Beginning A/N: Here ya go, yet another chapter for this story for all of you to enjoy! Now, this chapter actually didn't need as much editing as the others did, but I hope that you all enjoy it anyway.
Disclaimer: I still don't own Legend of Korra or The Nightmare Before Christmas!
Dialogue Key
"..." = Regular Speech
'...' = Someone's Thoughts
… = Songs
Town Meeting Song
"This has never happened before!" exclaimed Clown, referring to the disappearance of Jack Skellington.
"It's suspicious!" exclaimed the Tall Witch.
"It's peculiar!" added the Short Witch.
"It's scary!" the Vampire Bros finished.
All of the people of Halloween Town had gathered in the center of town to regroup from their earlier search party that had been organized by the mayor. Despite his earlier worry and anxiety, the mayor had done a pretty good job, even though they have yet to find their beloved leader.
"Stand aside! Coming through!" demanded the mayor as he pushed past the Werewolf.
This action drew a snarl from the monster that was mostly ignored. The mayor quickly climbed up the steps of his Model T car to the roof of the vehicle, tripping on the last step and falling on his face as he did. But he quickly stood back up and took hold of his megaphone.
"We've got to find Jack! There's only three-hundred and sixty-five days left till NEXT Halloween!" he exclaimed in worry.
"Three sixty-FOUR!" corrected the Werewolf.
Who was, once again, ignored.
"Is there ANYWHERE we've forgotten to check?" The mayor asked desperately.
"I've looked in every mausoleum!" said the Clown.
"We opened the sarcophagi." added the Witch Sisters.
"I tromped through the pumpkin patch." Mister Hyde said, showing a pumpkin stuck to his foot.
"I peeked behind the Cyclops' eye." reported the eldest Vampire Brother, pulling out his own eyeball for emphasis.
The tall Witch Sister slapped the Vampire's hand, making him let go of his eyeball so it snapped back into place.
"I did! But he wasn't there." the Vampire exclaimed, defending himself.
This lack of any good news regarding the town's beloved leader did nothing but frighten everyone even more. As proven by how the mayor began to yell out instructions into his megaphone rather than just speaking normally.
"It's time to sound the alarms! And somebody find Korra!"
From atop the mayor's car, the Mummy Kid began to turn the crank on an alarm that looked like a black cat hissing. This made the cat's mouth open and release an ear-piercing wail that would capture the attention of any resident in Halloween Town. But up in Doctor Finkelstein's laboratory, Sally was busy preparing something that would help her leave the lab for a little while.
As she was cooking soup for the doctor, she walked over to the potion's cabinet and pulled out exactly what she was looking for. The jar of Deadly Nightshade. Reaching into the cabinet and pulling out the jar, the rag doll woman nodded to herself and walked over to the large cauldron where she was cooking the doctor's soup. She poured a generous amount into the soup and stirred it in, only to recoil back at the smell. Deadly Nightshade always did have a rather pungent odor. Looking around for something to mask the scent, she spotted something that would definitely help her out.
"Frog's Breath will overpower any odor." she mumbled to herself.
Taking the jar and unscrewing the lid, Sally let a frog poke his head out of the jar with a ribbit. She aimed the jar at the cauldron and watched as the frog belched out a cloud of green fog into the soup. But as a result, Sally dropped the jar as she was sent into a coughing fit as she realized that she added too much Frog's Breath into the soup.
"Bitter!" Sally managed to say through her coughs.
She stumbled over the spice cabinet, desperate to find the one ingredient that would balance this soup out and mask both of the odors from the Deadly Nightshade and the Frog's Breath.
"Worm's Wart…! Whe-Where is that Worm's Wart!?" wheezed Sally as she tossed out several bottles.
She smiled in relief as she pulled out the bottle of Worm's Wart that was, thankfully, untouched. But that relief soon turned to worry as the doctor called for her.
"Sally, is that soup ready yet?"
Sally hurried over to the cauldron and poured in a generous amount of Worm's Wart into the soup, praying to any deity willing to listen that this would work. Once it was mixed in, she smiled in relief to find that it smelled just fine. There's no way the doctor would detect anything wrong with this stuff!
"Coming!" Sally called in response to the doctor's earlier question.
At his worktable, Doctor Finkelstein was busy looking at something through a high-tech microscope that seemed to have an eyeball for a lense. Looking away from his work, the doctor proceeded to open the top of his head like a flip-off lid and literally scratch his brain as he contemplated his work. It's a disgustingly horrifying thing to think about, let alone witness, I know.
"Lunch!" Sally announced as she brought the doctor a big bowl of soup.
Doctor Finkelstein put away the device he was working with and closed his head as he caught whiff of the soup and smelled something in it.
"Ah, what's that?" he asked.
