"Can we stop now?" Jack pleaded. "My skull hurts."
Marcus smiled as Dr. Finklestien all but swelled with indignation.
"You have not yet finished the basics! Until you can understand the simplest of the scientific theories, you will not move on to more complicated material!"
"You talk too fast!" Jack complained, clutching his skull tightly. "I can't keep up!"
"Let it go, Fink," Marcus advised his friend, who was preparing himself to snap back. "Perhaps a small break would be good right about now?"
The Mad Scientist glared, but the small skeleton boy didn't hesitate to bolt from the room, clearly taking the suggestion as a confirmation.
"You're too soft on him," Dr. Finklestien grumbled.
"He's my charge," Marcus laughed. "I'll decide how to handle him."
The old skeketon groaned in relief as he took Jack's chair, his bones settling into a more comfortable position.
"How do you keep up with that boy?" Dr. Finklestien asked, moving his wheelchar around the table so he could be next to his friend. "He has so much energy and you're not exactly spry anymore."
"Patience," Marcus replied. "He knows my age and is quite considerate at times for me. When he gets impatient or reckless, I discipline him. I suppose you could say we have a...mutual respect for one another."
"You struck it lucky, Marc. I've said it before and I'll say it again: you won the lottery with that one."
Marcus laughed.
"Thanks, Fink," he replied, clapping his friend on the back. "But enough about me and Jack. How have your experiments on artificially created monsters been doing?"
"Not fast enough for his High and Mighty Pumpkin King Boogie," the doctor grumbled. "My research has made immense improvement and progress, but I'm still unable to begin experimentation yet. But, Boogie wants an heir so he can finally start considering retirement."
"Why can't he just wait for the next boogieman to come naturally?" Marcus asked. "It's bound to happen soon."
"Since when has Hauntor Boogie been one to wait?" Dr. Finklestien shot back. "He thinks his title makes him lord of everything. I'd love to go and give that piece of sackcloth a piece of my mind. One of these days—"
"You're ranting again," the skeleton said mildly. The Mad Scientist cut himself off and inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself.
"Apologies Marc. I know you don't like it when I get that way."
"Accepted. Now, what progress have you actually made on your theories?"
"Well, I have concluded that lightning is a very appropriate way to awaken the consciousness," Dr. Finklestien said, folding his arms as he thought over his research. "But all evidence points that for anything more complicated than an animal would require the presence of a soul and we have yet to create an effective system of arrival prediction. If only I could witness one! That would be immeasurably helpful."
"It would also make you—how did you once phrase it?—a 'guardian of an insatiably curious youngster'," Marcus teased, his skeleton grin widening more than usual. The smile faded as the vertebrae in his neck suddenly twinged uncomfortably. The doctor frowned when he saw his old friend massage the offending area.
"Bones aching again?" he asked sympathetically.
"Yes. Some days are better than others, but today isn't one of those good days."
"Does Jack know?"
"What's there to tell him?" Marcus replied calmly as the pain faded. "I'm old and he knows it. It's just the pains that come with aging."
"Marcus..." Dr. Finklestien began warningly, but just as he was about to say more, the door creaked open and Jack came inside.
"Doctor?" he inquired softly, looking uncertain. "There's a...um...Pumpkin King yelling for you to come down."
"Blast that creature straight to Kingdom Come!" Finklestien burst, angrily wheeling his chair out the door. Jack flattened himself against the wall to keep himself from being run over, his eyes sockets wide in alarm. The elder skeleton chuckled at his son's expression and got to his feet, groaning as his joints popped loudly from sitting too long.
"We'd best get a move on ourselves, Jack," Marcus said, touching the boy's shoulder gently. "Fink will be in a mood for a long time after his conversation; we'll have to finish your lesson next time."
Jack obediently followed his father down the long circling ramp that led from the labs down to the door. The shouting match between the scientist and the Pumpkin King echoed in the round concrete house and the small skeleton frowned.
"Won't the doctor be upset that we've left?" he asked worriedly.
"Not at all," Marcus reassured him. "I expect they'll be hollering at one another for a while."
They exited the house in silence, walking side by side through the town. When they were by the fountain, Jack jumped atop the stone wall and walked along the circle of stone.
"You want to ask me something," the older skeleton remarked. Jack blinked and stopped atop the wall, tilting his head to the side curiously. His father smiled. "I can hear the question rattling away in your cranium. What is it?"
The young skeleton sighed and jumped off the wall, putting his hands into his pockets.
"Father, where did I come from?" he asked hesitantly. "Doctor Finklestien was saying something about artificial monsters, but how can a monster be artificial? Did you not make me?"
Marcus considered this in silence as he walked, folding his arms behind his back as he passed through the gate and out of town.
"That's a difficult question," he finally said. "And the truth of the matter is that nobody's really sure. But I can tell you the basic of what we do know: all monsters were once all human. When our time came, we died. But instead of moving onto an afterlife, we were given new bodies and a new life here in Halloween Town."
"But why Halloween Town? Aren't there other holidays in the year? I've heard other townspeople talking about them."
"Well, that's where things get mysterious," Marcus replied. "There's no way to figure this out with the current information we have. Some folks believe there's a greater force that directs us. Others think that it's just random chance."
"So...what exactly is Doctor Finklestien trying to do?"
"Monsters just appear in town very suddenly and without much explanation. He wants to find a way to control what form a soul decides to take residence, what kind of monster they'll become. It's been proving difficult for him so far."
"And who was the big baggy monster who came to see him about it?"
Marcus laughed at the description, pulling his son close in a one-armed embrace as they walked.
"It would seem you won't be getting to bed at a reasonable hour tonight," he chuckled.