I'm back, and ready to get this story down on the dot! I plan to have it done before Christmas, since I couldn't get it finished by Halloween for you all.
Lumpus: Bah! Halloween is for the birds.
Get outta here and go back to the looney bin, Lumpus, this ain't your story!
Lumpus: THAT'S LOOMPUS!
*I still don't own Legend of Korra or Nightmare Before Christmas!*
*Speech Key*
"Great Halloween, everybody!" = Normal Speech
'What is this?' = Thoughts
This is Halloween = Songs
"How dare you treat my friends so shamefully!" = Someone Yelling
Town Meeting Song
"This has never happened before!" exclaimed Clown, referring to the disappearance of Jack Skellington.
"It's suspicious!" exclaimed the Tall Witch.
"It's peculiar!" added the Short Witch.
"It's scary!" the Vampire Bros finished.
All of the people of Halloween Town had gathered in the center of town to regroup from their earlier search party that had been organized by the mayor. Despite his earlier worry and anxiety, the mayor had done a pretty good job, even though they have yet to find their beloved leader.
"Stand aside! Coming through!" demanded the mayor as he pushed past the Werewolf.
This action drew a snarl from the monster that was mostly ignored. The mayor quickly climbed up the steps of his Model T car to the roof of the vehicle, tripping on the last step and falling on his face as he did. But he quickly stood back up and took hold of his megaphone.
"We've got to find Jack! There's only three hundred and sixty five days left till NEXT Halloween!" he exclaimed in worry.
"Three sixty FOUR!" corrected the Werewolf.
Who was, once again, ignored.
"Is there ANYWHERE we've forgotten to check?" The mayor asked desperately.
"I've looked in every mausoleum!" said the Clown.
"We opened the sarcophagi." added the Witch Sisters.
"I tromoed through the pumpkin patch." Mister Hyde said, showing a pumpkin stuck to his foot.
"I peeked behind the Cyclops' eye." reported the eldest Vampire Brother, pulling out his own eyeball for emphasis.
The tall Witch Sister slapped the Vampire's hand, making him let go of his eyeball so it snapped back into place.
"I did! But he wasn't there." the Vampire exclaimed, defending himself.
But this lack of any good news regarding the town's beloved leader did nothing but frighten everyone even more. As proven by how the mayor began to yell out instructions into his megaphone rather than just speaking normally.
"It's time to sound the alarms! And somebody find Korra!"
From atop the mayor's car, the Mummy Kid began to turn the crank on an alarm that looked like a black cat hissing. This made the cat's mouth open and release an ear piercing wail that would capture the attention of any resident in Halloween Town. But up in Doctor Finkelstein's laboratory, Sally was busy preparing something that would help her leave the lab for a little while.
As she was cooking soup for the doctor, she walked over to the potion's cabinet and pulled out exactly what she was looking for. The jar of Deadly Nightshade. Reaching into the cabinet and pulling out the jar, the rag doll woman nodded to herself and walked over to the large cauldron where she was cooking the doctor's soup. She poured a generous amount into the soup and stirred it in, only to recoil back at the smell. Deadly Nightshade always did have a rather pungent odor. Looking around for something to mask the scent, she spotted something that would definitely help her out.
"Frog's Breath will overpower any odor." she mumbled to herself.
Taking the jar and unscrewing the lid, Sally let a frog poke his head out of the jar with a ribbit. She aimed the jar at the cauldron and watched as the frog belched out a cloud of green fog into the soup. But as a result, Sally dropped the jar as she was sent into a coughing fit as she realized that she added too much Frog's Breath into the soup.
"Bitter!" Sally managed to say through her coughs.
She stumbled over the the spice cabinet, desperate to find the one ingredient that would balance this soup out and mask both of the odors from the Deadly Nightshade and the Frog's Breath.
"Worm's Wart…! Where - Where is that Worm's Wart!?" wheezed Sally as she tossed out several bottles.
She smiled in relief as she pulled out the bottle of Worm's Wart that was, thankfully, untouched. But that relief soon turned to worry as the doctor called for her.
"Sally, is that soup ready yet?"
Sally hurried over to the cauldron and poured in a generous amount of Worm's Wart into the soup, praying to any deity willing to listen that this would work. Once it was mixed in, she smiled in relief to find that it smelled just fine. There's no way the doctor would detect anything wrong with this stuff!
"Coming!" Sally called in response to the doctor's earlier question.
