Chapter 7: Little Toyshop of Horrors
The Mayor woke up two or three hours later, feeling strangely very tired. He looked around. Lock was now working towards the back of the stage. He could see his little devil tail, rear end, and shoes poking out from behind the curtains. Barrel was scrubbing a different wall, his back to him, and he could see the top of Shock's tall witch hat from behind one of the benches.
"Nice to know you're still working."
There was no reply. The Mayor looked back at his plans, now with a happy face. He suddenly stopped. It was quiet. Too quiet. He listened. No muttering under their breath, no snickers, no whispers---and no toothbrushes moving against the surfaces. The Mayor cautiously went up to Barrel. Barrel seemed to take no notice of him.
"…Hello?" asked the Mayor.
He poked the back of Barrel's head. And Barrel's head fell off.
"Aaaaaah!"
The Mayor jumped back---then realized it wasn't Barrel's head at all, but a round white pillow with the back of it painted that sickening gray-green to mimic his hair. He went over to Shock. He found a flour sack under a with dress and the hat propped up on one of the benches. Lock was no different, being a red devil costume stuffed with straw, and a fake tail. The Mayor's eyes went wide in horror.
"JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!"
The real Lock, Shock, and Barrel were coming back to downtown Gotham to cause even more trouble. They began to set up trip ropes, went to stores and attached trip ropes to buckets full of unknown substances over doors. They threw rocks at windows and used their slingshots to aim rocks at faraway pedestrians. On occasion, they used more goo and spider webs, but now there were not as many people on the streets.
"We should probably be heading back," Barrel said.
"Yeah," said Lock. "But let's rest first. I'm tired."
"Okay," said Shock.
All three of them went into their bathtub and sat back, resting their poor tired feet and their arms. Unbeknownst them, someone was watching from a somewhat far-off alley.
"So they're behind it!" the Scarecrow said quietly. "Little children after all...who would imagine?"
He thought quickly and carefully. He suddenly had an idea...
"Missing? How could they be missing?" Jack asked, fifteen minutes later, after the Mayor pulled him from the celebrations.
"I don't know how they did it, Jack! They were in there, working---honest! And then I woke up, and---"
"...You fell asleep?" Jack asked.
"...Yes," said the Mayor, "but I don't remember falling asleep. I remember waking up."
Jack looked at him...and noticed a white dust on his collar. He frowned.
"Those three are in more trouble than they can imagine. It wasn't your fault, Mayor." Jack pulled out a dark red cloth, wiped some off, and showed him. "Sleeping powder. They planned this."
"Why those little---!"
"I have to go find them," said Jack.
He quickly ran off towards the tree house at the edge of the cemetery.
Some while later, Shock looked up. She jumped down and out of the tub. There was a piece of candy on the ground. Lock and Barrel looked down after her. Shock saw another ahead, and another. The bathtub followed. At the end of the street, there was a note attached to a piece of candy:
"To L, S, B:
Such wonderful chaos! I adore your work. Follow the trail. It will lead you to me.
-An Admirer"
"…Someone likes us!" Lock exclaimed.
"And they're giving us free candy!" Shock exclaimed happily.
She began to pick up pieces and threw them in the bathtub. Lock and Barrel did the same, following the candy trail. Barrel suddenly stopped.
"What if it's a trick?" he asked.
"We prank 'em!" came Lock and Shock's unified reply.
They continued to pick up candy and follow the trail.
(A/N: As a side note for those interested, the candy came from an earlier fear scheme I had in mind before the Rejectz. So no, it did not come out of nowhere. It is merely a recycled idea. :p)
Jack ran across the bridge to get to the tree house. The drawbridge was still open, so he knew wherever they were, they had their walking bathtub. Jack climbed up and slipped inside. He remembered they were discussing where to go, and recalled they had a map---stolen no doubt, but not that that mattered now. He entered their living room. Sure enough, there was the map, lying carelessly on the ground.
Jack picked it up. He recognized it as one of his own. He shrugged the thought away. The important thing right now was to find the threesome. He soon found his answer. There was a crayoned "X" on one of the tombs in the graveyard---one that went to a place called "Gotham City." Jack growled.
Without a word, he dashed out of the tree house and ran into the graveyard. It was easy to find the right tomb. It was even easier to run down the long tunnel leading into the Mortal Realm.
The candy trail lead to an old toy factory. The guards seemed to be expecting them and moved aside, though they gave the three demonic children strange looks. Lock, Shock, and Barrel did not care, but kept picking up candy until they were inside the factory.
They entered a darkened room. From above, a voice called.
"Welcome."
The door shut behind them. Lock, Shock, and Barrel looked up. In the dimness of the room, in the bare light coming from the factory windows, they could make out a tall, long-limbed man in a wide-brimmed hat, wielding a scythe.
