SC: Second to last chapter! Everyone cheer! And yes, I know I said there were three more chapters, but I took out Jack's flashback chapter, The Pumpkin Prince, which is what this one was supposed to be. I might make it into a separate story after I finish up this one and Welcome to Your So Called Insanity. Either way, read on!

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Chapter 16

It's Over

Lock, Shock, and Barrel ran were several feet behind Jack, dodging and weaving through the Graveyard and then the Hinterlands trees like the experts that were. "Where's he going?!" Lock called to the skeleton ahead of him.

"It would take too much time to create a new door to Living World, so he's headed to the clearing where Aubrey destroyed the first door, to resurrect it."

"How much time will that take?" Shock asked.

Jack closed his eyes, sighing. "Not nearly enough." His eyes snapped open as a pillar of light shot up far ahead of them. "No… he's already started!"

He was somewhat surprised as Lock, Shock, and Barrel raced past him, heading straight toward the pillar. They disappeared out of his sight, into the trees. Jack groaned. He knew that they were trying to help, but Raphael was just too powerful for them! Hadn't they realized that earlier when he tossed them around without even trying?

But then again… Lock had seemed different when he was going against Raphael, more powerful almost. If Lock could do that, then maybe Shock and Barrel… Jack smiled to himself, despite the situation. If anyone had a chance at beating Raphael, it was them.

Speaking of whom, the trio had just about reached the clearing where the door had stood once upon a time. They cleared the last ring of trees to see Raphael standing in the center of the pillar, which had shot through the hard, dead earth in the spot where the ashes of the old door still surprisingly sat.

Lock growled and took a step forward, but a tug on his arm stopped him. "Lock," Shock whispered. "Look at the light." He looked at her curiously, but did so. He saw that, as Raphael's chanting filled the air with more and more force, that the pillar of light no longer glowed uniformly white but changed color constantly from white to gray to black to a marbled white and black.

"What's happening?" Barrel asked.

"I don't know." Lock whispered back. "But I'm stopping him, right now!" Lock charged into the pillar, his shoulder connecting squarely with the middle of Raphael's back, knocking him out of the pillar.

Raphael knocked Lock off of him with a burst of energy, sending him into one of the dead trees surrounding the clearing. "You! You just don't know when to give up, do you boy?" He raised a hand in front of him, and a sword appeared in it. "Apparently, almost killing you isn't enough. Well, I certainly won't make that mistake again." He raised the blade, and moved to bring it down on Lock's neck, but was rudely interrupted by being tackled again, much like he had earlier, only twice as hard.

"Lock, get up you idiot!" Shock yelled, fighting to keep Raphael pinned to the tree next to the floored devil.

Lock shook the fuzz from his head and scrambled over, his elbow going into Raphael's back to hold him.

"I was only going to kill you boy!" Raphael spat, his eyes wild as blood trickled down his forehead. "But now none of you will receive any mercy!"

"Glad to know." A voice from behind them commented coldly. "Now I won't have to pretend to show you any."

"Jack!" Lock, Shock, and Barrel exclaimed.

Raphael laughed. "Ah, Jacky! Here to finish me off, are we? Or are you going to chicken out again, like last time?"

"I've grown up since then, Raphael. I won't let you get away this time." Jack said, his eyes narrowing.

Raphael just laughed. "You didn't have the guts to stop me then. And every chance you've had to kill me, you've hesitated. Why should I believe you now?"

Lock, Shock, and Barrel hardly had a chance to blink before Jack had taken Raphael out of their grasps and was holding him up by the neck. "You threatened to kill my wife, and you killed my daughter. Now, look really hard, and tell me that I wouldn't kill you."

Raphael's black eyes scanned Jack's eye sockets, and his face paled. "Jacky… Jack, please! You know how I get once I start on something. I- nngh!" He choked as Jack's hand plunged into his chest, pulling the key out.

Jack dropped Raphael to the ground. He looked up at the Pumpkin King, clutching his now bleeding chest. "Jack…"

Jack punched Raphael hard in the jaw. "Goodbye, Raphael." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I, Pumpkin King Jack, sentence you, Raphael Peterson, to death after death. An eternal sleep from which you shall never wake, and your soul will remain in cold darkness for all of eternity."

Raphael twitched and screamed as Jack spoke, white mist flowing from every pore of his body. Shock recognized what was happening immediately, remembering when Oogie tried to take her own soul. But it was happening so much more quickly than it had with Oogie, maybe because Jack was actually using magic to do it and Oogie never really had any magic to speak of. The mist took a vaguely humanoid form for a moment, just before it was sent flying toward the graveyard with a noise that sounded eerily like a scream.

"Is… is he dead?" Barrel asked. Jack nodded, his hands falling to his sides. The four stood in silence for several minutes before a low rumbling reached their ears.

