Chapter Fourteen: Heart Failure
Alfred ran the towel across his hair as he sat down in his chair at the cockpit beside Arthur and Antonio. He grabbed his glasses from off his shirt, sliding them on. All three of them had finally dried off from their more recent adventure.
"So, where we off to?" he said, snapping the towel around his neck.
"I don't know," said Arthur. "I allowed the ship to autopilot itself to the closer uncharted world whilst we were off elsewhere." Arthur tapped a few buttons on the controls. Antonio raised an eyebrow.
"We have an autopilot?" he asked. Arthur nodded. "Then why do you fly the ship?"
"I find it far more reliable and calming. Not to mention I don't have to pay attention Alfred's ramblings." Alfred stuck his tongue out at Arthur.
"So, where are we, Mr. Autopilot?" asked Alfred. Arthur shot a glare back at him before looking out in front of the ship.
"Take a look for yourself." Alfred raised an eyebrow, but walked over to the window anyway. His eyes widened and lit up as a huge grin cross his face. He flicked off the towel onto Arthur before darting towards the ship's hatch.
"Land the thing, Artie! I wanna go, now!" Arthur sighed, running his hands through his hair.
"Alfred seems really excited," noted Antonio.
"I don't see why," Arthur said. Antonio nodded. "This world doesn't look that pleasureable." Antonio nodded again and looked out at the world. He shuddered.
"You're right," he said.
"We can't judge a book by it's cover," Arthur said as he began to land the ship.
Alfred laughed and spun around as the three arrived down in the new world. Pumpkins and ghosts were scattered everywhere, and he was super excited. He ran ahead, with Arthur and Antonio had to run as fast as they could to keep up.
Alfred came to a stop when he approached a gate. On the top in crooked letters were the words: "Halloween Town." He grinned.
"I can't believe this," he said. "This is amazing."
"This sure is a scary place," said Antonio. "I'll bet the people here are scary-looking too. We'll stand out like ink on paper!"
"Take a look at yourself," said Arthur. "I used my magic to allow us to blend in here." Alfred hummed and turned around. His jaw dropped at the sight of his companions. Their appearances had once again changed.
Arthur was dressed in a striped green shirt with a blue vest, white pants, and black boots. On his hands were black gloves, and hanging on his shoulders was a blue cape that had a collar which stood up on ends. It reminded Alfred of Dracula's. On his head was a small, blue top hat. Alfred took note of his incisors had sharpened.
Antonio didn't look quite as scary as Alfred had expected. He wore a creamish colored dress shirt with an open brown vest. He wore brown pants. His pants were tucked into black boots. On his head were two wolf ears that matched his brown hair, and between his legs was a wolf's tail of the same color. On top of his head was a small cap that allowed his ears to poke through. Alfred looked down at himself with a grin.
Alfred was wearing a white dress shirt with an open black vest. He wore brown pants and dark brown boots. On his hands were brown leather gloves. He took note of the coat he wore. It was a normal orange trench coat, aside from the green soaking up the tears at the bottom. On his head was a hockey mask. He started to laugh. This was too much fun.
They entered the town square to get a better look at the world. It was dimly lit by lanterns. A fountain stood in the center, with it's water a bright green. The three all jumped as explosion ricocheted from nearby. Smoke rose over the distance.
"What was that?" Alfred thought out loud.
"I don't know," said Arthur, "But I think we should-" Arthur was caught off mid-sentence by several ghost-like Heartless appeared. The Trinity reached for their weapons. Alfred was about to summon his Keyblade when he noticed something.
"Hey, why aren't the Heartless attacking us?" Antonio and Arthur stopped when they noticed this.
"That's rather odd… Every Heartless we've run into so far has tried to tear our hearts out."
"Well, maybe these are good Heartless," suggested Antonio.
"I doubt there is such as thing as a good Heartless." Antonio laughed nervously.
"Maybe we should check out the explosion then?"
"That's not a bad idea," said Alfred. "Let's go!" The three began to walk off in the direction of the smoke, but were stopped once more, this time by a loud voice.
