Cobwebs Tend to Grow on Halloween
I don't own anything but my OC's.
Chapter 12
The room was silent.
Oogie grinned. Finally, he could shock the Pumpkin King so much to make him silent.
The trick-or-treaters giggled and sniggered.
Cobweb…couldn't have been created by Oogie…could he? He was far too kind to be created by a monster like that.
"…What?" Jack repeated, the shock still evident in his voice and on his face.
"You heard right!" Oogie exclaimed, chuckling slightly. "Cobweb is mine!"
"No, it can't be…" Shadow whispered.
"Explain yourself, Oogie! Now." Jack ordered.
"Ya see, Jack, years before our little 'Sandy Claws fiasco', I needed a new henchman, one that could help the kids with their pranks. So, this is where lil' Cobweb came in. Years ago, I was in a gamblin' match with the ol' doc. I won and I got some bits and bobs from his lab. With that stuff, I created Cob. But I was missin' an arm and a leg." Oogie continued. "So I sent those three to collect some. We tried lots of different limbs, but none of them were the right size for Cobweb's body."
"So, we had to use those ones!" Lock added.
"That's why one arm is longer then the other…" Jack said thoughtfully. "But…why did you leave him out in the graveyard?"
"See, when Cobweb woke up, 'e was terrified of us." Oogie said, patting Cobweb's shoulder. "He'd just sit in the corner an' plea for freedom. So, the kids took him out and dumped 'im somewhere. Stupid kid must've hit his head on a tombstone or somethin' an' lost his memories. Then you found 'im, Jack."
"And the pumpkins? Why do they affect him so?"
"Jus' a lil' malfunction."
"Why does he resemble Jack?" Alistair asked, finally finding the courage to speak.
"That was the original plan! We were gonna pretend he was your long-lost son or somethin'!" Lock explained.
Everyone went silent.
Cobweb and Jack were shocked the most.
Cobweb was always so nice, so shy. Jack had fought Oogie's minions before, and none of them were like Cobweb.
"How could you, Oogie? Cobweb is a child!" Jack questioned. "And he's coming back with me!"
"No, he's staying here!" Oogie snapped, pulling Cobweb against his stomach.
"Wait…" Alistair spoke up.
Both men turned to him.
"We should let Cob decide. He's the one who should get to decide."
Jack looked at Oogie and Oogie looked at Jack.
"He's right," Jack said.
"…Fine." Oogie held Cobweb away from him, as if handing him out to Jack. "Cobweb, tell ol' Funnybones who you'd rather be with. Me or him?"
Cobweb looked up at Oogie Boogie, then looked at Jack Skellington. He looked at Oogie Boogie again.
"C'mon, kid," Oogie murmured.
Cobweb looked into Oogie's eye sockets, seeing nothing but lies and evil…and bugs. Oogie hadn't been the one who had taken care of Cobweb for the past week or so. He hadn't let him eat delicious food (minus the Pumpkin Soup), he hadn't let him go and see Alistair. But Jack had.
Cobweb looked at Jack, who remained silent; only staring at Cobweb intently. He had been kind to him, given him clothing and shelter. He had let him see Alistair and introduced him to Shadow and the rest of Halloween Town. Jack had been nice to him. Oogie hadn't.
"Oh, I get it." Oogie spoke up, nodding like he had understood everything. "You're trying to find a way to let him down easy."
"Let him down? But he's not in the air." Cobweb replied.
"No! Trying to tell him that you're comin' with me without hurtin' him."
"Why would I do that?"
"W…What?"
Cobweb turned to Jack. "Jack!" He began running towards him, holding his arms out for Jack to pick him up and hug him.
Jack bent down slightly, holding his arms out as well.
Before Cobweb could reach him, a cage flew down from above, trapping Cobweb inside. The bottom of the cage, which had been on the floor the entire time, connected to the other piece. Cobweb hung onto the bars as the cage was lifted up, hanging by an iron chain. "Jack!"
"Cobweb!" Jack called back.
Oogie stood by a lever, revealing that he had pulled it and brought down the cage Cobweb was currently locked in.
"Let him go, Oogie!" Jack demanded.
"He's a traitor, Jack! He deserves this!" Oogie exclaimed.
"He deserves nothing but a warm, loving home! Which is exactly why he's coming home with me!"
"No! He's not!"
With that, the casino burst into life. The ring around the casino table began spinning, causing Alistair to trip and fall.
Oogie laughed.
Jack managed to stand on his own two feet.
Alistair struggled to stand, wobbling a little bit.
Cackling was heard as the three trick-or-treaters watched Jack and Alistair.
Kicking violently while running, Jack kept his eyes on Oogie, who was busy walking around the outside of the spinning ring.
"Well? C'mon, Bone man!" Oogie sneered.
Playing cards rose up around the spinning ring, twirling knives in their hands.
Jack, using his very flexible body, did his best to dodge the spinning blades; not a scratch done to him.
