Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own Tim Burton's work. Darn. Oh, well, Christmas is coming up soon.
Musically: Don't you hate it when you're stuck in Halloween Town with no clear ways of getting back?
Victoria: Don't leave me here!
Lock, Shock, and Barrel: (chanting) One of us...one of us...
Victoria began her walk down a grey, beaten path, not waiting for the three kids to follow. She stuck her hands in the black pockets of her vest. What had she done to deserve this? To have perfectly nice clothes changed into a black and orange fashion crime, to fall out of a tree, to be followed by three little demons...these things weren't supposed to happen to good girls who lived in quiet suburbs.
"Victoria! Victoria, wait up! We need your help!" Lock, Shock, and Barrel called out from behind her. Victoria ignored them and pumped her legs even faster. Their shouts got farther away, and she was glad. Finally, they stopped altogether. Victoria stood still for a minute, waiting for their yells to come again. They didn't.
Confused, Victoria spun around and looked down the opposite end of the trail. Silence resounded from that end. Soon, however, a faint whistling sound met her ears and grew louder as seconds went by. Then a black iron pitchfork came hurtling towards Victoria from over the horizon, screaming madly as it pushed against the wind.
A well-timed jump saved Victoria just in time. The pitchfork landed with a 'pink' as it was implanted in the blackened ground and quivered for quite a while. It wasn't long before the pitter-patter of six feet came after it. Victoria's face flushed with anger as she stood up to meet the trio.
"Oh, good! She stopped!" Shock's voice was clear once she came into view with her two other friends. Victoria marched toward them. She snatched up the pitchfork and held it threateningly at their noses. To her surprise, they didn't back down or cower like she thought they would. Nonetheless, she planned to give them a good tell-off.
"What," Victoria asked, "in the world were you thinking?" The pitchfork shook dangerously in her grasp. Lock grabbed the handle from Victoria and pulled, making her almost lose her balance and let go. He held his weapon of choice by his side.
"Well, we wanted you to stop. So, we just threw a pitchfork at you!" Lock said. Barrel and Shock nodded like evil versions of bobble head dolls, grinning widely at Victoria mischievously. Victoria didn't return the favor.
"It could've stopped my heart if it'd hit me! What'd you want my help for anyway?" A little bit of the red had faded from her cheeks now, and her breathing was now deep and even. The devil, witch, and skeleton smiled evilly.
"You see, we like to play practical jokes on people," Lock explained. He twirled his pitchfork nonchalantly in his hand, and then suddenly pretended to jab Victoria with it. She flinched. The devil laughed with glee, making the red in her face return.
"Do you ever do that?" Barrel asked the girl, licking his lollipop. Victoria shook her head.
"No. That's vile and cruel, and it doesn't say much about the pranksters," Victoria said maturely, though it just bounced off the masks that the children wore. They giggled, failing to stifle their laughter.
"Well," Shock said loftily, "We don't. And for this prank, we need a diversion." All three of them grinned and stared intently at Victoria. Victoria laughed, shaking her head.
"No. Ooooh, no. I don't do things like that. Besides, how are you going to make me?" Victoria questioned with a smirk. Instantly, the children whipped out the pitchfork, broom, and plunger that they used for their weapons. Sinking slightly in posture, Victoria gulped.
Grudgingly, Victoria asked, "What's the plan?" Lock pointed to the window in the castle-like house, tossing a rock up and down in his other.
"You," he explained, "are going to take the rock and throw it at the window. Then you'll hide in here so he won't see you." The devil lifted up a branch of a thick, spidery bush and then let it swing back into place.
"What're you all going to do then?" Victoria inquired.
"While he goes outside to see who did it, we're gonna go inside and mess up his equipment!" Barrel whispered happily. Victoria looked confused.
"Equipment? Does he play sports?" she asked. The three burst out in laughter.
"No! He's a scientist! Now, hurry, throw the rock!" Shock laughed as Lock handed Victoria the stone. Victoria casually tossed it into the air and caught it, feeling the bumpy sharpness of its edges.
