I've noticed something a bit ironic here - last chapter was the first chapter's reviews. I got one. This is the second chapter's reviews. This time, I got two. Weird huh? Oh well, at least two is better than one. It's enough that I won't do anything too bad to Sugary. As for the reviewers:

phantomange113:

Jack: Interesting name, phantomange. Anyway, I'm glad you are enjoying the story. Sugary is not enjoying it as much, but that's only because she's being held hostage. She's such an insane Nightmare fan that when I first met her, she tackled me to the ground. O.o

Sugary: Oh, I did not! I hugged you and you fell. There's a difference!

flight815surviver:

Jack: Again, thanks for the comments. Don't worry, no more worms for Sugary, but that doesn't mean I won't do something worse! :)

Sugary: gulp!

Jack: She'll be fine. Just fine. evil grin

Now, this chapter is going to be rather on the lengthy side, because I meet my teacher in this chapter. Teacher of what, you may ask? You'll see...

Flashback

Halloween Town Cemetary, 11:08 PM

The brightness vanished almost as soon as it had appeared and was quickly replaced by the absolute strangest surroundings Jack had ever seen. The first thing he noticed was that he was in some sort of graveyard, albeit a rather spooky and gothically inclined one. Sveral gravestones had been stuck into the ground at odd angles, and many were adorned with spiders, ghosts, and other creepy, unnerving images. Jack-O-Lanterns were placed at regular intervals, so as to guide someone walking around in the dark, although Jack couldn't imagine anyone who would want to walk around in a graveyard at night.

Jack blinked in confusion. This couldn't be his final destination. It didn't look ANYTHING like he had imagined. This must only be a small part of it, he thought. Maybe I'll find out more if I go further.

He continued to walk for what seemed like hours until he reached what appeared to be a hill, but instead of being a big hump in the ground like the real world, it curled under itself, creating a spiral, like a mountain with an oddly shaped peak. Okay, Jack thought. Dorothy is defanately NOT in Kansas anymore. Curious, he climbed up to the top of it and looked out at the eerie landscape. There was a certain ethereal beauty to the landscaping, something that enticed Jack to come closer and begged him to leave it be at the same time. He looked on in awe, then noticed something off to his left-hand side.

What's this? It looks like some sort of town, he thought, squinting to get a better look. Maybe there is someone there who can explain more about this place. Jack took a step forward to see more detail, but as he did the ground beneath him shuddered and began to move slightly. Jack jumped back and watched as the hill suddenly unfurled itself. "That's odd," he thought aloud as he walked down the new earthen ramp created by the hill. As soon as he reached the bottom, the hill again curled into its spiral form. Jack smiled. He'd have to come back here sometime.

Pause Flashback

And so I continued walking. As a matter of fact, I wandered so far that I ended up right at the gates of Halloween Town, though I did not know it at the time. But enough of that, you probably just want to continue the story, so...

Unpause Flashback

Halloween Town, Main Gate, 11:45 PM

Jack walked up to the massive gate, rather appriehensive that it was so large. What was the town trying to keep in - or out? Or was it just there for the spooky quality of it, as it seemed it was?

A sudden voice jolted him out of his thoughts. "Oh," it said. "You must be the new arrival. We've been expecting you. And you're just in time - The Halloween festivities are just beginning!" The gate suddenly opened, and Jack, more than a bit confused, walked through it. He turned to say "Thank You", but strangely enough, there was nobody there. He turned back to the town and walked in, steeling himself for whatever might be there.

The town seemed to be hosting a massive party in honor of Halloween - it was quite obvious from the decorations, and also from what the disembodied voice had said, and it was also quite obvious that all of the guests were most definately not human. Jack was now quite scared as well as curious, and so he wandered into the crowd. Strangely enough, as soon as most of the townsfolk saw him, they stepped out of the way to make room for him, which was even more puzzling. This is beyond weird, Jack thought as the crowd fell into a silent hush. Everyone stared at the clock above what appeared to be Town Hall and watched in mute excitement as the clock slowly turned to Midnight.

