A/N: ROXY'S NUMBER FOR THE CHAPTER! Enjoy~
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.
Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story
Chapter 13
Merry…Halloween? What's Going On Here?
We arrived in the next world, which turned out to be Halloween Town. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I were dressed in our Halloween looks, and we approached a scarecrow with a pumpkin for a head that held a sign that read, 'Halloween Town'.
"Hey, this is Halloween Town, right?" Sora asked.
"Well, it sure looks like Hallowee…Wha?" Donald said, and stopped in mid-sentence. We looked in the direction of the town where we saw what looked like orange Christmas lights hanging from the wall. Zero suddenly flew in, scaring Goofy, who then scared us with his wailing.
"Hey, it's Zero!" I smiled, and reached out to him. "How've you been, boy?" He led the way into the town, the only sound coming from him being an occasional yip. We walked into town and saw a long launch pad, and we looked at it with interest.
"What's that?" Sora wondered. I shrugged and out of nowhere, we heard the sound of bells in the air.
"It's Jack!" Donald yelled to us, and pointed. Jack flew in on a trashcan sleigh that was being pulled by three skeletal reindeer. He stood up when he saw us.
"Sora, Shadow, Donald, and Goofy!" Jack said in greeting. "Welcome back, and Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas? Don't you mean 'Happy Halloween'?" Sora and I said in confusion.
"Of course," he replied. "Halloween greetings from Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King!" He made a scary face to us, and then looked like he felt weird. "Forgive me. I'm in a Christmas mood. You see, I'm running the show again this year—but I need Sandy Claws's blessing, so I'm off to Christmas Town."
"'Sandy Claws'?" I repeated, puzzled.
"I think he means Santa Claus," Goofy told me. Jack stood on the edge of the fountain.
"Aren't these decorations wonderful?" he asked us eagerly. "This year Halloween Town's going to handle Christmas, too! But first! We have to visit Sally. She's working on something no self-respecting Santa Claus can do without. Come along—I'll show you!"
"A Halloween Town Christmas…" Sora and I murmured. We all four looked around the town, and saw the guillotine, a jack in the box, a scary toy duck with teeth, and the reindeer, which sort of…cackled at us. Donald and Goofy shuddered violently at the sights. "Wanna go check it out?" They sighed heavily, and we followed Jack to Dr. Finkelstein's lab.
"C'mon, hurry!" Jack called to us excitedly. In the Lab, Dr. Finkelstein was working on his latest experiment with the aid of Lock, Shock, and Barrel. The doctor opened his head and scratched his brain while Jack led us in with a gleeful expression on his face. "Hello, Doctor! Where's Sally?"
"Can't you see…" the doctor said, and turned to face Jack. "that I'm in the middle of an experiment?" He wheeled himself over to the table that Lock, Shock, and Barrel were heading over to while they were carrying a part for the experiment. Sally entered the room, and the three tricksters started to complain.
"Hey, this is way too heavy!" Lock whined.
"Then let's toss it!" Shock suggested.
"You do and you'll be sorry!" Dr. Finkelstein threatened them. "Now bring it over here."
"Heave-ho!" they all three yelled, and threw the part onto the table. It sparked and pulsed with an electrical charge, and before it could explode, I ducked behind Sora. Sora and Jack covered their faces as it did, and the little group took off their masks and laughed as the table became covered in smoke. They quickly started to run, Barrel tripping and getting back up, and they put their masks on as they dashed past Sally.
"Imbeciles!" the doctor growled angrily. "Now my experiment is ruined!" Jack turned his attention to Sally.
"Sally! Did you finish it?" Jack asked her eagerly. "I want to show my good friends."
"I'm sorry, Jack," she murmured. "I…I need a little bit more time."
"Ohh…Well, that's all right. Just as long as it's ready for Christmas!" Jack told her. He patted her shoulder and started to leave.
"But…Jack…" she said quietly.
"I'd best be off. I've got to go get Sandy Claws, right away! Wonderful to see you again. Bye for now!" Jack told us, and he went outside.
"Go get Santa Claus?" Sora said to himself, and we started to think about something.
"Please, Sora and Shadow. I'm afraid something terrible will happen if Jack goes through with this," she told us.
"You can say that again!" Donald agreed.
