Author's Note: New chapter time! Hope it wasn't too long a wait for everyone. Now, the owners of the original Nightmare Before Christmas are as follows: Mr. Burton for the original story, Mr. Elfman for the awesome music, Disney and Touchstone Pictures for putting the movie in theaters, and Capcom for making a game out of it. This particular plotline came from me, and yes, I do own my head and all the lovely brainmeats it contains. Thank you and enjoy the show.

It didn't take long at all for the Council of Celebrations to gather in front of Venus' Temple. As for the Goddess herself, she had reentered to ready herself for the upcoming battle. When she appeared once again, her arms and legs were covered with golden plates, along with a chest piece bearing the large insignia of a heart. However, she was missing something.

"Shouldn't you wear a helmet?" Santa Claus asked.

"And ruin my hair?" Venus asked, "Besides, I am immortal, remember?"

"So is Eris," Saint Valentine added bluntly.

"Oh, believe me, the punishment I have for her is farworse than death."

"I had no idea the Goddess of Love could be so sadistic," Rabbi Tevel said.

"Cupid!" Venus called, watching as her son flew to her side, "Remember, aim for Jack's head. When he falls asleep, bring him back here. Psyche should be able to heal him."

"Must he go so soon?" Psyche pouted.

"I will be back this time. Honestly, Love," Cupid said sheepishly as he grabbed his wife's hands.

"Then I will wait for you. Stay away from puddles."

"Yes, Dear."

"What about us?" Shock asked as she motioned to her cohorts.

"You three have done enough damage," Santa Claus said.

"Oh come on! You can't just leave us here!" Lock exclaimed.

"We'll be good!" Barrel exclaimed, "But not that good."

"Do you know where all of these villains are hiding?" Saint Patrick asked.

"Of course! We took them to Halloween Town ourselves," Shock said.

"Then you can take us there."

"Fine then. Follow us," Barrel said.

"And if you fall behind, we're leaving you," Lock threatened as he and Shock followed their partner in crime.

One by one, each person followed Lock, Shock, and Barrel. First, the members of the Council of Celebrations, then Venus. All who were left were Sally, Kitty, and Zero. The three of them seemed frightened of what might be found back in their home. However, Sally wanted one last word with three of the Valentine Townsfolk before she went anywhere.

"Cupid, don't hurt Jack," Sally said.

"The arrow will only put him in a slumber, nothing more or less. I promise."

"Psyche, could you keep Zero here? Jack will want to see someone familiar when he wakes up."

"I'll take care of him for the time being. Isn't that right?" Psyche asked Zero as the ghostly dog gazed lazily into the distance as the goddess pet him.

"Mr. Valentine, sir, Jack means well, really."

"I know he does. Maybe with a good woman like you talking some sense to him, these little mishaps will stop," Saint Valentine said.

"Let's go, Kitty. We don't want to lag too far behind," Sally said as she started to walk off.

"See you around, Zero," Kitty said to the dog, who licked her in response, "Not again," the cat girl said to herself as she followed Sally and wiped the slobber from her cheek.

With that, the last members of the group left Valentine Town. Cupid took this as his signal to take off into the skies and begin his search for Jack. All the while, Halloween Town was quiet. Even this quiet was deemed too chilling for its residents. Perhaps because all of them were being led into what was once known as Oogie Boogie's Lair. As eyes leered at them from the shadows, their worst fears were realized.

"Well, well, well. Hello everybody," Oogie Boogie said as he walked in front of the townsfolk, "What's the matter, scared?" he asked with a belly laugh.

"You're alive!" the Mayor exclaimed, his Unhappy Face displaying the utter confusion and dread everyone else felt.

"You say that like it's a bad thing, ya old Two-Face."

"That's because it is. Makes me wanna play the blues," said the accordion player.

"Did I hear someone disrespecting me!" Oogie yelled, "In case any of you haven't noticed, boneheaded Jack Skellington isn't around here. That makes me Pumpkin King."

"You can't just do that! It's preposterous," Doctor Finkelstein exclaimed.

"Oh, but I am doing it. And I'm gonna get away with it too!" Oogie said as he let out another hearty laugh.

"Excuse me, but I believe I deserve some credit," said Eris as she walked to Oogie Boogie's right side.

"Oh, right. This is Eris. She's your new Pumpkin Queen," Oogie said before Eris elbowed him, "Come on, baby. It can work."

"We have a deal Oogie. I help you rule Halloween Town, now you help me conquer every other Holiday Land. That is all."

"Fine, Sally can be my queen now."

"Don't you lay a hand on her!"

"No problem, Doc. I don't consider these hands!"

"Oogie, do what you will with these people and get it over with. I want to get out of this place as soon as possible."

"Come on, now. I have a right, as the new and better Pumpkin King, to punish these impudent subjects of mine as I please. What will I do?" Oogie asked himself as he started to shake a pair of dice, "Anything less than a seven, and you can all serve your king without any complaints, anything higher, and you get to be burned to a crisp in the hot lava underneath the floor you're standing on."

"What if you get a seven?" asked the saxophone player.

"You're first in the lava."

"Aw, man."

"Nice going." said the musician in the bass.

"Wait a minute," Eris said, "Something's not right here."

"What are you talking about? I'm the Pumpkin King and I say everything's going perfectly."

"Fine, Your Majesty. Then explain why sunlight is pouring in through that pipe."

"Sunlight?" Oogie Boogie asked as he turned to the left, where Eris was pointing.

An insect-feeding pipe led from the upper reaches of the Treehouse to the lair. Up until this point, only the silvery luminance of the moon managed to seep through. However, instead of silver, the light seeping in was a faint yellow, of a sun rising after a long period of rest. Oogie wasn't too happy about this.