Taking another sniff, he was pleasantly surprised to find that one of his favorite ingredients had been added into the green mixture.
"Worm's Wart!" he cried in delight.
He grabbed the spoon and was about to start eating when he caught the scent of something else. Something that doesn't belong.
"And Frog's Breath?" he asked suspiciously.
Now, Sally had more of a reason to be nervous. She must not have added enough Worm's Wart to overpower the odor from the Frog's Breath.
"W-W-W-What's wrong? I-I thought you liked Frog's Breath?" Sally stuttered.
"Nothing's more suspicious than Frog's Breath!" the doctor exclaimed as he pushed the bowl over to Sally. "Until YOU taste it I won't swallow a spoonful."
He scooped out some of the soup and held it out to Sally, expecting her to follow his command. Unfortunately, this was one of the many times that Sally was absolutely prepared for what's going to happen.
"I'm not hungry." she said as she 'accidentally' knocked the spoon onto the floor. "Oops!"
As she reached down for the spoon, Doctor Finkelstein began to go on a tangent about how old he was and how Sally owed her very life to him, being a complete drama queen while doing so.
"You want me to starve! An old man like me who hardly has strength as it is!"
While the doctor was whining, he didn't notice that Sally had pushed the spoon under the desk and pulled a spoon with holes in it out from her sock. She stood back up just as the doctor finished his little self-pity speech.
"ME! To whom you owe your very life!"
"Oh, don't be silly." Sally mock scolded.
She dipped her new spoon into the soup and watched it dribble out from the holes in the bottom before bringing it to her mouth and pretending to sip.
"Mmm, see? Scrumptious." she said, placing the bowl in front of the doctor.
Seeing that there was 'nothing wrong' with it, the doctor picked up the bowl and began to noisily guzzle down his soup. All the while he missed the smirk on Sally's face as she watched him do so. Such a devious mind from someone who acts so innocent.
Back in the town, the citizens were lying around hopelessly thinking of something they might have missed when searching for Jack. They seemed tired and completely out of ideas. And you know what? They really are out of ideas.
"Did anyone think to dredge the lake?" asked the mayor.
"This morning." yawned one of the Vampires.
That's when a faint sound of barking could be heard. And the first to notice was the tallest Witch sister.
"Hear that?" she asked.
"What?" her shorter sister asked while yawning.
The Tall Witch just shushed her as she held her hat to her ear like a hearing aid. The barking grew louder and was soon joined by another deeper and stronger barking noise. One that was familiar to the people of Halloween Town, who all immediately perked up as they knew who this was and who was likely with them. As proven by how the mayor's head rotated back to his joyful face.
"Zero! And Naga too!" exclaimed the eldest Vampire brother.
The ghostly dog flew through the town gate as it raised to allow a very familiar Polar Bear Dog to trot into town. And close behind them was Jack and Korra, much to the happiness of the citizens who tried to crowd the two while still letting them drive on through.
That's right, I said drive. Jack was driving a snowmobile with a large bag full of things he and Korra had collected from Christmas Town and were now bringing to Halloween Town. And Korra was riding along on top of the bag. Both of them wore goggles and removed them once Jack brought the snow mobile to a halt and put it in park.
"Where have you two been?" asked the Mayor.
"We'll tell everyone about it later, Mayor! Just call a town meeting for tonight!" Korra instructed.
"When?" asked the Mayor, temporarily switching back to his worried persona.
"IMMEDIATELY!" Jack replied with as much enthusiasm as Korra.
A little bit later that day, the big bell in Halloween Town was ringing to signal an important announcement. And this was evident by the mayor slowly driving through town and speaking into his megaphone.
"TOWN MEETING! TOWN MEETING! TOWN MEETING TONIGHT!"
Back in the doctor's lab, the Deadly Nightshade in the soup did its job and put the good doctor to sleep for a little while. Sally just finished draping a blanket over the old man's shoulders as he lay slouched on the table, snoring away. She patted him on his bald head and quietly made her way to the town hall.
That night, everyone was in the town hall waiting patiently for their leader and his young protege to appear and tell them what the big news could possibly be. After a little while, Jack and Korra both walked up onto the stage and up to the podium.
"Listen, everyone!" Jack exclaimed, getting everyone to settle down. "We want to tell you about Christmas Town!"
The lights dimmed and the Mayor turned on the spotlight, causing a small number of bats to fly off away from the light and into the shadows. And as music began to play, Jack started the meeting by singing about his and Korra's discovery.
[Jack]
There were objects so peculiar,
They were not to be believed,
All around, things to tantalize my brain.
Within the audience, the townspeople listened and watched with anticipation as their leader and his second-in-command prepared to tell them just what they had found. Whatever it was, it must have been good.