"Sora, Shadow?" Goofy said, trying to snap us out of it. Jack returned, and that's when we snapped out of it.
"Are those strange-looking fellows in the town square with you?" he asked the four of us.
"Huh? What 'fellows'?" I said to him, puzzled.
"You know, the ones who wanted to spoil Halloween AND Christmas? What are they called again…Heartless?" Jack told us.
"They're definitely not with us. But Donald, Goofy, Shadow, and I can get rid of them for you! And then we can go see Santa!" Sora replied. Donald tapped his foot while I smacked my forehead and groaned. The brunette looked at Donald, and corrected himself. "But first, the Heartless!" We left the Lab and saw outside were greeted by the sight of the Mayor shouting at several Wight Knight Heartless through his megaphone.
"Now hear this, you…you things! Leave Halloween Town at once…by order of the Mayor! Jack? Where are you? I'm only an elected official—I can't handle this by myself." Jack walked over to him, and the Mayor's head rotated to see him. "Jack!"
"We're on it!" Sora and I said, and we fought the Heartless, defeating them quite easily.
"How is Sandy Claws supposed to relax with all this going on?" Jack wondered. "That's it, fellows! Sandy Claws needs bodyguards. Are you up to the task?"
"Us?" Donald said, surprised.
"Yeah," Sora and I replied. Jack prepared us while in the Town Square.
"All right, bodyguards! Christmas Town is this way! The doorway is in the woods just past the Graveyard!" he informed us, looking very excited. We passed through the Graveyard, and walked into the Hinterlands. The woods we were at had some doors with different shapes on them, for example, there was a heart in one, a turkey shape in another, and so on. We saw a tree at the end with a Christmas tree shape on it, and I assumed that was the door we were to go through. Jack stood next to it as we approached.
"Here it is!" he declared. "The door to Christmas Town. The spooks of Halloween Town can get so tiresome year after year. I wanted something new. And I found this! Beyond this door is a world filled with wonders…the likes of which you've never seen! Everything was so fresh and exciting!"
"C'mon! Just open it!" Sora said, getting anxious from his excitement. He looked so eager; I thought he would burst from his happiness, making me chuckle. Jack opened the door, and Sora and I jumped in first. Donald and Goofy looked after us, watching us fall. They looked at each other, and then jumped in after us. We ended up being transported to Christmas Town, and of course, Sora and I landed first. We flew out of the tree on Yuletide Hill, and Donald and Goofy crashed onto us. I squeezed myself out, and Sora pushed them off to look at the town below.
"Cooool!" Sora breathed in amazement.
"Wow!" Donald said, and I felt some bliss as well. Jack appeared behind us. "So where's Santa?"
"In his workshop," Jack replied, pointing. "Shall we?" We walked into Candy Cane Lane, and before we could even move, Heartless appeared.
"Here, too?!" Sora gasped.
"En garde, loyal bodyguards!" Jack called to us. We fought and defeated the Heartless, and it especially helped using Jack's Limit with me and Sora, called Applause, Applause. That was a great Limit to use on swarms of Heartless.
"Christmas is in big trouble!" Donald said worriedly.
"Gawrsh, we can't let anything bad happen to Christmas," Goofy chimed in. Donald, Sora, and I nodded in agreement. Jack pointed to the workshop.
"That's where Sandy Claws lives," he told us. We entered Santa's House where Mr. Claus was looking over his list. There were a few elves walking about here and there.
"Whoa!" Sora and Donald breathed when they saw him. I watched from Sora's shoulder.
"Well, hello everyone," he said kindly. "Did you come to see if you're on my 'nice' list?" We approached him somewhat slowly. "Your names?" he asked me and Sora.
"Um, Sora and Shadow, sir," Sora said nervously. He looked to me and smiled. I smiled slightly and nodded back; I wasn't much of a Christmas person, with the exception of being able to spend some blissful time periods with my friends. In my home world, we didn't have any holidays, with the exception of the anniversary of when my kind won the war against my arch enemy, Ishu. That dragon had tried to kill me on several occasions, and had even attempted to invade the human world. But anyway, Santa looked at Sora seriously.
"Let's see…Sora…Here you are. Well, according to my list, Sora…seven years ago you told everyone you did not believe in Santa Claus…Oh, that is unfortunate." Sora grasped the sides of his head in disbelief; he must've forgotten about that one. I certainly hadn't, and I laughed as Sora looked at me with an upset expression on his face.
