A/N: And in this next chapter, we get to see the return of a certain "stalker" if you know what I mean. :)
Coraline 2: The Nightmare Before Christmas
Chapter 6: Sally's Warning; "Making Christmas"
Meanwhile, Coraline was teaching the local musicians some Christmas music with the black cat watching.
"It goes something like this.", Coraline responded as she then rang the bells in tune with a famous Christmas song, Jingle bells.
"How about it? Think you guys can manage?", Coraline asked before a person inside the bass spoke up.
"A one, and a two, and a three, and a...", the person inside the bass spoke before the band then did the song, albeit with a flat key in the end.
"Next!", the mayor shouted.
"Fantastic! Now, why don't you all practice on that and we'll be in great shape.", Jack spoke as the band walked away before Sally walked in.
"Sally.", Coraline spoke in slight surprise.
"Sally, I need your help more than anyone's.", Jack responded.
"You certainly do, Jack. I had the most terrible vision.", Sally responded.
"That's splendid.", Jack only responded.
"No, it was about your Christmas. There was smoke and fire.", Sally responded.
"That's not my Christmas. My Christmas is filled with laughter and joy and this-my Sandy Claws outfit. I want you to make it.", Jack responded.
"Jack, please, you have to listen. It's going to be a disaster.", Coraline urged worriedly.
"How could it be? She just needs to follow the pattern. This part is red, the trim is white.", Jack responded.
"It's a mistake, Jack.", Sally spoke up.
"Now don't be modest, who else is clever enough to make my Sandy claws outfit?", Jack asked.
"It's not the outfit she's talking about. It's the idea of taking over...", Coraline began.
"Next!", the mayor shouted.
"Christmas.", Coraline sighed.
"I have every confidence in you.", Jack assured to Sally.
"But it seems wrong to me, very wrong.", Sally spoke as she left sadly, worrying Coraline for a moment as she sighed before remembering something.
"Oh, yeah. You're next, aren't you?", Coraline asked to the zombie with an axe etched onto his head, who nodded.
"I see. Anyway, this device you have here is called a nutcracker. And this is a nut for which the nutcracker works its magic.", Coraline stated as she placed the nut firmly in-between its jaws and cracks the shell, unearthing a small piece inside.
"Voila! And when you aren't cracking nuts with it, you can just do this for fun.", Coraline stated before Lock, Shock, and Barrel all spoke up.
"Jack, Jack! We caught him, we got him.", the trio shouted as they brought a bag with them in the moving bath tub.
"Perfect! Open it up. Quickly!", Jack spoke before the trio opened the bag, only to reveal none other than, much to Coraline and Jack's surprise, the Easter Bunny, who hopped out, carrying a basket and wearing a sash hanging over his shoulder as he sniffed.
"That's not Sandy Claws.", Jack spoke.
"It isn't?", Shock asked.
"Who is it?", Barrel puzzled.
"That's the Easter Bunny.", Coraline responded.
"In other words, not Sandy Claws...", Jack spoke as the Easter Bunny hopped toward the zombie and sniffed at it.
"Bunny.", the behemoth spoke as the Easter Bunny widened its eyes in fright and screamed before he turned and hopped back inside the bag, shaking slightly in fright.
"Take him back!", Jack urged.
"We followed your instructions.", Lock responded.
"We went through the door.", Barrel added.
"Which door? There's more than one. Sandy Claws is behind a door shaped like this.", Jack spoke as he showed a Christmas cookie in the shape of a tree.
"I told you!", Shock sneered before she and the two boys fought with each other.
"Knock it off!", Lock exclaimed with Shock yelping a bit in pain before Jack had to make a scary face at the trio to get them to stop fighting, although it even surprised Coraline a bit before she got herself together and went to the Easter Bunny.
"I am so sorry you were brought here like this. But they're gonna return you back home and apologize. Aren't you?", Coraline asked as the Easter Bunny still shook, the girl sneering at Lock, Shock, and Barrel.
"Y-Yeah! Of course we are.", the trio assured.
"Good.", Coraline responded just as the Easter Bunny stopped shuddering in fright and sighed in relief.
"See? Everything's gonna be okay.", Coraline assured as the bathtub then started walking out the door.
"Just be careful with Sandy Claws when you fetch him. Treat him nicely.", Jack advised to the trio.
"Got it. We'll get it right, next time.", the trio assured before the door closed on their way out.
"Just what exactly do you plan on doing with Santa here?", Coraline asked.
"Well, I figured he could use a little break this year, so we're filling in for him.", Jack responded.
"Well, I don't think him being kidnapped is what he had in mind.", Coraline responded wearily.
Meanwhile, at Dr. Finkelstein's castle, he was searching through new heads for his latest creation.
"You will be a decided improvement over that treacherous Sally.", Dr. Finkelstein responded.
"Master, the plans.", Igor spoke as he arrived with said blueprints for skeletal reindeer.
"Excellent, Igor.", Dr. Finkelstein spoke before throwing him a dog bone, which was gleefully eaten.
Sometime later, a sign reading "XMAS" in red was being erected in front of the town hall clock, especially in front of "Halloween", making it read "036 Days to Xmas" as the denizens were already getting ready for this year's Christmas, especially Coraline and Sally, the latter of which was making a red dress with white trimmings for Jack as the the former and the black cat watched, worried about Jack before it then showed a few ghosts emerging from the well, carrying tools while the accordian player carried a cartful of pumpkins. After ward, it showed the mayor riding on his decorated mobile ride as more and more ramps were placed to help keep the trip going by the denizens while the two kids were smashing the toy car, flattening it, and beheading a doll's head with a mini Guillotine, and the two witches mixing something in the well before the sea creature emerged in the well with the Mayor marching forward only to get scooped up by his vehicle with the devil popping up prior to showing the vampires working on a duck toy with red spots resembling blood and black dots in the white parts of their eyes before then wrapping it up in a coffin-shaped box with a bow on top with a winged demon walking by via wings before then showing the corpse father, the devil, and the werewolf making a makeshift doll with chains and a saw with two handles before the last of the 3 noticed Jack heading outside.