"And now, allow me to introduce…" The trio looked over to see a short man in an extremely tall hat speaking through a megaphone. His head was cone-shaped and displayed the two faces. One face- as well as his hands- was peach-colored, with rosy cheeks and a face set in a permanent smile. The other face was bone-white, had a mouth set in a permanent frown (the teeth of which were pointed) with green lips and yellow eyes. The man's body was also cone-shaped, with his body ballooning outward before ending on short, stubby legs with very tiny feet. He dressed in a black suit with a white undershirt and black-and-white pinstriped pants. He wore a pendant or bow-tie shaped like a black widow spider. There was a red ribbon with the word "MAYOR" printed on a white center pinned to the left breast of his blazer.
"The master of terror... the king of nightmares—" The Mayor continued, "Jack Skellington!" Alfred's eyes lit up as a line of Heartless parted to frame the fountain. A tall, thin figure arose from the green water.
The figure was a skeleton, and so his head lacked hair and sported empty eye sockets and nostrils. Strangely, his neck was solid, not showing vertebrae segmentation. His skull was similar, showing no distinction between his upper and lower jaws. His mouth was thin and wide, marked by a number of small "seams". He wore a black suit with white pinstripes. The top had a single white button, and a white shirt was visible underneath. His black dress shoes were bizarrely small in comparison to the rest of his body. The coat tails of his coat reach to about knee-length, and he wore a large, black bow-tie shaped like a bat with several white veins in its wings and white eyes.
Jack Skellington struck a pose and smiled The Mayor ran over to him as the trio hid behind a nearby wall.
"Bravo, Jack! Bravo!" said the Mayor enthusiastically. "Those ghosts will be a big hit at this year's Halloween!" The Mayor grinned wildly as Jack stepped out from the fountain.
"Thank you, thank you!" said Jack. "But their movement still needs work. It's not scary enough." He hung his head. "I want to strike bone-chilling terror." He lifted his arms in a creepy pose. "I'm going to consult the doctor." Jack walked over to the laboratory, which had been the same direction the Trinity were headed.
"Then I'll go attend to the decorations." The Mayor ran away gleefully. So gleefully, in fact, that he runs in the wrong direction and has to turn around. This allowed the trio to come out from their hiding place.
"Should we follow him?" asked Alfred. Antonio raised an eyebrow.
"The Mayor?" he questioned. Alfred shook his head.
"No, Jack. He is headed towards where the explosion was, right?" There was silence. Alfred crossed his arms over his chest. "Screw you both, I'm following him." Alfred headed off after the skeleton, inadvertently dragging Antonio and Arthur with him.
Alfred, Arthur, and Antonio followed Jack to a rather large research lab, which was still smoking. They crept around the corner to find themselves peering into a room with an examination table. Someone was looking over a Heartless on the table with Jack by his side.
The person was dressed in a white lab coat, pants of the same color, black shoes, and black gloves that are a good deal wider than his arms. His skin was an unhealthy white color and he had small, beady black eyes, covered by his goggles, as well as thin black eyebrows. His mouth was beak-like in structure and he seemed to be missing a few teeth. Easily, his most prominent feature was his skull, which bore several obvious bolts and a clear horizontal seam going around the middle. The various machines on the walls gurgle and hissed around them.
"I don't understand," said Jack. "Maybe the guidance system was damaged in the explosion."
"Nonsense," said the doctor, "My devices are always perfect!" Jack looked over and searched through the doctor's book.
"Oh, I've got it! Why, of course! The Heartless need a heart!" he turned back to the wheelchair-bound man. "Doctor, do you think we can add a heart to that device?"
"Certainly. A heart's not all that complicated." The doctor moved over towards the end of the table. "Let's get to work." Jack turned back to the book.
"To make a heart, first take a container with a lock…" The doctor pulled out a pulsing box shaped like a human heart with a large keyhole on it.
"We need the key to this thing first!" Alfred grinned as the three pulled away from their view.
"I'm gonna unlock it," he said. Arthur's eyes widened.
"You're going to unlock it for them?" he said in a harsh whisper as to not be heard. Alfred shrugged.
"Why not? If they succeed, we won't have to fight the Heartless, right? Besides, I want to see the Heartless dance, too. Don't you?"
