A big thanks to JainaZekk621 and NarutoPhantom for their reviews! Here's your reward!!
As Oogie's evil cackle rang through the air, Amelia began to go through inner turmoil
As Oogie's evil cackle rang through the air, Amelia's mind had begun to go through inner turmoil.
'Why do I feel as if this is really bad?' she questioned herself. She looked at the scene before her from her place on the grotesque monster statue's head.
All the citizens who had become her friends all had expressions of zombies instead of the scary, yet cheerful ones. They were all bowing before their new Pumpkin King while he just looked down on them, full of his own arrogance.
'This isn't right.' She finally started to understand the real situation.
'Yes it is,' a voice in the back of her mind spoke to her, 'They deserve this. Jack deserves this. He betrayed you, he lied to you.'
'But he even said that he would never do anything to harm me.' The young girl was in a state of confusion.
'Then why did he keep secrets from you? Didn't that hurt you? Does that not make you think he doesn't trust you?'
'But he said he was trying to protect me.' She then came to a realization, 'He wastrying to protect me! He was protecting me from this, from Oogie using my powers for his own gain!'
'No! The Boogie Man is the true King of Halloween and he made Jack pay for what he did to you!'
'But what did Jack ever really do to me?' she questioned the voice, 'All he ever did was teach me sorcery so that no one would find out that I was really human. I'm sure that's why he didn't tell me why he sent me home, to protect my identity and me from getting hurt!'
'Didn't you hear Oogie? Everything you know is a lie! A lie made up by that no good skeleton! Now he's getting what he deserves, a town no longer under his control! Also now with your help, our new Pumpkin King will soon become King of all the holidays!'
She gasped at the thought of The Boogie Man in control of every holiday. The human world would be in mass chaos if that happened, not to mention the people of the other holiday towns. 'I've got to stop him.'
'No! You mustn't, it's too late now. What can a scared little girl do against the new king of all fears?'
'He's no master of fright because the real one is my friend, Jack Skellington!' With that, the voice was silenced. Amelia's eyes returned to their normal ocean blue, her spirit returned as well. Her pale skin also regained its natural color and her excessively long nails shrunk to their normal size. Her expression was no longer that of a lifeless soul for she was now back to her cheerful self.
Amelia slowly tired to get up from her spot on the demon statue's head but with no avail. She was still very exhausted from performing the spell that returned all the monsters back into shadows. 'Great, how am I supposed to defeat Oogie like this?' she questioned herself, 'Even more, how can I when I'm all alone?' she looked to the side with a depressed look on her face, however it lit up as soon as she spotted someone and thought of an idea. "Jack, come over here."
The skeleton turned to the little girl on the top of the fountain and walked toward her. He then waited to hear what it was that she wanted.
"You silly Pumpkin King," she smiled, "You should never listen to me sing."
Suddenly, the red glow in his eyes faded and his dark demeanor disappeared. The hypnotic spell had been broken and he was now back to his old self as well. Slightly confused, he looked up to the small child who had freed him, "Amelia? What are you doing up there?" he was oblivious to what was happening near by.
"Um, that's not important. Uh, can you please get me down? I kinda sorta wore myself out and can't levitate" she grinned sheepishly.
Jack gave a small chuckle and held out his arms, "Jump down, I'll catch you."
She then took notice exactly how high up she was, which was pretty high considering the statue itself was taller than Jack.
He noticed her hesitation right away, "It's ok Ami, trust me."
With those words, she looked him in the eyes and immediately felt guilty for when she didn't believe him and sided with Oogie. Right then and there she decided to never doubt her good friend again. "Ok," she gave a curt nod. She still clutched the top of the statue as she stood up. Then, she took a deep breath, clenched her eyes shut, and jumped.
Jack caught her with ease, although she squeaked in fear of colliding with the ground instead of landing in his arms.
"See? What'd I tell you?" he beamed at her then set her down on her own two feet.
"I'm so sorry for not believing you!" she began to pour out her heart and soul into her sudden apologies, tears had begun to roll down her cheeks, "I'm sorry I listened to Oogie and hypnotized you! I'm sorry I helped him take over Halloween!"
"Amelia," he was taken aback at he sudden outburst, "what are you talking abou—" he finally comprehended what she had said in her last sentence, "Wait, what?"
"Oogie crowned himself as the new Pumpkin King and I helped him with his evil plan! I hypnotized the townspeople into surrendering!" she placed her hands on her face and sobbed violently.
Jack looked over to the town square and sure enough, there was the ex-bug king who had started to bark out orders to the citizens and they complied without protest. Although it was a problem that needed to be handled soon, the skeleton knew that Amelia's fragile spirit was more important to him.
He kneeled to be eye level with her and placed a comforting hand upon her shoulder. "Amelia," she looked up to him as he said her name, "it's not entirely your fault. I'm to blame as well. I trust you and should have told you what kind of danger you were in before so that this wouldn't have happened." He gestured to the people following the new king's every command. "You see, I had a feeling he was up to something when I was holding that spider you found. I was sure it was one of his little tricks to spy on you and me so that's why I sent you home. I just didn't want to see you get hurt, or have your real identity be revealed. That would have led to an even worse situation."
