Chapter 7: Halloween Town Craziness
When the team disembarked in Halloween Town, they saw that they were dressed in spooky costumes, even Cloud. Riku took the oppertunity to spook Sora at least once.
"Blah! Blah! I vant to suck your blood!" said Riku.
"Ahh!" said Sora as he jumped back.
Cloud and Leon couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Of course, even they were surprised about how they ended up, particularly Cloud who now had purple clawed hands and feet, a long black and purple tail with silver metallic bands around the base of it, large pointed ears, and two horns. He also sprouted another black demonic wing.
"I look like Vincent's Chaos and Galian Beast forms combined..." groaned Cloud.
"Well, at least it'll go away once we leave this world," said Leon.
Leon looked like a bipedal, Purple Lion with Red Scars on it, and a White Mane. He also had red fins sticking out of his head and two red demonlike wings sticking out of his back along with a purple tail with a white tuff of fur at the end of it. His hands were a lot like Cloud's were, as were his feet, but they were furry with small white claws. Riku blinked.
"Leon, just WHAT are you supposed to be?" asked Riku.
"Oh, this?" asked Leon. "It's my personal Guardian Force, Griever. He's a Lion Demon."
"Whoa..." said Sora.
They headed on past Guillotine Square and saw...
"Heartless!" said Riku.
They all got their weapons out, but for some strange reason, none of the Search Ghosts attacked them. Sora blinked.
"You think that because we're in costume that they don't reconize us?" asked Sora.
"They'd reconize us," said Leon. "But, I don't understand why they're just standing around there..."
"Maybe they're being controlled somehow..." said Riku.
Just then, a short, trianglar-looking person with a very long hat appeared, the Mayor of Halloween Town. His face whirled around to show another face as he spoke into a large megaphone.
"And now, let me introduce you to the master of terror, the king of nightmare, the spookiest guy of them all- Jack Skellington!"
A tall, VERY TALL, and very thin figure dressed in a pinstriped tuxedo with a pointy back appeared from the well situated in between the Search Ghosts appeared. He had a skeletal-looking face and boney looking hands as well. The Mayor approached him.
"Bravo, Jack! Those Ghosts will be a hit at this year's Halloween celebration!" said the Mayor.
"Thanks," said Jack, "but their movements don't seem that spine-tingling if you ask me. I'm going to go see the Doctor."
With that Jack left. Riku and the others decided what this "Doctor" had planned for the Heartless there. Maybe they had found out a way to control the Heartless without the use of a heart from a person, as Shade wanted to do. They followed Jack to the lab entrance and listened in as Jack talked to another man who was in a wheelchair.
"I don't understand," said Jack. "What could've gone wrong?"
"That's NONSENSE!" said the wheelchair fellow. "My devices are always perfect!"
Jack thought a bit before snapping his fingers.
"I've got it! The Heartless need a HEART! Doc, can you add a heart to your device?"
"I don't see why not," said the Doctor. "A heart's not that complicated to make anyway..."
Riku and the others blinked. Jack and the others were trying to create a heart to contol the Heartless! Maybe this plan of Jack's would work out after all. But then, it hit a snag as Jack and the Doctor found out that the "heart" had a Keyhole in it, so it wouldn't open.
It was just then that Riku and the others arrived. Sora looked at Riku.
"Riku, you're not SERIOUSLY going to unlock it for them, are you?" asked Sora.
"Sure I am. If they can make the heart, we won't have to fight the Heartless! Then we can go after Shade and save Kairi! Besides, I want to see the Heartless dance, don't you?" asked Riku.
"Not really..." said Leon who made a face.
Riku pointed his Keyblade at the heart to unlock the heart, but nothing happened. Even so, Jack was quite surprised.
"My!" said Jack. "That was quite amazing. What's your name?"
"I'm Riku," said Riku. "These are my friends, Sora, Leon, and Cloud."
"Well done, Riku! Would you and your friends like to be part of this year's Halloween celabration?"
Riku shook his head.
"Sorry, but can you tell us why this Heartless is here?"
"The Heartless?" said Jack. "Well, they came to town just recently. If I could get them under my control, I could have them dance with me at this year's Halloween celebration. But so far, all of our experiments to try to controll them have failed... We're hoping that by making a heart, we'll be able to control them..."