"No." Alfred stuck out his tongue before rounding the corner and walking into the room. "Alfred!" Arthur walked out to get Alfred, pulling Antonio along with him.
"Uh, hey," said Alfred, getting the attention of Jack and the doctor. "I could unlock that for you."
"How did you get in here?" asked the doctor. Alfred paled a little bit.
"The door was unlocked. I saw the explosion and-" Alfred shook his head. "Nevermind. Do you want me to unlock it?"
"You can do that?" asked Jack. Alfred nodded. Without hesitation, Alfred pulled out his keychain from his pocket. Arthur narrowed his eyes, giving Alfred a look telling him not to do what he was about to do. Alfred ignored him and summoned his keyblade. He aimed it at the heart, allowing the small beam of light to unlock it with a click. He grinned as his Keyblade turned back into a keychain, which he stowed away. Arthur and Antonio joined him by his side. Arthur's eyes were still narrowed.
"My! That was amazing!" Jack exclaimed before putting on a confused expression. "Uh, and you are…"
"Alfred F. Jones, at your service," Alfred said before pointing over to the others. "The vamp is Arthur, and the wolf over there is Antonio." Antonio waved with a nervous laugh. Jack walked over to the three.
"Well done, Alfred! I'd like you to be a part of this year's Halloween." Alfred smiled widely. Before he could answer, Arthur cleared his throat, interrupting them.
"I hate to interrupt this little scare fest of yours, but what's this Heartless doing here?" the Englishman asked while he pointed over to the Heartless on the table.
"Oh, the Heartless came to town just recently," Jack began to explain. "What's frustrating is I can't get them to dance with me. So the doctor and I are trying to improve the guidance system. He's quite a genius!" He turned his attention back towards the doctor and the book. "Okay, Doctor, let's continue. The ingredients for a heart: Pulse." The doctor put a pulsating frog on the table. "Emotion."
"Terror," the doctor added as he put down a large spider. Alfred covered Antonio's mouth to keep him from screaming because of it.
"Fear." The doctor's hand slid off a pane of glass on the table, making an eerie screech. Antonio covered his ears at the sound. "Hope and despair." Two snakes, each with their mouths over each other's tails, were placed on the table. "Mix them all together, and we have a heart!" The doctor put the items into the container and placed the heart into the console of the machine. He wheeled over to a large lever and pulled it, initiating the experiment. The machine sparks to life, gears clicking and whirling. Electricity crackles over the Heartless, who suddenly sits up with its arms outstretched, before falling limp.
"It failed!" Both Jack and Alfred gave a disappointed look as the doctor peered over his research book. "Maybe we're missing some ingredients. Let's try adding memory." The doctor flipped open the top of his skull, revealing his brain. The trio hid their disgust at this as the doctor scratched it.
"Sally! Sally! Good-for-nothing girl! Don't know why I bothered creating her!" The doctor slammed his fists on the arms of his wheelchair and closed his skull. He whirled around to face the trio and Jack. "Sally's got the memory we need. See if you can track her down."
"No problem," said Jack before he turned to the three. "Would you three like to come along?"
"Sure," said Alfred. He looked over at the others. "What do you guys say?"
"Yes," Antonio said. "It would be good to look around, right?" Alfred nodded as Arthur put his face in his hands.
"Why must I always be outnumbered when we vote on things?" he groaned. "I'm guessing I'm in as well." Alfred grinned brightly as the four left the laboratory.
As the four left the lab, they caught sight of the Mayor at the bottom of the stairs, with his unhappy face on.
"Jack! Jack! We have a major crisis!" The Mayor shouted through his megaphone. "The Heartless are completely out of control! We can't stop them!"
"Hmm... Maybe our experiment triggered something," Jack muttered before calling out to the Mayor. "Everything will be fine, Mayor. You have nothing to worry about." Arthur crossed his arms, rolling his eyes. The Trinity drew their weapons, quickly defeating the Heartless in the square. They headed quickly out to the graveyard, in which there were more Heartless.
Alfred soon watched as the last Heartless faded back into the darkness. His keyblade turned back into keychain. He began swinging it around on his finger.