The little girl sniffled and then wrapped her arms around him in a grateful hug, "I'm still sorry."
"I understand," he said as he returned the embrace, "and I forgive you." After a moment or so had passed, they released each other and he stood up, "Now how do you think we're going to fix this mess?" he scratched his head while he pondered a solution.
Amelia put her finger on her chin in thought, and then a thought suddenly popped into her head, "I think I have an idea." She gestured for him to lean down. When he did, she cupped her hand and whispered into his ear.
"You know, I think that just might work!" he exclaimed.
"Black Widow!" Oogie called.
The two of them quickly stood upright, trying to imitate the state they were both in just a moment before. She with her cold, emotionless stare and he with a look of a zombie controlled like a puppet. She walked toward the newly crowned king as the skeleton walked obediently behind her.
"There you are." the Boogie Man chuckled, "Thought you disappeared on me for a second." He paused a moment and looked closer at her face and then Jack's, "Black Widow, why does Jack no longer have that strange red glow in his eyes?"
"I assume it began to fade the longer he was under the spell." She spoke with as little emotion as possible and hoped he would buy her quick lie. She was thankful that her costume didn't undergo any change like the rest of her when she discovered the real truth.
He raised a would-be eyebrow as he looked at the ex-Pumpkin King once more. "I see," he then simply shrugged and turned around.
However, he felt his movements being controlled as he soon found himself staring at his shadow cast upon a brick wall. "Hey, what's going on?" his anger began to rise.
"You? The Pumpkin King? That's the best laugh I've had in years!" a voice eerily similar to his own spoke.
Oogie nearly fell over as he realized his shadow on the wall had spoken to him. "What gives? Why is my shadow talking to me?" he wanted to turn around and question the only sorceress he knew capable of such a task, but once again found he couldn't. "Why can't I move!?"
"And you think you're fit to rule over all of Halloween?" his shadow cackled again.
"Of course I am! I got rid of that no good Jack after all!" said ruler actually argued back.
"You? I think not! I do believe that if it wasn't for a certain little girl, you would still be back in that casino you call a home!" the silhouette knew he wounded his counterpart's pride at the mention of the fact. "You would never be able to take control of Halloween Town all by yourself!"
"You have no right to tell me that! I'm the King of Halloween now and I don't need my own shadow to doubt me!" Oogie's anger rose even more.
"Without Amelia, you're nothing but a pathetic little insect!" the shadow shot back.
"What!?" the bug king roared.
"Give it up. You're no real Master of Fright." The dark form against the wall obviously thought very little of the burlap sack-like monster.
Just as the self-proclaimed king was about to say his comeback, a voice was heard hat made his own die in his throat.
"You know Oogie. I taught Ami a lot more tricks than you know of." Jack walked up right next to the infamous monster, his arms crossed and a glare in his eyes that shot daggers at the so-called king. "Such as, shadow manipulation with the ability to throw her voice as her victim's own."
With that said, the monster found he could turn his head just enough to see behind him. There stood Amelia with her arms crossed, a wicked grin across her face as well as a look of triumph.
"You shouldn't have tricked me." She said in Oogie's voice, which was very odd to see come from such a small child. "You'll pay for it dearly."
Jack grabbed one of the loose seams on the self-proclaimed ruler's shoulder and began to pull.
The Boogie Man immediately saw where the situation was quickly headed. "Please!" he cried out for mercy, which halted the skeleton from pulling anymore on the string, "Don't hurt me! What is it that you want? Name your price." He thought he might be able to bargain his way out of trouble.
"Renounce the throne and return it to me." Jack demanded as he stared coldly at the quickly crumbling king.
"What!? Never!" Oogie shouted.
The real Master of Fright pulled again at the seam, which was now even looser than before and bugs began to crawl out.
"Alright, alright fine! You win!" he shouted to prevent himself from falling apart.
As soon as Jack had let go, the arrogant ruler tried to strike him with his other massive arm. However, the true leader of Halloween dodged the blow easily like an agile spider.
The burlap sack monster rapidly became even more infuriated, "Townspeople! Attack them!"
The hypnotized citizens quickly advanced toward their targets.
"Amelia, now!" Jack hollered.
"Citizens of Halloween!" the small sorceress shouted over the commotion, "Never listen to me sing!"
All at once, they halted their charge and the red glow in their eyes disappeared. For a moment they were all confused and a murmur spread among them but were silenced when her voice rang out again.
"Oogie had fooled you all into thinking he's the King of Halloween and that Jack was evil!" she shouted, "He's going to try and escape so help us get him!" she pointed in the direction to said villain.
Just as she had said, Oogie did try and escape but with little luck. His massive size made him so slow that he barely even got a few yards away before he was cornered by every creature, ghoul, and ghost in town.
"N-no! She's lying! I uh…" he was fresh out of excuses and couldn't think of a good one off the top of his head.
"It's over Oogie." Jack stated as he walked up to him with Amelia at his side. "I hereby reclaim my rightful place as Pumpkin King and banish you from ever setting foot into Halloween Town ever again! Forever you shall remain in your lair, never to come out again!"
