A/N: This chapter isn't beta'd at the moment. My lovely beta is quite bogged down with school and other things, so as soon as I get the edited chapter I will upload it. In the meantime, I wanted to post this as soon as possible for Halloween. I meant to have it up earlier, but Hurricane Sandy had other ideas and kindly took out my power. *shakes fist in anger* However, my family and I were fortunate enough to escape with no damage, so while you enjoy this chapter, kindly remember those who weren't as fortunate.
"Pick a different route. If we keep going around in circles I'm gonna throw up. And if I throw up, I'm going to make sure I do it on you," Roxas groused, settling in against the thickly padded seats of the carriage. Axel didn't even glance in the blond's direction but the carriage immediately changed direction.
"Quiet, blondie, I'm trying to think here." Axel snapped irritably.
"No, you're moping over the fact that you've hit a writer's block," Roxas snapped back, rolling his eyes in annoyance.
"Pacing in circles helps me to think." Axel stated, eyes still locked on the passing scenery.
"Except we're not pacing; we're riding around Darkling estate in a horse and carriage." The editor pointed out. The red-head's gloom lifted enough to allow a small smile to flicker across his lips.
"Well, Specter is a very special horse. It's not every day you come across a silver horse covered in petals instead of hair." Roxas made a small noise in the back of his throat which could have been agreement or amusement. The writer half-expected a scathing comment on Axel's inability to let anything alone but the smaller man merely pushed himself to the edge of the seat and peered out the carriage window.
In the distance a large pond was visible with a lonely tree jutting out over the water. A single rowboat drifted listlessly from a small, battered dock on the length of rope that tied it in place. The water at the center of the pond began to bulge with the release of air bubbles, but nothing emerged from beneath the surface. Roxas shivered in spite of himself and flopped back against the soft velvet.
"Specter, back to the house," Axel ordered softly, his irritation at his predicament replaced with concern for his companion. "Are you okay?" he asked, carefully shifting to Roxas' side of the carriage as Specter adjusted his direction.
"I'm fine," Roxas stated, covering his embarrassment with irritation. "I'm just not...I'm still not comfortable with this place. It has some beautiful things and then...that," he gestured back towards the pond. "It's disconcerting." The blond glowered out the window, expecting his companion to tease him but Roxas often forgot how very real Axel's people skills were. The writer merely settled his back against the cushions and grabbed the editor's hand in his own.
"Darkling is very...gothic." Axel stated. "And as long as we stay back from the fence and don't leave the property we'll be fine." At Roxas' sharp look Axel explained, "Mr. Whatley's neighbor's don't care for humans."
"Neither does Mr. Whatley, remember?" Roxas heaved a sigh. "I'll be fine. I can deal with it, I'm just not used to it." Axel snorted.
"If either of us start to get used to this place then it will be time to leave and find a different way of traveling from world to world, okay?" he asked, leaning down to peer in the blond's face. The blond gave a tired smile.
"Alright. What's on the agenda today? Tonight?" Roxas amended, glancing at the dark sky. "He really is something, isn't he?" he asked, glancing at Specter. The animal's silver petals were glowing in the moonlight, giving the creature an ethereal appearance and if Roxas wasn't stroking the horse's petals he would almost believe that he was dreaming the entire thing.
"Well," Axel grinned, "since we are coming up on my favorite holiday I thought we could celebrate by traveling to a world dedicated to Halloween."
"Of course you did," Roxas replied, rolling his eyes in fond exasperation. "And how did you discover this quaint little world?" he asked, trailing behind the red-head as they re-entered the House of Darkling. "By being nosy?"
"By investigating, my dear. Mr. Whatley has another smaller room of books behind one of the walls in the library. I was lucky enough to push the correct wall panel to unlock it."
"How fortunate for you." Roxas responded drily. Axel rolled his eyes.
"Will you just come on," he demanded, tugging the shorter man along after him. Entering the library, Axel rounded the staircase and headed straight for a small alcove. Reaching the far wall he released Roxas' wrist and pressed one of the wall panels. His grin widened as the wall swung on an invisible hinge and he bounded into the room. Roxas stepped in tentatively behind him and looked around as Axel searched for the book he wanted. "Here!" He exclaimed happily, thrusting the leather-bound book into the blond's hands.
"'Come visit the land of Halloween Town, where Halloween never ends. Read the scintillating tale of a land of Ghouls and Goblins.' We're going to jump into a story about a land where it's always Halloween?" Roxas asked, shooting the writer an unimpressed look.
"Oh, come on, Roxas. It'll be fun! It's Halloween!"
"And poor Thanksgiving is always ignored. Lucky for the turkey," the blond muttered wryly. Axel gave the smaller man a sharp grin before taking the book back.
"At least this time we have an idea of what we're getting into."
"I'm never living that down, am I?" Roxas sulked, crossing his arms and glaring at the taller man. Axel merely laughed and cracked open the book and dropping it on the floor.
