, will Sora and company arrive in time to save Santa Claus from a terrible fate? Or will going there lead to Jack's death? Will Riku actually be able to call Stefa back from the darkness and become her light or will all of their plans crash and burn? Find out the fate of Halloween Town in the next chapter:D