Chapter 6: No More Mr. Nice Bones
(Jack's POV)
As we left Town Hall, I was starting to get more worried. What on earth was happening to my town? Oogie had always had his eyes on ruling ever since I was crown Pumpkin King… But there was no possible explanation why the good Doctor would tell everyone I had gone away forever. I specifically told him I'd return once I found new ways to make Halloween more terrifying. And after what Mr. Hyde said, why would Dr. Finklestein tell everyone I wanted a dangerous Halloween? It just makes no sense. The Doctor and I have known each other for years and, while he's always had a mad way about things, I'd never expect him to want to hurt anyone. I needed to get to the bottom of this.
"Hey!"
I turned around to see Will and Al carrying the Halloween Door. Al walked backwards with her half in her hands, while Will was supporting her half on her shoulders.
"Jack, any chance you could lend a hand?" Will asked. "This thing's a lot heavier than it looks."
"Oh!" I quickly rushed over and lifted some of the weight off Will's shoulders. I helped them set it on the ground. They were right, it was heavy.
"Why did I get stuck walking backwards? I'm lucky I didn't fall and break this door," Al said, rolling her shoulders
"Because you lost the coin toss," Will reminded her.
"There was no coin!" Al all bout shouted, but then sighed. "What's the purpose of these doors again?"
"They're the portals that allow us to travel between the holiday worlds," I explained. "However, Sandy and I have yet to figure out why. We didn't even know of the other doors."
"Until a certain curious cat decided to forgo his death wish," Will smirked.
I cleared my throat, my cheekbones heating up. "Well, yes…if-if you want to get technical."
"So we have to carry around this door for some unknown reason?" Al asked. "Can't we just store it somewhere? Like with the witches or something?"
"Al, we don't know where anyone is," Will said. "Besides, we can't just leave the door out in the open. We need to put it back before something comes through the open portal, or worse, gets out."
"Will has a point. I wouldn't want any of those creatures Oogie created getting out into your world. But I wonder, if the Halloween Holiday Door is here, then Oogie must have taken the others as well." This was horrible. If my suspicions were correct, then it meant Oogie might be tampering with the other holidays as well. "We've got to find them and put them back."
"Well, do we have to carry them?" Al asked. "Why can't we leave them with Mr. Hyde?"
Will rolled her eyes. "Al, Jack told Mr. Hyde to–"
"Help!"
"That's sounds like Corpse Kid," Al said.
I turned and saw Will was right. Over by the fountain a group of skeletons were surrounding Ethan. I quickly rushed to his side to fight the monsters off.
"Jack, look out!" Will shouted.
I turned just as a bone flew by, aimed right for my head. I stopped and got a better look at the skeletons. These were similar to the ones I fought before, only they were armed with bone boomerangs. They snarled and continued to throw them at me. I dodged and used my Soul Robber to deflect their attacks. They seemed more concerned about me, so I drew them away from the fountain so Ethan wouldn't be harmed. While I kept them busy, I looked to see what happened to Ethan. To my relief, Will and Al were defending against the skeletons that had remained behind. Satisfied, I turned my attention back to the skeletons in front of me. There were only three left, so I used the Soul Robber to grab one and spun around to bash the others.
Seeing the girls had also taken care of the enemies, I joined them by the fountain.
"Jack! Welcome back!" Ethan said. "It looks like the Witch Shop just opened for the first time since you left. I guess that means things are safe now that you are back… Terrible things happened while you gone, Jack… Terrible things."
"Well, now we can store the doors," Al said smiling. "What kind of terrible things kido?"
"It was awful. First were the traps, then those awful ghosts and monsters came." Ethan began to tremble. Will got down on her knees and put her arms around the poor boy's shoulders.
"Ethan, I want you to go back home where it's safe," I told him. "I bet your parents are worried about you."
"Alright Jack." Will released him and he hurried back to his home.
"See ya kido!" Al called.
I turned to the girls. "Well, I suppose we should check out the Witch Shop. Maybe they can give us an idea of what kind of traps we'll be up against."
"And store that door so we don't have to carry it," Al said, tossing her sledgehammer and catching it again.
"Speaking of which…" Will walked back over to where the girls had dropped it. She grunted as she lifted one end. "Wanna give me a hand?"
Al sighed loudly but went over and grabbed the other end, heaving the door up. Once they had it, I took us over to the Witch Shop. It seemed to be clear of any of Oogie's goons so we were able to make it inside without any problems. Still, I shut the door tight once Will and Al were inside just in case. Then I made my way to the counter. I was glad to see Helgamine and Zeldaborne standing there unharmed.