"That was easy as-" Alfred said before giving off a yell. A ghostly image of a dog with a bright red nose jumped out in front of him. His keychain flew out of his hands as the boy stumbled backwards into his companions, sending him, Antonio and Arthur into a few of the graves. Jack pulled them to their feet. The Pumpkin King turned and walked over to the dog.
"Zero! Have you seen Sally anywhere?" Jack asked the dog. Zero flew over to a gravestone, startling the person behind it.
A rag doll stood up and looked over at them, the stitches covering her pale blue body clearly visible. Her feet were covered by black shoes, worn over baggy, black-and-white striped socks. Her long, reddish-brown hair reached down to her hips and was parted in the middle. Her clothing consisted of a worn, tattered dress made up of many different scraps of cloth sewn together. While it was predominantly pale pink and grey, her dress had small areas of yellow and green around her left and right shoulders, respectively, and each individual patch was covered in a unique black or grey pattern, save for a few patches that were a solid color.
"Is something wrong, Jack?" Sally, the ragdoll, asked.
"No, everything's going great. We're going to have the best Halloween ever. All we need now is your memory."
"'Memory'?" Sally repeated. "You mean this?" She pulled out a gnarled looking blue Forget-Me-Not. Alfred snickered at the pun under his breath as she gave it to Jack. "Jack, I have a bad feeling about this. Why don't you try something else? There's still time."
"Nothing could beat what I've got planned! Once we give the Heartless a heart, they'll dance just as I envision it." This did not decrease Sally's worried look. "Trust me. You're going to love it!" Sally sighed as they all began walking back to Halloween Town. Antonio looked over to see Alfred bent over a grave, digging around behind it. He stopped as the other three walked on.
"Alfred, what the heck are you doing?" he asked, walking over to the Keyblade Wielder.
"I dropped my keychain back here," he said. "I can't reach…" Alfred's sentence was cut off when he fell behind the grave. Antonio bent over as Alfred peaked out from behind it.
"You okay? You got your Keyblade?" Alfred nodded, holding up the keychain.
"I just fell on something…" Alfred dug around farther behind the tombstone and finally found what it was. It was a Jack-In-The-Box. "Are you serious?" Antonio grabbed the boy around the waist and pulled him out. Alfred had the Box held to his chest.
"Why do you have that?"
"I'm bringing it with me." Antonio turned and walked back towards town. "What? It could come in handy!" Alfred ran after him.
The group soon returned to the doctor's lab, where they gave him the flower. As it turns out, They needed one more ingredient, in which Alfred had in his hands. The doctor quickly assembled the heart together, putting the new ingredients in.
"There you go," said the doctor once he was finished, "This time it's sure to work." He wheeled over with the heart on his lap to the other end of the table. That's when something tripped the doctor over, sending to the floor and the heart in the air. The Trinity whipped around. Three children were over by the doorway. One dressed as a skeleton, the other and witch, and a third was dressed like a devil. The devil had the heart in his hands.
"Thank you for catching the heart." said Arthur, "Can you please give it b-"
"Make us, old man!"shouted the devil. Arthur's eyes filled with anger.
"What?!" The children began running away. "Get back here, you brats!" The englishman raced off after him. Jack, Alfred and Antonio followed in pursuit, determined to get the heart back.
The trio soon caught up with Arthur in the square. He was leaning against the wall, with his head in his hands.
"And we lost them," said Alfred, running a hand through his hair. "Nice one, Artie."
"Shut it," Arthur hissed, standing up straight. Jack taps a hand on his leg, calling Zero over to him once more.
"Zero, after them, quickly!" ordered the skeleton. Zero barked before flying towards the Graveyard. Alfred, Jack, Arthur and Antonio followed after. Zero flew over to a curled hill, which had unfurled to let three children across it. The four arrived at the hill as well, crossing over it after the children. They followed the kids over a bridge, stopping at where it ended. In front of them was a large haunted looking manor. Lanterns, platforms and traps covered the rickety looking building as the children headed inside.
"I knew Oogie Boogie was behind this!" said Jack.
"Who is that?" Antonio asked.
"He's a troublemaker, that's what."
"We have to get that heart back," said Alfred. "Come on!" The boy raced over into the manor, with the others following behind.