"How about Donald and Goofy?" Donald asked Santa. The old man nodded to him, and Donald jumped up excitedly. "Oh, boy!"
"Am I on your list, too, by any chance?" Jack asked. "It's me, Jack!"
"Jack Skellington?!" Santa gasped. Suddenly, we heard a crash come from the Toy Factory. Santa got up and walked to the door. "What sort of trouble did you bring this time?"
"This time?" I repeated to Jack in bewilderment.
"It's a long story!" Jack said simply. We followed Santa into the Factory. We saw Lock, Shock, and Barrel swing a clamp through a window, and Jack gasped.
"It's Lock, Shock, and Barrel!" Jack said.
"Not those three…" Santa Claus muttered.
"I assure you, they're not with us," Jack told him.
"Well, whatever the case, they've been quite naughty," Santa replied. "Catch them and bring them back here. They're going to get a lecture." He started to walk back into his house.
"Uh…Mr. Claws? I wanted to talk to you about Christmas first," Jack said hesitantly. Santa paused and turned slightly to look at him.
"It'll have to wait. I need to see how things are progressing in my workshop," he said impatiently. He continued to walk away.
"C'mon, Jack—let's catch those little pranksters," I told him.
"Oh, all right, then," Jack agreed. We left Santa's House and saw footprints that led all the way up to Yuletide Hill, and back to Halloween Town. We followed the footprints to the Graveyard, and then they headed in the direction of Curly Hill. Once we entered the gate leading to Curly Hill, we saw the Prison Keeper Heartless and the trio of tricksters together. The three jumped into the cage of the Heartless, and it closed the door with a bony finger.
"There they are!" Sora shouted to the others as they caught up to us. We quickly fought the Heartless, destroying it, and Lock, Shock, and Barrel gathered by the gate.
"Ah ha ha ha!" Barrel laughed.
"That was fun!" Lock agreed.
"Let's go see if Mr. Oogie's ready!" Shock squealed eagerly, and the three little runts ran off.
"Oogie?!" Jack gasped.
"Isn't he the one who tried to take over Halloween Town before?" Sora asked, and I remembered that bag of bugs.
"That's him," Jack confirmed. "Fellows, I hope you're ready for trouble…"
"Don't we have enough trouble already?" Goofy pointed out. We all nodded, and left for the Graveyard, where Sally ran out of the forest.
"What's wrong, Sally?" Jack asked her.
"Jack! Oogie's kidnapped Santa Claus!" she told him urgently.
"Oh, no!" Jack gasped.
"And he's headed to Christmas Town!" she added.
"C'mon Jack—let's hurry!" I said, and we quickly ran through the Hinterlands, making our way through the door to the edge of Christmas Town. We saw a column of smoke rising from Santa's House, and Donald reacted first.
"That's Santa's House!" he said, once again pointing out the obvious and making me want to smack him. We ran down to the house, getting rid of the Heartless that tried to get in our way. Once in the house, we rushed into the Toy Factory, where Oogie revealed himself laughing at us. He jumped down off the ledge and grabbed Sally, then released her and turned around to face us.
"Jack Skellington!" he said, and it sounded like he was declaring it.
"Oogie!" Jack gasped.
"You and I have a score to settle, Jack! Same goes for your little sidekicks!" he said tauntingly.
"What are you planning to do with Sandy Claws?" Jack demanded. While he spoke, I spotted Sally sneaking around one of the conveyor belts while holding one of her legs.
"Who? Sandy Claws? I don't know what you're talking about!" Oogie said, and scratched his head in confusion. He jumped down to the conveyor belt where Santa was tied up and gagged. "And why is this roly-poly red guy here? Time to go, grandpa!" He motioned with his arms, and got Santa up. I heard Sally gasp, and Oogie laughed as he started to lead Santa away. She threw her leg that she was holding to Oogie, and he became distracted. While he was, Santa tugged himself away from Oogie, and ran over to Sally.
"Mr. Santa Claus!" Sally called to him as he ran to her. Oogie became livid and tried to storm after them, but we beat him to it.
We blocked his path, and he growled, "Why, you…" He ran back and into the conveyor, and we ran onto the conveyor belt as Oogie came down on a scaffold-like contraption. He pressed a button and laughed as the conveyor belts started moving and spikes appeared at the other end, where we were headed.