"What the hell?!" Lock exclaimed.

"The castle!" Shock pointed over their heads, and everyone turned around. In the distance, Raphael's castle faded away into nothing.

"Aubrey and Sally were still in there!" Barrel yelped. All four rushed back to the graveyard.

"You don't think that they would've…" Lock trailed off as they reached the area where Raphael's palace stood moments before, seeing nothing but dirt and rock.

"Jack!" Sally cried, running out from the trees to their left.

"Sally!" Jack met her halfway, hugging her tightly. "Thank god you're all right." He pulled away and looked down at her, confused. "But where's Aubrey?" Sally looked behind her. All gazes fell to the tree line as Cay and Jacob walked out, the latter carrying the unconscious Aubrey.

Jack glowered at them and moved to raise his fist, but Sally stopped him. "No, Jack! Cay and Jacob helped me escape. They want to help." Jack looked between his wife and two ex-friends twice before lowering his arm.

"Aubrey's dead. How can they help?" Lock asked from behind Jack and Sally.

Cay shook her head. "She's not dead. Not yet, anyway. Raphael was wrong; the key wasn't Aubrey's soul. Her soul is still in her body, but he was right about her needing the key to survive."

"That doesn't make any sense." Jack said skeptically.

Cay sighed, putting a finger on her temple. "It's hard to explain. It's… Aubrey's soul and the key have been living inside her in harmony for so long, that they've become codependent on each other. And the more Aubrey used the key's power, the more they… fused, I suppose is the best word."

"But she's only ever had half of the key." Shock protested.

Cay nodded. "That's true. But now, I don't think that anything less than the whole key could save her, if even that."

"Try, Cay. Please." Jack begged.

She nodded and held out her hands. "Give me the key and I'll try." Jack hesitated. Cay stomped her foot irritably. "God dammit, Jack! Aubrey's your daughter, and if that hole in her chest seals up she'll die! We have minutes, maybe. So either trust me, or never see her wake up again!"

Jack handed Cay the glowing sphere. She cupped it carefully in one webbed hand, and then turned to Jacob. "Set her down, Jakie." The giant did so before stepping back. Cay knelt down next to Aubrey, slipping her free hand under her back and supporting her into a somewhat upright position. Closing her black eyes, she chanted inaudibly under her breath, pressing the key to the almost sealed hole in Aubrey's chest. It resisted at first, but then the skin opened, and the key all but fell in with the tear closing behind it.

"Did it work?" Sally asked hopefully.

Cay looked over Aubrey's body, which remained motionless. "I… I don't know…" She bowed her head. "I'm sorry, Jack."

The words had barely left her mouth when Aubrey coughed and opened her eyes, groaning. "Aubrey!" Jack exclaimed, lifting her up.

"Hi dad." She muttered, blinking the sleep from her eyes. "Did we win?"

Jack smiled and kissed her cheek. "Yes, we won." He set her down and, after making sure she wasn't going to fall over and hugging her tightly, let go. Sally hugged her next.

"I'm so glad you're all right." The rag doll whispered. Aubrey hugged her back, smiling. Sally let go suddenly, and looked over at Lock, Shock, and Barrel. Aubrey stepped back and smiled at her three friends.

They just looked at each other for a moment before Aubrey finally said, "Well, do I get a hug or what?"

Lock (duh, who else?) ran over and hugged her, picking her up and twirling around before kissing her. Shock and Barrel averted their gazes, both blushing pink. Finally, Barrel looked over at Shock.

"Um… Sh-Shock?" He stuttered nervously.

She looked at him, her face still pink. "Yeah?"

Barrel shuffled his feet nervously, and started twiddling his fingers. "Um, well… I-I've wanted to tell you this for a long time, but, um…"

"Would you just shut up and kiss her already?" Lock groaned, his arms still around Aubrey, who giggled.

Barrel blushed crimson and looked over at Shock who, smiling mischievously, grabbed the front of Barrel's shirt and pulled his lips to hers. "Dominatrix." Lock muttered quietly.

Shock threw one of her boots at his head before turning back to Barrel, who had a goofy grin on his face. "Nice shot."

"Thank you." She said, kissing him again.

Aubrey, who had finally stopped laughing at Lock, smiled slightly. "Were we like that when we started dating?"

Barrel and Shock broke apart and unanimously responded, "Yes!"

Lock rolled his eyes and tossed Shock's boot back at her. "That hurt, you know. Hey, what's this?" He reached into Aubrey's pocket and produced a ring.

Aubrey frowned. "I don't know. I've never seen it before."

Jacob's eyes widened and he tapped Cay's shoulder. "What, Jakie?" She asked, confused. He pointed at the ring. "You've seen it before?" He nodded.