They quickly made their way up the mansion, fighting Heartless until they found the topmost room.
"Do you think they're in here?" asked Alfred. Arthur nodded.
"They have to be," he said. "This is the last room left." They went inside.
Inside the door was a small room with child-sized items scattered a bathtub was a shoot, from which the three children were dropping the heart down.
"Hey!" shouted Alfred. His voice startled the devil, who had the heart in his hands. It slipped from his grasp and dropped down the shoot. Arthur walked over to the child, a dark glint in his eye. It reminded Alfred of when he used to get in trouble as a kid, and anger his mother.
"What do you children think you're doing?" Arthur asked, his voice grim and dark. Alfred stiffened, even though he knew it was not him that was getting told off.
"We were just following orders!" said the witch. "Oogie Boogie told us to steal the heart. It's all Barrel's fault! It was his idea to tell Oogie Boogie about the heart."
"Yeah, that's right!" The devil agreed.
"B-But you guys said—" the skeleton boy stuttered out.
"You should be ashamed!" said the witch.
"Oogie Boogie made us do it. We had no choice," the devil explained.
"Oogie Boogie told us not to give away his hiding place. Oh, and we're not supposed to talk about the lever, either…" said the skeleton boy. Alfred looked over at the edge of the wall. There was a rusted old lever. He raised an eyebrow, walking over to it.
"You mean this one?" he said, giving it a pull. There was the sound of whirring gears from outside, causing Alfred to grin. "Think that's our ride." Antonio walked over to the kids, crouching down to their level.
"Do you know where can find Oogie Boogie at?" he asked as gently as he could. At least it was better than Arthur's approach to it. "Or what he wants with the heart?"
"What's he going to do with the heart?" the skeleton repeated. Antonio nodded. "Beats me. I'd stay away from Oogie Boogie if I were you."
"Do you know where the heart is? You three shouldn't have stolen it like that."
"Hey, I was just following Oogie Boogie's orders!" said the witch. "We don't have the heart! Oogie Boogie has it!"
"Can you take us to him?"
"There's no way I'm gonna take you to him! If I did that, Oogie Boogie would eat us too," said the devil.
"You'll never find the green door!" the witch added. Arthur walked up from behind Antonio and pulled him to his feet.
"I think that's all the information we need," he said with a smirk. Arthur turned on his heel, heading out the door. "I say we hurry and find that door." The others followed him out.
The group of four headed out and ran up a long, spiral ramp. Eventually, they found a bright green door, contrasting the darker exterior. Alfred opened it, motioning the others inside.
Inside the room was a giant roulette wheel. Images of skulls, ghosts, boney fingers and other things decorated the wheel. In the center was a pillar of spikes. Standing across from them on a higher platform, was a large sack-like being. In his hand-stubs… was the heart.
"Oogie Boogie, give me back the heart!" Jack shouted to the sack.
"You want it?" shouted Oogie Boogie. "Well, then come on over and get it!" He put the heart in his mouth and swallowed it down, to everyone's surprise. He began cackling. "Now, let's see if I can get their attention. Oh, Heartless!" Out of the shadows, two gargoyle-like Heartless appeared beside him. Oogie Boogie looked at them with shock.
"This is it?" he said angrily. "Nobody disrespects me! Nobody!" He pulled a switch on the wall. An explosion erupted from behind Alfred and company, knocking them into the pit of the roulette wheel. The Heartless flew down and attacked them. The Trinity drew their Keyblades, quickly defeating them.
"C'mon, baby!" Oogie threw dice into the pit. As soon as they made contact, the dice exploded. Luckily, no one was injured by the blast. Alfred's eyes caught something. A switch. He ran up to it, flipping the switch.
"Whoa!" the boy shouted. The small area Alfred was standing on shook and rose up. This allowed him access to the boogeyman currently throwing dice at his friends. Alfred ran forward, raising his keyblade. Oogie Boogie caught sight of him. Before Alfred could even land a blow, an explosion erupted between them. Alfred fell backwards down into the pit. Arthur pulled him to his feet.
"You alright?" Arthur asked. Alfred nodded.
"We need to get to that lever," he said pointing over to the area he had been before. Arthur nodded. He aimed his wand at the boogeyman.