At his work table, Doctor Finkelstein was busy looking at something through a high tech microscope that seemed to have an eyeball for a lense. Looking away from his work, the doctor proceeded to open the top of his head like a flip-off lid and literally scratch his brain as he contemplated his work. It's a disgustingly horrifying thing to think about, let along witness, I know.
"Lunch!" Sally announced as she brought the doctor a big bowl of soup.
Doctor Finkelstein put away the device he was working with and closed his head as he caught whiff of the soup and smelled something in it.
"Ah, what's that?" he asked.
Taking another sniff, he was pleasantly surprised to find that one of his favorite ingredients had been added into the green mixture.
"Worm's Wart!" he cried in delight.
He grabbed the spoon and was about to start eating when he caught the scent of something else. Something that doesn't belong.
"And Frog's Breath?" he asked suspiciously.
Now, Sally had more of a reason to be nervous. She must not have added enough Worm's Wart to overpower the odor from the Frog's Breath.
"W-W-W-What's wrong? I-I thought you liked Frog's Breath?" Sally stuttered.
"NOTHING is more suspicious than Frog's Breath!" the doctor exclaimed as he pushed the bowl over to Sally. "Until YOU taste it, I won't swallow a spoonful."
He scooped out some of the soup and held it out to Sally, expecting her to follow his command. Unfortunately, this was one of the many times that Sally was absolutely prepared for what's going to happen.
"I'm not hungry." she said as she 'accidentally' knocked the spoon onto the floor. "Oops!"
As she reached down for the spoon, Doctor Finkelstein began to go on a tangent about how old he was and how Sally owed her very life to him, being a complete drama queen while doing so.
"You want me to starve! An old man like me, who hardly has strength as it is!"
While the doctor was whining, he didn't notice that Sally had pushed the spoon under the desk, and pulled a spoon with holes in it out from her sock. She stood back up just as the doctor finished his little self pity speech.
"ME! To whom you owe your very life!"
"Oh, don't be silly." Sally mock scolded.
She dipped her new spoon into the soup and watched it dribble out from the holes in the bottom before bringing it to her mouth and pretending to sip.
"Mmm, see? Scrumptious." she said, placing the bowl in front of the doctor.
Seeing that there was 'nothing wrong' with it, the doctor picked up the bowl and began to noisily guzzle down his soup. All the while, he missed the smirk on Sally's face as she watched him do so.
Back in the town, the citizens were lying around hopelessly thinking of something they might have missed when searching for Jack. They seemed tired and completely out of ideas. And you know what? They really are out of ideas.
"Did anyone think to dredge the lake?" asked the Mayor.
"This morning." yawned one of the Vampires.
That's when a faint sound of barking could be heard. And the first to notice was the tallest Witch sister.
"Hear that?" she asked.
"What?" her shorter sister asked while yawning.
The Tall Witch just shushed her as she held her hat to her ear like a hearing aid. The barking grew louder and was soon joined by another deeper and stronger barking noise. One that was familiar to the people of Halloween Town, who all immediately perked up as they knew who this was and who was likely with them. As proven by how the mayor's head rotated back to his joyful face.
"Zero! And Naga too!" exclaimed the eldest Vampire brother.
The ghostly dog flew through the town gate as it raised to allow a very familiar Polar Bear Dog to trot into town. And close behind them was Jack and Korra, much to the happiness of the citizens who tried to crowd the two while still letting them drive on through.
That's right, I said drive. Jack was driving a snowmobile with a large bag full of things he and Korra had collected from Christmas Town and were now bringing here to Halloween Town. And Korra was riding along on top of the bag. Both of them wore goggles and removed them once Jack brought the snow mobile to a halt and put it in park.
"Where have you two been?" asked the Mayor.
"We'll tell everyone about it later, Mayor! Just call a town meeting for tonight!" Korra instructed.
"When?" asked the Mayor, temporarily switching back to his worried persona.
"IMMEDIATELY!" Jack replied with as much enthusiasm as Korra.
A little bit later that day, the big bell in Halloween Town was ringing to signal an important announcement. And this was evident by the mayor slowly driving through town and speaking into his megaphone.
"TOWN MEETING! TOWN MEETING! TOWN MEETING TONIGHT!"
Back in the doctor's lab, the Deadly Nightshade in the soup did its job and put the good doctor to sleep for a little while. Sally just finished draping a blanket over the old man's shoulders as he lay slouched on the table, snoring away. She pat him on his bald head and quietly made her way to the town hall.