Lock cursed as the ring began to glow and burn his hand, dropping it to the ground. The gemstone shattered into dust, and the dust flew around Cay and Jacob, completely concealing their bodies.

A moment later, it flew back, revealing Cay and Jacob, but differently. Cay's shredded clothing was gone, replaced by a short black halter top and black capris. Her crew had grown out to the fin protruding from the middle of her back.

"Cay…" A soft voice said. All eyes turned to Jacob.

Cay gasped. "Jakie…?" The patchwork skin was gone, replaced by the smooth, white-blue skin of most Halloween Town's residents. Shaggy blonde hair fell down to his shoulders and in his bright blue eyes (note the plural). A crimson t-shirt and blue jeans fell over black tennis shoes. The heavy black stitches still pierced his lips, but now loosely enough to allow him to talk. She touched his cheek carefully. "But… how?"

"It's broken." Everyone turned around to see…

"Sandy!" Aubrey cried, running over to her. She stopped halfway though, her eyes cautious.

Sandy smiled at her. "I guess you don't really have a reason to trust me. But it's really me this time, Aubrey."

"Prove it."

The older girl paused, then smiled brightly. "My knight in shining armor turned out just to be a loser in aluminum foil."

Aubrey squealed and hugged her tightly. "It is you!" She stepped back after a moment, looking over her. "But…"

"Raphael couldn't control me, not to capture you." Sandy explained. "That ring was the spell he was using to control me, Cay, and Jacob. I tried to break through at the last second, but I wasn't strong enough."

"That's why I tried to save you." Cay explained. "If Vanessa or Raphael ordered either of us to do something, we had to do it. Whether we wanted to or not. That's why I tried to get you out of there before Vanessa heard you." She smiled softly. "I might be a bitch, but I'm not a heartless one."

Jack coughed slightly. "I think it would be best for all of us if we got out of here and back to the manor."

"Um, hold on." Cay said, pulling an amulet out from under her shirt. Snapping the string that held it, she handed it to Jacob. He grinned at her and smashed it.

"We, uh, kind of put the town under a mass puppet spell. Sorry." She shrugged. Jack shook his head, smiling wryly.

"C'mon, let's go."

-The next day-

"I'm gonna miss you." Aubrey said, hugging Sandy tightly.

"You can always come visit me. Hell, you'd BETTER come visit me." Sandy laughed, hugging her back. It had been decided that, since Sandy would have been sent to the Underworld if not for unforeseeable circumstances, she had to go there and couldn't stay in Halloween Town.

"Grim should be here any minute." Jack told them, smiling sentimentally as his daughter and Sandy said their last goodbyes.

"Jack, why did we have to come?" Cay asked from behind him.

Jack smiled back at her. "Well, I certainly can't let you and Jacob stay here. If I did, I'd have to send you back into E.S. Somehow, I convinced my thick headed brother to take you two with Sandy."

Aubrey looked over at him. "Wait a sec, the Grim Reaper's my uncle?!"

"Yes, I am. Why are you so surprised?" Said skeleton asked, appearing next to her.

She put her hands on her hips. "YOU said that you were just a 'friend of the family'."

Jack sighed. "Grim…"

"Oh, I was just teasing her Jack." The Reaper laughed. "Now, who is it that I'm taking?" He looked behind the Pumpkin King. "Hey, I remember you two!"

"You should, I just talked to you about them last night."

Grim laughed again. "All right, all right. Let's get going now." He tapped the end of his scythe on the ground and a large, elaborate door appeared next to him. "Oh, wait a sec." He pointed his scythe at Cay and Jacob. There was a 'poof' noise, and much more human versions were standing in there places.

Jacob looked at Cay. "You look weird without fins."

"And you talk too much without your mouth sewn shut." She retorted, walking toward the door. She paused with one foot through. "Hey, Jack!"

"What is it?" He asked.

She grinned. "I'll make sure to tell BJ that you said hi." Jack groaned as she slipped through the multi-colored portal in the doorway. Jacob smiled at the skeleton and followed her through.

Sandy looked at Aubrey. "Guess this is it. See you."

Aubrey nodded, and walked back over to Lock, who wrapped an arm around her waist.

Sandy paused, looking back at them. "Oh, and Lock?"

He looked up, surprised. "Yeah?"

Sandy smiled evilly at him. "You break her heart, and I'll rip yours out."

"Sandy!" Aubrey protested.

Lock chuckled and squeezed Aubrey's waist. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Sandy nodded. "Good."

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SC: Finally, it is complete! There's only one more chapter after this, so everyone be sad about it. But, I may do a sequel, if you all ask reeeaaallly nicely.

Read and review please!

Ja ne

SC