The crowd cheered and began singing along to some unrecognizable tune.

Jack was still confused and more than a bit freaked out as he back out of the crowd. He didn't know if this was even where he was supposed to BE, let alone where he was to go, and what was up with the singing? He backed up so far that he backed right into a trashcan.

Suddenly someone - or someTHING - popped out of in and yelled loudly at Jack. Needless to say, Jack freaked out and ran as far and fast as he could out of the town square, soon becoming hopelessly lost. Not wanting to have someone jump out at him again, he hid in a dark, empty allyway - after he checked it, of course.

Where am I? he thought miserably. Is this really supposed to be my new home? Did I take that dreaded wrong turn? Am I stuck here forever? What will become of me? Unable to take the pressure of possibly being lost in some sort of bizzare nightmare, Jack broke down and cried, only to be interrupted by a feminine voice asking "What's wrong?"

"Everything," Jack replied morosely. "I was killed and I think I'm lost in... whatever this is. And I'm terribly frightened."

"You poor dear," the voice said. "Here, let me see your hand a moment."

Jack held out one of his hands in order for whoever was speaking to see it. The person's skin felt strangely icy, but not in a bad way. The person let go of his hand after a moment, then said "No, you were meant to come here. What is your name?"

"I'm Jack," Jack replied. "Jack Skellington." He begain to search for the person.

"You aren't looking in the right spot," the voice said slyly. "Look up."

Jack looked up - and was instantly stricken with fear. The person he had been talking to was not really a person at all, but some sort of human-spider hybrid that was literally hanging by a thread upside-down. he screamed and staggered back a bit as the creature landed on all eight of its legs and laughed.

"W-w-who - and what - are you?" Jack asked.

The creature scurried out of the shadows towards him.

"My name is Emily," it said. "Emily Thornn. It's nice to meet you, too. As for what I am - well, that's a bit harder to classify. I'm sure you have a lot of questions, Jack. I can answer most of them for you. Follow me."

Emily scuttled beside Jack, already under pressure to keep up with Jack's long-legged strides. Jack in turn slowed down a bit whenever it appeared that Emily was beginning to get tired, so as not to outpace her and get lost again. Her eight legs moved in such a quick choreographed motion that it was almost like watching a wave on water.

Emily paused under the eerie glow of a streetlamp, both to show Jack the odd scenery and to rest her legs. The street they were on was lined with tall, foreboding-looking buildings that seemed to have faces of their own, as if they were watching the two travelers in malice.

Now that Emily was in a well-lit area, Jack could see her better. Her body was that of, as Jack had already noticed, a spider - a Black Widow spider, no less. He had seen a documentary once about poisonous animals on Animal Planet once, so he already knew of its deadly bite. Emily's human half was garbed in a black top that laced at the front and had long, black fishnet sleeves. Her hair was black as well and streamed down her back like a cascade of ink. Her fingernails had been painted black, and she wore blood red lipstick. At least, Jack hoped it was lipstick.

Her eyes were red, and noting but, like an alien's eyes, and they seemed to glow, standing out from her pale skin. She was beautiful, in an exotic, eerie way.

"I'm sure you're wondering exactly where you are," she said, smiling a grin full of wickedly sharp-looking teeth. "You've probably come from the human realm, what we here call the Real World, as you said that you had been killed." She gestured towards their spooky surroundings.

"This," she said, "Is Halloween Town. All you see here and have seen already is the realm of Halloween. This is the central hub of the universe concerning the fall holiday. This is where your - and everyone's - worst fears lie. The job of the townsfolk - you've met some of them, I'm sure - is to scare people. We aren't bad or evil at all, it's just our job.