That night, everyone was in the town hall waiting patiently for their leader and his young protege to appear and tell them what the big news could possibly be. After a little while, Jack and Korra both walked up onto the stage and up to the podium. Only instead of the bat mask she used to wear, Korra was now wearing a mask that looked more like a raven. Quite fitting for one who calls herself the Raven Queen.
"Listen, everyone!" Jack exclaimed, getting everyone to settle down. "We want to tell you about Christmas Town!"
The lights dimmed and the Mayor turned on the spotlight, causing a small amount of bats to fly off away from the light and into the shadows. And as music began to play, Jack started the meeting by singing about his and Korra's discovery.
Jack
There were objects so peculiar they were not to be believed
All around, things to tantalize my brain
It's a world unlike anything I've ever seen, and as hard as I try
I can't seem to describe. Like a most improbable dream
But you must believe when I tell you this
It's as real as my skull
And it DOES exist
"Here, let us show you."
Korra pulled back the curtains of the stage to reveal the many things from Christmas Town that she and Jack had brought. Things like a Christmas Tree, a few presents, a stocking, and a few other things. The citizens gasped in shock and awe. They've never seen anything like all of these things.
Jack picked up the present and began to sing, but he was interrupted by a few of the curious citizens who wanted to know what was so important about these things.
Jack
This is a thing called a present
The whole thing starts with a box…
Devil, Werewolf, and Harlequin
A box?
Devil
Is it steel?
Werewolf
Are there locks?
Harlequin
Is it filled with a pox?
All Three
A pox? How delightful, a pox!
"If you please." Jack said, silently asking for the interruptions to stop.
Jack
Just a box with bright colored paper
And the whole thing's topped with a bow
He was interrupted once again when the Witch sisters flew up on their broomsticks and began to harass him about the present, wondering why someone would add something so frilly to a box of all things.
Tall Witch
A BOW!?
Short Witch
But why?
Tall Witch
How ugly!
Both Witches
What's in it? What's in it?
Korra
That's the point of the thing
Not to know
The present was taken from Jack by a retractable hand being used by the clown with the tearaway face as he, the monster under the stairs, and the undersea girl tried to guess what was inside this mysterious box.
Clown
It's a bat
Under the Stairs Monster
Will it bend?
Clown
It's a rat
Under the Stairs Monster
Will it break?
Undersea Girl
Perhaps it's the head that I found in the lake
Jack was quick to take back the present and put it on a chair outside the reach of the surprisingly grabby citizens. Town meetings usually never got this out of hand.
Jack
Listen now
You don't understand
That's not the point of Christmas Land
The spotlight shined down on Korra as she picked up the Christmas stocking and took over the song. She too wanted to share her findings with the town.
"Now, pay attention." she said as she started to sing.
Korra
We pick up this really big sock
And hang it, like this, on the wall
Mister Hyde walked up to where Korra was on the stage as he too asked his questions. Well, more like he asked the first question, then a smaller version of himself popped out from under his hat, and a smaller version of that one popped out of HIS hat.
Mister Hyde
Oh yes
Does it still have a foot?
Medium Hyde
Let me see! Let me look!
Little Hyde
Is it rotted and covered with gook?
"Um, let me explain." Korra said as she resumed the song.
Korra
There's no foot inside, but there's candy
Or sometimes it's filled with small toys
That's when she was interrupted again, but this time by Halloween Town's resident children. Even the mayor joined in on this part of the song, having contained his excitement for as long as he could. Though, it wasn't easy for him to do so.
Mummy Child and Bat Demon Kid
Small toys?
Bat Demon Kid
Do they bite?
Mummy Child
Do they snap?
Bat Demon Kid
Or explode in a sack?
Corpse Kid
Or perhaps they just spring out and scare girls and boys
Mayor
What a splendid idea
This 'Christmas' sounds fun
I fully endorse it
Let's TRYYYYY it at once
As the mayor sang, he accidentally stepped on a rotten piece of wood and nearly fell from the balcony. Fortunately, he caught himself before he could fall, but he sent the spotlight all over the place before it got back under control.
Korra
Everyone, please
Now not so fast
There's something here you don't quite grasp
The town's citizens started mumbling amongst themselves as they tried to comprehend this whole Christmas thing. It was all so new and strange to them. Why make these presents? Why decorate them with something as frilly and non threatening as a bow? And why hang up a sock if there's candy and toys in it instead of a dead and decaying foot?
None of this Christmas stuff makes any sense!
Korra and Jack sighed. They had a feeling this would happen, and had a contingency plan all laid out for this particular situation.
"Well, we may as well give them what they want." Korra whispered to Jack.