The Doctor tried adding stuff to make a heart but failed. Then he realized that he was missing something that his assistant, Sally had: a memory. Jack asked Riku and the others if they'd accompany him while he went to look for Sally, and they said yes. Then they left the lab.
When they got outside, they found that the Heartless were out of control from the Mayor. Now, they'd have to fight their way to find out where Sally was at. The first place they headed to was the Graveyard where they were introduced to two new types of Heartless: Wight Knights and Gargoyles. After defeating them, Jack's ghost dog, Zero, appeared and led them to where Sally was. After explaining to Sally they needed her "memory", Sally handed over the Forget-Me-Not, which they took back to the Doctor.
What the team didn't know was that Lock, Shock, and Barrel, three trouble-making kids, had overheard what the Doctor was trying to make and went to talk to Oogie Boogie, the villian of Halloween Town, all about it. Oogie Boogie laughed knowing that if he got the heart, he could control the Heartless.
Not knowing about Oogie's plan, Riku and the others took the Forget-Me-Not back to the Doctor to see if the heart would work now. The Doctor told them that there was one more ingredient to make the heart work: the "surprise". He told them to find the Mayor who might know where the "surprise" was at.
Once again, Riku and the others headed to the Graveyard and eventually found the Mayor. He told them about a puzzle they had to solve to find the "surprise".
"Ghosts rise from those tombstones. Check the tombstones in the order the ghosts appear. If you get it right, you're in for a surprise!" said the Mayor.
Riku and Sora decided to do this as a team effort. Sora watched the order the ghosts appeared in, and when the ghosts stop coming, Sora told Riku which ones to examine and in which order. After finding the last ghost, the group heard an explosion in behind them. The Mayor switched to his smiling face.
"Bravo! Check the pumpkin for your surprise!" said the Mayor.
The group did so and found a Jack-in-the-Box which they took back to the Doctor. The Doctor assembled the heart, but before they could test it out, Lock, Shock, and Barrel stole it and ran off. The team took off after them but lost them when they had to start fighting the Heartless again. When they got to the Cemetary, Jack called on Zero to follow the threesome so that they could catch up with them. They eventually saw them in their walking tub heading over a curled-up mountain and heading towards a spooky looking manor which Jack reconized as Oogie Boogie's Manor. Fighting their way to the Evil Playroom, Riku and the others confronted Lock, Shock, and Barrel. After defeating them in battle, the three troublemakers told the group that Oogie had made them steal the heart and that he was in his Torture Chamber room.
Once again, the team had to fight their way down to the Torture Chamber room. Once inside, Jack demanded that Oogie to give back the heart, but Oogie laughed and swallowed the heart. Then he called for the Heartless, but the heroes laughed as only two of the Heartless appeared which really pissed off Oogie. Then the team had to fight Oogie on a giant rotating roulette wheel while dodging the various traps and torturous devices. They found that they could trap Oogie in a section by stepping on jewel making the spikes come up as well as the part they were standing on. Then they could bash Oogie until he knocked them back onto the wheel. This continued for a little bit longer until Oogie litterally had the stuffing knocked out of him. The team soon realized that the heard had a defect and headed out of Oogie's Manor, but Oogie wasn't done yet...
When the heroes got outside, Oogie's Manor grew into a HUGE fighting entity. Riku was shocked.
"How did he get so BIG?!" said Riku.
Jack pointed to the dark globs on the Mansion.
"That's how! He's brimming with darkness and drawing on those dark globs for power!" said Jack.
"So, if we destroy those globs, we'll be able to defeat him?" asked Sora.
"Most likely," said Riku. "Let's go!"
Just like back on Besaid Island, the heroes split up to cover more ground and attack from multiple areas at once. Also, it was situated where if either Riku or Sora fell there would be someone there to catch them since several of the globs were on very thin ledges. After all of the globs were destroyed, Oogie's Manor collasped, and the team found a Keyhole. Sora and Riku knew exactly what to do next. They pointed their Keyblades at the Keyhole, and two beams of light shot out from the two Keyblades before the sound of a lock locking was heard. Now it was safe to say that Halloween Town wouldn't be having any more Heartless invading it. Jack then gave Sora a Pumpkinhead keychain and told them to come visit them for the next Halloween celabration. Waving good-bye to Jack, Sally, Zero, the Doctor, and the Mayor, the heroes headed to the Gummi Ship and onto the next world that needed locking.
