Author's Note: Hmmm, whatever will I do with this free time? I know! I'll write an insanely long disclaimer, then add another chapter! Sound good to all of you? I hope so. We all know this by now, but I don't have much money and hence can't afford to be sued. The Nightmare Before Christmas is and was a story that came to form in Mr. Burton's head, given music by Mr. Elfman, financed by Disney, put in theaters through Touchstone pictures, and currently being made into a game by Capcom. Saints, deities, and other whimsical creatures featured in this story either appeared in the movie, were made up by people who lived thousands of years ago, or just popped out of my head. How they're put together was my idea unless I'm otherwise notified. If your eyes don't hurt from reading all of that, then kudos for you and enjoy this chapter.

Psyche found herself wrapped in nothing but dark, winding paths. She had gone into minds before, but none of them were this spooky. Usually, there were doubts and gossip floating about, but nothing worse. Psyche nearly went back to her own mind when a group of bats flew over her head.

"I wonder if this is normal for him," the goddess said to herself as she walked around dead trees and ignored the hooting of owls, "If this is what he likes, I'm not sure I'd like to find out what scares him."

She continued walking until she saw a clearing. It was a circle of trees, where there was the one light in Jack's mind. However, that was all the brightness she found. As Psyche stepped closer and closer to the clearing, she saw two figures. One seemed to be pinned to a tree by something while the other stood in front of it. Psyche's curiosity forced her to hide behind a dead tree and see who they were. To her surprise, both of them were Jack.

The first Jack was wearing a black suit. He was the one pinned to the tree with arrows. Behind his form, Psyche could make out the giant shape of a heart. The other Jack was the one Psyche had seen the cherubs carry in. His winged form smirked at the first Jack as he prepared another arrow.

"Poor Jack, so confused by this trivial emotion," said the winged Jack as he shot another arrow, which landed between two imbedded in Jack's chest, "Hate is so much easier to understand."

"Hate is terrible. I won't give in to you!"

"You already have. You hardly put up a fight when I pinned you here in the first place. You stopped believing in love for one second, and then I took over."

"I never stopped believing," the first Jack said.

"Go on, be stubborn. It's not as if you're ever going to leave that tree. You'll spend eternity there with your fake love symbol and I'll be in control," the winged Jack said as he heard a rustling, "Who's there!"

"Sorry, gentlemen. I just happened to wander into these woods by accident. I'll be leaving you alone now," Psyche said as she came out into the open.

"Oh no you don't. You've seen too much."

"Leave her alone. She has nothing to do with this."

"Be quiet! Don't make me shoot you again."

"Jack, you're not going to let this imposter speak to you that way, are you?"

"I'm no imposter! I'm the Jack that's been dying to get out for so long."

"From what I've heard of Jack Skellington, he doesn't have a natural bone of pure hatred in his body. You, sir, are a spell cast by Eris."

"Eris? I know not of that name."

"You pinned Jack to that tree the moment she managed to enchant him and have kept him from regaining control. I'm here to put a stop to that," Psyche said, "Jack, you have to pry yourself free."

"Why? Sally doesn't love me anymore. I lied to her and lost her, just as I deserved to," said a gloomy Jack.

"See? He's better off that way."

"She does love you. I've talked to her myself."

"How do you know?" asked the winged Jack.

"Sally says you scare people better than anyone else she knows."

"Really?" the pinned Jack asked, perking up.

"Well, she doesn't know that many people," the winged Jack said.

"She loves how naive and purely honest you can be, even if it gets you into trouble. She doesn't mind, as long as she's by your side, she'll stay with you through thick and thin."

"She'll nag at you whenever you want to try something new. She'll always bother you. Sally is nothing but dead weight."

"You are an imposter!" Jack yelled as he grabbed the three arrows pinning him to the tree and pulled them out, "No part of me would ever put Sally down. You are going to pay for your words."

However, Jack never got to beat the imposter to a pulp. When he freed himself from the tree, the winged Jack vanished, leaving nothing but a quiver, bow, wings, and an orange loincloth behind. Jack started to falter before falling to the ground, now remembering he had been shot with arrows. Psyche sat down next to him in order to make sure he was alright.

"Who are you?" Jack asked.

"Psyche. I never had a chance to meet you in person before now."

"Are you a goddess as well?"

"I help those who doubt their true feelings."

"Thank you. I've been pinned to that tree for so long," Jack said as he looked at the heart, "And still, love continues to perplex me."

"Love is unpredictable, very unstable, and yet, a very driving force in life. Well, afterlife in your case."

"All I ever wanted was to make Sally happy and proud of me."

"Your heart was in the right place, but you should leave Valentine's Day to us. Even we have problems trying to get love right and that's our job. That's how mixed up it is."

"So she really loves me?"

"Of course. She even left to go fight that Oogie Boogie scoundrel and Eris to defend your honor."

"WHAT!" Jack exclaimed as he sat straight up, "Oh no, not again. We have to get out of here."

"Just follow me through the door and we'll be in Valentine Town once more."

With that, Psyche led Jack through the heart shaped door. Together, they left his mind. Psyche was back in her rightful place when her eyes turned brown once more. When her hands left Jack's skull, the Pumpkin King nearly leapt out of his bed before realizing something.

"How did I get in here of all places?" he asked as Zero floated to his bed and started to lick his hand affectionately.

"Ask my husband once I wake him up," Psyche said as she walked over to the next bed and kissed the sleeper on the lips.

"Once more, Love. I'm still sleepy," Cupid said with one eye open.

"You joker. I managed to cure Jack."