"Those friends of yours are slacking off. Get them in here."

"I thought everything was going perfectly," Eris said with a smug smile.

"I said get them in here!"

"No need to raise your voice. I will return, and please, have these people either obeying you or dead when I come back."

"You heard the lady," Oogie Boogie said as he let the dice fall to the ground.

As nearly all of Halloween Town waited for their fate to be decided by two small cubes, the sun finally rose in the Real World. Up in the skies, Cupid returned to his domain. Only now, he was on a completely different mission. He sighed sadly at the ruined world beneath him and figured a few arrows of love wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Let's see, one for you," Cupid said as he fired an arrow at a man with a lead pipe. "One for you, and one for you." he continued as he shot arrows at a bickering couple, "Now, is this better or not?"

Cupid, used to being invisible, wasn't used to receiving an answer from anyone. However, he was surprised when he saw three arrows of Hate pierce the three people he just cured. When he looked above him, he caught a glimpse of a black-winged figure flying away from the scene. The god smiled to himself as he followed in hot pursuit. But, as he was about to find out, he was not the only one chasing Jack.

"Lord Cupid!" a young female voice exclaimed from behind the deity.

"A cherub? My mother sent you after this creature?" Cupid asked in disbelief.

"Well, not alone," said the female cherub as she motioned her head behind them.

"How many of you are here?" Cupid said as he looked back.

"Ten. We were so worried about you."

"Have you weakened him in any way?"

"We tried, but he is just too strong for all of us. We wanted to get him before the mortals do."

"The mortals are after him?"

"The ones that are not poisoned with Hate. They shoot at him all the time, and the Hate Bringer never seems to notice."

"Listen, I need all of you to distract him. I have something that will take him down."

The cherub nodded and flew back to the other cherubs following the God of Love. In a few moments, Cupid hovered in midair and watched as they soared ahead of him and managed to bring the black-feathered menace to a halt. Cupid took his aim and fired only to watch Jack catch it in his right hand.

"You didn't think this could stop me, did you?" Jack asked Cupid with a sneer, "I'm just going to turn it into another arrow of Hate. Watch."

"Your powers cannot work on that arrow." Cupid said as Jack tried to turn its feathers black.

"They've worked on every other arrow."

"This one is special."

"What do you know of this!" Jack yelled, frustrated that he had no power over the arrow and shoved it in his quiver.

"Surely you jest. I am the Deliverer of Love Himself, and I would appreciate it if I had my job back."

"You won't be able to do so well if one of these strikes you." Jack said as he took an black-tipped arrow from his quiver and aimed it at Cupid.

"Your antics would be funny if you were not so serious. I am the God of Love. I have been flying before I could walk. You will never be able to hit me," Cupid teased.

This enraged the true Pumpkin King even further and caused him to start firing. Despite being an excellent flyer, Cupid had to go farther and faster in order to avoid the arrows. As they flew above the Earth, the cherubs managed to sneak the arrow out of Jack's quiver without him noticing its disappearance. At one point, Jack had Cupid cornered amongst skyscrapers without realizing he was the one in peril.

"This is the end for you," Jack said.

"I am afraid that your reign of hatred ends here," Cupid said, "Restrain him!"

What! Let go of me!" Jack exclaimed as a team of nine cherubs gabbed his arms and legs, removed his wings, and seized his quiver and bow.

"Please do the honors, Lord Cupid," one of the male cherubs said as he handed the deity the arrow.

"You were good competition, Jack, but you will thank me for this," Cupid said as he readied the arrow and then let it fly.

The arrow hit Jack's cheek, ricocheted off of the skull, and then hit Cupid on the left shoulder. The group of cherubs watched as Jack fell asleep in their arms, only to be followed by Cupid moments later. Half of them managed to grab the god and fly him back to Valentine Town in his slumbering state. It took a while, but they reached Valentine Town, which was all a flutter with the long missed sunlight.

"Cupid? What happened?" Psyche asked as she walked over to her groggy husband.

"Psyche, be a dear and-" Cupid started before he yawned, "And cure Jack. He has been under Eris' influence for much too long," he finished as he fell to sleep once more.

"He hit himself with the arrow," one of the cherubs stated.

"Not again," Psyche sighed, "Well, bring both of them inside. It seems I have a lot of work to do."

The flying infants placed Jack and Cupid on two beds in the same room. Psyche and Zero walked inside while Saint Valentine stood at the doorway. The spectral dog tried to wake his master by pressing his nose to his face. When Jack didn't awaken, Zero whined sadly.

"Don't cry, I'll help him."

"What is it that you plan on doing?" Saint Valentine asked.

"After being so intent on forcing everyone around him to hate, Jack must be confused. I'm going to tap into his thoughts."

"From out here?"

"Saint Valentine, I ask that you please be quiet. Entering another person's mind needs complete focus and quiet in order to be successful."

With that, the goddess placed her hands on Jack's skull and began to breathe softly. She slowed her breathing until it seemed that she was not taking any air in at all. Valentine walked over to see if she was alright, only to jump back when she opened her eyes. Instead of being brown with black pupils, Psyche's eyes were a pure white. She was clearly in Jack's mind now.

Oooh, Psyche's gone into a spooky trance. Hopefully, she'll make Jack all better and good again. But what will she find in his brain? What number will Oogie Boogie roll back in Halloween Town? And was the sunlight caused by laziness or a victory for the good guys? Find out next time as the story continues. (Re-edit Comment: I'd forgotten how interesting that fight between Cupid and Jack had been.)