When the team disembarked in Halloween Town, they saw that they were dressed in spooky costumes, even Cloud. Riku took the oppertunity to spook Sora at least once.
"Blah! Blah! I vant to suck your blood!" said Riku.
"Ahh!" said Sora as he jumped back.
Cloud and Leon couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Of course, even they were surprised about how they ended up, particularly Cloud who now had purple clawed hands and feet, a long black and purple tail with silver metallic bands around the base of it, large pointed ears, and two horns. He also sprouted another black demonic wing.
"I look like Vincent's Chaos and Galian Beast forms combined..." groaned Cloud.
"Well, at least it'll go away once we leave this world," said Leon.
Leon looked like a bipedal, Purple Lion with Red Scars on it, and a White Mane. He also had red fins sticking out of his head and two red demonlike wings sticking out of his back along with a purple tail with a white tuff of fur at the end of it. His hands were a lot like Cloud's were, as were his feet, but they were furry with small white claws. Riku blinked.
"Leon, just WHAT are you supposed to be?" asked Riku.
"Oh, this?" asked Leon. "It's my personal Guardian Force, Griever. He's a Lion Demon."
"Whoa..." said Sora.
They headed on past Guillotine Square and saw...
"Heartless!" said Riku.
They all got their weapons out, but for some strange reason, none of the Search Ghosts attacked them. Sora blinked.
"You think that because we're in costume that they don't reconize us?" asked Sora.
"They'd reconize us," said Leon. "But, I don't understand why they're just standing around there..."
"Maybe they're being controlled somehow..." said Riku.
Just then, a short, trianglar-looking person with a very long hat appeared, the Mayor of Halloween Town. His face whirled around to show another face as he spoke into a large megaphone.
"And now, let me introduce you to the master of terror, the king of nightmare, the spookiest guy of them all- Jack Skellington!"
A tall, VERY TALL, and very thin figure dressed in a pinstriped tuxedo with a pointy back appeared from the well situated in between the Search Ghosts appeared. He had a skeletal-looking face and boney looking hands as well. The Mayor approached him.
"Bravo, Jack! Those Ghosts will be a hit at this year's Halloween celebration!" said the Mayor.
"Thanks," said Jack, "but their movements don't seem that spine-tingling if you ask me. I'm going to go see the Doctor."
With that Jack left. Riku and the others decided what this "Doctor" had planned for the Heartless there. Maybe they had found out a way to control the Heartless without the use of a heart from a person, as Shade wanted to do. They followed Jack to the lab entrance and listened in as Jack talked to another man who was in a wheelchair.
"I don't understand," said Jack. "What could've gone wrong?"
"That's NONSENSE!" said the wheelchair fellow. "My devices are always perfect!"
Jack thought a bit before snapping his fingers.
"I've got it! The Heartless need a HEART! Doc, can you add a heart to your device?"
"I don't see why not," said the Doctor. "A heart's not that complicated to make anyway..."
Riku and the others blinked. Jack and the others were trying to create a heart to contol the Heartless! Maybe this plan of Jack's would work out after all. But then, it hit a snag as Jack and the Doctor found out that the "heart" had a Keyhole in it, so it wouldn't open.
It was just then that Riku and the others arrived. Sora looked at Riku.
"Riku, you're not SERIOUSLY going to unlock it for them, are you?" asked Sora.
"Sure I am. If they can make the heart, we won't have to fight the Heartless! Then we can go after Shade and save Kairi! Besides, I want to see the Heartless dance, don't you?" asked Riku.
"Not really..." said Leon who made a face.
Riku pointed his Keyblade at the heart to unlock the heart, but nothing happened. Even so, Jack was quite surprised.
"My!" said Jack. "That was quite amazing. What's your name?"
"I'm Riku," said Riku. "These are my friends, Sora, Leon, and Cloud."
"Well done, Riku! Would you and your friends like to be part of this year's Halloween celabration?"
Riku shook his head.
"Sorry, but can you tell us why this Heartless is here?"
"The Heartless?" said Jack. "Well, they came to town just recently. If I could get them under my control, I could have them dance with me at this year's Halloween celebration. But so far, all of our experiments to try to controll them have failed... We're hoping that by making a heart, we'll be able to control them..."
