Artemis took a look around. "This place... it looks creepy."
"What, really?" Minako asked. "What tipped you off, the gravestones, the grinning skulls or the pumpkins? Actually, the pumpkins are kind of funny..."
Gatomon shuddered. "Well, not to me..." It reminded her of how casually Myotismon had murdered Pumpkinmon...
"You know, somehow, this place reminds me of Halloween," Kari spoke up. "I mean, it certainly matches with our new looks, doesn't it?"
"I still say this place is creepy..." Gatomon muttered.
"Ah, don't you worry, if you are scared, I'm always here to protect you," Artemis grinned.
Gatomon frowned. "No, thank you!"
"Say, um, what was your name again?" Kari asked.
"Riku," the currently pale-faced boy replied.
"Right, Riku, do you know where we are?"
Riku hesitated. "I... don't know this place."
'I can't let them know I've been here before,' he told them. 'If they know I know guys like Oogie Boogie, they will never trust me...'
"Well, then I guess we have to find out ourselves," Minako sighed. "What do you say, Asuka?"
But the red-furred werewolf girl turned her back to the blonde. "I'm not talking to you..." she growled.
"Hey, who stepped on your tail?" Minako wondered.
"Why did you never tell me you were one of the Senshi?" Asuka barked and sounded almost like a real wolf.
"Hey, we can't just tell anyone our secret," Minako tried defending herself. "I'll have you know that we are carrying a great burden with our responsibility. We are destined to protect Earth and ensure its future, you know?"
"So what?" Asuka snarled. "Everyone knows I am an Evangelion Pilot, and that girl and her friends are widely known to be the Digidestined... why can't you magical girls stop being so paranoid and let the public know who you are? Besides, all you do is fighting a bunch of weak zombie-creatures... you wouldn't be able to do anything against a real threat for humanity like an Angel."
"You know, fighting evil Digimon isn't exactly easy either," Kari pointed out.
"But you aren't doing any of the fighting, are you?" Artemis wondered. "I mean, it's your partner who does all the fighting, isn't that true?"
"To your information, Kari gives me strength whenever I'm in battle," Gatomon shouted at the male cat. "I wouldn't even be able to digivolve without her. Unlike you, i'm not just a cute-looking mascot!"
"I'm not a mascot," Artemis replied in an offended tone of voice. "I am a royal advisor. Without my guidance, the Senshi would be lost."
Minako snorted at that comment.
"Royal advisor?" Asuka frowned. "Where is this royalty you speak of?"
"That would be me," Minako said proudly. "You are in the presence of the princess of Venus!"
"Hah, maybe the princess of dumb blondes," Asuka shouted.
"Hey! You take that back! You can't do anything without sitting inside Optimus Prime's ugly cousin!"
"Say one more thing against my Eva Unit, and I'll scratch out your eyes!"
"Um, if I may say something..." Riku spoke up.
"NO!!" Asuka, Minako, Gatomon and Artemis shouted at once.
Kari sighed and floated over to his side. "Don't worry, just let them yell at each other a bit. Given some time, they will get tired of it. Say, Riku... can I ask you a question?"
Riku looked at Kari's ghostly form... and his eyes widened.
Kari blinked. "What? Do I have something on my nose?"
"N-no," Riku stammered. "It's just, you... you look like someone I know."
"Oh... wow, what a coincidence." She then smiled. "Is she a nice girl?"
"Oh yes," Riku sighed. "Yes, she definitely is..."
Now that he was being reminded of Kairi, he wondered if Maleficent was really speaking the truth and there was a way to save her.
"That's good to hear," Kari said. "Well, about my question... I was just wondering... How did you do it? Bringing us here, I mean?"
Riku was taken aback by that question. "What? I... I don't know what you are talking about..."
"Ah, c'mon," Kari said. "I'm not blind, you know? I have seen your hand gestured when that dark portal thing opened. I haven't met any wizards or whatever you are before... but I have fought enough evil Digimon to know when someone is about to use his special powers." Looking over to Minako, she asked: "Are you something like a Senshi? There are reports about this caped guy that always shows up whenever the Sailor Senshi fight a monster..."
"I am not... like her," Riku replied.
"Then how did you do it? More important, if you don't know this place, how did we end up here? I'd really like to know the name of this place..."
"YOU KNOW WHERE YOU CAN PUT YOUR EVA?" Minako yelled at that moment.
"Why, you..." Asuka growled. But just as she was about to raised her fist, she stopped herself. Her canine ears twitched.
"Aw, what's the matter, Langley? Scared I could beat your fuzzy ass?"
"Would you be quiet for once?" Asuka growled. "Did you hear that?"
Minako pricked up her ears. "I don't hear anything..."
