Chapter seven:

The New Pumpkin King

In Halloween Town, the residents went about their business as they would on any ordinary day. They did this because they were unaware of Jacks condition and were not yet too concerned with the intruder. This would of course change very quickly, but as it were they were as happy…or…as miserable as what would be expected.

Well, most of them anyway. Some of Halloween Towns residents were quite a bit uneasy. This did not include the mayor, who was always a bit uneasy in his own way, but did include the small group of musicians outside of Jacks gate and Sally, who was heading towards town in hopes of finding Jack there and of course Lock and Barrel who were in the midst of some misfortune, but aside from them there were others who were growing a bit troubled as well.

It's fair to say that the people of Halloween Town are not precisely…intelligent. And one may even go further in saying that, in general, most people who have, you might say, expired are lacking in the area of brains. (Which is understandable considering most of them either no longer have them, or are losing them fast.) but every once in a while there are cases which seem to have been set aside.

There are six types of dead people. There are the oddly and almost scarily intellectual ones, who may, in several cases be even more intelligent then much of the living. This group included mostly high and in most cases very important entities such as the Grim reaper, Hades, Juno, Dracula and other undead figures such as these.

After them, there is a second bunch of dead people who are also quite intelligent, and have not, for some reason or another, seamed to have lost any of their cleverness from life. These usually included anyone lucky enough to remember parts of their being and people who followed The Law of Anarchic Demise.

Then, There were the ones who, although did not have the same mind they did when they were alive, could still not be considered stupid by any standards. These beings could usually tell when something was amiss…as long as they gave it a bit of hard thought. After them, intelligence went down hill. Indeed, the other three sorts of dead people included the regularly stupid ones (Which, incidentally makes up at least two thirds of the Halloween Town population.) Then the literally brainless ones (Your typical stereotypical zombie and many of the ghosts.) and finally, what, in the world of the undead, they called a 'One Timer.' These were the sort of people who died…and then did not get up afterwards.

About one sixth of Halloween Towns population was made of the third group of dead people and quite a few of them were noticing that things were going wrong. As it was, a group of them were trying to converse with the mayor after rehearsal about Jack's obvious absence and the unsettling quietness that had gone over the town in the last couple of days.

"Oh, now, the doctor said that Jack was just working with him on some important matter regarding the machinery used in the celebration this year." The mayor said to the three bewildered faces which included a witch, a vampire and a werewolf.

"I'm sure if we had to worry about this…intruder, Jack would be dealing with him right now. Since he's going about business as usual, I think its only logical that we do the same."

"But mayor…" The werewolf started in a gruff voice. "Jack said we should keep our eyes out for this Murdock guy. He said he's dangerous. Shouldn't we have someone on watch or something."

"We have someone on watch." The mayor said, obviously preoccupied with other matters.

"No Urchin, not there, It'll be off balance if you hang it there!" He shouted suddenly at a small imp who was trying desperately to hang a mask on fence post that already had several present on it.

"Uhh…vuldn't it be better if you put von mask on each fence post?" The vampire asked curiously. The mayor looked at him as though he had gone mad.

"Are you crazy! These things are replacing the jack o' lanterns! We can't have only one on each fence post!"

"Oh houv silly of me." He said, a bit irritated.

"You say we have someone on watch?" The witch said in a squeaky voice. "I don't see anyone."

The mayor turned a bit and pointed towards the fountain in the middle of the square.

"There. D. Ed Erick is keep watch right over there."

The group turned and looked bemusedly at a rather dead looking zombie who had either gone to sleep or had suddenly decided that the after life was quite dull and that his rightful place was in fact, the grave.

"He doesn't seem to be all too good of a watchman mayor." The werewolf said, stating the obvious.

"He's fine. Now don't you three have something you could be doing for Halloween." The Vampire and the witch exchanged a look and all three of them turned and stalked off, saying a few choice words about their two faced political leader beneath their breath.

"This is all your fault." Lock was hanging on a large wheel that had one time held a skeleton. His wrists were chained up and he was wearing a very aggravated look. Barrel, who was in shackles up against the wooden wall, gave the older boy a dark look.

"I didn't do anything!" He said bitterly. Lock ignored him.

"How do we get out of here?" Lock said, trying in vain to shake himself free of the locks. Barrel didn't answer, he wasn't sure.

"Ah…" Came a cold voice from above. The dark figure of Murdock drifted elegantly to the cold floor. His hat was off and revealing his wretchedly stitched up face and hellish eyes. "A bit jittery are we?" He walked lightly up to Lock who was glaring at him.

"Where is your friend? You have but one more chance to tell me."

"How the heck should I know!" Lock said angrily. He gave the chains a vicious shake.

"Wrong answer Devil Boy…" Murdock said quietly. He spun around.

"What about you? Bail you and your friend out, get off free…well…not free…nothings for free, but not in any dire misfortune anyways. Where is your friend?"

"Why do you care?" Barrel asked.

"She follows the law, WHERE IS SHE?" He kneeled towards Barrel. His lips curled in a way that would make a skeleton stop grinning.