The Doctor tried adding stuff to make a heart but failed. Then he realized that he was missing something that his assistant, Sally had: a memory. Jack asked Riku and the others if they'd accompany him while he went to look for Sally, and they said yes. Then they left the lab.
When they got outside, they found that the Heartless were out of control from the Mayor. Now, they'd have to fight their way to find out where Sally was at. The first place they headed to was the Graveyard where they were introduced to two new types of Heartless: Wight Knights and Gargoyles. After defeating them, Jack's ghost dog, Zero, appeared and led them to where Sally was. After explaining to Sally they needed her "memory", Sally handed over the Forget-Me-Not, which they took back to the Doctor.
What the team didn't know was that Lock, Shock, and Barrel, three trouble-making kids, had overheard what the Doctor was trying to make and went to talk to Oogie Boogie, the villian of Halloween Town, all about it. Oogie Boogie laughed knowing that if he got the heart, he could control the Heartless.
Not knowing about Oogie's plan, Riku and the others took the Forget-Me-Not back to the Doctor to see if the heart would work now. The Doctor told them that there was one more ingredient to make the heart work: the "surprise". He told them to find the Mayor who might know where the "surprise" was at.
Once again, Riku and the others headed to the Graveyard and eventually found the Mayor. He told them about a puzzle they had to solve to find the "surprise".
"Ghosts rise from those tombstones. Check the tombstones in the order the ghosts appear. If you get it right, you're in for a surprise!" said the Mayor.
Riku and Sora decided to do this as a team effort. Sora watched the order the ghosts appeared in, and when the ghosts stop coming, Sora told Riku which ones to examine and in which order. After finding the last ghost, the group heard an explosion in behind them. The Mayor switched to his smiling face.
"Bravo! Check the pumpkin for your surprise!" said the Mayor.
The group did so and found a Jack-in-the-Box which they took back to the Doctor. The Doctor assembled the heart, but before they could test it out, Lock, Shock, and Barrel stole it and ran off. The team took off after them but lost them when they had to start fighting the Heartless again. When they got to the Cemetary, Jack called on Zero to follow the threesome so that they could catch up with them. They eventually saw them in their walking tub heading over a curled-up mountain and heading towards a spooky looking manor which Jack reconized as Oogie Boogie's Manor. Fighting their way to the Evil Playroom, Riku and the others confronted Lock, Shock, and Barrel. After defeating them in battle, the three troublemakers told the group that Oogie had made them steal the heart and that he was in his Torture Chamber room.
Once again, the team had to fight their way down to the Torture Chamber room. Once inside, Jack demanded that Oogie to give back the heart, but Oogie laughed and swallowed the heart. Then he called for the Heartless, but the heroes laughed as only two of the Heartless appeared which really pissed off Oogie. Then the team had to fight Oogie on a giant rotating roulette wheel while dodging the various traps and torturous devices. They found that they could trap Oogie in a section by stepping on jewel making the spikes come up as well as the part they were standing on. Then they could bash Oogie until he knocked them back onto the wheel. This continued for a little bit longer until Oogie litterally had the stuffing knocked out of him. The team soon realized that the heard had a defect and headed out of Oogie's Manor, but Oogie wasn't done yet...
When the heroes got outside, Oogie's Manor grew into a HUGE fighting entity. Riku was shocked.
"How did he get so BIG?!" said Riku.
Jack pointed to the dark globs on the Mansion.
"That's how! He's brimming with darkness and drawing on those dark globs for power!" said Jack.
"So, if we destroy those globs, we'll be able to defeat him?" asked Sora.
"Most likely," said Riku. "Let's go!"
Just like back on Besaid Island, the heroes split up to cover more ground and attack from multiple areas at once. Also, it was situated where if either Riku or Sora fell there would be someone there to catch them since several of the globs were on very thin ledges. After all of the globs were destroyed, Oogie's Manor collasped, and the team found a Keyhole. Sora and Riku knew exactly what to do next. They pointed their Keyblades at the Keyhole, and two beams of light shot out from the two Keyblades before the sound of a lock locking was heard. Now it was safe to say that Halloween Town wouldn't be having any more Heartless invading it. Jack then gave Sora a Pumpkinhead keychain and told them to come visit them for the next Halloween celabration. Waving good-bye to Jack, Sally, Zero, the Doctor, and the Mayor, the heroes headed to the Gummi Ship and onto the next world that needed locking.