Author's Note: Guess what? I got a new computer! Faster, better, and more capable of delivering fresh chapters. Speaking of which, I think I'm a bit overdue on that last one. As I remember, Mr. Burton, Mr. Elfman, Disney, Touchstone Pictures, and Capcom have all contributed to the original film. This is still fanfiction, which continues now.
If there was one person who could keep the gods and goddesses on a tight schedule, it was Valentine. Within moments, Psyche had brought in a cauldron filled with fresh water along with some chamomile. Cupid followed behind her, balancing incense and a load of wood in his hands. All the while, Saint Valentine had been speaking with the rag doll from Halloween Town and her strange companions.
"So, you know that skeleton?" Saint Valentine asked Sally in a curious tone, "You seem so civil compared to him."
"His name is Jack," Sally said with a hint of defiance in her voice.
"You love him. I can tell by the way you defend him."
"I know what Jack is doing is wrong, but he really is a good person deep down."
"Oh yes, definitely love. No mistake about it. You obviously have won over your doubts."
"How do you know I had doubts?"
"Well, it was due to the lack of communication. Sorry about that."
"I thought we weren't allowed to travel to other worlds yet," Jacob said, obviously eavesdropping.
"I can see things without having to travel, good sir. I can prove it right now," Valentine said as he walked over to the cauldron, watching as everyone gathered around him, "Lord, grant me thy sight."
The cauldron, which had been filled during Valentine's chat with Sally now began to bubble. What was once clear water became nearly black with starry spots, with puffy clouds floating midair. Every once in a while were formations of hearts of cherubs in flight. Venus immediately knew what this was.
"Valentine, I already know what our sky looks like," the Goddess said in an irritated tone.
"Patience is a virtue."
"One my mother does not have," Cupid pointed out, earning him a smack on the back of his head.
"Yes, well, it takes time for this technique to work. Now, is it agreed that we want to see what Jack is doing at this instant?"
The collective crowd nodded their heads. Valentine then put his hands over the water and closed his eyes in a deep focus. Without any outside force, the water in the cauldron began to swirl at a fast pace. When it stopped, the sky it portrayed was no longer star-filled or peaceful. It was a gray of an early, wintry night. The scenery below was of a small town, where mortal residents were still walking about, minding their own business.
"I don't see anything wrong with this picture," Tevel said.
"You will, believe me."
"Something wrong?" Jacob asked the Easter Bunny, who perked up suddenly.
"Seems like he heard something," Santa Claus said as the rabbit stared intently into the cauldron.
"It must be coming from there, but I don't hear it," Psyche said.
It didn't take long until everyone did hear it. What the Easter Bunny heard was a relentless cackle coming from the cauldron. However, the one making the sound was none other than Jack himself. In the next few moments, the bewitched Pumpkin King flew into view and dove into the town. Since he was not Cupid, people could see him, and they screamed when they did.
The cauldron changed the view to ground level. The focus was now on a group of male friends walking out of a tavern after a night out. They stopped in their tracks when they saw a black-winged skeleton in their path, but that was all they could do. Jack shot each one of them with arrows of pure hate. By the time he left for more victims, the friends were now fighting and beating each other with anything they could grab.
"This is horrible!" Sally exclaimed.
"He has already covered many small towns all over the world. Things will only worsen once he reaches major cities," Saint Valentine said.
"Oh, this is all my fault," Venus said.
"No, it's Eris'. She caused all of this," Sally said.
"Who's Eris?" Kitty asked Sally.
"A very wicked goddess," Cupid answered, "Now that I think about, creating all of this havoc would please her in a great way."
"I think I saw her once. She said I should keep my mouth shut about seeing her or she'd break my neck."
"Eris is a horrible person to reckon with, but we have to. Valentine, thank you for this insight. Now, I have to make the Arrow of Slumber," Venus said, "Son, you may have just gotten home, but I need my best messenger to deliver this arrow. Do not mess up this time!"
"I love you too, Mother," Cupid said cynically.
"Everyone else, out. This is strictly business going on here," Venus said as she made shooing motions with her hands.
With a collective sigh, everyone filed out of the room until only Venus and Cupid were left to tend to their work. From there, everyone took different paths. Tevel, Jacob, and the Easter Bunny decided to sit by the lake and stare at the peaceful sky while Valentine was getting reacquainted with Saint Patrick and Santa Claus. Meanwhile, Sally, Psyche, Kitty and Zero sat on the steps of the Temple, wondering how everything had gone so wrong.