Axel and Roxas whirled into the new world, the red-head hunkered down over the blond to help protect him from the high winds. Once the wind had died down he rose slowly, taking in the monochromatic colors around them.
"It's so...gray," he stated, turning this way and that to try and see a little bit more.
"An astute observation. I can see why you're a writer. By the way, who are you supposed to be – Dracula?"
"We changed to fit into this world, didn't we?" Axel asked with a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Yep." Roxas cocked his head to the side and Axel dared to meet his gaze. "I've never seen you with your hair pulled back before." He stepped forward and brought a finger to the edge of Axel's mouth. "You've even got fangs."
"You've got cat ears and a tail, blondie," he replied, watching with bemusement as the smaller man quickly exited Axel's personal space and tried to hide his flush of embarrassment. And sometimes Roxas just made it too easy. "You look cute as a cat." He grinned as the blond scowled at him.
"I am NOT -" Roxas cut off as Axel raised a hand and rubbed one of the cat ears sticking out from Roxas' hair. Much to the blond's mortification, he was barely able to swallow down the purr and he batted Axel's hand away in irritation. "Look, are we going to check out this world or not?"
"Sure, Rox," Axel chuckled, moving toward what appeared to be the town square. "Whatever you want," he added, dropping a quick kiss to the blond's head as he moved past the man. Roxas glared at the taller man's back but it still couldn't quite hide the small smile on his lips.
Roxas peered around what he had mentally dubbed the Guillotine Square. He watched as Axel flitted excitedly around the gray-scale environment and as the red-head continued to scribble down notes Roxas meandered his way to the center of the square and sat down on the edge of the fountain. To the right of the entrance they had come through was a large guillotine, hence the name Guillotine Square. Continuing around the square was another door illuminated by jack-o'-lantern streetlights. By craning his neck and straining his eyesight Roxas could just make out the outline of houses beyond the wall. Further along the square he could make out an opening in the wall leading to a graveyard. Any further investigation was halted by the appearance of a portly man. Roxas eyed the man, who was shaped eerily similar to a triangle. He was dressed in a business suit with a large red and white ribbon with the word 'Mayor' in capital letters placed above his left breast pocket. His left eye was nothing but a swirl and in place of a tie was a black widow spider. A long thin top hat completed his outfit.
"Hello, welcome to our fair city! Are you here to help us with the preparations for next Halloween? Or perhaps you're here to document this historical event!" He continued, catching sight of Axel's notebook.
"That is precisely what we are here to do Mr. Mayor," the red-head lied smoothly as he shook the small man's hand. "My name is Axel, this is my associate Roxas. We're from Organization XIII. What can you tell us about this historical moment?"
"Well...uh..." The mayor paused, trying to think of something to say. As panic set in, his head twisted around to show his other face. His skin was a ghastly shade of pale blue with yellow eyes and his mouth was pulled into a grimace. Axel didn't even bat an eyelash and Roxas was proud that the only indication he gave of shock was a twitch of his tail. As quickly as his face had changed, it changed back. "Jack!" he called, waving down a tall, thin skeleton. "Come tell these gentlemen about your plans for the Night Terrors! They're here to document it for history. Boys, this is Jack Skellington, the mastermind behind all of this." The mayor excused himself and hurried away leaving the two companions to eye the skeleton as he approached. The skeleton was tall, well over six feet and was dressed in a well-fitting black suit with thin white stripes. A bat bow-tie hung on his neck and his skull was completely bare. Though a wide friendly grin was plastered across his face, both Axel and Roxas could imagine how terrifying this skeleton could be.
"Hello, I'm Jack Skellington. It's such a pleasure to meet you," he greeted, grasping first Axel's, then Roxas' hand in his boney grip.
"The pleasure is ours, Mr. Skellington," Axel replied with a grin, his fangs glistening in the dim light. "What can you tell us about your involvement with the Night Terrors? How did you come up with this unprecedented idea?"
"It was the day after Halloween. We had just had our most successful year yet, especially after the whole Christmas debacle. These new citizens of Halloween Town just showed up overnight but they seem to have nothing to do with the rest of us. We're trying to find a way to control them and use them in next year's festival."
"What do these Terrors look like? How do they act towards the other citizens?"
"At first it was just small things – new variations of typical monsters – but lately they've been progressing. The latest infiltration was a few months ago and they look like something from another world. They seem to be some type of soldier and they brought something called a 'jabberwocky'." Jack explained, mangling the pronunciation. Roxas shot Axel a worried look but the red-head ignored him. Jack paused, tapping a long finger against his mouth as he thought. "Actually, if you'd like to know more about it, I was on my way to Dr. Finkelstein's lab to see how he was progressing with his experiment to control the Terrors. Perhaps you'd like to come along?" he asked. Axel peered over his shoulder and grinned at the blond. Roxas rolled his eyes but grinned back, showing his own elongated canines.
"We'd love to," Axel stated, turning back to the skeleton.
"Excellent!" Jack exclaimed excitedly. "You're going to love it, I can tell!" he stated as he led the two men toward the door by the jack-o'-lantern streetlights.
As Jack led them through the streets of Halloween Town Roxas grabbed Axel and purposely lagged behind.
"Those Night Terrors he was talking about are directly out of your stories, Axel," Roxas whispered worriedly, his ears twitching in agitation. "How is that even possible?" he demanded.
"I'm aware of that, blondie. This world is for the things that scare humans. I write horror and fantasy; is it any wonder that some of my creations wound up here?"
"So why aren't they interacting with the other citizens?" Roxas countered. Axel frowned, his eyebrows knitting together as he tried to figure out this new puzzle.
"I don't know," he conceded with a sigh. "Maybe it's something we can fix while we're here."
"Preferably before your Mud Man starts creeping around and snatching random citizens." Roxas stated while glaring at the red-head. Axel rolled his eyes before shaking his head.
"Really, Rox, you worry too much."
"No, Axel, I worry just enough," he replied. A few short strands of Axel's hair had worked themselves loos of his ponytail and the smaller man was momentarily distracted by the way they framed Axel's before. He pulled himself together and continued, "I worry enough for two people because you don't worry at all." The writer's green eyes narrowed and his mouth opened but before he could give voice to his arguments, Jack's voice floated down the street.
"Here we are! Come along, I don't want to keep the doctor waiting!" Roxas moved to push past the taller man but Axel caught his elbow and tugged him closer.
"We'll finish this later," Axel hissed before dropping Roxas' arm and moving forward to catch up with the Pumpkin King. "So, what exactly is Dr. Finkelstein a doctor of?" Axel was asking as Roxas caught up with the pair.
"I'm not sure; you'll have to ask him. But we couldn't ask for a better mad scientist." Jack stated as he led the duo to Dr. Finkelstein's research lab. The house itself resembled a large satellite dish, thought instead of being concave, the "dish" extended outward, much like a UFO. They walked up the slippery stone steps and Jack led them up to the second floor. They entered a spacious room filled with science equipment where a small man in a wheelchair was perusing documents which were spread across one of the wooden tables. Roxas and Axel hung back as Jack greeted the doctor – Axel furiously scribbling down his impressions. The doctor was a tiny man, with small hands encased in black rubber gloves which extended up to his elbows. Small black goggles were wrapped around his massive cranium and settled on his small nose which, in turn, widened into a mouth rather similar to a duck's bill. But what struck the writer was the fact that the doctor's skin was as white as the lab coat he wore.
"Oh, Jack!" he greeted. Roxas was surprised by how old the doctor's voice sounded. "I've been working on your little problem and I believe I have come up with a suitable solution." The diminutive man steered his motorized wheelchair around the table and pointed to one of his many blackboards. Roxas and Axel peered at the chalk sketch but could make no sense of the scientific scribblings. "A heart," he explained. "These newcomers are indiscriminate about who they scare. A heart should help give them a conscience. Then you'll be one step closer to your dream of having them dance in the festival, Jack." Dr. Finkelstein concluded, turning himself around to face the skeleton. "Who are they?" he asked, catching sight of the two men. "Here to steal my ideas?" he growled.
"No, no! Dr. Finkelstein, these are my new friends, Axel and Roxas. They're here to write about this historic moment and your brilliant experiment."
"Hnnn. I see how a cat can be scary – many people consider them bad omens – but what's scary about a vampire?" the scientist demanded as he gestured at the writer.
"Hey! Vampires are scary," Axel argued. Dr. Finkelstein shook his head.
"They used to be. Now everyone wants to date them. Well, let's get on with it. Igor! Bring in the subject!" A grating noise was heard as metal bars scraped along the cement floor and a small hunchback pushed in a cage containing one of the shadow monsters from Axel's first foray into horror. "We've had this creature housed in a light unit to keep him from escaping. Hopefully that won't be the case after this."
Axel and Roxas watched as Jack helped Igor strap the struggling shadow monster onto the table. The doctor finished his last minute preparations, including placing a make-shift heart of patchwork and iron onto a long metal pole, before turning and yanking on the switch. Electricity flashed in arcs across the lab before fixing on the heart, causing the metal rod to spin as it approached the bound shadow. A high pitched whining emitted from the machinery as the shadow struggled against its bonds. The heart spun faster and faster as it pushed against the creature's chest.
"It's gonna blow," Roxas muttered, eying the whirling machinery. No sooner had the words left the man's mouth than the whining abated and the machinery ground to a halt.
"Blast!" Dr. Finkelstein cursed before motioning for Igor to take the shadow monster away.
"My hopes! My dreams!" Jack moaned, despair etched onto every surface of his skull.
"I don't understand! It was a perfectly good heart. The science was sound." Dr. Finkelstein turned back to his diagram. "Sally!"
