Me: I'm back! I promise you, Lock, Shock, and Barrel are in this one!
Andromeda: Oh, give it a rest. No one's reading!
Me: Hey, Andy, are you the author?
Andromeda: No. And don't call me Andy!
Me: Whatever.
Oogie: Hey, am I in this one?
Me: No.
Oogie: I don't like you.
Both Girls: Ditto!
Lock, Shock, and Barrel: Do we do anything bad?
Me: You kidnap Andromeda. Does that count?
Andromeda: WHAT?!
Oogie: you're evil.
Chapter 1: the evil little henchmen
Andromeda often had to run errands for her mother, sally. Since sally was considered the best cook around, she was always running out of crucial ingredients for her family. That and she was also a little afraid of Dr. Finklestein, her creator. So, she often sent her daughter out to the store.
Andromeda had just left the house when a gaggle of vampires immediately surrounded her. This had always annoyed her greatly, but every one else in town thought that their concern for her was charming.
"Seriously, I have to go," she stated firmly to all of them.
"Vell, at least let us accompany you to your destination, my lady," said one tall vampire, Alcudim.
"Seriously, I must go." Then Andromeda got a rather evil grin, and added, "and one of the ingredients I must buy is garlic."
They all quickly departed. Once they were gone, Andromeda entered the Creepy Crawly Scary Mart. She had to get devilish (not devilled) ham, snake eggs, and powdered dragon milk. But no garlic.
On her way to the snake eggs, she did in fact meet the infamous Dr. Finklestein. He didn't usually come into town, normally sending a creation to buy things for him. Sometimes her father would request that he come into town, which the Dr. would oblige gladly.
Today, however, he was here, with a grumpy expression on. As the pumpkin princess, andromeda had been taught to socialize with every member of Halloweentown. So she went over to greet him.
"Hello, Dr. And what brings you to the grocery store?"
The man turned his wheelchair around to face her. His face brightened up.
"Why, hello, andromeda! And how are you today?"
"Fine, fine, perfectly fine," she answered airily. The only reason you're asking me how I am is because I'm the Pumpkin Princess! thought the girl angrily.
"Yes, I'm glad. And how is Jack?"
Now you're being realistic, thought andromeda. You, of course, only want to know about my father. "Oh, fine," she answered out loud.
"And your mother?" He had said the last word with disgust. Ever since sally ran away, he didn't like her any more.
"Fine, too," she answered awkwardly. Andromeda never liked talking about her mother in front of him.
"Good, good. Well, don't let me keep you!" he said jokingly.
"Goodbye, Dr."
"Goodbye, Andromeda Skellington!" When he had left, andromeda mentally rolled her eyes and thought, Why do I even bother? There's no use.
She went over to get the snake eggs. After getting the devilish ham, she went to the powered dragon milk isle. There she met none other that Lock, Shock, and Barrel. They never went to the grocery store. Under any circumstances. EVER. This was a very interesting morning for Andromeda Skellington!
They were trying to push the tall shopping carts. Lock was sitting in the basket so he could pick up food, and Shock and Barrel wore disgruntled expressions, as they were pushing the cart. Andromeda was to preoccupied with getting the right milk that she didn't even notice them. Their carts slammed together.
"Hey, watch where ya goin,' Andy!" shouted Lock rudely.
"Oh, shut up," scowled Andromeda. "Why are you here?"
"We gotta eat to, right?" frowned shock.
"I guess," mumbled the girl. She turned to go. "Hey, maybe it's about time we taught her a lesson!" whispered shock to her cohorts. They all snickered. "Hey, Andromeda! You ever heard of Oogie Boogie?" she immediately turned around. How do they know about him? She thought astounded. "No," she lied.
"Well, let us tell you about him," said Barrel mischievously. He hates your father."
" You know what?" said andromeda angrily. "Why don't you three go jump in a lake?!"
" Boiling pit of lava, or leech infested pot?" retorted lock.
"Oh, real mature," said Andromeda sarcastically. "I've gotta go."
When she had left, the trio cackled mischievously. "She'll know Oogie soon!" they whispered to one another.
Back at home, andromeda was busy helping her mother prepare supper. They were making worms wart stew, with pickled bat tongues. Usually when she cook, Andromeda would whistle, or talk to her mother, or even sing. She had a beautiful voice. But her mind was to clouded today. She kept wondering how those three little children could be connected to Oogie Boogie. She decided to get the info from her mom.
"Hey, mom," she began, cutting up bat tongues, " what do you know about Lock, Shock, and Barrel?" sally didn't answer right away. She turned towards her daughter, biting her lower lip nervously. "Well, sweety," she said at last, "Just that you should stay away from them, and don't anger them."
"But, I mean, what have they got to do with Oogie Boogie?" At these words, Sally's already wide eyes grew bigger. Andromeda knew that it was a queer question to ask, because it was an unspoken agreement that they should not talk about Oogie anymore.
