Cobwebs Tend to Grow on Halloween

I don't own anything but my OC's.

Chapter 13

Everyone watched Cobweb and Cobweb watched everyone.

Jack stared into the dark purple glow of Cobweb's mask. Every time Jack had seen that mask, it had either been orange or black. Never purple. Maybe it was anger's colour. Maybe this was a new affect of eating pumpkins. But…when did he eat them? He hadn't had a single piece since Jack had found out they were bad for him.

Cobweb just stood silently.

"W-What's goin' on?" Oogie asked. "How'd you get out?"

Cobweb held up his right hand, melted metal dripping from it. "I melted the bars."

"How?"

"He told me how."

The liquid metal dripped down until it was gone, revealing the circle and star on Cobweb's palm.

"Cob?" Alistair spoke up.

Cobweb ignored him. "You hurt my friends, Oogie Boogie."

"Yeah? An' whatta you gonna do about it?" Oogie challenged, crossing his arms.

Cobweb held out his right hand, clicking his fingers.

A spark shot out and zapped the space near Oogie's leg, making the monster yelp and pull his foot away.

"I'm going to kill you." Cobweb replied to his question, still holding out his right hand. "I could burn you, set you alight, burn your sack and every godforsaken bug inside. But I can't, because that would be too easy."

"No!" Jack exclaimed. "You can't because it's wrong, Cobweb, it's wrong to kill people! It's wrong to hurt them!"

"That didn't stop you." Cobweb said, not even looking in the skeleton's direction.

"What has gotten into you, Cobweb?" Jack asked.

"…The truth."

Cobweb snapped his fingers again, this time in the direction of Jack.

Jack fell to his knees, barely dodging the sparks but soon realized Cobweb was aiming at the soldiers, not him.

The soldiers blew up, pieces of them flying everywhere.

"Hey!" Oogie shouted. "Whatta ya doing?"

"Destroying this place," Cobweb answered. "And you."

With that said, Cobweb ran towards him.

Oogie stepped back, pushing a button with his foot.

Oogie was pushed into the air by the springy panel beneath him. He landed on the casino table, challenging Cobweb by waving a hand at him.

Cobweb took the challenge and jumped onto the panel. During midair, he clicked his fingers at the floor, propelling himself onto the cage still hanging above them. He grasped the chain with his right hand, melting the iron. The chain broke and the cage began falling, Cobweb still on top of it.

Oogie jumped off of the table quickly, mildly missing the cage as it landed harshly on top of the casino table.

Jack had never seen Cobweb like this. He looked so hurt, so angry. And why hadn't he told Jack that he had powers like these? Did he hide them? And what was with the tattoos? All these questions clouded Jack's mind like a stormy day.

Cobweb gave out a frustrated yell, clicking his fingers in every direction; setting the cards and soldiers alight. A ring of fire now surrounded the lot of them.

Shadow was forced to watch the events.

Jack looked around them.

Alistair did his best not to go near any flames.

Cobweb stood on top of the cage. "A ring of fire…" He murmured to himself. "Just like how he killed the beast."

"Cobweb," Jack spoke up. "You need to stop this."

"No, I don't. You just want me to stop this. Want and need are two very different things." He turned to Oogie, jumping off of the cage. "You're next."

Oogie continued stepping back, accidentally knocking over a barrel of black powder; the substance spilling out. Oogie took a hand full of the stuff and threw it at Cobweb.

Cobweb coughed as the substance entered his eye sockets and mouth.

"Wait…That's…" Jack's eye sockets narrowed.

Cobweb held out his right hand…and clicked his fingers…

"NO!" Jack screamed.

But it was too late.

The gunpowder was set alight and exploded.

Fire erupted like a volcano.

The three trick-or-treaters took cover in their bathtub.

Jack shouted Cobweb's name as the fire surrounded them all.

…

Jack opened his eye sockets.

Flames danced on the broken pieces of wood and metal, rejoicing in a job well done.

Alistair laid under a heap of wood, obviously unconscious.

Jack looked around himself. He couldn't see Cobweb, nor Oogie.

Jack looked over at Alistair again. If that fire reached him, he would be burned to death.

Jack stood, pushing a few boards of wood off of his back. He limped over to the scarecrow, slipping off his jacket. He managed to get Alistair out of the heap and wrapped his jacket around his shoulders, protecting his wooden body.

Jack looked over at the window, noticing that the rope was undamaged. He limped over to it and pulled.

Shadow turned to it, spotting that someone was tugging on it. She wiped the tears away from her eyes and pulled the rope.

Jack clung to the window, Alistair in one arm. Shadow pulled him through, and Jack collapsed onto his stomach.

"Jack!" Shadow exclaimed. "You're alright!"

Jack coughed up any smoke or ash he had inhaled. He looked up.

Lock, Shock and Barrel stood above him.

Lock stared at his shoes.

Shock stared at her dress.

Barrel stared at his lollipop.

Jack frowned. He would be blaming them, scolding them if he wasn't currently thinking about the flames inside. "Al…"

"He's alright," Shadow said, Alistair in her arms. "He'll be fine."

"C…C…Cob…Cobweb…" Jack breathed. "Where's Cobweb?"

Shadow glanced at the three trick-or-treaters.

They all shrugged, shaking their heads.

Shadow turned back to Jack, shaking her head softly and sadly.

Jack's eye sockets widened. No…He couldn't be…He couldn't…

Jack turned to look at the fire. He shouted Cobweb's name…

Just as the tree house collapsed onto Oogie's casino, flattening it.

Jack couldn't believe it. He didn't want to.

"COBWEB!"

…

Author's note:

Well, this chapter was certainly hot! (Cricket chirps.) *Clears throat* This chapter was very dramatic, wasn't it? So, where is our darling little Cobweb? Is he safe? Did Oogie get him? Find out next time…