Clown: This time, this time
Group: Making Christmas
Accordion Player: Making Christmas
Mayor: Making Christmas,
Making Christmas
Is so fine
Group: It's ours this time
And won't the children be surprised
It's ours this time
Child Corpse: Making Christmas
Mummy: Making Christmas
Mummy & Corpse Child: Making Christmas
Witches: Time to give them something fun
Witches & Creature Lady: They'll talk about for years to come
Group: Let's have a cheer from everyone
It's time to party
Vampires & Duck Toy: Making Christmas,
Making Christmas
Vampires: Snakes and mice get wrapped up so nice
With spider legs and pretty bows
Winged Demon:
It's ours this time
Corpse Father: All together, that and this
Corpse Father & Wolf Man: With all our tricks we're
Corpse Father, Wolf Man, & Devil: Making Christmastime
"Here comes Jack!", the wolf man spoke before Jack arrived, not knowing that Coraline saw what they were making and grew extremely worried as she gasped before taking off as the black cat followed after her.
Jack: I don't believe what's happening to me
My hopes, my dreams, my fantasies
Hee, hee, hee, hee!
"Oh, no. I've gotta find Wybie. He might know what to do.", Coraline spoke as she had to run out of Halloween Town and rush back home as she picked up the Black Cat while making her way out before it showed the Harlequin putting a saxophone player in stockades, prior to measuring his head and then working on an apparent hat by mashing the dead rat flat with a mallet, opening it up and placing it on top of the saxophone player's head just as Jack arrived and then offered a bat to him before noticing that the turtle roadkill was being used before speaking against it, although being encouraging in looking for something else before it then showed a small hyde smashing a scorpion unconscious before placing it inside the russian doll with the two hydes (each bigger than the last) before the russian doll was completed.
Coraline: Just what is this Halloween Town coming to?
If I don't figure this out somehow, someway,
Jack's as good as doomed
Harlequin: Won't they be impressed, I am a genius
See how I transformed this old rat
Into a most delightful hat
Jack: Hmm, my compliments from me to you
On this your most intriguing hat
Consider though this substitute
A bat in place of this old rat
No, no, no, now that's all wrong
This thing will never make a present
It's been dead now for much too long
Try something fresher, something pleasant
Try again, don't give up
Three Mr. Hydes: All together, that and this
With all our tricks, we're making Christmastime
Back home, Coraline and the black cat popped back inside before heading outside toward the well where she first met the black cat and Wybie her first time there.
"If anyone can figure out how to help me stop Jack from making the worst mistake of what might be his afterlife, it's him.", Coraline spoke before suddenly, a loud air sounded, startling Coraline before she turned to see a familiar friend with his turret-lensed skull mask, skeleton gloves, and, of course, a black fireman's coat flapping in the wind.
"Wybie!", Coraline shouted with a wave.
"Jonesy?", Wybie asked before he rode down the road and got close to her and the cat.
"I hoped I'd find you here.", Coraline grinned.
"What's wrong? You look kinda..., I don't know. Worried. You want to tell me what's going on?", Wybie asked.
"Well, you wouldn't believe me if I told you. Which is what happened last time, so that's saying something.", Coraline responded.
"Try me.", Wybie smirked.
Then, back at Halloween Town, the days started to go by from 36 days to 11 days left until Christmas as meanwhile, in Christmas Town, elves were busy making the toys for all the nice kids, a teddy bear being one of them, and making some cookies while in Halloween Town, Igor then started up the machine as instructed by the mad doctor to vitalize the skeletal reindeer, making the doctor gape in awe before falling onto the table and noticing a skull on it before picking said skull up and wiping it just as elsewhere, the sleigh was getting waxed for the ride out. And as jack-in-the-boxes were getting prepped by elves here, they were also being prepped by a clown in Halloween Town before showing the elves filling the stockings up with the Corpse Father having a similar idea, but meeting with a difficulty as the orange and black snake swallowed up the item in the corpse father's hand along with the corpse father himself! Afterwards, it showed the bag getting lifted up so it may be loaded onto the sleigh just as Jack maneuvered the coffin on top of a make-shift sleigh gear as Coraline, Wybie, and the black cat arrived before the denizens and Jack sang as the former carried all they could to the sleigh and finished loading up before a few skeletal reindeer flew downward toward Jack, although still floating in midair.
Group: This time, this time
Jack: It's ours!
Group: Making Christmas, making Christmas
La, la, la
It's almost here
Group & Wolf Man: And we can't wait
Group & Harlequin: So ring the bells and celebrate
Group: 'Cause when the full moon starts to climb
We'll all sing out
Jack: It's Christmastime
Hee, hee, hee
"Wow. They're really taking off, aren't they?", Wybie asked.
"Yeah. And I've got a bad feeling about this.", Coraline responded before the town hall clock that said 2 days to Xmas, changed to 1 day to Xmas.
"A really bad feeling.", Coraline added.
A/N: Looks like the climax is starting to reach a tipping point. And we'll get a good look at the main antagonists of the story in the next chapter soon. And this time, there would not be one, not two, but three main antagonists in it. Wanna guess who those other two with the one we already know are? :)