"Stop!" Donald yelled at him, and ran up the center belt and into the conveyor. He reappeared on the left side, looking confused. "Huh?" He ran back into the conveyor, and ended up on the center belt again with us. "Not again!" We fought Oogie, making him drop down by knocking presents up at him and eventually weighing him down. Once he hit the belt, we beat the living crap out of him. Once he was beaten, his stitching started to come undone in one spot, making bugs spill out. He covered it, and sighed with temporary relief when it stopped. Another side started to rip, and he wailed helplessly as the bugs poured out from him and he disappeared. A stray insect scurried past Donald, and he squished it with his foot. Sora and I sighed in relief when we realized it was over for Oogie once and for all.
"All right, Christmas is safe again!" Sora cheered.
"Perfect! I'd better get down to business!" Jack said excitedly.
"Leave that to Santa!" Donald told him firmly.
"Yup, you oughta stick to Halloween and spooky stuff!" Goofy agreed.
"Jack?" Sally murmured, and she walked over with his outfit. We were outside by now, thankfully. I wasn't used to such bright, cheery colors. I was more used to forest colors and things. "Here, it's done."
"Wonderful!" Jack said eagerly. "Why, I love it! Thank you, Sally!"
"Jack…Do you really have to do this?" she asked him quietly. Jack put on his new outfit.
"But I make a splendid Sandy Claws!" he replied. Santa walked over at that moment.
"Listen here, Jack Skellington. You saved me, and Christmas as well. And for that, I'm very grateful. But please promise me you won't cause any more trouble! And about that suit!" Jack spun around, showing off his Santa Claus suit. "Don't even think about taking over for me again!"
"I just thought you could use a little help this year, Mr. Claws," Jack explained. "You must be exhausted from all the preparations. And—I wouldn't mind a second chance to get this Christmas thing right."
"Yes, being Santa Claus can be tiring. But let me tell you something, Jack. Seeing the happy faces of little children when they discover the presents I've brought them makes it all worthwhile, year after year. And you, Jack—you love to make them gasp and see them shiver with fright. What if someone tried to take all of that away from you?" Jack looked down and scratched his head. "We both have very important jobs to do, Jack. Mine is to take care of Christmas, and yours is to take care of Halloween. So we each have to do the very best we can. After all, you're the face of Halloween—Mr. Jack Skellington! The Pumpkin King! The Knight of Nightmares! And even though you're fascinated by Christmas, Jack…Halloween is your true specialty. Don't you see? Children rely on both of us to do our jobs. Halloween needs your attention…and I know Christmas needs mine—urgently." He turned around.
"You're right!" Jack realized. "I am the master of terror! And if Halloween has become too routine, all I have to do is think of something new that'll really make them scream!" That Mayor started to run toward Jack from Yuletide Hill then.
"Jack! Oh, Jack! I've been looking for you everywhere!" he said. "We must go over the plans for next Halloween! I can't do a thing without your approval!"
"So true," Jack agreed.
"Good luck, Jack Skellington," Santa said. Jack walked away with the Mayor, looking excited about the new ideas for Halloween.
"Well, there he goes," Sora said.
"Yes, and I've got lots of names to check and preparations to finish!" Santa remembered. Suddenly, Jack's outfit began to glow brightly.
"Jack, this is no time for joking!" the Mayor snapped at him.
"What's this? Perhaps a bit too festive for our Halloween needs," Jack said curiously. Sora used his Keyblade and I used my light to open another gateway.
"We better get going," Sora and I said.
"Before you do, Sora…I believe there's a friend of yours…who—if I recall correctly—was the one who told you there's no such thing as Santa Claus?" Santa asked Sora.
"Oh yeah…He did say that," Sora murmured.
"Be sure to give him my very best wishes," Santa told him.
"We will, but…Do you know where we can find Riku and Kurai?" Sora and I asked.
"No…but don't give up!" Santa replied. "Remember, if you believe in Riku and Kurai, you will find them. Just as you found me."
"Right!" Sora and I said, and we looked at each other with a smile before taking off to the next world. We traveled to the next world in silence, each of us absorbed in our own thoughts. We would soon learn that no matter what happens, you'll always have true friends.