Chapter 9: An Explosive Task: Mushroom Mania!
"Oh, man," said Eddy. "Did you guys find the Witches?"
"Yes, we did," said Jack. "That was the easy part."
"Easy part?" asked Double D. "There was a hard part?"
Baron groaned. "I try not to remember this part of the story…"
"I liked it," said Jack. "I love challenges…"
"What happened?" Ed half-whined.
"Okay, okay…" said Jack. "It was right after Baron, Zero, and I entered the Pumpkin Patch…"
"Wow, this place actually looks cool while the sun's setting," said Baron as he looked around the Pumpkin Patch.
"Well, I wish the sun would set slower," said Jack. "We're running out of time!"
"Why do I feel that time is going to be an important factor in this scenario?" asked Baron.
"Oh!" exclaimed Jack. "There's one of the Witches right there!"
Jack, Zero, and Baron ran further down the path until they were standing in front of a Tall Witch, who was stirring something in a cauldron.
"Oh, hello, Jack," said the Tall Witch. "Who's your new friend?"
"What?" asked Jack, who was caught off-guard. "Oh! This is Baron. Sorry; I'm just glad to see you're okay."
"Okay?" asked the Tall Witch. "Why? Is something wrong?"
"WHAT?!" said Baron. "You mean you haven't noticed the gargantuan infestation of bugs in Halloween Town?"
"Oh, my," said the Tall Witch. "Are you serious?"
"I'm afraid so," said Jack. "And unless we can stop them, this year's Halloween is in jeopardy!"
"Well then, please accept my assistance," said the Tall Witch. "You see, my sister, the Short Witch, is deeper in the Pumpkin Patch. She's looking for the final ingredient for that Pumpkin King Elixir you asked me to make, Jack. I can assure you, you can trash your bugs with it."
"That's all I need to hear!" said Baron. He started to walk down the path.
"But be warned," said the Tall Witch. "Around this time of night, the Noise Gnats like to gather. If you make the slightest noise around them, they might cause you some…irritation in your journey. However, they will not hear you if you duck under mushrooms."
"Thanks," said Jack. "Let's go, boys." He then started down the path, followed by Baron and Zero.
---
"So, why are these Noise Gnats so dangerous?" asked Baron, when they were further down the path.
"Well…they're not exactly dangerous," said Jack. "If they hear you move, they'll grab you and transport you to the start of the area. It can get annoying."
"'Pick you up'?" asked Baron. He groaned. "Remind me why I'm here again?"
"You're here to help me defeat Oogie Boogie and save Halloween!" said Jack.
"Ah, yes," Baron grumbled. "This is so not cool to do to a bug hater…"
"Oh, relax," said Jack. "We'll be rid of them soon enough."
"The sooner, the better!" said Baron.
"Hold it!" Jack suddenly said, holding his hand out in front of Baron.
Baron looked up. Flying above the area was a group of giant bugs with big blue eyes.
"Don't make any sudden noises," Jack whispered.
"Is that them?" Baron whispered back.
"Yeah," said Jack. "Follow my lead."
Jack then got down until he was crawling across the ground commando-style. Baron looked at him for a few moments, then shrugged; hey, he was the Red Baron. He then got down and crawled behind Jack. Zero also followed suit, floating after the two boys.
The boys didn't stop crawling until they were directly under a large mushroom in the middle of the area. It was a good thing, too. As soon as Baron was under the mushroom, the Noise Gnats' eyes suddenly became bright red, and they all emitted a high-pitched buzzing sound.
"Geez!" Baron hissed, covering his ears. "Please tell me there aren't too many more of these things around here."
"Don't worry," said Jack. "I think this is the worst of it. Once we get through this area, it shouldn't be so bad."
Once the Noise Gnats' eyes became blue again and the buzzing stopped, Jack, Baron, and Zero were on the move again. This time, they made it to the other side of the area before the Noise Gnats went berserk again.
"Man," Baron sighed, rubbing his ears. "And there's more of those things here?"
"Oh, come on," said Jack. "They weren't that bad."
"Says the guy with no ears!" said Baron. Just then, he thought of something. "Hey, if you don't have ears, how can you hear what other people are saying?"
Jack opened his mouth to speak, then stopped. He thought for a moment. "You know, that's a really good question," he said. "I'll have to think about that one."
With that said, the conversation was dropped.
---
One Pumpkin Block Barrier, narrow passageway, and many Noise Gnat infested areas later, the trio came to one last clearing. It was an area full of pumpkins. In the middle of it was the Short Witch.
"Oh, Jack!" said the Short Witch. "I'm glad you're here! I need you to do something for me."
'Let's hope it's something worth going through all that,' thought Baron.
"I need you to deliver this to my sister," said the Short Witch, holding a small mushroom. "It's the final ingredient for the Pumpkin King Elixir."
"Oh," said Jack. "No problem." He took the mushroom from the Short Witch.
Baron, on the other hand, saw something odd about the Short Witch. "I don't like that grin," he suddenly declared, pointing at the Short Witch, who was indeed grinning. "That's an evil grin. Evil grins are never a good thing. What's with the evil grin?!"
"Oh," said the Short Witch. "Did I forget to mention that these particular mushrooms…explode soon after you pick them?"
"WHAT?!" Jack and Baron shouted at the same time.
"Good luck, boys!" said the Short Witch, suddenly hopping onto a broom and flying away.
"HEY!" Baron shouted at the Short Witch. But it was too late. He growled and buried his face in his hands. "We're all gonna die…" he groaned.