"I had so hoped you would drop in."
The man jumped down with ease, then came up to them.
"Congratulations. You found me."
"Yup," said Barrel.
"But why---" Lock started.
"Did you want us---" Shock continued.
"---To come here?" Barrel finished.
"As I said, I admired your work. Striking terror is a hobby of mine, and for that, you should be given a reward."
He got down one one knee so he was at their level and held out his hand. There were three pieces of candy, one for each of them. Lock, Shock, and Barrel each took one. Even though they were close, they still could not see his face.
"Go ahead," he said. "Enjoy them."
The greedy little children quickly unwrapped the candy and popped them in their mouths. The long-limbed man stood up.
"And enjoy the terror that comes with it."
Lock, Shock, and Barrel looked at each other. They each began to feel a pang of fear rising up in their chests. They shuddered. Unseen in the shadows, the man smiled. The threesome looked up and gasped. Instead of the long-limbed man, they saw none other than a very frightening Oogie Boogie, come back from the dead!
"It's been too long you three!" he bellowed. "I'm back! And you are mine!"
Their eyes went wide in horror. Oogie Boogie started to come to them, holding out arms made of a writhing mass of evil bugs and insects---then disappeared. They relaxed for a minute, then looked at each other. And much to the long-limbed man's surprise, they began to laugh and clap and cheer.
"That was fun!" Shock cried!
"Do it again!" Lock said through his giggles.
Barrel jumped up and down.
"Again! Again!"
"…What?" asked the long-limbed man. "Why didn't it work? You're supposed to trembling, cowering---on your knees, begging me for mercy!"
Shock smiled sweetly.
"We're sorry."
"We didn't mean---" said Barrel with false sympathy.
"---To disappoint you," Lock said wickedly.
"Surrender to the Scarecrow, the Master of Fear, and I shall have mercy on you!"
All that did was gain a chorus of laughter from the three bratty little children.
"Nah," said Shock.
"It's a waste of time," said Lock. "But I think---"
"It's time---" Barrel said, glad he beat Shock to it.
"To turn the tables," Shock finished.
The threesome pulled out their slingshots. They had used all of their goo, but they still had other tricks up their sleeves. The loaded their slingshots and fired at the Scarecrow, who dodged in anyway he could. It was not long before several boxes and bits of machinery were covered in overgrown spider webs.
"No!" the Scarecrow cried out. He reached into his coat and pulled out a vial. Without further warning, the vial smashed to the ground, filling the room with thick green smoke. Lock, Shock, and Barrel stepped back. Suddenly they saw bats flying everywhere---and they were strangely afraid of them. The threesome ran around quickly, but just like the first time, the effects quickly wore off. They then attacked the Scarecrow with whatever they had on hand.
This went on for a little while, before they decided it was a draw. No one was winning. All four of them, dead and alive, sat down to regain energy.
"I can never say I have seen children like you," said the Scarecrow. "What are you?"
"Trick-or-treaters!" Barrel said proudly.
"I can see that," said the Scarecrow, "but my serums do little more than frighten you, then send you into fits of giggles!"
"We like to be scared," said Shock. "We come from Halloween Town."
The Scarecrow's jaw dropped in dibelief.
"Halloween---"
"Yeah," Lock interrupted. "And if you were trying to kill us, you can't. We're already dead."
The Scarecrow stared at the unusual children in disbelief---and yet, despite their somewhat ludicris thoughts, he decided he believed them.
"Well then," he said, standing up. "What are your names?"
"Lock."
"Shock."
"Barrel."
"L, S, B," Scarecrow said quietly.
He smiled, then went over to a switch.
"Lock, Shock, Barrel---"
He flipped the switch. Several lights came on, revealing hundreds, possibly thousands of Rejectz. There were hundreds of thousands of Rejectz pieces scattered, giving the room an almost slaughterhouse feel. Lock, Shock, and Barrel gazed in wonder. The Scarecrow smiled, his hand on another switch.
"---Welcome to my Little Toyshop of Horrors."
(A/N: As I was writing this, somehow I thought of Little Shop of Horrors. And with such twisted toys, what would be a better name? I did plan to add more meaning to the chapter title, but unfortunately, things change. What I planned to throw in here fits better in the next chapter---which also had a title already planned...
As far as reviews:
Serb: Yes, what has Jonathan done once he had his hands on those three? Or when the threesome turns the table on him?
Vampire Naomi: I am pleased you consider this story a "gem." I feel it is one of my better works. I was a little worried about the Rejectz scheme, but it seems most of my reviewers like it. I am even more pleased and touched that my own reviews are helpful to others. May you progress as a fellow Scarecrow fan.)