"Ah, so Mr. Skellington is back to his old self. Hello there, hope there are no bad feelings about the arrow to the head," Cupid said as he sat up.

"When did that happen?"

"Back when you were the Hate Bringer. You can blame Eris for that."

"Eris... that's right! I have to get to Halloween Town as soon as possible," Jack said, "Where's your nearest graveyard?"

"Graveyard? You still have wings. You can fly there if you wanted," Cupid said.

"Of course," Jack said as he got up, "Zero, we're going home."

"Not yet," said Saint Valentine as he approached the door to the room, "I see our holiday troublemaker has woken up."

"Oh, be kind to him. He had a rough time in there," Psyche said as she pointed to Jack's head.

"Mr. Skellington, I am Saint Valentine. First, I wish to apologize to you. Apparently, I let a lack of communication grow between you and your lady love. For that, I am sorry. Second, please refrain from volunteering to help in any Valentine's Day proceedings without asking my permission. Do not listen to Venus, she is a bit of a loon. And last of all, take Cupid with you. I believe his mother needs his expertise on a punishment she worked out for Eris."

"What? But I just came home again!" Cupid said.

"You still have much work to do in the Real World. Try not to prick yourself with another arrow."

"I hope this doesn't sour any of your views on Halloween, Mr. Valentine," Jack said.

"I have no idea what Halloween is."

"No idea? You'll have to visit sometime. But not now. I'll let you know when things are safe."

"You and Cupid go ahead. Good luck to the both of you," Saint Valentine said, to which Zero barked, "My mistake, three of you."

Zero closed his eyes in contentment before hovering next to Cupid and Jack, who had both taken flight. Then, all three flew out of the room and into the morning sky. The sunlight seemed so fresh and new after the endless night, that it may have well energized the trio. However, there was one place where this was not appreciated. It seemed the light was bothering Oogie Boogie's eyesight as he rolled his dice.

"What's taking that woman so long?" Oogie Boogie asked himself, "She'll miss out on all the fun."

"She's the lucky one," the Mayor said, "Oh, where can Jack be?"

"That Bonehead ain't gonna save you now, so get used to being slaves or another addition to lava."

"Oogie!" Eris yelled as she ran back into the lair, "Hurry up! I need you outside now."

"Fine. Come on," Oogie said to his dice as he let them go.

Every eye of every creature was on the pair of dice. They tumbled around at Oogie's burlap feet only to change from number to number. One of them settled on a one while the other continued to spin about. When it finally stopped, it settled on the number six. This meant one thing.

"Lucky Seven! Time for all of you to take a nice swim in the lava. Starting with you, Sax Man," Oogie Boogie yelled as he ran off, pressing a button on the wall.

He could hear the screams of the townsfolk as the floor beneath them began to open to the fatal goo beneath. Oogie didn't care, however. Not only could he get rid all of all the Halloween Town residents, but he finally rolled something other than snake eyes. This meant a certain Goddess of Discord owed him a kiss. Yet Eris seemed to forget this promise once Oogie got outside.

"The Druids are gone," Eris said, pushing Oogie Boogie's puckered face away.

"Who cares? We got what we wanted," Oogie said, "Well, almost. Kiss me, baby."

"Never. This is serious. Those Druids never leave a spell unattended."

"They're probably lazy," Oogie said as he heard the screams begin to grow faint, "Ah, victory."

"Hold on," Eris said as she knelt to the ground.

She noticed some kind of creature near them. It appeared to be a very large green snake which had been passed out for a while. When the Goddess picked it up, one of its eyes opened to reveal green. That's when Eris noticed the two other green snakes near it. Not to her surprise, when she opened their eyes, one had blue and the other brown.

"NO! Those idiots turned into snakes! Wake up you imbeciles!" Eris yelled as she threw the first snake to the ground.

"If they don't wake up, can I eat them?"

"Why would they do this? They only turn into snakes when-"

"When faced with their enemy," a familiar female voice said.

Eris turned her head to look at the treehouse. Standing on the branches were Venus, Saint Patrick, Lock, Shock, and Barrel. They jumped to ground level when they were spotted and all put up a brave front. Nonetheless, this seemed to enrage Eris and Oogie Boogie even more.

"WHAT do you think you're doing!" Oogie Boogie yelled.

"We don't like doing your dirty work anymore," Lock said.

"Yeah, we prefer doing our own," Shock added.

"We quit," Barrel said as he shot a rock at Oogie Boogie with a slingshot.

"Get back here, you three ingrates!" Oogie yelled as he chased the trio after they broke into a run.

"Well, Venus. I see once again your repulsive love must ruin my perfectly planned chaos."

"Eris, we all know you would never win."

"I have armies at my command."

"They worship me too. Why do you think they have not joined you here yet?"

"This ends here, Venus."

"Patrick, go help the others rescue the hostages. This is a battle I must fight on my own."

"Aye, Lady Venus. Good luck to ye," Saint Patrick said as he climbed the tree.

"You cannot kill me, Venus. I am Immortal."

"I know, I am as well. But I can make you suffer unspeakable pain."

"Then stop talking and attack."

"Very well."

Venus bowed her head slightly before drawing a golden energy to her hands. Eris did the same in drawing a black energy to hers. They attacked at the same time. The battle Chaos versus Love had literally begun in Oogie Boogie's backyard, and it was here that it would be resolved.

Oh my. A battle between two Immortals. That should be interesting. How long will the goddesses fight their seemingly endless battle? How are the Halloween Townsfolk being saved from Oogie's lava? Will Jack and Cupid make it in time to help? Find out in Part 29. (Re-edit Comment: Jack has a scary mind, befitting, eh?)