"No time for that!" said Jack. "We have to hurry! Don't worry; I know a shortcut!"
"We're all gonna die…" Baron repeated as he followed Jack and Zero.
---
Though it was indeed a shorter route, Jack's shortcut still consisted of Noisy Gnats. Despite Baron's protests, Jack insisted they go through the area calmly and quietly; now was not the time to get flustered or frustrated.
After getting through all the Noisy Gnats, the trio ran as fast as they could.
"See?" Jack asked. "We're almost out. There's nothing in our way now!"
Baron looked a little further down the path. His eyes widened. "Wanna bet?" he asked, pointing.
Jack looked. A little further down the path was another one of those bugs that held a sign. That could only mean one thing: a Boss Bug.
"Okay, a minor setback," said Jack. "Just stay calm, and…"
"Stay calm?!" Baron interrupted. "How?! We've got a mushroom here that could blow us both to Kingdom Come! How am I supposed to pull pranks if I get blown up by a mushroom?!"
"Would you rather Iwent ahead and left you here with the mushroom?" asked Jack.
Baron was dumbstruck. "I'll shut up now…" he mumbled.
"Thank you," said Jack. He threw a Pumpkin Bomb at the bug with the sign while he was still running; it exploded on impact. "Now that that's out of the way, whatever's next won't be a problem if we just keep our wits together."
'Easy for him to say…' thought Baron, who was still a little shocked by Jack's previous comment.
---
The next area seemed bare.
"Huh?" asked Jack. "There's nothing here."
"In that case, I have a suggestion," said Baron. "KEEP RUNNING!"
Baron was just about to start running again, when out of nowhere…
"LOOK OUT!" said Jack, stopping Baron.
Baron immediately saw why. A large something-or-other had barreled out and almost ran him over. It was a giant Roly-Poly bug!
"Oh, that figures," said Baron. "How're we gonna attack that thing? I don't think we have a clear shot of it!"
"For now, anyway," said Jack. He looked around. "These exploding pumpkins should help us quite nicely."
"Oh, great," said Baron. "More explosives?"
"Just follow me," said Jack.
Baron and Jack ran to the other side of the room, the Roly-Poly rolling after them. Suddenly, Jack stopped right behind an exploding pumpkin.
"Why are we stopping?" asked Baron.
"You'll see," said Jack. He lightly kicked the pumpkin. The pumpkin glowed bright yellow just as the Roly-Poly rolled right on top of it. Suddenly, a small BOOM was heard under the Roly-Poly and it was flipped over.
"NOW!" said Jack, throwing two Pumpkin Bombs onto the vulnerable belly of the Roly-Poly. Baron, without thinking, grabbed a handful of Cherry Bombs and threw them, too.
As the explosives hit the Roly-Poly, it writhed in pain. Then, as the explosion subsided, the Roly-Poly went limp.
"See?" asked Jack. "Nothing to worry about."
"Yeah, easy for you to say!" said Baron. "Can we just get that thing to the Witches so I can stop worrying about not having a head?"
"Oh, right!" said Jack. "I almost forgot!" He then turned to run down the path, followed by Zero.
"What?" asked Baron, following them. "How the heck could you forget that you were holding a time bomb?!"
---
After what seemed like forever to Baron, they finally made it back to the Witches.
"Welcome back, boys," said the Tall Witch. "My sister told me you have the mushroom."
"Don't remind us," Baron gasped, completely out of breath.
"Well, give it to me so I can finish the Elixir," said the Tall Witch.
But as Jack took the mushroom out and presented it to her, the Tall Witch screamed.
"What?!" asked Baron, who was growing more and more frustrated by the second.
"That's way too close!" said the Tall Witch.
"Then…what do I do with it?!" asked Jack, beginning to become worried himself.
"Throw it!" said the Tall Witch. "Throw it far away!"
So Jack aimed his throw and threw the now-glowing mushroom into the cauldron.
"IT'S GONNA BLOW!" Baron shouted. "HIT THE DIRT!"
A loud explosion that sounded like a cauldron bursting into a million pieces followed this.
Baron was crouched on the ground, his arms over his pilot's cap-clad head. "I'm dead," he mumbled. "I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead, I died, I dead." Then, he dared to open one eye.
Thankfully, nobody was dead. In the middle of the area where the cauldron used to be was a small bottle filled with a red liquid.
Jack moaned, then sat up. He looked around. "Is everyone okay?" he asked.
Both Witches nodded. Zero barked. Baron sat up with an exclamation of "Hey, I'm not dead!"
The Short Witch picked up the bottle and ran over to Jack. "Here you go, Jack," she said, handing him the bottle. "The Spicy Bottle with the Pumpkin King Elixir, just like you asked."
"This will turn you into the raging Pumpkin King we know you are," said the Tall Witch.
Baron raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I wanna see that…" he said.
"By the way, Jack," said the Tall Witch. "Word on the street says you're looking for those three little troublemakers, Lock, Shock, and Barrel."
"Yes, we're looking for them," said Jack, pocketing the Spicy Bottle. "Have you seen them?"
"As a matter of fact, I have," said the Tall Witch. "A little before you boys showed up, I noticed them entering Spiral Hill."
"Thanks!" said Jack. "That's just the kind of lead we need!" He turned to Baron and Zero. "Come on, boys. We're going back to the Graveyard!" He then began to run, Zero not too far behind.
"Great," Baron mumbled as he got up. "Out of one heart attack and into another…" He then began to run after Jack and Zero.