"Jack! You've returned!" Zeldaborne exclaimed.
"Is it true? The whole town is booby trapped?"
"Oh…it's too embarrassing to talk about," Helgamine moaned. "We brought this all upon ourselves… Say, care to buy anything? We've got some prime heads and torsos, but they'll cost you an arm and a leg."
Al started laughing, "An arm and a leg, good one!"
"No thanks," I replied. "So I'm guessing there's nothing else you can tell us about those traps."
"I'm sorry but that's all we know," Zeldaborne replied sadly.
"Hey Zelda, what can you tell us about this?" Will asked. I turned around and noticed she was holding up a skull. But it was no ordinary skull. This one was made entirely of crystal. I never even noticed she had picked it up.
"Whoa, that's super pretty!" Al said, going to look as well.
"Where on earth did you find that, Will?" I asked.
"Over by the fountain," she explained. "I saw it lodged in the cobblestone."
"Quite the find, my dear," Zeldaborne said. "I didn't think there were any left in town."
"What were they for?" Al asked, lightly running her fingers down the skull.
"There were used for a variety of things like healing and seeing visions, but most often they were used in rituals. Helga and I had some in supply, but those little brats stole them from us to bring back their boss. I guess they must have dropped a few."
"Well, that explains why my hand doesn't hurt anymore." Will unwrapped her hand to show that her wound was completely healed, as if she had never been cut.
"Jack, if you find four Crystal Skulls, bring them over to the shop and we will exchange them for some goodies," Helgamine said.
"Scavenger hunt time!" Al said, fist pumping her sledgehammer.
"Thanks for the offer but actually what we really need is somewhere to put this." I gestured to the Halloween Door. "It shouldn't be here, but we can't lug it around with us."
"Hmm…" Helgamine thought it over. "I have just the thing! Zelda, be a dear and fetch the bottle in the back. The yellow one."
Zeldaborne hopped off her stool and disappeared into the back room. When she returned she showed me a vial filled with a strange yellow potion. "Just one drop on the door and you'll be fine."
I took the bottle and did as she instructed. As soon as the drop hit the door, it began to decrease in size until it was no bigger than a pebble. I picked it up with my thumb and forefinger, examining the tiny door. "My, that's some potion. I can even put it in my jacket pocket."
"Say that reminds me," Will said. "You two wouldn't happened to have anything to fight off ghosts, would you?"
"Yea. Sledgey Baby wants to smash and Chopper wants to cleave," Al said, fondly patting her sledgehammer and cleaver.
I had almost forgotten about that. The girls had been no match for Oogie's ghosts when they attacked us at Town Hall. They were fine against the skeletons, but ghosts are a far more formidable foe. If only the Doctor had made two more Soul Robbers. It seemed to be the only thing that could latch onto a ghosts, or cause it any harm.
"Hmm… Wait! I have just the thing." Helgamine turned to the shelf behind her and began rummaging through the bottle. Finally, she came up with a rose pink bottle. "Here we are. Let me see your weapons, dears."
Al was hesitant to hand over her beloved weapons but did so. Then Will handed over her katanas, machete, and baseball bat. Carefully, Helgamine poured the potion on to hands and spread it onto each weapon. They seemed to glow for a moment before returning to normal. Al picked up her sledgehammer and gave it a few swings.
"So Sledgy Baby can now smash ghosts?" she asked, shouldering the sledgehammer and picking up her cleaver. "And Chopper, Macho, and Batarang to?" Everyone gave her strange looks. "What? Don't you name your weapons?"
Jack gave her a skeptical look. "No, not really. And before you say anything, the Soul Robber was invented by Dr. Finklestein, so he was the one to name it."
"That's a good name," she said with a smile.
"Better than Flubber, anyway," Will said dryly. Though it didn't escape my attention when Will and Al glanced at each other and began to smile.
"Flubber..." Al laughed. "So weapons can now get at ghosts?"
"Yeah, what did you use on them?" Will asked, giving her katanas a few swings as well.
"It's a very special potion," Helgamine stated.
"One of our more rare concoctions," Zeldaborne added.
Helgamine went on to explain. "You see, spirits cannot cross wild roses, so this potion is merely an extract of the flower. Since not many flowers grow here — and the fact we normally welcome spirits — we've never really had any use for it before."
"Cool beans," Al said, a wild grin crossing her face. "If there's something strange in your neighborhood/Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!" she sang, howling at the end.
