Chapter 7: Deadly Games
(Al's POV)
We continued to race up the path until Jack stopped by Zero's grave. Jack patted his leg, which usually got Zero to come to him. However, no answer came from Jack's faithful pup.
"Zero's not home. Where could he be?" Jack asked to himself. It was clear from his expression he was worried about his friend.
"Jack, I don't mean to be rude, but we have bigger issues than a missing ghost dog," I said, feeling bad for having to be so blunt. "Sally and Will need us then, I promise you, we'll find Zero."
"You're right. Sally and Will need our help. Come on." He took off running again.
Surprisingly, we didn't run into any enemies. When we did, Jack urged me to duck into the shadows to avoid being spotted. We moved as quietly as possible until the path was cleared once again. At the end was a large tree that looked very old, with gnarled twisted branches and strung with some sort of gray moss and cobwebs. Surrounding it were a few tombstones that appeared clear of any of Oogie's monsters. As we came to the end of the path, Jack spotted a familiar face. Standing under the old tree was none other than the Hanging Tree himself. With a quick encouraging smile to me the two of us ran over to him.
The Hanging Tree looked up and smiled when he saw the Pumpkin King. "Jack. You've come back."
"Hello Hanging Tree," Jack greeted. Suddenly he realized something was off about his friend. "Hmmm? What happened to your Hanging Men?"
The Hanging Tree sighed. "Ever since Oogie Boogie and his monsters came to town, my Hanging Men have been hiding all around the cemetery. I'm afraid that Hanging Men aren't very brave."
"I guess we're both missing people. I've lost Sally… You haven't seen Sally, have you?" There was just a hint of hope in Jack's voice.
"And Will. Remember her?" I reminded him. Apparently the love-struck skeleton had a one-track mind. "We're missing two people, remember?"
Sadly, the Hanging Tree did not have the answer we were looking for. "No, but maybe my Hanging Men have seen them."
"Hmmmm…" It was a long shot, and we were running out of time. "I'd better find them. I could really use Zero's nose at a time like this."
"I bet you'll find Zero is in his grave," the Hanging Tree suggested.
"We were just there!" I whined sarcastically. I groaned but followed Jack back down the path we'd just taken. Perhaps Zero really was at his grave. But if he wasn't, I was gonna rage or so help me, unless they were a hoard of Oogie's monsters to attack, Jack's head would meet the blunt end of my sledgehammer.
We managed to make it down the path without any signs of skeletons or ghosts. Actually it was rather quiet. A red flag went up in my mind and I paused. I looked around, braced for something to come at me. Apparently Jack noticed since he turned and looked at me curiously.
"What's wrong, Al?" he asked.
"It's quiet…" I said. "Too quiet. On you're toes, Boney–" I was interrupted by the faint sound of music. Recognizing the tune, me face fell to annoyance. "And there it is."
Jack turned and listened. His mouth also turned to a frown as three familiar voices were heard over the wall lining their path.
La, la, la, la, laa!
Laa, la, la, la, la, laa!
La, la, la, la, laa!
Hail to Mister Oogie!
Jack will never win!
When you find our booby traps
They will do you in!
Just as the song came to an end, Oogie's little henchmen appeared. They were riding in their walking bathtub and singing gaily when they stopped in front of Jack and me. They laughed and one-by-one removed their masks and shouted their names.
"Lock!"
"Shock!"
"Barrel!"
"Thank you Captains Obvious," I said sarcastically, shouldering my sledgehammer and gripping the handle of my cleaver.
Jack crossed his arms as he glared down at the three children. "Hmmm… I might have known."
"Welcome home, Jack," Lock greeted slyly.
"How was your trip, Jack?" Shock asked.
"Are you having fun, Jack?" Barrel added. Clearly they were trying to stall.
Jack placed his hands on his hips and bent down until his was eye level with them. "You three wouldn't have anything to do with Oogie's return, would you?" Didn't someone explain that already? Man, Boney Butt cannot pay attention some times.
The three smiled and rolled their eyes, each one of them acting as innocent as fox in a henhouse.
"Who?" Lock asked.
Shock pointed to herself, her answer sweet and surprised. "Us?"
"Oh… uh… um…" Barrel stuttered. Shock frowned and smacked his shoulder with her hand.
"Like hell you three aren't responsible!" I accused. "You three always cause trouble, more trouble than a grey pony in a draft horse show."
"Quiet you!" Lock threatened, ready to hit her with his plunger.
"Bring it on darlin'!" I snapped back, bringing my sledgehammer up.
"It's not too late. Return this town to order — immediately!" Jack ordered.
"Why would we do that?" Lock asked.
"The fun has just begun!" Shock exclaimed.
"Besides, we're on a secret mission to stop you!" Barrel snickered. "Don't tell anyone though! He, he, he, heh!" Clearly, he had forgotten he wasn't supposed to tell anyone either. Lock's plunger beaming him in the head quickly reminded him. Lock then jumped out of their moving tub.
"See you later!" Shock called as she and Barrel scurried away, leaving Jack and Lock alone, or so they thought. The area became blocked off; gates rose from the ground to prevent any escape.
"Now you'll have to play with me." Lock replaced his devil mask and summoned a small army of skeletons to battle.
Jack readied his Soul Robber and I prepared my sledgehammer. 'Bout time ta smash! I counted about three skeletons. Jack easily took them out, but more spawned from the ground. I took the next three, smashing gleefully and I started laughing like a maniac. What can I say, this girl likes to smash! The next couple had one with a bone club. I smirked and charged at him, leaving Jack to handle the others. I blocked the skeleton's first attack before bringing the hammerhead into his kneecaps, successfully hacking his legs off before swinging it up and caving his skull in.
"Lights out baby!" I laughed.
Meanwhile, Lock constantly taunted them as they fought. He jumped around and shouted, "Over here!"
"You'll get yers ya little imp!" I shouted. I wanted to say more but two more skeletons pounced on me.
"Al, get down!" Jack shouted.
I hit the dirt and looked up to watch as Jack grabbed a skeleton with the Soul Robber. But instead of smashing it to the ground, Jack took hold of his end with both hands and spun around quickly, using the captured skeleton like a wrecking ball to smash five other skeletons. When he pulled back, I sprang to my feet and smashed a skeleton that had been trying to creep up on Jack and club him from behind.
"Thanks," he said, giving me a thumb's up.
"Least I could do after that nice roundhouse," I replied before going back into battle. Soon all the skeletons were defeated, and I was exhausted. Jack however, didn't even seem to be tired. He walked up and stood right next to where Lock stood on the wall. He glared down at the boy and crossed his arms over his chest. Though the battle was over, no seemed to have told Lock.
"Get 'im! Huh?" Lock removed his mask and saw all his minions were gone. "Where'd they all go?" He locked eyes with Jack and stumbled back in fear. "Sorry, I'll be good from now on! I promise…" However, Jack didn't miss the fingers Lock had crossed behind his back.
"Gotta go!" And with that, he scurried off. Jack just sighed, but he brushed it off for now and went back towards Zero's grave. I quickly got my second wind and followed after him.
When we got to the grave it was free of any enemies, so a let my guard down a little. This time when Jack patted his leg, Zero appeared.
"Zero!" I shouted. The ghost dog smiled and circled me, barking and licking my face. "Good ta see yay too, Pup."
"Ruff! Ruff!"
Then he spotted Jack. Zero barked happily and circled Jack, happy to see his master was home again. He flew up and eagerly licked Jack's face before circling him once more.
"There you are, Zero! C'mon. We need your help to find some hanged men." Zero nodded and barked before flying off.
Jack and I followed Zero as he flew off back toward the direction of where's we had met the Hanging Tree. I couldn't help but groan as the thought of us going back and forth the whole time crossed my mind. We reached the tree and began looking around for Zero. I spotted him circling high over a wall. Walking around the wall, I found the first of the hanged men. He was cowering behind a tombstone hugging his kneecaps, and shaking violently.
"Over here, Jack!" I called.
Jack walked over and spoke softly to the frightened skeleton. "I'll take care of Oogie's lackeys. You head back to the Hanging Tree."
The shivering skeleton nodded and picked himself up. I pointed him towards the Hanging Tree, and quickly took off in a run as Zero and Jack were on the move again. As I followed two skeletons appeared among the tombstones. We quickly dispatched them only for three more to appear. Jack used the Soul Robber and slashed them in two strokes.
"Where the heck are these guys coming from?" I asked.
"It seems those monster are attacking from the fallen tombstones." Jack pointed to a tombstone that had been knocked over. It was tall and had a jack-o-lantern and crossbones on it. "We've got to put the tombstones back together and seal those monsters in."
"Puzzles? Rarw, alright." I set down my sledgehammer and walked over to the tombstone. I crouched down and tried to lift the stone, but it was too heavy by myself. I released it and sat down. "Lordy, I'm tired. Is it nap time?"
"Hmm… Let me try something." Jack whipped out the Soul Robber and attached it to the tombstone. He tugged on the Soul Robber eight times before it finally sat up straight again. "That wasn't too bad." Just then we heard a loud bark. "Sounds like Zero found another hanged man. Come on!"
I followed after Jack as he ran off in the direction towards Zero's barking. As we were leaving, I spotted another fallen tombstone. I got Jack's attention by cawing at him. Seeing where I was signaling about, Jack ran over and repeated his actions from before. Only his grip slipped and the tombstone fell over. As he tried again three more enemies appeared. However, one of the enemies was new. It was a troll-like skeleton that wore Viking-style clothing and had only one eye. It stood two feet taller than Jack, and wielded a very large club.
I gulped. "Jack… Get that stone up!"
I took hold of my sledgehammer. I was able to fight off the smaller skeletons, but the Troll Skeleton was a different story. It lumbered toward me, roaring as it swung its club. I barely managed to duck out of the way. I rolled to the side and knocked at its shinbone. However, his bones must be made of diamond because I lost my sledgehammer. I scrambled for it but before I could grab it again, the Troll Skeleton attacked. I couldn't help myself and I screamed.
"Allison!"
Jack bolted and grabbed me with the Soul Robber just as the troll's club crashed down, missing me and hitting the ground.
"Are you alright?" Jack asked.
"I'm in one piece so I guess I'm alright," I said, rubbing my arm.
"I'll stop the Troll Skeleton. You take care of the rest."
Before I could respond, Jack dashed off to fight the troll. I pulled my cleaver and hacked of heads, muttering, "Off with your head!" as I worked. I cut a path to my sledgehammer, picking up my friend and started smashing again. Jack finally beat the Troll Skeleton and then went back to try and raise the tombstone.
I watched as Jack restored it to its upright position, glad there weren't any more skeletons to fight. But then Jack took off running again, so I picked up my sledgehammer and took off after him. We ran back down the path and found another tombstone, this time surrounded by more skeletons and another troll. Jack took on the troll while I fought off the other skeletons. I was tired so I was merciless as I obliterated those skeletons — one smash at a time. When they were all gone, Jack fell back against the wall.
"Hey, you okay?" I asked. "You look beat."
"I just…need to-to rest for a m-moment," he panted. Clearly the fight had taken more out of him than I realized.
"Hey! Why not take a swig of the fountain water? You still have that bottle, right?"
Jack nodded and reached inside his jacket. He withdrew the bottle and drank about half of it. How that thing hadn't gotten damaged in the fight was beyond me. Suddenly Jack seemed to perk up and he jumped to his feet. He offered me a drink, but I passed. Tired as I was I wasn't sure I should drink water from the Land of the Dead, healing potion or not. He shrugged and placed the bottle back inside his jacket before setting to work resetting the tombstone. Once it was up, Jack and I looked up to see Zero overhead. He was barking impatiently and urging us to follow.
"Why do I feel like we're going in circles? Whatever…" I said and followed after Jack and his dog.
This time we entered through the gate Lock, Shock, and Barrel had used earlier. According to Jack, this was the entrance to the Old Graveyard. We ran down a ways before coming across a rope bridge where Zero was circling. There, hanging off a protruding tree root was the second hanged man. He was shivering like the first one, so Jack talked to him from the ledge.
"I'm sorry, but I haven't got time to play hide-and-go-shriek. Please get back to the Hanging Tree."
"You think we're playing? Does this look like we're playing to you!?"
"Will!?" I peered into the dark down and just barely made out the form of my friend. Will was sitting in the ditch with her baseball bat lying in her lap. "Hey-o Will! Ya alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine but I'm stuck," Will called up. "I spotted this guy just hanging around after I lost sight of Sally and her captors." She pointed to the hanged man above her. "I tried to reach him from the other side of the ditch, but the ground caved under my foot and I fell in. I tried climbing out but, as you can see, it didn't work."
"Hold on, Will. I'll get you out," Jack called. He twirled the Soul Robber a bit before slinging it down to wrap around Will's waist. Once she was secured, Jack pulled back and brought her out of the ditch.
