Jack took his foul mood to the graveyard, where he sat on top of the hill with only the pair of black-feathered wings as company. Sally was not that hideous creature Doctor Finkelstein portrayed her as. Yet a horrible voice at the back of his head said to heed the doctor's warning. Jack sighed as he looked at a wandering cat girl, picking plants in the pumpkin patch.
"Hello down there!" Jack exclaimed. He watched as the girl dropped her findings and hid behind a large pumpkin.
"I'm just picking flowers. You don't have a broomstick, do you?" the girl asked from behind the pumpkin.
"No. Just a pair of wings," Jack said as the hill uncurled and allowed him to walk to the girl, "Who might you be?"
"Nobody."
"Come on now. Everyone's somebody here. Are you a new trick-or-treater?"
"No."
"Come to think of it, you do look too innocent to be a trick-or-treater. Joining the band?"
"Not that."
"You're working on the plans for Valentine's Day then?"
"Huh?"
"Hmmm, I guess not. Well, if you really want some good plants, try the gravestones before the hill. They're great for brews and such."
"Thank you," she said to Jack as she poked her head out from behind the pumpkin.
"You're welcome, you little Scaredy Cat," Jack said teasingly.
"I'm not a Scaredy Cat, I'm just careful."
"Good for you... um..."
"Kitty. People call me Kitty."
"Right, Kitty. I'm Jack-"
"Skeleton Jack, King of the Pumpkin Patch, a very special guy," Kitty finished.
"New here and you've been drilled already," Jack sighed. "Oh well, take care, Kitty," Jack said before he walked off.
"Valentine's Day?" Kitty asked herself curiously when Jack left, "I better ask Sally what that is when I'm done."
With that thought fresh in her mind, the cat girl followed Jack's advice and busied herself in the deceased flowerbeds before the hill. As for the giver of advice, Jack had made his way to the center of the forest, where the holidays crossed paths. Here, he felt secure enough to strip down to only a pair of orange, skull printed boxers and the wings on his back, via straps that made them look like part of an elaborate backpack.
"This is only a test of the wings. Nothing more, Jack., the blushing skeleton said to himself. "Besides, I have to show some sk-bone. Venus said so," he resolved.
Through his extra self-coaxing, Jack was now able to focus on how to get the wings to start. He jumped at first, then figured the wings worked through a spoken password, allowing them to move. Jack said everything from 'Abracadabra' to 'Up, Up and Away!', but no word got the wings to operate. Jack, feeling foolish standing in only his underwear and a pair of wings in the middle of a cold day in the woods, leaned his back against a tree forcefully, hearing something click.
"Stupid me!" Jack exclaimed to himself as he turned around to see that something had fallen out of some compartment on the bottom of the wings.
He picked up a belt, its sash black and its buckle depicting a silver raven. Jack put in on around his nearly nonexistent waist as if by instinct. When he touched the raven, it began to glow, and the wings began to move. Before the Pumpkin King knew what he was getting into, he was hovering high above the woods, looking down on what he had left behind.
"Amazing!" Jack exclaimed as he looked towards Halloween Town. When he reached for the far off village with his arm, the wings moved in that direction. "I see now," Jack said to himself with a joyful grin.
Forgetting all embarrassment and shyness from before, Jack stretched his arms higher toward the sky, taking off even higher into the air. Then he focused them towards Halloween Town. Faster and faster he went, cackling all the way. The Pumpkin King felt himself to be a master of the sky. At least, until he crashed straight into the clock in the center of town and then fell to the cobblestone streets.
"Jack! Have you any decency!" the Mayor yelled, Unhappy Face in a grimace as he ran to the fallen Jack.
"Decency?" Jack asked in a woozy state as he got up, now realizing he was in the center of town, in his underwear.
"Oh, you're practicing. Carry on," the Mayor said as his face switched to happiness, ignoring the horrified look on Jack's face.
"Yes, you heard the Mayor, everyone," Jack said to the mostly female crowd beginning to form. "I'll be off now. Please put that money away, I'm not selling anything."
"Nice threads, Bone Daddy," the sax player from the traveling band said, causing silent giggles to surge throughout the crowd.
"Yes, funny," Jack said, a blush creeping across his face again. "I just blew a little off course, that's all. Nothing to see."
"I disagree with that, Jack," a random female voice spoke from the crowd.
"Anyway, I have to go back to practicing," Jack said, ignoring the remark, "I'm sure all of you have plenty of work to do. We're two weeks away from the big day. We can do this!"
The crowd cheered as Jack rose into the air like their own personal angel. They waved to him as he flew off to sharpen his flying skills. However, one stood in place when the rest of the crowd left.
"Big day? What is he up to?" Sally asked herself as Jack's figure disappeared into the clouds.
Ooooooh, the plot thickens! So, Jack Fangirls, how'd you like them candy apples? You think this is suspenseful, just wait until what happens later. Hopefully, I'll get that part up sooner than this one. (Re-edit Comment: I loved writing this chapter. I guess this is karma striking Jack back for the time Billy ran out of the frat party in his underwear.)