This is the super-sad ending. If you don't want your heart potentially broken, then perhaps you may want to skip to the following chapter instead, which is an alternate, less-sad ending! :D

One hundred years of trick-or-treating passed in much the same way, one hundred more Halloweens the trio spent roaming the streets, collecting candy and playing pranks. On December twenty-fourth after that hundredth Halloween, Skeleton Jack destroyed the Boogie Man and millions upon millions of children in the Human World slept more soundly in their beds, no longer afraid of that massive, hulking, fearful presence that had now been wiped from their minds and memories. Lock, Shock and Barrel's initial reaction was to be upset, for they had served the Boogie Man for so long… but then they realized that they were now just as free as those human children were. Free from the fear, free from the beatings, free from being slaves to that chute and the offerings that they were forced to send down daily, free from the lies he had fed them that they were unwelcome and unwanted by everyone in their own town. They were offered safe harbor from the Pumpkin King himself and the children accepted - for out of all the residents of Halloween Town, he was the one who had always truly understood and accepted them for what they were. When the children returned home after that first Halloween one hundred years ago, Jack had looked down at their masked faces, their bags full of treats, the dried bits of smashed pumpkin on their feet… and he had understood. They weren't just a failed witch, devil and ghoul - they had found their purpose, and Jack was delighted for them and for this new facet of the holiday that made up his very bones. He respected their job and he made great efforts to convince the rest of the townspeople to feel the same: "Trick-or-Treating is a part of Halloween. They have a job to do, as do we all. We must not punish them for it." He had told them over and over again through the decades, and slowly some of the residents had come around to this point of view and gradually things began to change. At this newfound tolerance - and even acceptance - the children felt a happiness that they had never known. They still were quite naughty, but their tricks became less violent and harmful and could be staved off almost entirely with regular treats from the other townspeople, just like in the Human World. They burned their old treehouse to the ground and watched with satisfaction as the ash and melted metal settled down into the pit, and then they spit upon the Boogie Man's grave beneath it. A new treehouse was built closer to town and many of their neighbors helped with the construction, and when their new home was finished the children treated their helpers to a spectacular show from the last of the fireworks that Oogie Boogie had given them.

As the trio softened, so did trick-or-treating itself: no more was it a desperate gesture to ward off evil spirits, but rather a fun and benign activity that gave children joy and brought neighborhoods together. By the time another fifty years had passed very little wickedness remained in the three of them, for it had all been replaced by a playful mischievousness that became more endearing than it was annoying. Two hundred more years followed, two hundred more Halloweens spent gleefully fulfilling their purpose… but then something began to change.

It was slow at first: a sort of restlessness began to plague them, an uneasy feeling that something was slipping away, but they couldn't quite put it into words. "Something's not right…" Shock said anxiously one Halloween, and while Lock scoffed and reassured her that everything was fine, deep down in his bones he felt it too. Barrel stayed quiet, though worry gnawed away in his gut… if Shock was afraid, then he was afraid, too. They noticed the number of houses offering candy decreasing, saw fewer and fewer human children roaming the streets on Halloween night. They played just as many tricks as before - indeed, they actually increased them in a desperate attempt to succeed at their work - but they brought home less and less candy with each passing year. Their anxiety grew as they searched the Human World for their fellow trick-or-treaters, and one Halloween they came home with barely any candy at all. Terrified and hungry, they finally told Jack.

"Something's not right." Shock said once again, twisting the fabric of her dress in her fists.

"There's hardly any of us out on the streets anymore." worried Lock, wringing his hands and coiling his tail protectively around his leg.

"We can't find much candy." Barrel said sadly, and Jack looked down at them all sympathetically and then smiled as he patted each of them on their little shoulders.

"Don't worry!" he said in his typical enthusiastic voice. "It's just one of those changes that Halloween goes through. You've been through it before, the way customs evolve. Just hang on tight and everything will work out fine." he reassured them, and while his words comforted them a bit, still that worry prickled at their minds. As they turned away from him Jack's face fell and his heart ached, for he could not bear to tell them the terrible truth: that over so many centuries he had seen Halloween traditions come and go, had witnessed their births and watched them fade away. It hadn't happened for a very long time, much longer than the trio had existed, so they didn't know… didn't know that if the humans stopped practicing their ritual, that if trick-or-treating died out completely, then the three of them would as well.

They began to feel tired, much more tired than children should feel. That Halloween they barely found the strength to travel to the Human World and they trudged through the streets with their very bones aching, their muscles exhausted and their hearts full of fear. They travelled the world and found only one house that would give them a treat, and the elderly human inside had to scrounge up something to offer. "I haven't seen trick-or-treaters in ages, I didn't know kids even did it anymore." the human had said, and the packet of gum, one apple and one candy bar was just barely enough to sustain the children on their journey back home.

They crawled into bed and drifted in and out of restless sleep all through the post-Halloween celebration, and while the townspeople noticed and questioned their absence, Jack alone came to check on them. He crept away from the crowd as the awards were doled out, ascended their treehouse with fear in his heart and called out to them before walking inside. He knew what he would most likely find, but he still felt a sharp twist where his guts would have been at the pathetic sight before him: the three children were huddled on one ratty mattress, holding one another in their shivering arms and Jack knew that their time was near. "What's happening to us, Jack?" they asked him, tears falling slowly from their terrified eyes, for they were too weak to cry any harder.

"Shhh…" Jack whispered, and knelt on the floor to wrap a blanket around them. "It's alright. It's going to be alright." he lied, for he didn't know where the creatures of Halloween Town went when their purpose had ended.

"Stay with us." they pleaded as Jack wiped away their tears, then he cradled them close in his long, bony arms.

"I promise I will. You should try and sleep now." he said softly as his heart broke in two.

They all three closed their eyes and their breathing got slower, their shivering stilled and their tears ceased to fall… then without even a whisper, their little hearts stopped.

Jack wept as he hadn't for hundreds of years and kept holding them tight as their bodies went cold. He looked down at their faces, now peaceful and still, imprinting their features inside of his skull. Like many before them, they would disappear soon and he wanted to remember them for as long as he himself carried on, no matter how many centuries may pass until he vanished as well. Perhaps, Jack hoped, someday they would come back… perhaps in some time the humans would recall this archaic tradition, would resurrect it and keep it… and maybe someday a newborn witch would be found in the garden, a devil would set the town square alight, and a ghoul would coo happily amongst the tombstones once more.

Author Note: Well, that totally sucked and now I am sad. Please do check out the final chapter, unless you enjoy wallowing in misery! D: