Authors Note: Hello people of fanfiction! This is a little later than I wanted to post this, but that's my fault for sleeping in. Anyways, thanks to SpringBorn, Angel of Randomosity, and angellove123 for their reviews. So here's the much anticipated Halloween Town! The plot thickens! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing recognizable. Just My OCs Katy, Cassie, and Ryan.
As soon as they stepped off the ship in the next world, a rush of magic swept over them, changing their appearance. When the light from the spell faded, Katy felt the telltale pressure in her mouth, meaning that her canine teeth had been changed into fangs. Halloween Town, then. She couldn't help but grin like an idiot when she thought of what happened the last time they were here. Sneaking a glance over at Sora she could tell her was thinking the same thing.
"So, Halloween Town, right?" He said, trying to dim the happiness on his face. Fanged pumpkin spawn are supposed to be menacing.
"Looks that way." Katy replied. This world wasn't horrible actually. She kinda liked it, and not just because of the reason you're thinking.
A loud squawk from Donald pierced the rather comfortable silence, and a cold wind rushed passed them in the form of a ghost dog with a red nose.
"Hey, it's Zero! How've you been, boy?" Sora asked as the dog floated around them before going down the path towards Guillotine Square.
Following their ghostly companion, they entered the square and gazed curiously upon the large ramp that had been set up near the well of questionable green substance.
"What do you figure—" Katy's question was cut off by Goofy's cry of "Look, it's Jack!"
Sure enough, Jack Skellington made his entrance on a poorly made sleigh being pulled by skeleton reindeer. Oh, and did I mention the sound of jingle bells?
Touching down on the ramp, Jack parked the sleigh and greeted them cheerily.
"Sora, Donald, Katy, and Goofy! Welcome back! And Merry Christmas!"
Anyone else get a throwback to Frosty the Snowman? When he comes to life and says "Happy Birthday". No? Just me? Okay then…
"Merry Christmas? Don't you mean Happy Halloween?" Sora asked, a smidge confused.
"Of course! Halloween greetings from Jack Skellington, The Pumpkin King!" He made a somewhat scary face, causing them to jump only slightly. He drew back slightly disappointed. "Forgive me, I'm in a Christmas mood. See, I'm running the show again this year, but I need Sandy Claws blessing, so I'm off to Christmas Town!"
"Okay, does anyone else think he's been drinking that green stuff from the well? Sandy Claws?" Katy whispered to the others.
"Y'know, I think he means Santa Claus!" Goofy put in helpfully.
Jack, oblivious to their whispered words continued on with his plans for a Halloween Town Christmas.
"Aren't these decorations wonderful? This year Halloween Town is going to handle Christmas, too. But first, we have to visit Sally. She's working on something no self-respecting Sandy Claws can do without. Come along, I'll show you."
"Here we go. I knew we were gonna get roped into this." Katy groaned.
"What did you expect?" Sora asked, laughing slightly.
Katy stuck her tongue out at him.
"I don't know! Maybe we could have had a vacation!"
Shaking his head at her fantasies, Sora grabbed Katy's hand and tugged her after Jack. Might as well see what was going on.
Hiding just within the tree line, Demyx scowled at the sight of the Keybladers entwined hands. He couldn't help it; it just wasn't fair. The subject of Nobodies' emotions was one of much debate over at The World That Never Was. Some of them, like Axel and Luxord, believed that they could feel emotions since there was no other explanation for the things they felt every day. Others like Vexen and Zexion strongly disagreed and believed that since they had no hearts they could feel no emotion, anything they did "feel" was simply a memory of emotions their somebody once felt. Demyx didn't know what he believed. All he knew was that whenever he saw the lavender haired girl, he felt…whole. And that wasn't a feeling he would give up so easily. He knew he was being stupid and he knew that she would probably end up resenting him for pursuing her, but he couldn't stay away. So he followed her. He knew from back at the Coliseum that the so called Keyblade Master couldn't be trusted to make sure she was safe. He'd been the reason she was sent to The Nothing in the first place, he was the one who caused her unnecessary pain because he couldn't be responsible for five minutes. So he'd taken it upon himself to make sure that she'd be safe. It didn't matter if she ended up hating him for it. Crouching down, he watched as they exited Dr. Finklestein's house. And defeated the Heartless in the area. Once they were done, he could just make out their voices;
"How is Sandy Claws supposed to relax with all this going on? That's it fellows! Sandy Claws needs bodyguards. Are you up to the task?" Jack asked, not giving them much of a choice.
"Us?" Donald asked skeptically
"Sure!" Sora agreed quickly.
The others glared at him, Katy shaking her head.
Their appearances had changed due to being in Halloween Town. He took in her appearance from her black hair to the deep purple strapless backless dress she was wearing and tried not to stare to hard. He didn't want her to know he was there.
"Of course you would have an obsession with Santa. How old are you? Like five?"
"Hey! Leave me alone."
"O-kay, whatever you want."
They small group made their way the forest, Demyx silently following.
Meanwhile, everyone's favorite little monsters were currently sitting in their mobile bathtub, scheming up their next prank.
"What should we bring along next time?" Lock asked
"A bucket full of caterpillars!" Shock exclaimed.
Barrel shook his head.
"Nuh, uh! Something even worse!"
The three continued to chatter until the bathtub came to an unexpected stop. Lock turned around and came face to face with a purplish-black cloak.
Uh-oh…
"Whose that?" The devil-masked kid asked, tilting his head.
"Some old hag." Barrel tittered.
"Silence." Maleficent glared down at the three children.
"A witch?" Shock offered up as green flames shot out of Maleficent's cane.
The sorcerous smirked.
"Perhaps you three could be of some use to me. Come along, all of you. I'll show you the true meaning of mischief."
Not wanting to make her any madder than she already was, the three children nodded, and their bathtub began to follow her to Curly Hill.
"Here it is! The door to Christmas Town!" Jack exclaimed, pointing to a door inside of a tree trunk, shaped like a Christmas tree.
The other four exchanged glances, although Sora seemed quite excited.
"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. At first, I couldn't believe my eyes. Everything was so fresh and exciting!"
Getting even more excited and impatient, Sora couldn't help but interrupt.
"C'mon! Just open it!"
Jack obliged, and Sora ran in headfirst.
"It's official. I'm dating a five year old." Katy muttered, nervously looking at the dark tunnel which was the drop downwards. One thing had not changed about her. She still did not like heights.
"Well? Are you coming?" Jack asked
Katy blinked, realizing that Donald and Goofy had gone on ahead.
"Y-Yeah." She stuttered.
Glancing down the pit again, she groaned, squeezing her eyes shut and taking the leap.
She hoped this wasn't going to be something they did often.
Upon reaching Yuletide Hill, Katy noted that their appearances had once again changed. She and Sora resembled very goth elves, Donald was a snowman and Goofy was a reindeer complete with a blinking nose.
"Cooool!" Sora exclaimed gazing over at the little town below them.
"So where's Santa?" Donald asked.
"In his workshop." Jack replied.
They got up, brushing the snow off their clothes, and headed towards the village. Head still swimming, Katy stumbled a bit, pitching forward, Sora the only think keeping her from face planting to the ground.
"Whoa! You okay?" He asked, slinging her arm over his shoulder.
"I'm good. Heights. Evil." She slurred, still a bit dizzy.
Sora motioned for the others to go on, and sat down in the snow, pulling her down with him.
"You think you'd be used to it by now." He joked.
Glaring at him playfully, Katy grabbed a handful of snow and dropped it over his head.
"Jerk."
"Hey!"
They wrestled around on the ground until Sora finally managed to pin her by the shoulders. Katy pouted.
"Again. Jerk."
Rolling his eyes, Sora pulled her to her feet.
"Feel better?"
"Yeah, let's—"
She stopped, whipping around and staring intently at the door back to Halloween Town.
"Katy?" Sora placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey! I know you're there and if you know what's good for you LEAVE!" Katy screamed into the air.
"You think someone's there?" Sora asked, drawing his Keyblade.
"Let's just go. They're not hurting anyone. If they wanna follow us, let them waste their time. I'm not wasting mine going after them." Katy replied, irritated.
Taking one last look behind him, Sora nodded.
"Okay, let's go."
He took his girlfriend's hand once more and the two of them walked down to join the other's at Santa's Workshop.
Cursing himself, Demyx stepped out from behind a large snowdrift watching as the two figures reached the town below.
She was right; he should leave.
But he couldn't. He just…couldn't.
He really had meant what he said back in Port Royal. He would do anything for her. She only had to ask. God, he sounded like a sap. Like that vampire dude from those badly written books back on her world. But he didn't know how to stop. He wished, now more than ever that he was a Somebody. At least then it would be fair.
How could he compete with the Keyblade master when he didn't even exist?
Once again feeling sorry for himself, Demyx followed them down to the villiage. He was just going there to get out of the cold. It wasn't safe to follow anymore now that he'd been caught. After that he'd go back to The Castle That Never Was and mope about things that he couldn't do anything about.
God, he needed to get a life.
After defeating the Heartless in the square, they entered Santa's workshop. Katy probably shouldn't have been surprised that they actually found him there, it was his house after all, but seeing the guy sitting in a chair calmly going over his list and checking it twice made a spark of child-like giddiness flare up in her stomach.
"Well, hello everyone. Did you come to see if your on my nice list?" Santa (freaking Santa!) asked.
Exchanging disbelieving looks, the four nodded and stepped further into the room.
"Your name?"
"Uh…Sora, sir!" The teen replied disbelief.
"Let's see…Sora…Ah! Here we are! Well, Sora, according to my list, seven years ago you told everyone you did not believe in Santa Claus." Santa said, eyes twinkling with mirth. "That is unfortunate."
Sora groaned and Katy giggled, patting him on the back.
"How about Donald and Goofy?" Donald asked
Santa consulted his list and nodded. He turned his gaze to Katy.
"And what about you, young lady?"
"Katy, well Katyana." She replied, blushing at her full name.
Santa didn't even look at his list, he just nodded.
"Of course! You're on the list, my dear."
"Am I on your list too by any chance? It's me, Jack."
"Jack Skellington?" Santa asked with a trace of alarm.
There was a crash from the next room, causing him to get up to investigate.
"What sort of trouble did you bring this time?"
"This time?" Sora asked the Pumpkin King
"It's a long story." He replied, waving the comment off.
They followed Santa to the packing room and looked around for the source of the noise.
Meanwhile, hidden in the corner, Lock, Shock, Barrel, and Maleficent were watching.
"Why do we have to hide?" Lock whined.
"Silence!" Maleficent hissed, her eyes roaming over to the two keybladers and their friends.
"Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Jack brought Sora and the others with him. Now we can deal with all of them at once."
"What do you want us to do?" Shock asked a little too loudly.
"Whose there?" Santa demanded.
"Busted!" The three kids exclaimed.
Maleficent disappeared while Barrel threw something heavy at the window to break it and make an escape route.
"It's Lock, Shock, and Barrel!" Jack said in disbelief.
"What I wouldn't give to babysit those kids." Katy said sarcastically.
"Not those three." Santa sighed, shaking his head.
"I assure you they're not with us!" Jack replied.
"Whatever the case they've been quite naughty! Catch them and bring them back here. They're going to get a lecture."
"Uh, Mr. Claws? I wanted to ask you about Christmas—" Jack began
"It'll have to wait!" Santa said firmly, going back to his lists.
Getting the hint, the five of them left to catch the world's brattiest children. Hooray.
Santa settled back down in his chair and began making adjustments to his lists. After a few minutes he spoke up.
"You can show yourself now, young man. You're not fooling anyone."
Demyx emerged from the shadows, sullenly, giving the man a nod.
"You caught me. Gonna call in the cavalry?"
Ignoring his comment, Santa asked
"Are you here to see if you're on my nice list?"
"No. And don't bother looking. I won't be on there. On either of them."
"And why is that?"
Demyx laughed humorlessly.
"I don't exist."
Santa fixed him with a long look.
"What is your name?"
"Demyx."
Looking at the long sheet of paper, Santa smiled
"It seems you're mistaken. Your name is here."
Demyx's eyes snapped to the mans twinkly ones.
"That's not possible."
"My list does not lie. I will tell you though that you were a recent addition. I was doing some revisions when I added yours to the list."
"But I—"
"Perhaps you are real. At least to someone."
Demyx took a few steps back before backing into a dark corridor of his own creation. That couldn't be right. He was a Nobody. He didn't exist.
He didn't exist.
Over at Curly Hill, Maleficent and the three children were plotting their next…well…plot.
"I was so looking forward to destroying that ridiculous Christmas Town, but now that Sora and his friends are here, I think a change of plans is called for. Revenge before pleasure after all." Maleficent said out loud.
"What kind of revenge?" Shock asked.
"The magnificent, malevolent kind of course." Maleficent replied.
"That sounds bad!" Lock exclaimed.
"Like Oogie's kind of bad!" Shock added.
"And that's super-duper bad!" Barrel agreed.
"Oogie Boogie? That bag of incompetent insects? Hmm." The gears in Maleficent's brain began turning. "How intriguing. And where might I find him?"
"Jack and his dumb, stupid friends destroyed him!" Shock pouted.
"Ah, yes. Now I remember. More intriguing still. I believe I'll bring your master back for you!" Maleficent decided, calling up her magic.
Oh, this doesn't bode well.
Minutes later Oogie Boogie was back in the world of the living. Or whatever world a sack full of bugs lives in.
"I feel like a million bugs!" The villain laughed.
Ha ha. Punny.
"I really owe you one for this, Maleficent."
"Indeed you do." The witch agreed. "Do you remember Sora, Katy, Donald, and Goofy?"
"Do I remember them? Ha! You're too much. I'll never forget what they did to me…" Wait for it…"Uh, what was it they did to me?"
Wow, obviously they didn't kill him epically enough.
"They squashed you like a bug!" Shock provided
"That sounds bad." Oogie said
"And Jack helped!" Lock added.
"Even worse!" Oogie growled.
"They creamed you!" Barrel reminded
"That's right. That's right! That's one thing I won't be forgetting anytime soon! That's the last thing I remember and it's the only thing I'll remember until I teach those clowns not to mess with Mr. Oogie Boogie!"
"Yes, that's right. And I have the perfect plan already in mind." Maleficent sneered. "Have you ever heard of Christmas Town?
She turned around to find the Oogie was sound asleep.
Sighing in annoyance the witch approached the sleeping sack.
"It seems he needs more time to recover." She turned to Lock, Shock, and Barrel. "You three, stay here and keep Sora and the others occupied. My Heartless will assist you. Do not fail me!
Luckily, the bathtub that the three brats liked to ride in left really good footprints. They reached Curly Hill just in time to see the three pests jump into a cage that was hanging off a giant Heartless. The Prison Keeper. Go figure.
After a lot of climbing, jumping, and aerial combos (three of Katy's favorite things. Note Sarcasm.) They brought the creepy Heartless down, letting Lock, Shock and Barrel free.
"Ah ha ha!" Barrel Laughed
"That was fun!" Lock grinned
"Let's go see if Mr. Oogie's ready!" Shock decided and the three scampered off.
"Oogie?" Jack exclaimed
"Isn't he the one who tried to take over Halloween Town before?" Sora asked, alarmed
"No! We killed him! Killed him! And his house! And we almost died! Why?" Katy wailed. She didn't like Oogie Boogie. He bugged her. Haha. More puns.
"Fellows, I hope you're ready for trouble." Jack said grimly
"Don't we have enough trouble already?" Goofy muttered.
"Seriously." Katy agreed as they set off after the brats.
No sooner had they entered the square then they ran into Sally, who looked frantic.