"Sally?" Axel asked, not following the scientist's train of thought.
"Of course, Sally. She has memory. Find her so we can add memory to the heart and try the experiment again!" the doctor ordered. "Problem?" he asked, catching sight of Roxas' scowl.
"Who's Sally, what does she look like and where would we even look for her?" Roxas asked, ticking off the questions on his fingers as his tail twitched in agitation. Taking orders from one mad person was his limit.
"Sally is one of Dr. Finkelstein's creations," Jack explained. "She's a rag doll; she has long brown hair and a dress made out of patchwork. The last time I saw her she was heading toward the graveyard."
"We'll find her," Axel assured as he nudged the blond out the door. Roxas stomped out of the house ahead of the red-head, crossing his arms and letting out a huff of annoyance as he reached the street. Seeing the blond's face Axel rolled his eyes as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "Oh, come on, Roxas! You were the one who said you wanted to fix this. They've got a plan, so let's help them with it." Axel argued. Roxas rolled his eyes.
"You just can't leave anything alone. Fine, let's go check the graveyard," he stated as he uncrossed his arms and headed back toward Guillotine Square.
"She could have left by now!" Axel stated.
"Then I'll check the graveyard myself." Roxas shouted back, never breaking his stride.
"Well what should I do?" Axel asked as he threw his arms out to his sides.
"Do whatever you want!" Roxas shouted before muttering, "You usually do."
"Dammit, blondie," Axel muttered as he let his arms drop back to his sides before turning on his heel and heading further into town.
Roxas hunched his shoulders against the cold as he stalked back to the town square. The news of Axel's characters worried the smaller man to no end and the red-head's ambivalent attitude toward the entire night's proceedings had grated on the blond's nerves. Roxas bared his canines in agitation as he growled low in his throat before shaking his head. Axel wasn't his problem right now; right now he had to find Sally and try to fix the mess Axel's writings had created. He re-entered the square and followed the wall until he came to a set of stairs leading to a gate. Squeezing through a small gap in the bars Roxas found himself among the final rows of a massive graveyard which led to a large curly hill. He stepped cautiously around the gravestones, using his newly heightened senses to aid him.
"Sally?" he called, pausing to listen to leaves rustling. "Sally, Dr. Finkelstein and Jack Skellington sent me to get memory from you. Concerning a heart for the Terrors?" A low moaning sound came from behind on of the large monuments with a stone gargoyle and the blond adjusted his path accordingly. He increased his pace, slightly worried that the rag doll might have tripped and injured herself among the numerous headstones. It was only as he rounded the monument that he realized how impetuously he had acted. A small army of zombies staggered towards him and the figure he had thought was a stone gargoyle was, in fact, a harpy. Roxas' ears flattened against his head as a territorial hiss emitted from his mouth. A quick glance at his left wrist confirmed that his bracelet was still on his wrist. Quickly pressing the white squares in the correct sequence he stepped back as his keyblade appeared. Grabbing the handle, Roxas sent a silent thanks to Sora and Riku for all the private lessons they'd given him. Taking a defensive stance Roxas eyed his enemy. The harpy was going to be his biggest problem – he wasn't used to fighting aerial enemies. He could manage the zombies as long as he stayed out of the middle of the group but he was slightly more worried about what he had missed on his first assessment of the enemy. A few straggling mushroom heads were at the back of the group and Roxas was not looking forward to trying to evade their poisonous puke.
The first of the five zombies lurched toward the blond and Roxas reacted quickly, slicing the head from the neck. The sudden movement jarred the harpy to life and she took to the skies with a shriek of anger. The blond hazarded a look to the sky; the harpy was a black silhouette against the silver clouds and was circling like a vulture though she seemed to be holding her height above the ground. Comforted for the moment Roxas turned his attention to the remaining zombies. Another zombie had broken away from the pack and the blond seized his chance, leaping dexterously into the air. His assault was impeded by a metal choker around the woman's neck but he used his momentum to whirl around and attack again, making sure his blade hit higher this time. He smiled as the head went rolling among the gravestones but his glee was short lived. Realizing he had inadvertently moved himself closer to the mushroom heads Roxas stumbled backwards, falling on his ass. He clambered to his feet and shook off the pain before locking onto the two remaining zombies. The man on the right was closer than the woman on the left and Roxas attacked, knocking the man off balance before sending his head rolling. He refocused on the woman, but his initial attack was cut short as he was knocked out of the air by the harpy. He hit the ground and rolled – his keyblade flying out of his hands. Pulling himself into a crouched position the blond eyed his bloody left arm. A shriek drew his attention back to the sky where the harpy was circling for another attack. As the harpy dove out of the sky, Roxas barrel-rolled to the right and clasped his keyblade. He quickly stood and spun before being caught off-guard at the close proximity of the remaining zombie. She lurched forward and Roxas barely had time to bring his arms up before she was on him. He struggled, his strength weakened by his wounded arm, but finally managed to push her back. He quickly struck with his blade before crouching back down. The zombies might have been taken care of but he still had a pissed off harpy and mushroom heads to deal with. Another shriek warned Roxas of the impending danger and he shoved off the ground and rolled. Ignoring the searing pain in his arm Roxas quickly regained his feet, ready to slash at the harpy. His attention was arrested as two burning circles spun through the air – the first burning through the harpy, the second incinerating the poisonous mushroom heads. The flames went out and as the circles spun back in the direction they had come from Roxas could see that they were some weird type of weapon. It was only when the blond saw a pissed off Axel snack the spinning weapons out of the air that he fully realized what had happened.
"Axel..." Roxas started but he trailed off feeling light-headed from the pain and blood loss. The angry look morphed into worry.
"Is he badly hurt? I may be able to help him." A soft voice stated and the two men turned to see a young female step out from behind a gravestone. "I'm Sally and this is Zero, Jack's dog," she introduced as a ghost dog floated through the gravestone after her. Roxas was slightly amused to note that the dog had a glowing jack-o'-lantern as a nose but the amusement was short lived when Sally began to gently prod his arm. The blond bit back the yowl that wanted to escape but he could do nothing to stop his knees from buckling. Axel caught the smaller man and glared at the rag doll. "We better sit him down on a headstone. The scratches look deep but I don't think he'll need stitches," she explained, unperturbed by Axel's hostility.
"And what were you doing here?" Axel asked.
"I come here to clear my head and pick herbs," Sally explained as she scanned the ground amongst the graves. "I was restocking on Witch Hazel when the Terrors showed up. Not wanting to draw attention to myself I hid, hoping that they'd go away soon. That was an hour ago. You and your friend saved me." She stated, gathering various plants and crushing them on a rock. She mixed until she had a thick paste. "Do you have a rag?" she asked Axel and the red-head pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. "Wet it in the square fountain." Once Axel had complied Sally took the damp cloth and wiped away the dirt and clotting blood from Roxas' wounds before applying the paste to the long gashes. Roxas hissed in pain but otherwise made no effort to jerk away.
"Thanks," he grit out as Sally took a spare piece of patchwork and tied it around the blond's arm as a bandage.
"You said Jack and Dr. Finkelstein sent you for the memory?" Sally asked as Axel helped the blond to stand.
"Yeah, for the heart they're working on." Roxas confirmed, leaning heavily on Axel's arm. The rag doll reached into a pocket of her dress and pulled out a flower.
"The memory is a flower?" Axel asked incredulously as he took it from the woman.
"It's a Forget-Me-Not," Roxas explained. Understanding dawned across the writer's face as Sally nodded at the blond's explanation.
"Please tell Jack to be careful," Sally requested. "He tends to become blind to the danger once he has his mind set on something. I'm worried for him." Roxas agreed and the two men watched as Sally gathered her things and left them alone, Zero drifting after her. Roxas sighed before turning and picking up his keyblade. He waited as his bracelet glowed and stored the keyblade before turning back and catching the odd look on Axel's face.
"What?" he asked the red-head warily.
"I didn't know you could fight. What were you battling with anyway?"
"Sora and Riku trained me, after they made it back to Destiny Islands. They said it would be good for me to learn in case I needed it some day." Roxas paused and fingered his bracelet nervously. "It's called a keyblade."
"A keyblade? Like in the story?" Axel asked. Roxas nodded.
"Sora had it made for me. He has one, too. They're almost identical, except for the charms on the end of them." Roxas explained. "But what the hell were you fighting with?" Axel laughed before lifting one of his weapons up.
"They're called chakrams," he explained, letting the blond examine them. The weapon itself was circular, the two bars crossing in the middle which allowed their wielder handholds without harming themselves. The outside of the circle was peppered with mini blades and Roxas could imagine how easily they could cut through flesh while spinning.
"Interesting," Roxas stated slowly, peering intently at the weapon before handing it back to Axel, giving the taller man the same intense scrutiny. "We should get back to Dr. Finkelstein and give him the Forget-Me-Not," he stated, shoving his hands in his pockets and heading back toward the town square. Axel took a moment to watch the blond before trailing after him.
"You're more of a bad ass than I thought you were. For an English dork," Axel told him as he nudged his right arm. Roxas snorted in response. "Does your arm still hurt?" he asked as he pushed a button inside each of the chakrams. The weapons immediately began shrinking – the blades retracted into the metal – and soon each of the weapons was no bigger than the size of a ring. The red-head grabbed both of them and shoved one onto each of his middle fingers.
"Nah, it feels numb now." Roxas stated as Axel pulled the door to the doctor's house open. They entered but Roxas stopped short and Axel turned to see what was wrong. "I'm sorry. About before."
"It's fine." Axel stated. "We're both just tired and irritable and we always get more snarky with each other when that happens." A sly grin slid onto the red-head's lips. "You must be tired if you're apologizing."
"It didn't even leave a bad taste in my mouth," Roxas shot back as he led the way up the steps.
"Wait for it," Axel stated, continuing the joke.
"Yep, there it is," the blond grimaced and they both laughed as they entered the laboratory.
"Did you find Sally?" Jack asked eagerly before noticing the shorter man's arm. "Oh, no... What happened?"
"We're running out of time with the Terrors," Axel explained as he handed the Forget-Me-Not over to Dr. Finkelstein. "They're getting out of control. Roxas ran into some of them in the graveyard and they attacked. We took care of them and Sally's alright but I really think we need to get this heart finished as soon as possible."
"We just need one final ingredient to complete it." Dr. Finkelstein stated. "Surprise. The mayor should be able to help you with that." Axel shot the doctor a look which clearly read, 'Are you kidding me?'
"And where is the Mayor?" Roxas asked, fully resigned to seeing this experiment through.
"He was heading to the Boneyard. He said he was working on something private," Jack explained. "I'll go with you." Axel nodded in agreement before turning to his companion.
"Do you want to stay here?"
"And have you two running around unsupervised? Like hell." Roxas rolled his eyes. "Come on," Roxas sighed as he turned to the skeleton. "Lead the way."
"Gee, I feel like we were just here." Axel exclaimed as they entered the graveyard. Roxas rolled his eyes but a small smile played on his lips.
"This way," Jack stated, leading the pair further into the graveyard. They passed row after row of headstones and monuments before they finally reached an above-ground coffin.
"Oh, please tell me that's empty." Roxas begged as Jack began pushing the lid back.
"What's the matter, blondie, worried you'll see something gross? Or maybe something hot..." Axel raised an eyebrow suggestively.
"Necrophiliac is gross, Axel." Roxas stated, smacking the writer upside the head. Their conversation was cut off as Jack finished separating the lid from the coffin, revealing a hidden passageway inside the coffin. "God, it's like some horrible Gothic romance novel," Roxas bemoaned as he climbed down into the stone passageway.
"You mean you actually read those things?" Axel asked incredulously.
"It was required for my dorky English degree," the editor explained hotly, glad that the dark passageway was hiding his blush.
"Sure it was," Axel agreed in a tone which clearly showed he didn't believe the blond one bit.
"Here we are!" Jack interrupted and the three climbed out to find themselves in another section of the graveyard. The skeleton headed toward the back of the boneyard, leading the two men around a large pumpkin to get there. As they neared the end of the boneyard, Axel could make out the Mayor's silhouette.
"Good evening, Mayor." Axel greeted as the trio approached the squat man. The Mayor grinned, evidently pleased about something.
"How's the writing going, boys? I'm sure Jack and Dr. Finkelstein have given you plenty to write about."
"And then some," Roxas muttered but the Mayor either didn't hear him or was too self-satisfied to let the blond upset him.
"I've been working on a little something of my own for this year's festivities. It's a new game for the citizens to play! Why don't the three of you try it out and tell me what you think of it," he offered. Roxas pinched the bridge of his nose with his good hand. Children...he was surrounded by a bunch of children.
"How does it work?" Axel asked.
"Each of these headstones is home to a ghost. They will randomly fly out and you have to remember the sequence. Tap the headstones in the correct order and something fun happens!" The Mayor explained before glancing at his watch. "I've got to run but try it out and tell me what you think!"
"He cannot be serious," Roxas stated, clearly unimpressed.
"A little fun won't kill you, Rox." Axel stated as the first ghost floated from his tomb. Roxas refrained from rolling his eyes, but only because he was keeping an eye on the tombstones. He wasn't suffering through this game more than once if he could help it and there was no way he was trusting the red-head to remember the sequence.
As the last ghost disappeared back into the tomb Roxas stepped forward and tapped the headstones. A rumbling noise had the three looking at each other in confusion but the source was soon discovered as the giant pumpkin exploded, showering the three of them in pumpkin guts.
"Are we having fun yet?" Roxas asked sarcastically. Axel ignored the smaller man as he stepped forward.
"I hope this is the surprise Dr. Finkelstein wanted," he stated, showing the jack-in-the-box to Jack and Roxas.
"If it's not, I'm shoving it down his throat," Roxas muttered darkly as he continued picking pumpkin seeds out of his hair.
"Dr. Finkelstein, we're back!" Jack called as the trio re-entered the lab. "We've got the surprise!"
"Excellent!" the doctor called as he swung around an empty glass cylinder. "Bring it over to the table so I can finish the heart." Jack complied and Roxas and Axel trailed after him. All three watched intently as the doctor crushed and mixed the ingredients together before adding them to his makeshift heart. "Finished!" he cried triumphantly.
"Perfect!" Jack cried euphorically. "Now we can test it on the Terrors!"