"Well, you see, um, we, uh, just a second, JACK!" yelled the woman. "Can you come here? Now?"
Jack ran down the stairs quickly. "What's wrong?" asked the tall skeleton.
" I just asked mom a question about Lock, Shock, and Barrel."
" And why," answered her father lovingly, "would you ask something like that?" He wore an amused expression, unlike sally's worried one. "She wanted to know what they had to do with him," she said anxiously. Jack looked at his daughter with a bemused expression on. " What do you mean by asking that?" he asked sternly. Andromeda stuttered her reply, nervous at her father's change in tone.
"I, um, just, uh, when I was in town today, they, are, carts slammed together, and , they were really mad, so they asked if I knew who Oogie was-"
" and what did you say," asked her father anxiously.
" I lied. I said no."
Jacks face relaxed. "go on," he said.
" When I said no, they said that he hated you. Then I left. I was just wondering what they had to do with him."
"Thank you for telling us," smiled Jack. Sally looked at him anxiously.
"Jack, we can't tell her!" Jack sighed. "we have to, sally. She's already 15 and she already almost found out!"
Jack smiled warmly at Andromeda and motioned for her to sit on the couch. Sally sat in their old rocking chair. She nodded for Jack to begin.
"Well," began her father, suddenly solemn. "Lock, Shock, and Barrel were Oogie's old henchmen." Andromeda stared in disbelief at her father. Those little kids? thought the girl. I mean, their evil, but not that evil.
"Actually, you remember Sandy Claws, right?"
" Santa Clause, dear," corrected Sally.
"Santa Clause," agreed her husband.
"Yes."
"Well, Lock, Shock, and Barrel kidnapped him, and brought him to Oogie Boogie."
"I, um, never knew," stuttered the girl nervously. "I wouldn't have asked."
" That's okay, sweety," answered Jack, putting a bony had on her shoulder.
" Dad? Am I in trouble?"
" What do you mean?
" I mean before I left, I think I heard them saying that they were going to, er, teach me a lesson."
" When?" asked her father quickly and sternly.
" Right after our carts slammed together."
" You mean to tell me," began Jack, eyes wide and looking agitated, " that you made them angry?"
" It wasn't my fault!" saif the girl defensively, "they just-"
"Andromeda," said her mother quickly, " go to your room."
" But-"
"Now!" said her father angrily. She got up and walked away, scowling. Sometimes my parents can be sooo unfair! She thought to herself.
When she had left, her parents looked at each other, worried.
"She's not safe here anymore," sally began. Jack was shaking his skull in disbelief. "I can't believe this happened!" he said sadly.
"I know," agreed sally, putting a loving hand on his knee.
"What do we do now?" jack asked, looking up at his wife.
" She needs more protection. No more leaving the house without the skeletons."
" I'll check to see of the boogieman's back," Jack said resolutely.
" No jack! We don't even know if those rumors are true!"
" I KNOW! yelled Jack. His tone calmed after a while. He looked out the open window. "It's Andromeda's safety that counts."
Andromeda was laying on her plush black bed, thinking about what just happened. What did I do wrong? She thought to herself. How am I in trouble?
It began to rain outside. The bright flashes of light lit her dark room. A strange tapping noise was heard on her window. Suddenly, a huge rock was heaved at the glass, breaking it. The young woman stood up and went to look. But a small figure was thrown thought next, landing on Andromeda, and knocking her to the floor.
When she opened her eyes, she found Barrels green ones staring back. She was so surprised she was speechless. After a while, he slowly backed off her stomach and ran to the window.
"Hey, guys!" he yelled. "Come on!" A rope was thrown through the window, and Lock and Sock climbed through.
"Great!" they said mischievously. "Now we can-"
They spotted Andromeda on the floor.
"You IDIOT!" yelled shock, hitting Barrel in the face. "She was supposed to be ASLEEP!"
"I'm SORRY!" yelled Barrel back. "You're the one who THREW ME THROUGHT THE WINDOW!" they all started having an all out fist fight. None of them noticed Andromeda again until Lock shouted "Hey!" and pointed to her. They grinned evilly. Andromeda screamed. The trio all grabbe a wad of clothe and stuck it in her mouth. She tried to take it out, but couldn't. Then, they climbed under her, and tried to lift her towards the window. This was hard, since she kept kicking them in the face, but they finally threw her out.
She tried to scream as she fell. But she didn't hit ground. Two strong male skeletons caught her, and stuffed her in a large trick-or-treaters candy bag. Lock, Shock, and Barrel slid down the rope, and Lock tied up the bag really tight. The princess tried to make distinguishable noises.
"Let me out!" she tried to say.
"Oh, we will, soon enough," cackled Lock. The skeletons lifted the bag and put it in a bathtub. The bathtub began to walk. Towards the Oogie Boogie Man's lair.