"What law?" Barrel asked, in some way, stalling for time. He had no idea where Shock was.

"The Law Of Anarchic Demise. The rules regarding the chaotic death! Shall I go into detail?" He asked in annoyance. The boys face was blank. He rolled his repulsive eyes.

"Page 98765 of the Manual for the combusted, possessed, and recently deceased. When a human being dies before his or her time, they have not yet been given placing in the after life and therefore must follow the Law of Anarchic Demise! In which case, they are assigned to a world of their choosing and are forced, until there is an opening, to carry their souls with them, sometimes for periods as long as a century, decade, millennium or eternity! THAT is The Law Of Anarchic Demise. It means that she posses me a threat and I want to be rid of her. Understand?" There was silence in the room for a moment.

"You memorized that?" Lock said in disgust, thoroughly shattering the feeling of stillness. "I think you need a hobby or something." Murdock growled in frustration and pulled a lever. In the instance before he did, Locks eyes widened a little. The wheel he was on, which was actually more of a giant saw then a wheel began spinning furiously. He barred his teeth and shut his eyes tightly. Murdock rounded on Barrel who was watching Lock in mild fascination.

"What about you? Any wise cracks? You going to tell me where she is?" Barrel shook his head, dreading what would follow. Murdock's eyes filled with rage. They were quickly turning from a pinkish red color to a dark crimson, the color of blood.

"WHY NOT?" He growled, while grabbing the boy by his collar.

"I don't know where she is!" Barrel shouted back. With eerie strength, Murdock pulled barrel from the wall, completely splitting the shackles and hurled him across the room, and onto the revolving floor.

"Well boys, I am disappointed in you. I thought you would come to more use then this. Oh well, I suppose it can't be helped. If you'll excuse me, I believe I have a town to take over…but don't worry, I'll keep you plenty busy while I'm gone."

He turned on his heel and started out of the torture chamber, making sure to turn on a few choice appliances before he did.

Barrel stood and watched in devastation as buzz saws began to rise out of the ground and a group of mechanized men rose their metal hands, carrying their metal rifles which were, quite unfortunately pointed at him.

"Oh man…"

Sally looked around uneasily. The town looked to be going about business as it always did. There was no sign of Jack anywhere. She walked up to the mayor hesitantly.

"Um…excuse me?" The mayor turned, looking a bit miffed at being interrupted a second time. When he saw Sally, his mood worsened.

"What do you want?"

"I was just wondering if you had seen Jack lately?" She asked softly, not letting his obvious indifference towards her bother her too much.

The mayors face spun around to that of a jovial one. Sally found this a bit unsettling.

"Didn't tell you, eh? Odd, the rest of us know. He's at the doctors." There was a smugness in his voice that sally did not care for.

"Oh…alright then. Sorry I bothered you." She said softly.

"Don't let it happen again. I'm very busy." He said a bit rudely. He turned again and set to work once more on the fence posts. Sally bit her lip.

"Wouldn't it be a bit…more practical to hang one of those masks on each post?" She asked softly. The mayor wheeled around, his face once again turned to negativity.

"I didn't ask for your input! I swear, it's as though everyone's against me these days. Be off now! I'm very busy!" He turned around again. Sally narrowed her eyes and started off in the direction towards the doctors house. She only got a few steps before she heard a cackling behind her that sent shivers down her spine.

"Ahahaha! Pardon me gents and ladies, but I could not help but notice this good fellow attempting the watch has gone quite still. Pity, really when this sort of thing happens."

Sally turned and saw, to her horror, that the Phantom was back. He was holding D. Ed Erick up by the color of his faded shirt. He did, indeed, look quite motionless. Murdock's grin faded.

"Excuse me, people of Halloween town!" He said loudly. The whole town began to turn towards the sound of his voice. He was holding a large black and white striped megaphone in his hands, which had been recently torn from the mayors vehicle.

"That's mine…" The mayor said sulkily.

"And you shall have it back!." Murdock said, as he stepped off of the fountain. The residents of Halloween town watched him warily.

"I am here to announce the unfortunate passing of your previous king." As though a heavy wind had suddenly picked up confused whispers began spreading throughout the small crowd.

"And to pronounce, myself, Murdock M. Manifesto as your new Pumpkin King. If there are any objections, speak now." A few people looked around, obviously bewildered. Sally watched the phantom in horror. He had said Jack was dead…but of course he was…but the way he had said it…

A ghoul stepped forward uncertainly.

"Now hold on you…you have no right to just waltz…" He burst into flame.

"What you are witnessing gentleman, is a display of burning, with the flames of an ash tree ( In the Nether world Ash trees were precisely what they sounded like.) uprooted from the Netherworld itself. Does anyone want to witness this phenomena for themselves." Everyone was quiet.

"Excellent." Murdock said, his lips curling into a hideous grin.

Once again I apologize for my updates being so slow lately. I've been busy. Still, schools about over and as I've said before, Ill get plenty of time to finish all of my stories over the summer. I'll update as soon as possible. Thank you for your reviews.