"I don't think so!" A high nasally voice called. It was followed by high-pitched giggles and the doctor grabbed the heart before turning his wheelchair and attempting to flee the lab. A small child dressed as a skeleton slid out from under one of the tables, knocking the doctor from his wheelchair and sending the heart flying across the lab. Before Axel, Roxas or Jack could react an older boy bedecked as a devil grabbed the heart and fled, taking the younger boy and a girl dressed as a witch with him.
"Oh no!" Jack cried in dismay as Axel assisted the doctor back into his wheelchair.
"Who were they?" Roxas asked. "And why did they steal the heart?"
"They're Oogie's evil henchmen," explained Jack.
"Oogie?" Roxas snickered. He wondered what type of person was named 'Oogie'.
"Yes, Oogie Boogie. He wants my title of Pumpkin King and I have a feeling he stole the heart because he hopes that by controlling the Terrors he can overthrow me."
"Well, how can we get it back? It's not like we can track them." Roxas stated.
"Track them?" Jack asked. "ZERO!" The ghost dog materialized next to his owner, barking happily. "Lock, Shock and Barrel – where did they go?" he demanded. Zero barked before floating out of the lab and Jack, Roxas and Axel gave chase, leaving Dr. Finkelstein to recover from his encounter with Oogie's henchmen.
Zero led them back into the graveyard and down through the coffin to the boneyard. He stopped outside a large pumpkin tomb and barked to indicate that they should the door and pass through. Easing through the passageway, the three found themselves on Moonlight Hill, the curly hill that Roxas and Axel had spotted on their first trip to the graveyard. Jack held up a bony hand, halting their progress and the two men soon understood why. The hill was peppered with Axel's creations and if they made too much noise they would be fighting their way across the hill. Creeping along like ninjas the group finally made it to the central hill and Jack pressed down a small tombstone, activating a hidden switch which uncurled the hill and the trio followed the hill down to a bridge. Jack motioned for them to stop and he crouched down; Roxas and Axel followed suit.
"What's up?" Axel asked as a sinking feeling settled in his stomach.
"More Terrors," Jack responded. "We're going to have to fight our way through," he stated as he sent a worried glance in Roxas' direction.
"What are we dealing with?" Roxas asked, ignoring the worried looks he was receiving. Axel peered around the corner before answering.
"Just shadow creatures but there's a lot of them."
"Let's just get it over with," the blond sighed as he activated his bracelet. Axel took another moment to look at his – friend? Boyfriend? – Roxas before nodding and sliding his rings off his fingers.
"Try and keep the battle on dry land," Jack stated. "If you fall into the slime of the moat you'll easily get surrounded. If that does happen there are stairs on the side of the bridge that you can use to climb out," he explained and Axel and Roxas nodded before they turned the corner and entered into battle.
Though they were vastly outnumbered the fight ended fairly quickly. Even when injured Roxas maintained great control over his keyblade, and Axel's lit chakrams sent the shadow creatures running for cover while Jack held his own against the enemy. With the shadows scattering Axel checked on the blond. Roxas was leaning against one of the bridge posts catching his breath but the writer was glad to see that he had no new injuries.
"Hanging in there, tough guy?" Axel joked and Roxas glared at him.
"Oogie's house is just across the bridge," Jack stated, cutting off any argument which might have arisen. Roxas nodded and shoved off the post, unwilling to hold the party up. He really just wanted to go home and sleep for the next...oh...week or so. The crossing was slow going as everyone practiced extra caution while walking – no one wanted to end up in the moat – but they finally made it to Oogie's house and Roxas easily picked the lock.
"Why do I get the feeling you could easily be a menace to society, Mr. Sky?" Axel questioned but Roxas merely sent the taller man a sweet smile as the door swung open. The entrance to the house was pretty bare but the two men weren't given much time to look as Jack led them to a small platform in the center of the room. Axel lit a small lantern under the platform and the trio rode the wave of heat up to a wooden path. Jack led them along the path until he reached a blue stone pad at which point he turned left and began leading them up a tree. It was at this point that the two men realized that Oogie Boogie's house was actually built to include the tree. Their progress slowed as the climbing became more difficult near the top but they finally managed to reach what Roxas mentally dubbed the Evil Playroom. Aside from a lever at the back of the room there really wasn't much in it aside from various weapons and the three little brats that had stolen the heart. The trio had barely managed to step inside the playroom before finding themselves in a fight with the evil henchmen. Luckily for Jack, Roxas and Axel Oogie's henchmen didn't put up much of a fight and after properly punishing them for being evil little brats they pulled the lever and headed back down the spiral wooden path.
A cage had been lowered and Axel spotted a platform that had previously been hidden by the tree. They jumped from the pathway down into the cage before turning around and jumping from the cage to the platform. The platform led to a door which was below the main entrance and the trio passed through the green door into what could only be described as Oogie's torture chamber.
"Oogie Boogie!" Jack called as he led the men into the torture chamber. "Give me back the heart!"