"I don't know," she trailed off.
"Just do it!" the trio screeched. Startled, Victoria threw the rock as hard and as fast as she could, hitting the top most window in the center and shattering the glass. The castle began to rumble violently. Victoria and the kids stood stock still in a sort of terrified awe, watching each of the windows break in turn with an ear-splitting noise.
A furious roar was heard from inside the castle.
"Run for it!" Lock, Shock, and Barrel said simultaneously. They scampered away, and Victoria followed. They got far enough that the mechanical buzzing coming for them faded after a few minutes. Panting and tired, they all collapsed on the stairs of the town hall, gasping for breath and laughing slightly.
"That…that thing in their? Dr. Finkleberg or whatever? He sure can scream," Victoria laughed between breaths.
"He's done worse," Shock said. Soon, their breath was back and they were all sitting upright. They began to talk about the pranks they'd done in the past, and Victoria listened patiently and curiously. In this world, there didn't seem to be much discipline at all. At least, she thought so.
A stout shadow was blocking out the pumpkin-shaped sun (which had risen a while ago), engulfing the quartet. Victoria looked up and beheld a strange, disturbing sight. What looked like a grey, mutant duck with goggles and buck teeth sat in a wheelchair in front of her, clutching the throttle and growling menacingly.
"Dr. Finklestein!" Shock screamed. The children ran away quickly, but Victoria stayed and looked him in the eye. His wheelchair moaned as it stopped, and then Dr. Finklestein began to speak.
"So," he said menacingly, "So. You're the prankster who broke all the windows in my house?" Victoria raised an eyebrow and calmly shook her head.
"I believe you have the wrong person," she said aloofly. Dr. Finklestein was taken aback for the slightest second, and then he opened up his hinged head and scratched his purple brain, much to the disgust of Victoria.
"Must've been those three hooligans then; my apologies," the scientist mumbled gruffly. Mechanical whirring noises came from his wheelchair as he left, still muttering about young people's tomfoolery. Victoria was left alone on the steps of town hall.
Head in hands, she contemplated what to do next. She needed to find a way out of here; that was for sure. How was she going to do that? All the graveyards in Halloween Town would take ages to go through and search, and that was more time than she had.
"Excuse me?" a calm, male voice interrupted Victoria's hopeless thoughts.
"What?" she snapped. She looked up to see a tall, towering skeleton in a pinstriped suit lean over her. His bat-like bow tie almost scraped her nose as he bent down to her level, and the tails of his tuxedo trailed along the steps. The skeleton paused for a second. Then he opened his bony mouth to speak to her.
"Your outfit is quite lovely. Did Sally make it?" the skeleton inquired. Victoria shook her head.
"No. Who's she?" Victoria asked, getting up. As she rose, the skeleton got up too. She saw that he was quite tall for a skeleton and felt a bit intimidated under his shadow. Nonetheless, she tried to keep a confident air.
"And who are you?" she questioned him. The skeleton laughed heartily, amused by the girl's moxie.
"Why, you must be new here. I'm the Pumpkin King, Jack Skelllington. Sally is a young lady I know who is quite skilled with the needle and thread. I thought she might have made your outfit," Jack explained. Victoria nodded in slight understanding.
"Pumpkin King," she repeated, "Does that mean you own this place?"
Jack shook his head and said, "Not quite. That would be the Mayor's job." One of Victoria's eyebrows went down and the other lifted.
"So, hold on," Victoria said, puzzled, "You are a king, but a mayor runs the town?" Her fingers went wildly in directions as she tried to illustrate the concept. Jack laughed again.
"Why don't you come inside?" he asked, holding the door open for her, "You obviously have a lot to learn about Halloween Town." Victoria hesitated for a second, and then walked in the door.
"Okay, Jack. I'm ready to learn."
Musically: So? What do you think of Jack?
Victoria: He's made out of bones. What am I supposed to think?
Jack: (crestfallen) Hey!