Alistair reached into his shirt, taking out several sharpened sticks. "Don't worry, Cob! I'll get ya down!" He held one stick up like a dart, aiming it then throwing it. It just about grazed the iron chain holding Cobweb's cage. Alistair muttered a "Oh, man," to himself before attempting to free his friend again.
Jack stood in front of the armed soldiers.
"Fire!" Oogie ordered, pointing at Jack.
The soldiers did as they were told, bringing up their guns and aiming before shooting at Jack.
Jack bent forwards then backwards in an attempt to dodge the bullets being fired at him.
Lock, Shock and Barrel stepped onto the spinning ring. "Hey, Pumpkinhead!" They cried in unison.
Alistair turned to them.
"Catch!" Together, they heaved a pumpkin-looking bomb out of their bathtub, throwing it at Alistair.
Alistair let out a yelp as he successfully caught it then, noticing it was soon to detonation, he threw it onto the casino table. The explosion was small, but still enough to make a cloud of grey smoke puff up. And it would've been enough to burn Alistair's scarecrow body.
"Alu!" Cobweb called out in concern, watching the scene unfold.
Jack dodged more of the spinning knives and bullets, now that both weapons were one.
Lock, Shock and Barrel worked together to throw bombs at Alistair; missing every time.
Barrel threw one and it exploded near Oogie, knocking the burlap sack onto the spinning ring.
"Hey!" Oogie exclaimed as he landed on his stomach. "Watch it!" Oogie worked hard to get up, his large body weighing him down.
Jack approached him. "Oogie,"
"J-Jack!" Oogie stuttered, stepped back.
Jack began to walk towards him.
Oogie took several steps back, stepping a skull picture on the floor. Its eyes were buttons, which were pressed when Oogie stepped down on them.
A large, sharp disc with spikes around the edges came down behind Jack, revolving as it did.
"Jack!" Cobweb exclaimed. "Look! Behind you!"
Jack turned and jumped out of the way, just as the circular saw came passed. Oogie moved to the side, dodging the saw.
Lock and Shock grunted together. "Barrel! Help!"
Barrel turned and helped them pick up the large bomb. This one was larger then the others. And it was already lit.
They tossed it out of the bathtub, throwing it Alistair's way.
Alistair let out a scream as it landed near his feet. He began running from it as the flame began making its way down the piece of rope.
Alistair's eye sockets narrowed. "This ain't getting me nowhere."
The bomb was still behind him.
Alistair, in a sudden thought, jumped over the bomb, running over to Lock, Shock and Barrel.
Accidentally, he kicked the bomb on his way.
And it landed near Jack.
The only thing Alistair could do was gasp as the bomb detonated.
This explosion was, obviously, larger then the others, due to the bomb's size.
Jack was covered in smoke.
"Jack!" Cobweb shouted out.
The smoke cleared.
Jack's sleeve was torn in some places. Ash looked like bruises on his skull. He held his arm, which appeared to be wounded.
…
Cobweb watched the event unfold, his anger boiling inside of him. They were hurting his friends. They'd wounded Jack.
Cobweb could feel his arm sting and pulse. Black patterns began seeping down his arm. His right arm. Pictures of black flames spun around his humerus, attaching to the bone; as though Cobweb had just gotten a tattoo. The flames continued downwards until they reached Cobweb's wrist. A circle was printed onto the back of his hand, a star in the middle. The same pattern was on his palm.
Cobweb's visible eye sockets was narrowed, displaying his anger and impatience.
"They're hurting your friends, are they not?" A voice asked him.
Cobweb looked around. No one else was in the cage. Unless air could suddenly talk.
"Y…Yes." Cobweb answered nevertheless.
"Well, do something about it." The voice said, almost sounding irritated. "You have the power to."
Cobweb looked down at his palm. "Yes…I do."
…
Oogie laughed, seeing his enemy in such a state. "Look at yourself, Jack! You're pathetic!"
Jack looked angry, angry that he had been brought to this level.
Just as Oogie was about to lunge at Jack, a dollop of grey liquid fell onto his head. Oogie yelped, jumping up and waving his arms frantically; panicking about the heat of this liquid.
Alistair sniggered.
Oogie wiped the liquid off of his head, blowing on his hands to cool them down. "What the-!"
A shadow jumped out of Cobweb's cage. Melted metal dripped down from the cage, a few of the bars wasted and destroyed.
The ring stopped spinning as the shadow flipped the lever to stop it.
Everyone turned to the shadow.
Cobweb looked up, some of his black and white hair cascading over his eye sockets.
"…Cobweb?" Jack spoke up.
Cobweb's fists were clenched. He had ripped off his own sleeves, the ones that had been covering his right arm; his coat and shirt sleeves. Everyone could see the patterns on his arm.
"Cobweb…What h-" Jack could not finish his sentence, for he noticed the other different feature about Cobweb.
The glow in the eyes and mouth of Cobweb's jack-o-lantern mask was dark purple.
…
Author's note:
Ooh! So, now we know where Cobweb came from! But what about this voice in his head? What about the tattoo? Find out next time. By the way, who noticed that, after the small sentence 'Oogie laughed', the first letters of the first words in the next few sentences spell Jack?