"No, she's right, Minako," Artemis muttered. "I hear it, too..."
"Footsteps..." Gatomon whispered. "Footsteps that are slowly coming closer..."
Asuka sniffed and grimaced. "And this smell... did someone hid a rotten corpse around here?"
"Well, duh!" Minako said. "This is a graveyard."
"No, I mean, much closer... almost as if it's right behind... us..."
Asuka blinked when she saw how her companions stared at something behind her. She shivered when she felt something thin an bony slide along the back of her neck...
"What... what is it?" she whispered.
And then, the laughing form of the big skeleton leapt in front of them. "BWAHAHAHAHAAAAAAH! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!"
The girls yelped in fright, and Asuka felt how her tail automatically tucked itself in-between her legs. Artemis looked like he was ready to faint.
The skeleton laughed again, but it sounded amused instead of intimidating. "You should have seen the looks on your faces. I still got the touch, it seems... But, no need to worry, in the city of spooks, every scare brings a smile on our faces, isn't that right?"
After Kari's heart stopped pounding (Did ghosts have hearts, she wondered), she calmed herself down enough to take a closer look at the weird creature. He didn't look as frightening as he did when he stepped out of the shadows. "Who... who are you?"
"I am... Jack Skellington, Pumpkin King and Master of Spooks!" The skeleton spoke with elaborate gestures. "I welcome you... to Halloween Town!"
'Just great...' Rikue mentally sighed. 'That's all I need... Oogie told me of this clown. He can't know who i'm working with, or I'll be in trouble...'
"Halloween... Town?" Minako wondered.
"That's right," Jack nodded. "It's still some time until Halloween, but there's still so much to prepare... unfortunately, our original plan to use dancing Heartless did not quite work out as I hoped... but I have many ideas we still can use."
"So... this town... likes to celebrate Halloween?" Gatomon asked.
"Likes?" Jack laughed. "My dear kitty, we ARE Halloween!" He spread his arms. "Without us, Halloween as it is would never exist in the first place. Trick or Treat is our very way of life! Say, you aren't from here, are you?"
"How did you know?" Kari wondered.
"Well, you don't look like the regular Halloween Towner... you remind me of a friend of mine, Sora! Have you ever met him?"
'Him?' Kari wondered. 'Then he can't mean the Sora I know. I would be surprised if she knew a place like this and never told us...'
Riku on the other hand, realized what this meant. 'So, Sora has already been here... I wonder... Oogie Boogie certainly must have tried to lure him into a trap... but since Sora obviously left Halloween Town unharmed, it means that Oogie must have failed. I wonder if Maleficent already knows about this...'
"We don't know anyone called Sora," Riku said. "We came here by accident and..."
"Oh, that is unfortunate," Jack said. "But why don't you stay for a while and take a look at what we are preparing for next Halloween? It will be a screamer, I'm telling you!" He chuckled.
"Well, we really don't know how to get back home... so why not?" Kari shrugged.
Asuka frowned. "Isn't Halloween for kids?" she grumbled.
She shivered when Jack put his bony fingers on her shoulders. "Ah, but my dear werewolf... don't tell me I didn't manage to give you the same fright as your friends."
Asuka grimaced. "I... I wasn't scared," she proclaimed.
"Oh, you SO were..." Minako giggled.
Jack took a watch out of his pocket. "Oh, look at the time! I wanted to meet with the Mayor and show him the newest plans... but why don't you go and ask Sally if she can give you a tour? She'll be happy to help. I think she's at the professor's place..."
"Okay... and how do we get there?" Gatomon asked.
"My dear friend will guide you," Jack grinned and whistled.
Almost instantly, a ghostly figure came floating forth from one of the graves. Artemis yelped and hid underneath Minako's witch dress.
"Get out of there, you pervert!" Minako shouted. "And what's your problem?"
"Th-th-that's a dog..." Artemis muttered and gestured at the flying spectre in front of them. "A GHOST dog!"
"I don't know, I think he's kind of cute," Kari smiled.
"You don't have to be afraid, Zero won't harm a fly," Jack promised. "Now, Zero, I want you to bring our guests to Sally... can you do that?"
The ghost dog with the glowing nose barked once and then flitted away, into the darkness.
"Follow him, he knows the way," Jack told Riku and the girls. "As for me, I'm sure we'll see each other later. Well, have fun!"
'At least I was lucky and Oogie never told him of me,' Riku thought as he followed the girls, cats and the ghost dog. 'Now all I have to do is to wait until my powers have recharged themselves... then I will try to bring us to Hollow Bastion once more.'
Kari turned around and smiled. "Riku, you coming?"
Again Riku was reminded of Kairi's face whenever she smiled at him. The resemblance between the two girls was more frightening than all of Halloween Town...