Chapter 13: Always Believing (doubleux3 . youtube . com/watch?v=4uYafV5jK5E)

Memo: Aww, Nex is so funny. :3 Her outfit is sweet, btw. Maybe I will post a picture of it in another chapter...or on deviantart, which seems more likely at this point. :D

Nexus' PoV

"Nexus? How're you doing?"

Forcing my eyes open, I stared into Sora's concerned blue eyes, dazed.

"Still tired, but better than earlier," I replied, stretching. I really was feeling better.

Sora sighed through his nose, placing his hand on my forehead.

"Your fever's gone down," he stated.

"Because I slept. I told you it was from exhaustion."

He sighed again.

"Well...alright. Since you're feeling better, let's get going," he said, giving in. "We're at the next world."

"And where would that be?"

.........

"Hey, this is Halloween Town, right?" Sora said more to himself than us.

"Wherever we are, this place is my favorite by far," I replied.

All our appearances had magically changed: Sora looked like a vampire, Donald a mummy, Goofy a zombie...and me? Well, my costume didn't change much at all. I was wearing a pin-stripe cloak fashioned after my Organization XIII cloak, with black boots and a black tube top and leather skirt to match. A black headband topped it off.

"You have cat eyes," Sora pointed out, smiling. "And fangs."

"Sweet."

We all looked around at the scenery, noticing orange festive lights lining the brick walls. They seemed out of place, for certain.

Suddenly something white dove in front of us. Everyone jumped.

"Hey, it's Zero!" Sora exclaimed after regaining composure. "How've you been, boy?"

"Zero," as he was called, was nothing more than a white ghost dog with a glowing miniature pumpkin for a nose. He circled around Sora and the others happily, then dashed off toward where I assumed the town to be.

"We should follow him," I decided, trotting after the friendly ghost. Sora nodded and followed, with Donald and Goofy bringing up the rear.

Upon entering the town square area, we saw more festive lights and a huge hunk of wood, fashioned into what seemed to be a launchpad. It was totally out of place in the square; everything else seemed darker and scarier, like the fountain with its glowing green water or the guillotine.

"What's that for?" Sora wondered aloud, stepping toward the launchpad.

The chiming of bells was heard in response.

"It's Jack!" Donald squawked.

Somebody, presumably Jack, was flying over us in what was supposed to be a sleigh, but was instead a trashcan led by skeleton reigndeer.

"Sora, Donald, and Goofy!" Jack cried, jumping out of the sleigh. He was a skeleton, too, but obviously on our side. "Welcome back, and Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas?" Sora gasped, confused as I was. "Don't you mean, 'Happy Halloween'?"

"Of course. Halloween greetings from Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King."

Jack made I think what was supposed to be a scary face, but failed.

"Forgive me. I'm in a Christmas mood. You see, I'm running the show again this year--but I need Sandy Claws's blessing, so I'm off to Christmas Town."

Sora shot me a funny look, and I returned it easily, confused.

"'Sandy Claws'?" he whispered to us.

"I think he means Santa Claus," Goofy said.

"Aren't these decorations wonderful?" Jack continued, hopping up onto the edge of the fountain with glee. "This year Halloween Town's going to handle Christmas too! But first! We have to visit Sally. She's working on something no self-respecting Santa Claus can do without. Come along--I'll show you!"

We didn't really have the chance to argue with him, since he bounded off toward a door and disappeared inside.

"A Halloween Town Christmas..." Sora murmured.

Yes, that meant this Christmas was to include severed heads, demented toys, and cackling reigndeer. Fun fun.

Donald and Goofy shivered when they came to the same realization.

"Wanna go check it out?" Sora said, making them slump.

"C'mon, hurry!" Jack shouted at us, poking his skull outside of the door.

Sighing, we all hurried after him, eventually walking into what appeared to be a lab. There was a short, strange-looking man sitting in a wheelchair, studying something, and there were three little kids running around in Halloween costumes. I got distracted by them, but suddenly my attention was diverted to the man, who opened his head and scratched his brain.