"Thanks," she replied as the Soul Robber returned to Jack. "I wondered how long it'd take you guys to find me."
"Ruff, ruff!" Zero barked and flew down to lick Will's cheeks.
"Okay, okay," Will laughed and patted his head. "Yes, I'm very happy with you. Good boy bringing Jack and Al here."
"Wait, you sent Zero after us?" Jack questioned.
"Yep. When I first entered the graveyard, I'd lost sight of where Oogie's goons had gone. Since I didn't know my way around, I stopped by Zero's grave and had him follow Sally's scent. Then I fell in the ditch and when I couldn't get out, I told Zero to go back to his grave until you and Jack arrived."
"Why didn't you just send Zero to find us?" Jack asked.
Will shrugged. "Thought it be easier for him to just stay in one spot then go chasing after you two, and wasting time."
"Like we ended up doing trying to find the pup…running around like chickens with their heads cut off…" I muttered.
Zero barked again and then flew off in another direction, urging his master and his companions to follow.
"Zero must have found the third hanged man," Jack said, and took off running. We girls followed him, though Jack did pause to pick up another fallen tombstone. Once it was up we continued down the path until Jack stopped and held out his arms.
"Watch out!" he warned. Will and I crashed into his outstretched arms just as a wall of fire blocked their path.
"Oogie seriously had to add flamethrowers? Don't we have enough crap to deal with?" Will groaned. As she finished speaking three more skeletons and another Troll Skeleton appeared.
"Joy!" I said sarcastically, brandishing my sledgehammer.
Will readied her baseball bat as the skeletons drew closer. Behind us, the flames died down only to reveal four more flamethrowers waiting for us on the other side.
"I do love me a good flamethrower, but this is getting a little ridiculous," I said.
"Don't worry," Jack encouraged them. "If we time it right, we may just be able to pass through without either of you getting burned."
"That's comforting."
Jack just shrugged then waited for the first flamethrower to go off again. Once the first turned off Jack shouted, "Now!" and pushed us through. When we reach the middle, he stopped us as the second flamethrower went off. We repeated the steps one more time and then were free from the trap. Once on the other side Jack spotted another fallen tombstone.
"Okay, seriously, how many of these things are there?" I asked.
"I think maybe seven or eight," Will replied. "How many have you picked up so far?"
"Five." We watched as Jack tried to raise the tombstone. "Make that six."
"Okay, I guess– Crap!" Will tossed down her bat to grab her swords as another swarm of skeletons attacked. "Jack, behind you!"
Will dashed forward and intercepted the Troll Skeleton that was about to bash Jack. It roared and continued to swing at her. Meanwhile I took on the other skeletons. I was getting pretty good at this. Spotting a red skeleton, I smirked and grabbed my meat clever. Raising it overhead, I gave it a hard thrust and threw it right at the skeleton's head.
"Al, wait no!" Will tried to warn me but it was too late. The meat clever hit the red skeleton in its ribcage, but as soon as the blade made contact, the skeleton burst into flames. The clever melted from the heat and I barely managed to duck as the red skeleton threw a fireball boomerang at me.
"Chopper! My baby!" I complained. "You were so young!"
Having finally gotten the tombstone up, Jack intercepted the Fire Skeleton and smashed it with the Soul Robber. Then he went to help Will with the troll.
"Come on!" he yelled, taunting the creature by whipping the Soul Robber at the ground.
This seemed to enrage the Troll Skeleton and he swung his club at Jack. While his arms were raised, Will used the blunt end of one katana to attack its thighbone, while I used my sledgehammer to bash his other leg. This distraction allowed Jack to circle around, and attacked from behind. The blow managed to knock the club from the monster's hands.
"Jack!" Will called. "Use the Soul Robber to grab the club, and bash this guy back to his grave!"
Jack did as she said. He grabbed the club and, putting all his strength into it, lifted the heavy weapon over his head. Will and I ducked as Jack swung the club around, smashing not only the Troll Skeleton, but also the other remaining monsters. Once they were gone, Jack tossed the club away and Will and I got back to our feet. After seeing no one had any major injuries, we continued down the pathway, following the sound of Zero's barks. Will spotted him in another portion of the graveyard, just past what looked like an old mausoleum. She ran ahead and stopped just a few feet passed the crypt.
