The gang and jack slowly entered the graveyard, which was filled with-you guessed it- tombstones.

"Oh dear," said Sam. "I always get nervous when I have to go through here."

"Yeah, I guess," said jonesy. "Somebody might feel claustrophobic surrounded by all these graves."

"It's actually quite homey once you get used to it," said jack.

"SQUAWK! SQUAWK!"

Jimmy seemed to have the right idea. He was now perched on top of one of the tombstones, his back hunched over, his arms flapping like wings. "I'm a vulture," he said to his friends. "SQUAWK! SQUAWK!"

"If only he had the brains of a vulture," said nikki.

"Well, jimmy's lack of sleep is evident once again," said Sam.

"Where to next, jack?" asked jonesy.

"Hey, look there," said jack, pointing off into the distance.

The gang looked. In the distance, there was a huge tree in the middle of the graveyard. But below it, there seemed to be a smaller tree with rope hanging off the branches. And did it have… a face?

"Maybe he can help us," said jack.

"Who's he?" asked jonesy.

"We have to keep moving," said jack. "Come on!"

"SQUAWK!" said jimmy.

But as the gang and jack moved through the maze of tombs, they found out that corpse kid was right about the cemetery being dangerous. Those crazy skeletons kept popping up all over the place! If the gang didn't have their new weapons, they might not have made it.

---

It took sometime, but the team finally got to the giant tree in the center of the cemetery. The smaller tree with the face turned around.

"Oh, jack!" said the tree. "You've finally returned?"

"Hello, hanging tree," said jack. He looked at the rope tied to the branches. "Hey, where are your hanging men?"

"Ever since Oogie's skeletons began to appear in the graveyard, my hanging men have begun to hide all over the cemetery," said the hanging tree. "I'm afraid hanging men aren't very brave."

"Then it seems we're both missing people," said jen. "We've lost sally."

"Hey, you haven't seen sally, have you?" asked jonesy.

"No, but maybe my hanging men have seen her," said the hanging tree.

"But how are we supposed to ask them if they're hiding?" asked wyatt.

"Hmm…" mumbled jack. "We could really use zero's nose at a time like this."

"Zero?" asked Wyatt. "Your dog?"

"I'll bet you'll find zero back in his grave, over at the entrance to the graveyard," said the hanging tree.

"Back at the entrance?" asked jonesy. "Why didn't we think of that before coming all the way over here?"

"Now, jonesy," said jen. "Be patient."

"ZERO'S GOT A NOSE, JONESY!" yelled jimmy. He began to run back to the entrance.

"JIMMY!" the gang yelled, running after their friend.

"Don't worry," said jack. "We'll find your hanging men." Then he ran after the gang.

---

The gang were panting heavily by the time they got back to zero's grave, but jack seemed just fine. Apparently he was in better shape than the gang.

"Geez, those skeletons just won't quit," said jen.

"And there's still no sign of my chicken and rice!" moaned jonesy.

"Where's zero's nose, jack?" asked jimmy.

"I'll get him right now," said jack. He walked over to zero's grave, and patted his lap twice. But nothing happened.

"What's the deal?" asked jonesy.

"I don't know," said jack. "Zero always comes when I call him."

"Maybe he'll come if we call him," said jen. She cupped her hands over her mouth. "Zero!" she called.

"Where are ya, mutt?" called jonesy.

"Got some BACON for ZERO!" called jimmy.

The gang looked at their friend.

"Oh, that's sure to work, jimmy," said jen.

"Yeah, monobrow," said jonesy. "You want everyone here to think we're a bunch of weirdos?"

Laa, la, la, la, la, laa!

La, la, la, la, laa!

Laa, la, la, la, la, la, la, laa!

La,la ,la, la ,la ,la ,la ,laa!

"Do you hear something?" asked jen.

"Oh man…" jonesy mumbled when he saw just who was coming toward them.

Hail to mister oogie!

Jack will never win!

When you find our booby traps They will do you in!

A certain walking bathtub with three certain brats riding in it stopped right in front of the team. As the brats took off their masks, they each declared their name.

"Lock!"

"Shock!"

"Barrel!"

"It's the kidnappers of Santa!" jimmy exclaimed, taking out his ak-47 rifle.

"Hmm…" said jack. "I might have known."

"Welcome home, jack," said lock.

"How was your trip, jack?" asked shock.

"Are you having fun, jack?" asked barrel.

"With you three around?" asked jonesy. "Hell, no!"

"You three wouldn't have anything to do with Oogie's return, would you?" asked jack.

"Who…" began lock.

"…Us?" finished shock.

"Oh…uh…um…" mumbled barrel. Shock nudged him in the shoulder.

It was then jonesy noticed that an all-too-familiar looking cup was sitting next to barrel's feet…

"It's not too late," said jack. "Return this town to order."

"Immediately!" added jen.

"Why would we do that?" asked lock.

"The fun has just begun!" said shock.

"Only three brats, opinion," said jen.

"Besides, we're on a secret mission to stop you!" said barrel. "Don't tell anyone, though! Hee hee hee!"

"Ooh, ooh!" said jimmy. "I won't tell!"

Lock hit barrel on the head with his plunger, then jumped out of the bathtub, right in front of jack. "See you later!" shock said as she and barrel rode away in the walking bathtub.

"HEY, WAIT!" jonesy suddenly yelled, chasing after the bathtub. But before he could catch up, a giant metal fence popped up from the ground, surrounding the gang and lock.

"So, you and your weirdo friends are here too, huh jimmy and I see you brought your cat girl with you too?" lock seemed to be asking jimmy. "Fine!"

"Weirdo?" asked jonesy.

"Cat girl?" asked jen.

"I forget what we're doing," said jimmy.

"Now you'll have to play with me!" said lock putting his mask back on. As he swung his plunger, more skeletons rose from the ground.

"Oh, that's just what we need right now," said jonesy.

"CHARGE!" yelled jimmy, once again ramming into skeletons.

The others joined the fray, too. Though lock had seemed intimidating at first, in truth, he wasn't that brave. Since the skeletons simply smashed into dust when they hit or shoot them, it wasn't long before they were all gone. The metal fence sunk back into the ground.

"GET 'EM!" lock yelled. But nothing happened. "Huh? Where'd they all go?" when lock took off his mask to get a better view, all he saw was twelve sets of eyes glaring at him. "Sorry. I'll be good from now on," he said, putting one arm behind his back. "I promise! Gotta go!"

But jimmy and Caitlin knew better. They knew lock had his fingers crossed behind his back.

"HEY, WAIT!" jonesy yelled again as he watched lock runaway. He let out a groan.

"jonesy, I think those kids think that jimmy owns Caitlin as a pet cat girl," said Fred.

"Forget that!" said jonesy. "We need to get my chicken and rice back from those little thieves!"

"Your chicken and rice jonesy?" asked jen.

"Jonesy's chicken and rice cup was in that walking bathtub," said jimmy.

"They must have found it back in Halloween town," said jonesy. "I'm not resting until I get that chicken and rice back!" he declared.

"Yes, well, you can work on that," said jen. "In the meantime… jack, why don't you try calling zero again?"

Jack went back over to zero's grave, and once again patted his lap twice. This time, a small ghost dog with a jack o' lantern nose popped out, barking happily.

"There you are, zero!" said jack. "Come on. We need your help to find some hanging men."

Zero barked, meaning that he understood. He flew off back near the giant tree.

Sam thought of something. "Jimmy Caitlin maybe you too can assist us as well," he said. "You're both good at tracking things, right you can help us find the hanging men."

"Caitlin and me don't know what one looks like, Sam," said jimmy.

"Hmm, you're right," said Sam. "I know! We'll follow zero to the first one, then you can get the hanging men's scent, and help us find the rest!"

"Yeah, like that's going to work," said nikki.

"It worked with you and your cheap cologne, didn't it?" asked Sam.

"Cheap cologne?" asked jack.

"It's a long story," said nikki.

---

"Follow zero, follow zero, follow zero…" said jimmy as the team followed the little ghost dog to the first hanging man. As it turns out, it was cowering behind one of the walls not too far from the giant tree.

"We'll take care of Oogie's lackeys," jack calmly explained. "You get back on back to the hanging tree."

Before it did, jimmy and Caitlin got a good whiff of it, and soon they were taking off just as fast as zero.

"Geez guys, wait up, will ya?" jonesy called to jimmy and Caitlin as he, and the others ran to catch up. They just caught jimmy Caitlin and zero entering a gate that led to another part of the graveyard.

When the gang and jack finally caught up, they found jimmy Caitlin and zero circling a small gap near a bridge. When they looked down, there was another hanging man, hanging from a branch that was sticking out.

"I'm sorry, but we haven't got time to play hide and go shriek," said jack. "It's time to go back to the hanging tree."

"Hide and go…. What?" asked jonesy.

"You've never heard of it?" asked jack as jimmy Caitlin and zero took off again.

"Well, yes, but…" jen began. "Oh, never mind."

The next hanging man was hiding behind a thick patch of weeds which jack had to break with the soul robber.

"Wow, that's strong," said jonesy.

"This area is safe now," said jack. "You can go on back to the hanging tree."

The next one was a little tougher. It was across a ledge that could only be reached by a hooked branch. Zero flew across easily, but jimmy and Caitlin couldn't fly, so they just pointed in the right direction. Since the soul robber and the yo-yo mace could grab onto branches, jack and jonesy swung across. They walked over to the hanging man dangling from the tree.

"It wasn't easy finding you," said jack.

"I'll say it wasn't," said jonesy, looking at how deep the ledge was.

"Go on back to the hanging tree," said jack.

After jack and jonesy swung back over, jimmy Caitlin and zero were off again. They seemed to be leading the others all the way back to the first part of the graveyard.

"Where'd they go?" jack asked as they returned through the gate.

"There!" said Sam, pointing to the giant tree.

"But that's back where we started!" protested jonesy.

"Well, you never know," said jack. "Come on!"

When the gang got to the giant tree, they just saw jimmy and Caitlin climbing back down. The last hanging man had been hiding at the top of the tree, and jimmy and Caitlin had climbed up and got it. The only problem was that the hanging man was latched tightly onto Caitlin's cat tail.

"Don't be afraid," said jack. "It's time to go back to the hanging tree."

"Is that it?" jonesy asked as the last hanging man went back to the hanging tree.

"It should be," said jack. "He has five in all."

"Then we got them all," said jen. "Good work, jimmy and Caitlin."

But when they looked over at jimmy and Caitlin, they saw them just standing there, smacking their faces into the ground.

"We're woodpeckers!" jimmy exclaimed between smacks. "cept with dirt!"