I didn't feel better anymore.

*~*~*

"Hello, Doctor!" Jack said in a cheerful voice. Sora knew he hadn't changed a bit. "Where's Sally?"

"Can't you see...that I'm in the middle of an experiment?" Doctor Finkelstein shouted, his head slamming closed. Sora glanced back at the others; Nexus looked disgusted.

Then the door to the lab opened, and Sally walked in, but she was cut off by Lock, Shock, and Barrel, who were carrying some machine part.

"Hey, this is way too heavy!" Lock complained to his friends.

"Then let's toss it!" Shock replied.

"You do and you'll be sorry!" the Doctor shouted from his chair. "Now bring it over here."

"Heave-ho!" the kids shouted, throwing the wheel onto the lab table. It shuddered, then sparked, then exploded in Jack and Sora's faces. The kids laughed, taking off their masks in joy. As the smoke cleared, the children ran off, Barrel tripping, and disappeared out the door. Jack immediately turned his full attention to Sally.

"Imbeciles! Now my experiment is ruined!" the Doctor lamented, but no one was listening.

"Sally!" Jack cried with enthusiasm. "Did you finish it? I want to show my good friends. And my new friend." He gestured to Nexus. "Of whom I don't even know her name. But any friend of Sora's is a friend of mine!"

"I'm Nexus," Nexus said, but Jack wasn't listening.

"I'm sorry, Jack. I...I need a little bit more time," Sally replied cautiously.

"Ohh... Well, that's all right. Just as long as it's ready for Christmas!"

Jack gave Sally's shoulder a little pat and began to walk away.

"But... Jack..." she started.

"I'd best be off," Jack interrupted, back to his friends. "I've got to go get Sandy Claws, right away! Wonderful to see you again. Good-bye for now!"

And with that, Jack disappeared out the door.

"Go get Santa Claus...?" Sora mumbled, thinking hard about this.

"Please, Sora," Sally pleaded. "I'm afraid something terrible will happen if Jack goes through with this."

"You can say that again!" Donald quacked disapprovingly.

"Sora?" Goofy said.

Sora, who was staring up at the ceiling, was completely engaged elsewhere.

If Jack is going to see Santa, then I bet we can see him too! he thought. But what would I say?

"Hey, snap out of it!" Nexus shouted, clonking Sora in the head with her fist. He jumped.

"Are those strange-looking fellows in the town square with you?"

Everyone jumped this time, and they turned to see Jack poking his skull back in again.

"Huh? What 'fellows'?" Sora asked as Jack entered.

"You know, the ones who wanted to spoil Halloween AND Christmas? What are they called again..." Jack scratched his chin in thought. "...Heartless?"

"They're definitely not with us," Sora replied. "But Donald, Goofy, and I can get rid of them for you. And then we can go see Santa!"

The room fell silent except for Donald's impatient foot-tapping.

"But first, the Heartless!" Sora exclaimed when he noticed.

.........

Nexus' PoV

"How is Sandy Claws supposed to relax with all this going on?" Jack whined as we defeated the last of the Heartless. "That's it, fellows! Sandy Claws needs bodyguards. Are you up to the task?"

"Us?" Donald asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," Sora answered without.

"All right, bodyguards! Christmas Town is this way!" Jack pointed to where we came from before. "The doorway is in the woods just past the graveyard!"

Since we all actually knew where that was, no one hesitated this time, and we all ran off to get to Christmas Town. After all, who WOULDN'T look forward to meeting Santa Claus, especially when you were an avid believer yourself?

Anyway, we easily wasted the Heartless ahead of us--given there were five of us--and soon we reached a small forest with a circle of trees. Each of the trees in the circle had a colored, shaped door based on a holiday.

The temptation to go in the St. Patrick's Day door was overwhelming.

"Here it is! The door to Christmas Town," Jack announced, gesturing toward a tree-shaped door adorned with ornaments and shiny garlan. "The spooks of Halloween can get so tiresome year after year. I wanted something new. And I found this! Beyond this door is a world filled with wonders...the likes of which you've never seen! As first I couldn't believe my eyes! Everything was so fresh and exciting!"

It didn't sound like a place he was describing, but it was enticing.

"C'mon! Just open it!" Sora cried, about to bounce right out of his pants. I prayed he wouldn't.

Jack obliged and pulled the door open. Sora and I raced to be the first one inside.

We fell for a while before being tossed out onto the cold, white snow. Sora's outfit had changed into a black and white santa suit. He grinned at me, and I figured my outfit had changed, too.

Suddenly Donald plopped onto top of him, dressed as a snowman, and then Goofy next, as a reigndeer. Sora shook them off and he grinned again, his eyes glowing excitedly.

"Cooool!" he gasped, looking over the quaint little town of Christmas.

"Wow!" Donald agreed.

"Oh, so now you care," I muttered, brushing myself off. Sure enough, my pinstripe coat was gone, and in its place was a black and white snowsuit like Sora's, only much more feminine.

"So where's Santa?" Donald asked Jack as he appeared behind us.

"In his workshop," he replied, pointing to a big red building in the town. "Shall we?"

"We shall!" I exclaimed, bounding down the snow-covered hill.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Sora shouted, running after me.

But there was no way I could stop now. I was only getting started.

.........

After defeating the Heartless we found in Town Square, we entered the warm home of Santa Claus. It smelled of pine trees and cookies. Everything was festive and bright. It made my spirit warm and soaring once more.

"Whoa!" Donald and Sora gasped upon seeing Santa sitting in his chair. I couldn't say anything.

"Well, hello everyone," Santa said in a kind but booming voice. "Did you come to see if you're on my 'nice' list?"

Sora crept closer, looking afraid and stoked at the same time.

"Your name?" Santa asked, smiling.

"Um, Sora, sir," Sora said.

"Let's see...Sora...Here you are." Sora, at this point, was about to dance out of the room. "Well, according to my list, Sora...seven years ago you told everyone you did not believe in Santa Claus... Oh, that is unfortunate."

"GAHH!" Sora cried, holding his head in his hands desparately.

"How about Donald and Goofy?" Donald asked, moving the mourning Sora aside.

Santa looked at his list, then nodded, smiling.

"Oh, boy!"

"And me? I'm Nexus," I said meekly. Whoa, was that my own voice? "I-I can't imagine murderers or arsonists are on your nice list."

Santa, after giving me a wary look, scanned the names, reading some out loud.

"Ty Lee...Ai...Kira...Sune..."

"I'm here," her voice said in the back of my head. She giggled; I clenched my teeth angrily.

"Shut up," I muttered. Santa peered up at me, and I blushed.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Nothing. Talkin' to myself, is all. Sorry."

*~*~*

"Am I on your list, too, by any chance? It's me, Jack!" Jack said with a grin. Santa started.

"Jack Skellington!?" he cried, bewildered.

Suddenly a loud crash came from the toy factory. Santa reluctantly pulled himself up from his chair.

"What sort of trouble did you bring this time?" he groaned, walking toward the factory door.

"This time?" Sora asked, turning to Jack.

"It's a long story!" Jack replied nonchalantly. Sora and Nexus exchanged glances and rolled their eyes. Nevertheless, they all followed Santa into his workshop. It was quiet for a moment, then they heard a familiar high-pitched voice.

"What do you want us to do?" it cried.

"Who's there?" Santa bellowed.

"Busted!" three very familiar voices shouted in unison.

The group heard a smash of glass, then saw the three little pranksters jumping out of the hole they'd made in the window.

"It's Lock, Shock, and Barrel!" Jack exclaimed, narrowing his eyes--or should I say the holes where the eyes should've been?

"Not those three..." Santa grumbled.

"I assure you, they're not with us."

"Well, whatever the case, they've been quite naughty. Catch them and bring them back here. They're going to get a lecture."

Santa began to walk back to his house.

"Uh...Mr. Claws?" Jack began, meaning to follow him. "I wanted to talk to you about Christmas first."

"It'll have to wait," Santa said sternly, stopping. "I need to see how things are progressing in my workshop."

"C'mon, Jack--let's catch those little pranksters," Sora agreed, trying to get his friend focused on the business at hand.

"Oh, all right, then," Jack sighed, giving up for now.

"You know, a lecture does sound pretty harsh, especially one from Santa Claus," Nexus said, sticking out her lower lip in thought.

"You act like punishing them's a bad thing," Sora stated. She shrugged.

"Sorry. Little kids are my weakness."

Sora stared at her, not sure if he should take her seriously or not.

"No, I'm serious!" She grinned. "I love kids. Even when they're rotten to the core, they're still so fun and lively and innocent. It's when they get to be teenagers that I can't stand them."

Pouting, Sora shoved Nexus over. She yelped, tripping on her robe, and fell on her butt.

"You're just proving my point!" she shouted angrily. Sora took that as his cue to run. Nexus took that as her cue to chase him.

Nexus' PoV

I caught up to Sora just outside of Santa's workshop. He was standing still, probably catching his breath, but I tackled him anyway.

"Hey, hey! Get off!" he shouted angrily.

"Sorry, you left yourself open for that one," I declared, standing upright and brushing the snow off of me.

"Didn't you see?"

He pointed to a mush of snow, just below the cracked window. A set of strange footprints took over from there and seemed to lead back to Halloween Town.

"You think it's them?" I asked. He nodded. "Alright, then let's go."

As soon as the others joined us, we set off in search of the mischief makers. Their footprints certainly led us into Halloween Town and into the graveyard. We stopped just outside of the Curly Hill.

"This is it," I said, sighing. I loaded my gun. "Let's get going."

"You think we'll have to fight them?" Sora asked incredulously.

"Perhaps."

Not them, but a Heartless, I thought.

Sure enough, the three were waiting for us, with a giant, mechanical-looking Heartless hovering over them.

"There they are!" Sora cried. They jumped up into the Heartless' cage.

"Stop them!" the devil shouted.

"Tie 'em down!" the witch added.

"Get 'em!" the skeleton commanded, and the Heartless making a smacking noise with its mouth.

"No, you are NOT going to eat me," I said quickly, running up the hill as it ate of the kids and absorbed his powers. "How can I fight this thing? What would Xigbar do?"

Spying the curl of the hill, I dropped down to it, and latching my ankles on, I hung upside-down and began to shoot.

"Nice use of surroundings, Nexus!" I imagined Xigbar saying.

"Nice use of surroundings, Nexus!" Sora shouted to me, laughing.

Echo?

The Heartless was easily defeated, thanks to me and Goofy and Sora, the latter of two performing some crazy stunts with Goofy's shield.

"Ah ha ha ha!" the skeleton boy laughed. I assumed he was Barrel.

"That was fun!" the devil shouted. He was, then, Lock. Which made the little witch Shock.

"Let's go see if Mr. Oogie's ready!" she said, running off with her companions.

"Oogie!?" Jack cried, sounding alarmed. I didn't understand why, though.

"Isn't he the one who tried to take over Halloween Town before?" Sora asked. Ah. That made sense.

"That's him. Fellows, I hope you're ready for trouble..." I was kind of getting tired of being referred to as a "fellow."

"Don't we have enough trouble already?" Goofy pointed out.

We all nodded, noting that was the smartest thing he'd probably ever said.

*~*~*

The party had just entered the graveyard when Sally came running toward them from the Hinterlands, her doll-like arms swinging urgently.

"What's wrong, Sally?" Jack said when she met them.

"Jack!" she exclaimed. "Oogie's kidnapped Santa Claus!"

"Oh, no!" Jack cried.

"And he's headed to Christmas Town!"

"C'mon, Jack--let's hurry!" Sora insisted, tugging on Jack's bony arm.

Jack nodded intently, speeding off with the others. Sally stood and watched them, feeling helpless. But at this point, she knew there was nothing else she could do.

Except...maybe...follow them.

.........

Just as the group entered Yuletide Hill, a large cloud of black smoke rose up from Santa's workshop.

