Welcome back. Remember when I said there was only two more chapters? I lied. But I'll post these two chapters up for you on the same day, and the conclusion later.
P.S., I do not own Nightmare Before Christmas... as always.
"I hope there's still time to set things right..."
Jack opened his eyes to a shower of snowflakes. It felt as though he was in a dream state. Then he looked at the clock tower above town. 12:30. He struggled to stand up, then collapsed and leaned on a cross. He looked down and saw a familiar silk ribbon around his wrist.
"Scarlette," he muttered to himself. There was a glowing light. He looked up and saw Zero. He had a expression that was a combination of joy (Jack was okay) and fear (Scarlette was in trouble). Jack knew in an instant what Zero was trying to say. "Lead the way," he said.
"Bwahahahahahaha!" Oogie laughed in his lair tossing a set of dice in his hand. "Now that Jack's out of the way, I can execute my plans! Now which wone shall I do first?" He threw the dice on the roulette wheel floor and crouched down to look at the numbers.
"I think you should planning something a little more important, Oogie," a familiar girl's voice said.
"Huh?" Scarlette jumped down from the tunnel and landed perfectly on her feet. Her red eyes seemed to glow with rage.
"I think you know exactly why I'm here." Oogie's confusion melted into a devious grin; her foot was right in the enter of a large slipknot.
"Oh, I do," he said making his way over to a lever. "But that doesn't mean you'll succeed!" Oogie put both hands on the lever and pushed down. The slipknot tightened around Scarlette's leg and she was quickly hoisted above the ground. Then she was found herself directly above a pot of bubbling acid stew. She could feel the heat against her face.
"Oh, Dad," she aloud, "if only you were here!"
"But he isn't, is he? Bwahaha! One... two... three!" Oogie pulled up the lever again, making Scarlette fall straight down. At that moment, Jack grabbed a rope, swung from out of the tunnel, and caught Scarlette on the way to his landing.
"D-Dad?" Scarlette stammered.
"That's my name, don't wear it out," Jack said. Oogie stood there in sheer terror. The Pumpkin King showed no effort to hide his anger. "Now, Oogie, I thought you knew better than to harm a young lady." Oogie grinned again, approaching another lever.
"Same here, Pumpkin Head," Oogie said, "I thought you knew better than to fall for the same trick twice!" With the pull of a lever, the roulette wheel glowed and began to spin at high speed. Giant playing cards surrounded them, spinning sharp blades.
"Whoa!" Jack said grabbing Scarlette, who had almost lost her balance. He held her close as he narrowly dodged the blades. After gaining his composure, he grinned mischeviously. "Ha! You think I don't know this trick already?"
"You may know this trick," Oogie said, "but do you know this one?" He pressed a button and bright orange flames spurted from all sides of the roulette wheel. Jack looked at them nervously.
"You're fireproof, aren't you, Dad?" Scarlette asked.
"I am, but you're certainly not! Follow my lead." Carefully, he dodged the spinning card blades with great agility, and jumped over the flames, with Scarlette following close behind. When they were getting closer to Oogie, he smashed another button which summoned a line of giant toy soldiers that fired bullets. As if by instinct, Jack and Scarlette leaped onto the soldiers and used precise footwork to make their way across the bridge. Oogie, face full of fear, frantically hit another button. Scarlette turned around to see a giant blade spinning towards them.
"Jack, look out!" Scarlette screamed. Jack grabbed Scarlette and jumped down safely. When they looked up, they saw Oogie standing atop a large spinning crane directly above the acid.
"Ha! What are you going to do now, Jack?" Oogie mocked. Without him noticing, a fine string dropped from his burlap body and floated in front of Jack's hand.
"How dare you treat my family," Jack said with rage grabbing the string. Oogie's grin dropped to pure terror.
"No..." he said, "not again..."
"So shamefully!" Jack tugged with all his strength on that tiny string, opening Oogie's sack and releasing his bugs. There must have been thousands of them, all in Oogie's shape.
"Now look what you've done!" Oogie screamed as his bugs melted from him. "My bugs! My bugs!" As he began to separate, the tiny bugs fell into the acid all screeching "my bugs! my bugs!" in high pitched voices. Scarlette stared at the scene, her jaw dropped and her body too shocked to move. Jack, however, stood with his arms crossed and scowl across his face, not showing any sign of remorse. As the last bug scurried across the ground, Jack stepped on it, squishing it for good. He pulled the string again and watched as Oogie's sack was gone for good too, ensuring he would never come back.
"Dad..." Scarlette finally said. Jack hugged her tightly, with Scarlette returning it. Scarlette felt tears forming in her eyes again.
"By the way," Jack said, "I think this belongs to you." Jack untied the silk around his wrist and put it in Scarlette's hand. He clasped her fingers to her palm around the necklace.
"B-but how did you-"
"Don't you remember what I told you? When you use this," he points to her heart, "anything can happen." At that moment, a bright spotlight shone on them.
"Hey, look who's here!" Lock said.
"Jack! Scarlette!" the Mayor cried.
"See, there're okay!" Shock said.
"I told you they'd be be down here!" Barrel said.
"Climb on up, you two!" the Mayor said. He released a rope down to their level. Jack held onto Scarlette and they were whisked up to Halloween Town.