She stalked off the stage and began to sing about the head honcho of Christmas, relaying what she and Jack thought this guy was all about.
Korra
And the best, we must confess, we have saved for the last
For the ruler of this Christmas land
Is a fearsome king with a deep, strong voice
Least, that's what we have come to understand
And we've also heard it told that he is something to behold
Like a lobster, huge and red
When he sets out to slay with his rain gear on
Carrying tons of large sacks in his big, thick arms
That is so we've heard it said
Sally herself looked as though these descriptions didn't fit this holiday leader. Could it be that Jack and Korra didn't get a good enough look at this new holiday's leader and were only going off on speculation? Or were they mislead by someone else? Either way, this just didn't sit well with the rag doll woman.
But Korra wasn't finished explaining, as she hopped back onto the stage, ready to finish the song and end the meeting on a high note.
Korra
And on a dark, cold night
Under full moon light
He flies into a fog
Like a vulture in the sky
The citizens were on the edge of their seats with anticipation. Who could this holiday leader be?
As Korra finished the song, the light turned red as she used some of her holiday power to make her features turn even scarier. Her hair ruffled up even more like raven feathers, her eyes turned as red as blood, her teeth grew sharp and serrated as her canines elongated into saber fangs, and her fingernails turned into claws.
Korra
And they call him
Sandy… CLAWS
Hn, hn, hn!
The crowd went absolutely nuts at the performance and applauded loud and proud as they praised their beloved leaders. They couldn't wait to see what could be done with this whole Christmas thing, and just how it would tie in with Halloween. As the curtain closed, Korra's features returned to normal as she picked up a snowglobe and shook it a little before setting it on a desk for her and Jack to just stare at.
But still, she felt the song wasn't quite over yet. Not until she conveyed her feelings about how this meeting went.
Korra
Well, at least they're excited
But they don't understand
That warm and fuzzy feeling
In Christmas Land
Oh well
And so, she and Jack watched the snow fall in the little glass globe that had their attention for quite a while now. Seriously, what is so fascinating about these snow globes? I need to know.
Later that night, in a log cabin out in the Earth Kingdom territory, Korra was staying there in her own self isolation away from everyone who would be pressuring her to preserve the balance their way rather than doing things her way. Lucky for her, she had a special charm on her wrist that would allow her to teleport herself to Halloween Town at will, should she be unable to use one of the conventional entrances.
Anyway, she was currently dressed in a black night dress with long sleeves to keep her warm due to it being close to winter, and a fuzzy nightcap on her head. She was currently sitting in her bed with the lower half of her body under the covers as she was flipping rapidly though Christmas books that she and Jack had 'liberated' on their unexpected trip to Christmas Town. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration as she tried to make heads or tails of the things that were written in these books. As soon as she finished a book called 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, she tossed it aside and took out one titled 'A Christmas Carol' and started to read that.
She hummed in thought, briefly looking up from the book at the many Christmas decorations that now littered her home away from home. Although, it clashed seventeen ways sideways to Sunday with all of the creepy Halloween stuff she had in her cabin. Hey, she wasn't about to get rid of any of her gifts from Jack.
A Christmas wreath hung around the neck of a small gargoyle statue while several strings of colorful lights were used to decorate a spider's web as a spider slept in the center of the now warm and colorful web.
...Well, the spider certainly likes it.
And last, but not least, a moderately sized Christmas tree decorated with several ornaments was set up in the corner of her room, her ever faithful Polar Bear Dog companion, Naga, asleep underneath it with a candy cane held under her paws.
Korra sighed and closed her book before tossing it into the pile.
"Think, Korra. Think. There's just got to be a logical way to explain this Christmas thing." she said to herself.
She needed to think for only a brief moment before she smiled as an idea came to mind. Korra doesn't normally do this, but she took a book that Doctor Finkelstein had given her for when she took an interest in science. A book titled 'The Scientific Method'. She opened it and began reading intently. She and Jack have a lot of work to do tomorrow, and possibly not a lot of time to do it.
*To Be Continued…*
Thank you guys so much for reading. Don't forget to vote on the poll I currently have up for one of my current stories. I'll leave the results and the name of the poll at the end of this note. May the Force be with you, and have a great day.
Current Poll: What sort of deck do you want Ben to build in Zero to Hero?
A Crystal Beast Deck: 2 votes
Stick with Elemental HERO cards?: 1 vote
A deck centered around Light and Darkness Dragon: 1 vote
A deck centered around Stardust Dragon: 1 vote