"How did we get populated, you ask?" She turned to face Jack. "Certain humans, like you and I, are marked from birth to come here. They have special birthmarks that only other Halloween Townians can see. These people are savants - those people who never truely fit in anywhere, but always are intreaguing and interesting." She looked Jack right in the eys and said "Back when you were alive... did you ever feel... out of place? Like you weren't living in the right place?"

Jack gave her a slow nod. Emily turned her back to him once more and continued on.

"I've been watching you, Jack."

Again, Jack was shocked. Had Emily really been stalking him for his whole life? He tried to picture his childhood, but simply couldn't visualize Emily standing there beside him, watching over him like some strange, demented guardian angel.

"Of course I couldn't talk to you directly," she continued. "There are laws here that one must follow. So, I had to communicate to you through your dreams. Haven't you had nightmares before about spiders attacking you, or about human-spider people?"

Jack again thought back and again nodded slowly.

"Well," Emily explained, "That was me, checking in on you. But back to the symbols. You have been marked with a glowing symbol, and it differs from person to person. Mine is a spider. Yours is a skull. Thses show what the person's soul might look like in death. Most people's are plain, but yours and mine aren't." Emily took Jack out of the light and turned her palm upward to show Jack a shimmering violet spider. The abdomen of it had a tiny spiral inside of it. She then turned Jack's hand palm up.

It was difficult to make out the design at first, as Jack's eyes had to adjust to the dark, but soon an iridescent white skull glew on his own palm, its eyes holding tiny swirls.

"But Emily," Jack asked, "What does this all mean?"

Emily smiled thinly. "It's our job here to scare people," she said, "But I am perhaps the scariest resident. The swirl means that I am in charge of this holiday - the leader of it, if you will. Each holiday has an icon, but only a few change every so often. But Halloween has no one iconic leader. That's because there is no one iconic leader. We change every few millennia or so - and my term's nearly up.

"Every holiday names its leader, as I'm sure you know. Here, the chosen person is given the title of Pumpkin King or Queen, depending if they are a boy or a girl. He or she is the absolute most terrifying person in the world, and they usually won't hesistae to scare the living crap out of any person. And you, Jack, are my predescessor."

"So let me get this straight," Jack said wishing that his head would stop spinning, "I'm the next ruler of Halloween?"

"That is correct.

"And that means that I'll someday be the most frightening person to ever live, die, and rise again?"

"Yes, with enough training."

"I hate to tell you this, Emily," Jack said, "But I'm not scary. In life, I was just a mild-mannered - though albeit eccentric - special effects worker from New York. I'm afraid I couldn't even freak out a fly."

Emily again grinned her wickedly sharp-toothed grin, then wiped the grime off of a nearby window.

"Take a look," she said. "You might just scare yourself."

Jack took a look and did indeed frighten himself with his own reflection. He was not wearing the pajamas he had died in, but a black tuxedo with white pinstripes and a tie that resembled a bat. Of course, it was not his clothes that spooked him, but himself. The image reflected of him was that of a cartoonish skeleton. Its shocked expression stared back at Jack before he fell back in horror.

"That's not me," Jack dismissed. Emily lead him into the dim glow of the streetlamp.

"Yes, it is," she said firmly. If you don't believe me, you can even look at your own two hands."

Jack looked at his hands and got another bolt from the blue. They had become cartooned and skeletal as well; he now had four fingers instead of the usual five, and these remaining four digits were slender and almost graceful, it seemed. he had been told stories about souls transforming after death. If this was his soul's new form, he'd have to learn to accept it.

"Okay, Emily," Jack said with fierce determination. "Teach me what you know. Teach me the art of the scare. I'm ready."

End Flashback

Jack: Ooh, Cliffhanger! Well, not really...

Sugary: That made absolutely NO sense.

Jack: Oh, shut up. throws random snake at Sugary

Sugary: Has snake wrapped loosely around her neck like a feather boa and is pretending to be a movie star

Jack: facepalm, repeatedly hits head against the wall Just review before I kill myself again by doing this...