"That's Santa's house!" Donald cried.

"Then that's where we should be!" Nexus confirmed.

"I'll go with you," a meek voice said.

They turned to see Sally, who had apparently followed them into town.

"Okay," Nexus said before anyone else could say anything. She smiled at the rag doll. After all, who was she to hold back a fellow woman?

They reached Santa's workshop with no time to spare, seeing as Oogie Boogie had just tied up Santa.

"Jack Skellington!" Oogie cried when they entered the room.

"Oogie!" Jack growled.

"You and I have a score to settle, Jack! Same goes for your little sidekicks!"

"Hey! I don't even know you!" Nexus whined.

"What are you planning to do with Sandy Claws?" Jack shouted, ignoring Nexus. They failed to notice Sally sneaking around one of the conveyor belts, holding one of her detachable legs in her hands.

"Who? Sandy Claws? I don't know what you're talking about!" Oogie bounded down next to Santa. "And why is this roly-poly red guy here? Time to go, grandpa!"

He shooed Santa away, then kicked him out of the way. Laughing, Oogie stood in triumph when suddenly a leg landed in front of him.

"Eh?"

Santa, who had gotten to his feet, managed to hop away as Oogie peered at the lovely leg.

"Mr. Santa Claus!" Sally hissed, waving the big man over. Oogie looked up immediately, and he began to storm toward them. But Jack and the others were quicker, and they blocked the path, weapons in hand.

"Why, you..." Oogie growled. But he didn't finish his threat. Instead he waddled back onto the conveyor belt and into a scaffold that lifted him far above their heads. He laughed, pressing a button, and spikes appeared at the end of each belt. The belts began to move, and Donald jumped.

"Stop!" he quacked, running toward one of the blue, glowing holes. It spit him out on another belt. "Huh?" He turned and ran out, only to end up right where he started. "Not again!"

"Nice view from up here!" Oogie laughed from his tower. Nexus sighed, then narrowed her eyes.

It seemed that Oogie's scaffold was weak enough that it might break with more weight.

Nexus' PoV

"Look, there are little presents," Sora said, peering at the little boxes that came out onto the conveyor belts. It clicked.

"Hit them up into the scaffold!" I hissed, shoving Sora toward them.

"What? Why?"

"Just do it!"

Giving me a funny look, Sora eventually obliged and knocked the presents up at Oogie with his keyblade.

My plan was working, it seemed; the metal rods holding Oogie up were already creaking. But it was going to take a lot more presents.

Luckily, we were in Santa's workshop, and presents were quite abundant on the conveyor belt.

"Yah!" Sora cried, knocking away a present. Instead of joining the others, though, it exploded in our faces, and two Heartless popped out.

Apparently those were NOT the boxes we were supposed to be knocking away.

As Sora continued to whack around boxes, I helped Donald and Goofy defeat the Heartless. But it seemed like every time one died, another two would show up. I glanced at Sora, then saw the problem:

Sora was simply hitting every single box that came across his path, including the ones holding Heartless. Obviously he didn't get that the boxes wouldn't do anything but give us enemies.

Suddenly a large box appeared in front of Sora, and he readied his keyblade.

"NO!" I shouted, running toward him. But it was too late. His blade collided with the box, and it exploded in our faces, knocking us both off of our feet. Heartless sprung out everywhere.

"You okay?" Sora asked me, hoisting me to my feet.

"From now on," I sputtered angrily, "I hit the boxes. You can kill the Heartless."

.........

Needless to say, after the fight was over and won, with Oogie's bugs disappearing, I was wiped out. All the energy I thought I had regained was long gone.

"All right, Christmas is safe again!" Sora cheered.

"Perfect!" Jack exclaimed joyfully. "I'd better get down to business!"

"Leave that to Santa!" Donald said.

"Yup, you oughta stick to Halloween and spooky stuff!" Goofy agreed. I nodded, out of breath.

"Jack?"

Sally walked out to us, holding out a red suit to Jack.

"Here, it's done," she said modestly.