[Jack]
It's a world unlike anything I've ever seen,
And as hard as I try, I can't seem to describe.
Like a most improbable dream.
But you must believe when I tell you this,
It's as real as my skull and it DOES exist…
"Here, let us show you."
Korra pulled back the curtains of the stage to reveal the many things from Christmas Town that she and Jack had brought. Things like a Christmas Tree, a few presents, a stocking, and a few other things. The citizens gasped in shock and awe. They've never seen anything like all of these things.
Jack picked up the present and began to sing, but he was interrupted by a few of the curious citizens who wanted to know what was so important about these things.
[Jack]
This is a thing called a present.
The whole thing starts with a box…
[Devil, Werewolf, and Harlequin]
A box?
Each of the three monsters rose from their seats as they voice their inquiries about this 'present' thing, not fully understanding the meaning behind it or what could be inside of the box.
[Devil]
Is it steel?
[Werewolf]
Are there locks?
[Harlequin]
Is it filled with a pox?
[All Three]
A pox? How delightful, a pox!
"If you please." Jack said, silently asking for the interruptions to stop.
[Jack]
Just a box with bright-colored paper,
And the whole thing's topped with a bow.
He was interrupted once again when the Witch sisters flew up on their broomsticks and began to harass him about the present, wondering why someone would add something so frilly to a box of all things.
[Tall Witch]
A BOW!?
[Short Witch]
But why?
[Tall Witch]
How ugly!
[Both Witches]
What's in it? What's in it?
[Korra]
That's the point of the thing, not to know.
The present was taken from Jack by a retractable hand being used by the clown with the tearaway face as he, the monster under the stairs, and the undersea girl tried to guess what was inside this mysterious box.
[Clown]
It's a bat!
[Under the Stairs Monster]
Will it bend?
[Clown]
It's a rat!
[Under the Stairs Monster]
Will it break?
[Undersea Girl]
Perhaps it's the head that I found in the lake.
Jack was quick to take back the present and put it on a chair outside the reach of the surprisingly grabby citizens. Town meetings usually never got this out of hand.
[Jack]
Listen now, you don't understand,
That's not the point of Christmas Land.
The spotlight shined down on Korra as she picked up the Christmas stocking and took over the song. She too wanted to share her findings with the town.
"Now, pay attention." she said as she started to sing.
[Korra]
We pick up this really big sock,
And hang it, like this, on the wall.
Mister Hyde walked up to where Korra was on the stage as he too asked his questions. Well, more like he asked the first question, then a smaller version of himself popped out from under his hat, and a smaller version of that one popped out of HIS hat.
[Mister Hyde]
Oh yes, does it still have a foot?
[Medium Hyde]
Let me see, let me look!
[Little Hyde]
Is it rotted and covered with gook?
"Um, let me explain." Korra said as she resumed the song.
[Korra]
There's no foot inside, but there's candy.
Or sometimes it's filled with small toys.
That's when she was interrupted again, but this time by Halloween Town's resident children. Even the mayor joined in on this part of the song, having contained his excitement for as long as he could. Though, it wasn't easy for him to do so.
[Mummy Child and Bat Demon Kid]
Small toys?
[Bat Demon Kid]
Do they bite?
[Mummy Child]
Do they snap?
[Bat Demon Kid]
Or explode in a sack?
[Corpse Kid]
Or perhaps they just spring out,
And scare girls and boys!
[Mayor]
What a splendid idea, this 'Christmas' sounds fun.
I fully endorse it, let's TRYYYYY it at once!
As the mayor sang, he accidentally stepped on a rotten piece of wood and nearly fell from the balcony. Fortunately, he caught himself before he could fall, but he sent the spotlight all over the place before it got back under control.
[Korra]
Everyone, please, now not so fast!
There's something here you don't quite grasp.
The town's citizens started mumbling amongst themselves as they tried to comprehend this whole Christmas thing. It was all so new and strange to them. Why make these presents? Why decorate them with something as frilly and non-threatening as a bow? And why hang up a sock if there's candy and toys in it instead of a dead and decaying foot?
None of this Christmas stuff makes any sense!
Korra and Jack sighed. They had a feeling this would happen and had a contingency plan all laid out for this particular situation.
"Well, we may as well give them what they want." Korra whispered to Jack.
She stalked off the stage and began to sing about the head honcho of Christmas, relaying what she and Jack thought this guy was all about.
[Korra]
And the best, we must confess, we have saved for the last.
For the ruler of this Christmas land,
Is a fearsome king with a deep, strong voice,
Least, that's what we have come to understand.
Korra booped the melting man in the nose before continuing on with her song where she stopped by the Behemoth and pulled out his tongue before letting it snap back into his mouth as she made animated movements to illustrate her story.