"This has never happened here before," Psyche said as she patted Zero on the head, "Eris was always in the shadows doing minor things. But never anything so evil."
"Jack can be so naive. That's something I love about him. But when I saw him in the cauldron, he looked so fierce," Sally said.
"It has to be a spell. From what you told me, he would never do anything so foul out of his own accord."
"I know. Why did this have to happen to us?"
"The Fates do strange things sometimes."
"Does anyone else here smell cookies?" Kitty asked as she sniffed the air.
Before either Psyche or Sally could reply to Kitty's odd question, a flash of cherub nearly made its way into the Temple. Psyche grabbed the cherub before it could enter, knowing Venus would not like any distractions. To her surprise, this particular cherub seemed very annoyed.
"Lady Psyche, can I PLEASE enter the Temple? I need to ask Lady Venus to let me stay here for a long while," the cherub asked in a distinctly young male voice.
"Why is that?" Psyche asked.
"Well, I was at Mr. Claus' home to inform his wife of his whereabouts, as usual. Then, Mrs. Claus tells me to accompany three monsters here. They're terrible! Making fun of my wings and throwing rocks at me. I want to stay here for a long rest."
"What did these monsters look like?" Sally asked.
"Don't bother asking, they were following me. They should be here any minute now," the cherub said as it fell into Psyche's lap and was licked by Zero, "Hey! That tickles!"
"The cookie smell's getting stronger," Kitty mentioned as three short figures approached the ones sitting on the Temple steps.
"About time, you stupid flying baby," Lock said to the cherub.
"Oh, I thought you were lost in the woods forever," the cherub said disappointedly as he flew off to safety.
"Hey, look. It's Jack's girlfriend," Barrel pointed out.
"Do you know where the Lobster Man is?" Shock asked Sally, "If you don't, someone's gonna get hurt."
"Santa Claus is busy right now," Sally said.
"Well he better get un-busy! We need to talk," Lock said.
"Yeah. We wanna take down Oogie Boogie," Barrel said before Shock smacked him with her mask.
"Must you tell EVERYONE what we wanna do?"
"If it's important, then of course," Santa Claus said as his shadow covered Lock, Shock, and Barrel, "Well, if it isn't the naughtiest children I have ever seen. My wife must have fed you. You smell of gingerbread."
"Listen, Sandy, you beat Oogie Boogie last time, so you need to help us beat him this time," Lock demanded.
"Why should I do that?"
"Because we'll be forced to do all his dirty work instead of egg people's houses or get to use any of the weapons we have in out treehouse," Barrel said.
"Those aren't good reasons at all."
"Because we'll beat you to a pulp if you don't help us?" Shock asked.
"Still not a good reason."
"Fine! Because we want to have the old Halloween Town back, because then we still have people to bug," Lock said, trying to hide any inkling of goodness he showed.
"I can help you for that."
"Good, because all the bad guys from all the other worlds are in Halloween town right now and probably doing some really bad stuff," Barrel said.
When Barrel said this, nearly everyone who was around fell silent. Once again, Shock smacked him with her mask. But this wasn't enough to stop the questions of why all of the Holiday villains were in Halloween Town. By then, Lock, Shock, and Barrel had to tell them everything in order to make any progress. Eris and Oogie's alliance, their journeys to other worlds, and the brewing trouble in Halloween Town were all told in a matter of minutes.
"You guys have done a lot of bad stuff," Kitty said, amazed at all the trio had accomplished.
"Shut up, Scaredy Cat," Lock said.
"The point is that we are all in this together," Santa Claus said, "In order to take down everyone, we need to combine what we have and use it.
"Good news, everyone!" Venus yelled as she appeared at the Temple entrance, "I finished the arrow, and Cupid is ready to go into the Real World."
"Good, because we have a large battle on our hands."
"We do?" Venus asked.
"Eris has called every evil force in our worlds to work together. We have to defeat all of them now."
"That is it! I'm going with all of you."
"Excuse me?" Psyche asked.
"I may be the Goddess of Love, but I will fight to preserve it if necessary. I would count this as necessary. Would you, Psyche?"
"Yes, I do. You are right. Good luck, Lady Venus."
"I'll gather everyone in our party. We are leaving for Halloween Town right now. This madness ends here," Santa Claus said.
Wow, serious talk for Old Saint Nick, eh? When will Cupid face off with Jack? Can our heroes take down the serious evil in Halloween Town? Does Eris have any more tricks up her sleeve? Find out when the next chapter comes along. (Re-edit Comment: Awww, this is the point where everything's getting fixed. Ok, maybe it's good this story is obscenely long.)