"You want it? Well then come on over and get it!" Oogie responded. Roxas shot Axel an incredulous look. This sack cloth was what they were going to be fighting? The incredulous look changed to one of disgust as Oogie swallowed the heart Dr. Finkelstein had created. "Now let's see if I can get their attention. Oh, Terrors!" he called and Roxas and Axel braced themselves for an influx of Terrors. However, only two gargoyles appeared next to Oogie. "This is it?" he asked, disbelief coloring his voice. "Nobody disrespects me! Nobody!"
"Be careful to dodge his attacks!" Jack called as the three of them jumped down onto the roulette wheel in the middle of Oogie's chamber. Roxas dodged as exploding dice landed near him and Axel barely managed to avoid being chopped up by a buzz saw.
"How do we get up to him?" Axel asked as Oogie pranced around rolling his dice.
"We've got to raise the platform!" Jack explained, dodging a scythe. He nodded to the lit tiles in the inner ring of the roulette wheel and Roxas jumped on the one lined up with Oogie. As the platform raised, he summoned his keyblade and attacked. He got in several hits before the overgrown sack cloth pushed him back onto the platform and it lowered. As the roulette wheel spun, Roxas was spun to the firing squad.
"Roxas, get out of there!" Axel shouted as he tried to make his way to the blond's aid. Roxas grabbed the bars on the right side of the platform and grit his teeth against the pain in his arm. Using his natural strength and the dexterity granted by his cat genes the blond pulled himself up to the top of the bars before flipping himself over the top and dropping down. "You okay?" Axel asked as Roxas gripped his left arm.
"I think I'm done," he answered apologetically. He glanced up at Oogie and his eyes narrowed. "He's made out of sack cloth."
"Yeah," Axel agreed, not understanding where the blond's thought process was going.
"Sack cloth burns." Roxas explained and a grin broke out on Axel's face as he summoned his chakrams.
"The tiles are lit!" Jack called and Axel jumped. As the platform raised he lit his chakrams on fire and as soon as he had a clear shot he sent them flying through the air. Both chakrams hit Oogie and the cloth caught on fire. As the cloth burned bugs began leaking out of the weakening seams until nothing was left except the mechanical heart Oogie had swallowed. "So, that heart was a failure after all." Jack stated with a sigh. "Now what are we going to do about the Night Terrors?" he asked dejectedly. Roxas sent a hopeless look toward Axel, who furrowed his brow before snapping his fingers.
"I got an idea. Is there a library around here?" he asked Jack.
"Dr. Finkelstein has a medical library."
"That'll work. I'm gonna need a pen and some papers as well." Roxas sent a questioning look at the writer but Axel merely shook his head and grinned as they headed back toward Dr. Finkelstein's house. Once there the red-head shut himself up in the medical library and Roxas had his bandages re-checked by Sally.
"Oh, you were right, Sally. I should never have tried to control the Terrors. What was I thinking?! This was almost a bigger debacle than trying to perform Christmas!"
"You had Halloween characters try and celebrate Christmas?" Roxas asked bemusedly.
"Suffice to say it didn't go well." Sally stated as she re-wrapped the blond's arm. "And this could have been even worse," she scolded at the skeleton.
"Jack! JACK!" the Mayor called, rushing into Dr. Finkelstein's research lab.
"What's the problem Mayor? Are the Terrors attacking again?" he asked worriedly.
"No. They're...introducing themselves to the residents," he explained breathlessly. "They're not evil anymore."
"What?" Jack exclaimed, rushing to the window to look out. Sure enough the Night Terrors were congregated in Guillotine Square talking with the Halloween Town residents. "This is unbelievable. What did your associate do?" Jack asked Roxas. The editor shrugged and Jack hurried out of the research lab to join the throng.
"I take it my idea worked?" Axel asked as he entered the research lab with a loosely bound book.
"What exactly was your idea?" Roxas inquired. Axel held up the short book he had written.
"The Terrors are my creations. It should only be natural that I can control how evil they are, so I wrote a research paper on each of the creations," he shrugged. "They're just like the residents of Halloween Town now," Axel explained as he set the book on Dr. Finkelstein's bookshelf. "Ready to go home?"
"More than," Roxas stated and Axel laughed. "God, shut up, Axel! I'm tired and hungry and I really want a shower," he griped as Axel used the skeleton key to unlock the passageway to Darkling.
Later, after Roxas had showered and taken a nap, the two men sat in a booth at Way to the Dawn.
"It's your birthday next week," Axel stated absentmindedly as he took a sip of his pumpkin spice latte. Roxas froze with his fork part-way to his mouth.
"How do you even remember that?" he asked.
"I only memorize the important things, Rox," Axel stated, a small smile playing on his lips. Roxas shook his head in disbelief. "Got anything in mind?" Axel asked. A small grin made its way across the smaller man's face as he played with his pie.
"Axel...when's the last time you went to the circus?"
~Review~