[Korra]
And we've also heard it told,
That he is something to behold,
Like a lobster, huge and red.
When he sets out to slay with his rain gear on,
Carrying tons of large sacks in his big, thick arms!
That is, so we've heard it said.
Sally herself looked as though these descriptions didn't fit this holiday leader. Could it be that Jack and Korra didn't get a good enough look at this new holiday's leader and were only going off on speculation? Or had they been misled by someone else? Either way, this just didn't sit well with the rag doll woman.
But Korra wasn't finished explaining, as she hopped back onto the stage, ready to finish the song and end the meeting on a high note.
[Korra]
And on a dark, cold night, under full moon light,
He flies into a fog, like a vulture in the sky…
The citizens were on the edge of their seats with anticipation. Who could this holiday leader be?
As Korra finished the song, the light turned red as she used some of her holiday power to make her features turn even scarier. Her hair ruffled up even more like raven feathers, her eyes turned as red as blood, her teeth grew sharp and serrated as her canines elongated into saber fangs, and her fingernails turned into actual claws as her wings flared out to cast an ominous shadow over her figure.
[Korra]
And they call him, Sandy… CLAWS!
Hn, hn, hn!
The crowd went absolutely nuts at the performance and applauded loud and proud as they praised their beloved leaders. They couldn't wait to see what could be done with this whole Christmas thing, and just how it would tie in with Halloween. As the curtain closed, Korra's features returned to normal as she picked up a snowglobe and shook it a little before setting it on a desk for her and Jack to just stare at.
But still, she felt the song wasn't quite over yet. Not until she conveyed her feelings about how this meeting went.
[Korra]
Well, at least they're excited, but they don't understand,
That warm and fuzzy feeling in Christmas Land.
Oh well.
And so, she and Jack watched the snow fall in the little glass globe that had their attention for quite a while now. Seriously, what is so fascinating about these snow globes? I need to know.
Later that night, in a log cabin out in the Earth Kingdom territory, Korra was staying there in her home away from home, as it were, in her own form of self isolation from everyone who would be pressuring her to preserve the balance their way rather than doing things her way. Namely the bigots of the White Lotus and, to a lesser extent, Tenzin, who can't seem to stop comparing her to her predecessor, Avatar Aang. Lucky for her, she had a special charm on her wrist that would allow her to teleport herself to Halloween Town at will, should she be unable to use one of the conventional entrances. She made it with some help from Jack and Doctor Finkelstein to use in case of emergencies. Once she got a better understanding of her newfound Halloween magical powers, of course.
Anyway, she was currently dressed in a black night dress with long sleeves to keep her warm due to it being close to winter, and a fuzzy nightcap on her head. She was currently sitting in her bed with the lower half of her body under the covers as she was flipping rapidly though Christmas books that she and Jack had 'liberated' on their unexpected trip to Christmas Town. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration as she tried to make heads or tails of the things that were written in these books. As soon as she finished a book called 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' she tossed it aside and took out one titled 'A Christmas Carol' and started to read it.
She hummed in thought, briefly looking up from the book at the many Christmas decorations that now littered her home away from home. Although, it clashed seventeen ways sideways to Sunday with all of the creepy Halloween stuff she had in her cabin, including a working electric chair. Hey, she wasn't about to get rid of any of her gifts from Jack.
A Christmas wreath hung around the neck of a small gargoyle statue while several strings of colorful lights were used to decorate a spider's web as a spider slept in the center of the now warm and colorful web.
...Well, the spider certainly likes it.
And last, but not least, a moderately sized Christmas tree decorated with several ornaments was set up in the corner of her room, her ever faithful Polarbear-Dog companion, Naga, asleep underneath it in her own specially made doggy bed with a candy cane held under her paws. Korra sighed and closed her book before tossing it into the pile.
"Think, Korra, think. There's just got to be a logical way to explain this Christmas thing." she said to herself.
She needed to think for only a brief moment before she smiled as an idea came to mind. Korra doesn't normally do this, but desperate times call for desperate measures. She grabbed a book that she had borrowed from Doctor Finkelstein and forgot to return. A copy of a book titled 'The Scientific Method'. She opened it and began reading intently. She and Jack had a lot of work to do tomorrow, and possibly not a lot of time to do it.
***To Be Continued…***
Ending A/N: And that wraps up this chapter! Please don't forget to leave a review for this story if you haven't already, and go check out some of my other stories, too. I highly recommend these ones in particular: The Avatar and the Time Patroller, The Avatar and the Ed, Yu-Gi-Oh GX 5D's, The Phantom of the Empire, Breaking the Curse of the Nuzlocke, Izuku the Tyrannosaurus, Burning Griffin Hero: Garuda, and Invader Zim: Rise of a New Sith Empire. Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll see you all next update!