"Sally, What's wrong?" Jack asked.
"Jack! Oogie's kidnapped Santa Claus! And he's headed for Christmas Town!" Sally exclaimed, out of breath.
"Ugh. I hate this." Katy groaned as they set off for the drop in the woods once more.
"Very well, you ingrate. You'll rue the day you spurned my help!" Maleficent shrieked as she left Oogie on his own.
Gee, he's really good at bugging people. Okay, I'll stop with the puns now.
Anyways, back on Yuletide hill, our heroes plus Sally followed the pillar of smoke to Santa's workshop.
Upon entering, Oogie grabbed Sally and promptly ripped her leg off, causing Katy to shriek until she remembered Sally was essentially a rag doll.
"Jack Skellington! I've got a score to settle with you Jack. You and your little sidekicks."
"What are you planning to do with Sandy Claws?"
"Sandy Claws? Who? I have no idea what your talking about." Santa lying on the conveyer belt caught Oogie's attention. Oh, yeah, he was still there. "And what is this roly-poly red guy doing here? Time to go, grandpa." Just as he was about to push Santa down the chute, Sally threw her leg at them, and managed to get Santa to safety.
Oogie ran into his control tower thingy he's added and proceeded to try and kill them. Again. Joy.
After running through color changing doors, throwing gift boxes, dodging Heartless, and slashing at potato sacks, Oogie Boogie was finally defeated. You could tell by the way bugs fell out of the rips in his body.
"That is so gross!" Katy groaned, stepping back so they wouldn't crawl on her.
"Don't you see Jack? Children rely on both of us to do our jobs. Halloween needs your attention, and Christmas needs mine. Urgently. I must be off." Santa, after giving Jack a great pep talk, retreated to his workshop. He probably never wanted to here the word Halloween again.
"He's right! If Halloween had become to routine, I'll just have to find new ways to make them scream!" Jack exclaimed.
At that moment, the mayor appeared, conveniently with preparations for Halloween.
"Good luck, Jack Skellington!" Santa, who felt it was safe now that Jack was gone, returned to say his goodbyes.
Jack's Santa outfit lighting up, signaling the keyhole to the next world interrupted him. Who picks these triggers? They keep getting weirder.
"We better get going." Sora said to Santa.
"Before you do, Sora, 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?"
"Oh, yeah…he did say that."
"Be sure to give him my very best wishes." Santa said, eyes going all twinkly again.
"I will, but…do you know where I can find Riku?"
"No, but don't give up. Remember, if you believe in Riku, you will find him. Just as you found me." He turned to Katy. "Same goes for you, Katyana. If you believe in him, he will be alright, in the end."
Slightly confused, Katy nodded.
"Thank you, sir."
The four trudged off back to the Gummi ship, both teens unusually quiet.
"We're gonna find Riku, Sora. I promise. Then you can rub it in his face how you met the real Santa." Katy tried to make light of the situation.
"Yeah. I know we will." Sora replied climbing aboard.
Katy made to follow, but someone pulled her back lightly.
"Seriously, Demyx?" Katy hissed, yanking her arm out of his grasp.
"I shouldn't exist." Demyx got right to the point.
Katy looked at him sadly.
"Demyx—"
"No, it's okay, we both know it's true, but…I think…Ever since I met you, I felt, different. And I know it sounds crazy, but—"
"Katy?" Sora's voice called from inside.
"Just a sec! Dropped something in the snow!" She called back before turning back to the blonde.
"What are you getting at here?"
"I have to go…just…don't give up on me, Katy. I don't know what you think of me, but just don't give up on it."
And with that he was gone. And Katy was extremley creeped out. She entered the ship, her appearance changing to normal as she thought about what Santa had said to her.
"If you believe in him, he will be alright in the end."
Who?
A/N: Next chapter might be a short one. I hate the Pride Lands and it would be awkward to write them being lions and all so I'm replacing it with a bit of plot and some backtracking. Ever wonder why Keyblade masters have protectors? You'll find out! Stay tuned…