"Tonitrua!" he shouted, sending lightening towards him. It was then that a spinning saw blade whirled past Alfred's head, missing it only by inches. The roulette wheel began spinning around, sending Alfred, Arthur, and Antonio in front of three slot machines.
"This is a game I don't think we can win!" shouted Antonio. The eyes of the slot machines began to glow and they raised their pistols, shooting at the three of them. The Trinity jumped out of the way onto another button that sent all of them upward to face Oogie. They attack Oogie Boogie with everything they have, causing the villain's burlap sack to open and a swarm of squirming bugs to fall all over the floor. The three of the Trinity cringed as Oogie Boogie screamed before the sack falls motionless with the heart still inside as a final blue bug crawls out of it. It lands on its back, squirming on the floor of the pit. There was a loud crunch as Arthur stepped on it.
"So, that heart was a failure after all," said Jack dejectedly as the four left Oogie's manor.
"Cheer up, Jack," said Alfred, trying to be reassuring. "There's always next time."
As soon as the four were a good distance away from the manor, a large explosion knocked them onto their feet. Dust billowed out from around them as they stood. A loud moan rang out. When the dust had settled, there was a unholy sight before them that made the three brought out their weapons.
Oogie Boogie's body had merged with the manor. Large, dark globs covered the entire home.
"Whoa! How did he get so big?" Alfred muttered under his breath. "Seriously though, that can not be sanitary."
"My best guess is that he's drawing power from those dark orbs on him," Arthur said.
"So we have to destroy these things, right?" Arthur nodded. The three ran over to the living mansion, destroying the dark orbs in their path. After the final one was taken out, the mansion quaked and crumbles to the ground. In its place a giant Keyhole appeared.
"Keyhole! Found! How!?" said Alfred, looking down at the their feet. "How am I supposed to seal this?" Arthur looked up into the air.
"If you can't go one way, you go another," He said. "You go up." Alfred raised his Keyblade in the air. Its beam of light shot out of it. The light lingered above the keyhole for a moment before it shot downwards. The locked clicked and the hole disappeared.
"And that's another world saved!" said Antonio excitedly as the three returned to Halloween Town.
The four returned to the doctor's Lab, where Sally was waiting for them.
"Sally, why didn't I listen to you?" asked Jack after the Trinity had explained what had happened with the heart.
"Don't feel bad, Jack," said Sally. "We'll come up with another plan for Halloween. Next time, we'll do it together." She took Jack's hands into her own. Alfred looked away, not wanting to watch the scene unfold.
"I guess we have no choice. We'll have to cancel the Heartless Halloween festival for now."
"I guess we better get going then," said Alfred. "I'll be honest. I like this world."
"Visit us any time,you three. Next year's Halloween will be the scariest ever!" said Jack before the three departed. One last sentence fell on the Trinity's ears before they left the lab.
"Emotion, memory... We put in all the necessary ingredients. What else do you need to make a heart? What is a heart, anyway? I can't figure it out."
Alfred tapped on the control panel of the ship. He and the others had long since returned to normal appearance, but something said in Halloween Town still lingered in his mind.
"Cat got your tongue, Alfred?" asked Arthur. Alfred looked up, snapping out of his thoughts.
"What?" he asked. "No, I'm just thinking."
"I think the saying is penny for your thoughts?" Antonio said before nodding. "Yeah, I believe that's it." Alfred sighed, straightening up and facing his friends.
"I was just thinking… what is a heart? Not like, the beating thing in your chest. The thing that Heartless steal. What is it?" There was silence among the three. The only noise to be heard was the ship's engine. Eventually, Arthur sighed.
"I'm guessing it's who you are?" he said, even though he sounded unsure. "What do you think?"
"Your spirit?" Antonio suggested. "Arthur has the right idea. I believe your heart is everything. Your emotions, your feelings. Everything that embodies you."
"Maybe that's why the Heartless want it so bad," Alfred said. "They want their feelings and emotions back?" Arthur shrugged.
"Who knows? All I do know is that there are other worlds to-" Arthur was cut off when the ship was given a sudden lurch, causing the Trinity to topple out of their seats and sliding on the floor of the ship.