When the Boogie Man was about to protest, the re-crowned king snapped his fingers and the monster's mouth was kept shut. The skeleton then turned to the young girl beside him with a smile on his face, "Amelia, do you feel up for one more spell?"
"I think I can manage." She beamed up at him.
She then took a step forward, reached into her sleeve, and brought out her spell book. She opened it to the page she needed and held out her hand toward the soon-to-be-exiled creature. "Ego expello vos ut vestri domus nunquam aborior pes in nostrum urbs iterum."
Just like when the spell she had cast to vanquish the monsters that had been summoned, a dark light appeared in the sky and sucked Oogie in, continually growing smaller until there was nothing left.
The citizens rejoiced. Screams, whoops and hollers were heard throughout the warped, story book-like town. Everyone gathered in the town square and Jack stepped up onto the ledge of the fountain so that he could be seen.
"Good people of Halloween Town!" he called joyously, "I am pleased to announce that Oogie Boogie will terrorize us no more!"
Once again, the sounds of joy and excitement rang from every creature and monster alike. Even Amelia joined in all the yelling.
"And now," he got their attention again, silencing their celebration, "I have a very special announcement to make that will effect all of Halloween." Ignoring the confused looks of the citizens, he outstretched his hand toward the small sorceress standing nearby as a gesture for her to come up where he stood.
Although a little shy and nervous about not knowing what was going on, she took his hand in hers and he pulled her up onto the ledge.
"Our own little terror is the one to thank for the Boogie Man's defeat for she is the one who broke the hypnotic spell not only cast upon myself but all of you as well. She's a true hero for she is the one who saved Halloween itself! And, for her bravery and great courage, I am giving her an honor that no one else in the history of Halloween Town has ever received." He held out his hand toward the audience and a circlet crown magically appeared in his palm. It was entirely made out of silver. It had beautifully crafted pumpkins, leaves and vines that fit the Halloween style. On the front of the crown a blue gem, the same color as her eyes, hung in the shape of a teardrop. The circlet sparkled in the jack-o-lantern sun. "Today marks the day in our history that we crown our first," he began to place the crown upon her head, "Princess of Halloween!"
After a brief moment of silence from the surprise, the town cried out in cheers again. All yelled and clapped for their new princess. As for the just named royal herself, she was in utter shock and disbelief. Her eyes were wide though her pupils were, for once, not their normal microscopic dots. She was absolutely speechless.
Jack held up his hand for silence which they all complied, "I now announce Amelia as my heir to the Pumpkin throne. I have faith in her and her marvelous talents and so I see a great leader within her spirit. I know that one day I will no longer be fit to run this wonderful holiday and I will entrust her with the responsibilities when that day comes." He saw the shocked faces of the audience so he added, "But that is some time from now, I plan on keeping the throne for quite a long time. And when I believe it is time for me to step down, Princess Amelia will inherit the throne."
The crowd burst out with mad, rapid clapping. Jack and Amelia stepped down off the fountain's ledge which told everyone it was time to return to their homes, most of which continued their celebration along the way. The new Princess of Halloween touched her crown, still in disbelief of what had just happened. When they were inside Jack's home and up in the tower, she couldn't help but question his actions.
"Jack, why me?" her hand lightly brushed over her circular band-like crown again.
"Well that's easy," he beamed and kneeled to be eye level with her, "You overcame your greatest obstacle, your fears. You saved not only me and the entire town but our holiday itself! You really deserved it and you know I wasn't lying when I said that I had complete trust and faith in you. I know that you're someone I can hand over my duties to."
She smiled brightly and embraced him to which he returned the gesture, "Thank you Jack, thank you so much. If it weren't for you, I would've never been able to overcome my fears. I really owe you a lot. Not only that but you helped me in the darkest hour. I think it's you who deserves a great honor."
"Thank you Ami," he chuckled, "but I just helped you. You still conquered your enemies, inner and outer, completely on your own."
She laughed and let go of him, "Well I still dub you the greatest king ever."
"Thank you," he bowed, "Princess Amelia."
--
The soul of the young girl in the beginning of our tale looks to you. Her eyes are soft and a small smile graces her lips. Quietly, she speaks.
And finally, everything worked out just fine
Halloween was saved, in just the nick of time.
But after that event, as you can guess
It was still questioned why she is the Pumpkin Princess.
What happens now that she is the heir?
Just what exactly is Jack up to?
I do believe that there's something in the air.
Another story is about to unfold
And I shall be here to have it told.
But who am I you inquire?
Listen to The Nightmare Before Halloween
If to know is your desire.
Just like that, she disappears with the breeze and no trace of her presence is left.
Amelia is a princess? What!? A sequel! What!? XD Yes there will be a sequel called The Nightmare Before Halloween. An overused title yes I know but it fits. DON'T THINK THE STORY ENDS HERE!! There's going to be an epilogue that you MUST read! It's important, not to mention the first part is funny and I love it lol.
Please reveiw because reviews make me smile!! :)