"And to think, you were complaining about songs earlier," Will remarked.
"Shut yer mouth ya whelp," Al said humorously.
"Thank you for the potions, ladies," I thanked. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a few souls, and paid them for the potions. "This will definitely help us. Now we need to go. We still need to stop Oogie Boogie."
"You'll always be our hero, Jack," Zeldaborne called as we left the shop.
Outside I needed to find out just where else Oogie's booby traps were hidden. I decided to check the graveyard. It had many places to hide traps, but I was more worried about the spooks living there, especially Zero. I ran over to the Main Gate but it was locked. That was strange. The Gate Keeper never locks the gate, not does he leave his post. Something must have scared him off, but I needed the key to get to the graveyard.
"Hey, what are you doing out here?" I heard Al ask. I turned around to she her and Will with Ethan.
I walked over to them. "Ethan, I thought I told you to go home where it's safe."
"I'm sorry Jack, but I couldn't get through Behemoth's Brier but monsters have possessed all the pumpkins. I couldn't get through."
"Told you not to go down that way," Will muttered.
Hmm, this wasn't good. I'd hope to sneak through the pumpkin patch but it appeared that way was blocked too. Remembering my predicament, I turned to Ethan. "The Main Gate can't be opened. Do you know why?" I asked.
"I think Clown has the key, but I don't know where he went."
Not far off, a manhole covering began to shake. It drew everyone's attention.
"If a giant rat climbs out of there, I'm gonna smash it," Al said, bracing her sledgehammer.
"I think I'll investigate this one," I said. "Will, Al. You two stay up here with Ethan until I come back."
"Good plan Boney Butt," Al said, still bracing.
"For once, I'm not gonna argue with you," Will said.
Seeing they wouldn't follow me, I headed over to the manhole. I easily lifted the cover off and jumped down. Once inside, I saw Clown. He was screaming and took off on his unicycle before I could talk to him. Then I saw why. Seven evil skeletons appeared from the shadows and began to attack.
I braced myself and used the Soul Robber as the first two lunged. I grabbed the first and use it to smash into the other one. Then I launched the Soul Robber at the other five. It created a mace and smashed one to pieces, while knocking the skeleton to the right to the ground. One of the skeletons threw a bone boomerang and it hit me in the head. I stumbled forward and barely managed to avoid being struck by another skeleton. I regained my balance and whipped the Soul Robber at the remaining skeletons. They fell to pieces at the ground, and I was finally able to relax.
"Jack!"
I looked up to see Clown had returned. He must have been watching from the shadows and saw it was safe to come out. "No need to panic," I assured him. "You can calm down."
"Is it really you Jack!? Ohhhh, something really terrible's happened…"
"I'm going to save everyone and return Halloween Town back to how it was. I need you to open the Main Gate."
"It's been so dangerous out there I-I locked the gate and hid here. Now don't get me wrong, I like a good scare… But those things bite!" Clown laughed nervously before getting serious. "Oh you want the gate key? Now, where did I put it?" He pondered it for a moment.
"Hmm, did I eat it? Hmm… I'll open the gate once I find it."
I nodded and he whirled away to search for the key. I turned to climb out, but the latter was broken, so I used the Soul Robber to pull myself out. However, things were not as I left them. Ethan was hiding in the Gate Keeper's post as Al was fighting off four skeletons. I quickly ran to her aid and helped them defeat their attackers. Once they were dispatched, Clown was able to open the gate.
"I got the gate open for you, Jack," he said.
"But not before some of Oogie's baddies grabbed Sally and carried her off toward the cemetery," Ethan said. "I've heard the cemetery is pretty dangerous these days. I hope she's okay."
"I saw Will take off after them," Clown added.
"What!? Took Sally!? That's it, no more Mr. Nice Bones!" I ran off in the direction of the cemetery. I didn't even notice Al as she tried to keep up with my stride. All I cared about was getting to Sally. How could I be so foolish? I hadn't even thought about Sally since my return. And now the love of my afterlife was in danger and it was all my fault.
"Cemeteries… Why does she always go for the cemeteries?" Al muttered as she ran. "Hurry up Boney Butt! Your woman is in danger too!"
I looked up, surprised to see Al had gotten ahead of me. I nodded and quickened my pace.
XXX
Cosmic Horse: Alright! We got some ghost busting weapons now. Let's kick some ectoplasmic butt!
GodlyJewel: pfft (rofl) I can never take him seriously when he says "...no more Mr. Nice bones!"
Cosmic Horse: That was a good one!