"Wonderful! Why, I love it!" Jack said, taking the suit from her and beginning to put it on. "Thank you, Sally!"

"Jack... Do you really have to do this?" Sally asked.

"But I make a splendid Sandy Claws!" Jack insisted.

"Listen here, Jack Skellington," Santa said, coming outside to join us in the cold, winter air. "You saved me, and Christmas as well. And for that, I'm very grateful. But please promise you won't cause any more trouble! And about that suit!"

Jack whirled around, showing it off. I sighed and plopped down in the snow. It felt so good.

"Don't even think about taking over for me again!" Mr. Claus finished.

"I just thought you could use a little help this year, Mr. Claws," Jack explained, nearly pouting. "You must be exhausted from all the preparations. And--I wouldn't mind a second chance to get this Christmas thing right."

"Yes, being Santa Claus can be tiring," Santa admitted. "But let me tell you something, Jack. Seeing the happy faces of little children when they discover the presents I've brought them makes it all worthwhile, year after year after year. And you, Jack--you love to make them gasp and see them shiver with fright. What if someone tried to take all of that away from you?"

Frowing, Jack looked at the ground and scratched his skull in thought.

"We both have very important jobs to do, Jack," he continued. "Mine is to take care of Christmas, and yours is to take care of Halloween. So we each have to do the very best we can. After all, you're the face of Halloween--Mr. Jack Skellington! The Pumpkin King! The Knight of Nightmares!" Jack's face seemed to brighten at this. "And even though you're fascinated with Christmas, Jack...Halloween is your true specialty. Don't you see? Children rely on both of us to do our jobs. Halloween needs your attention...and I know Christmas needs mine--urgently."

Santa turned around as if to leave, but hesitated first.

*~*~*

"You're right!" Jack exclaimed proudly. "I am the master of terror! And if Halloween has become too routine, all I have to do is think of something new that'll really make them scream!"

"Jack! Oh, Jack!"

Suddenly the Halloween Town mayor appeared, hustling over with graphs and charts.

"I've been looking for you everywhere! We must go over the plans for next Halloween! I can't do a thing without your approval!"

"So true," Jack sighed, beginning to walk away with the mayor.

"Good luck, Jack Skellington," Santa murmured as the skeleton king walked away, gesturing wildly and with excitement. Sora smiled.

"Well, there he goes," the young hero said.

"Yes, and I've got lots of names to check and preparations to finish!" Santa said, once again making for the exit.

As if in response, Jack's suit suddenly lit up and began to glow. The mayor's face whirled around to show sadness and fear.

"Jack, this is no time for joking!" he cried.

"What's this?" Jack wondered as he floated into the air. "Perhaps a bit too festive for our Halloween needs."

Only a moment later, a new gateway was open for Sora and the others to travel to.

"We better get going," Sora said to Santa.

"Before you do, Sora..." Santa began. "I believe there's a friend of yours...who--if I recall correctly--was the one who told you there's no such thing as Santa Claus?"

Sora smirked at the memory, and Nexus knew immediately who Mr. Claus was referring to.

"Oh yeah..." Sora murmured. "He did say that."

"Be sure to give him my very best wishes."

"I will, but... Do you know where I can find Riku?"

Nexus bowed her head slightly, refusing to meet anyone's gaze. She knew--and man, did she feel guilty.

"No...but don't give up!" Santa gave Sora a reassuring smile. "Remember, if you believe in Riku, you will find him. Just as you found me."

"Right!"

Sora turned to his friends.

"C'mon, let's go."

.........

The second Nexus entered the ship, she threw herself onto the window seat, eyes shut tightly.

"Are you okay?" Goofy asked her. She nodded.

"Quit lying--you're terrible at it," Sora said, walking over to her. She shook her head.

"Am not," she mumbled, then flinched at Sora's cold hand.

"You have a fever again." Sighing, he stood upright. "You're staying behind. Sleep."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Nexus said, forcing herself to get up. She shuffled to their room and then collapsed onto her bunk. In a moment, she was out.