"Hey, Jack! There's another tombstone over here!" she called. She set down her bat and tried to lift the heavy stone herself.
Seeing she was struggling, Jack and I joined her and the three of us lifted the stone. Once it was up, Will and I collapsed to the ground. Jack spotted Zero hovering over another grave, so he urged Will and I back on our feet. We then raced after him, but a bramble bush blocking our path stopped us. Jack whipped out the Soul Robber and easily removed the obstacle. When the path was clear we entered through and found the third hanged man hiding in an open grave.
"This area is safe now. Hurry back to the Hanging Tree," Jack said.
"Jack, there are still monsters roaming the area," Will reminded him. "It's hardly safe, and the way back is too far for him to go on his own. He should stay with us. We'll find the other hanged men and take them all back together."
"Good plan. Maybe they'll grow some backbones and help us out," I offered but the glare I got from the hanging man made me sigh. "Fine. We'll do it ourselves."
Jack nodded and reached his hand in to help the hanged man out of the grave. Once out, we all followed after Zero. We ran back to where Jack and we girls had beaten the flamethrowers. Zero flew past the tombstone and over the hill, stopping to circle a tree shaped like a heart-shaped shepherd's crook. There the fourth hanged man was hanging from one of tree limbs. He was too far for any of us to reach, so Jack used the Soul Robber to grab onto the top of the tree and swung down to the other side. He walked over a small gate separating him for the hanged man.
"It wasn't easy finding you," he told the frightened skeleton. "It's safe to go on back to the Hanging Tree." He reached up and helped the hanged man down from the tree.
"Look out!" Will called.
Jack turned and another bone boomerang hit him in the face. He shook it off in time to dodge a second one. Looking around there were only two skeletons, so they were easily dispatched. Before anymore could appear, Jack used the Soul Robber to raise the final tombstone. With that done, he turned back and helped the hanged man out of the tree. Then he wrapped an arm around the skeleton's shoulders and used the Soul Robber to bring them back to the group.
"Do we have all the hanged men now?" I asked.
Jack shook his head. "No, there's still one more hanged man left."
I groaned. "Are you kidding me?"
We headed back but were attacked by three more skeletons. Jack fought them off while Will and I led the hanged men past the monsters, and carefully led them through the flamethrower trap. Jack caught up with us just as we crossed the bridge. Jack took the lead and fought off any enemies that came our way. We left the Old Graveyard and went all the way back to the Hanging Tree. He was so relieved to have his hanging men back, but there was still one missing.
"Now, where do you suppose the last hanged man is hiding?" Jack pondered aloud.
"I bet I know," Will said, looking to the top of the tree. Everyone turned and there, hanging from one of the top branches, was the last hanged man.
"Have you been up there this whole time?!" I shouted, putting my hands on my hips.
"I'm surprised you didn't get to him first," Will commented. I just glared at her.
Jack used the Soul Robber and climbed to the top of the tree. "Don't be afraid. It's time to go back to the Hanging Tree," he said.
The timid skeleton nodded and allowed Jack to bring him down. He happily went to the Hanging Tree and joined his friends.
"Thank you. That's much better," said Hanging Tree. "Without my Hanging Men, I'm not much of a Hanging Tree."
"Yea, you're just a plain ol' tree," I snickered.
"I just wish those Troll Skeletons were easier to beat," Will said, un-wrenching her shoulder. "Wish your Soul Robber could've beaten them like it did Oogie's shadow back at Town Hall, Jack. I saw it turn blue at the last second, and it was like you got a power bonus or something."
Jack looked down at the Soul Robber. "I wondered about that too, but try as I might, I couldn't get it to repeat that blue glow. I guess the Soul Robber sensed I was in more danger facing Oogie than his minions."
"It was a shadow! Those things could squish us like fleas and Oogie's shadow is more dangerous," I said sarcastically.
Jack just shrugged. Then he turned back to the Hanging Tree and his men. "I'm just glad we fixed the graveyard and got all your man back, Hanging Tree."
The Hanging Tree smiled. "Thank you so much, Jack. Now that you're here, Halloween Town will be back to its old self. One of the hanged men just told me he heard a woman singing from under the ground."
Just as he was about to answer, something bumped into Jack's back. He turned around to find a small paper airplane at his feet. "What's this!?" He picked it up and read the note:
Jack, hurry back to town! After you left, Lock, Shock and Barrel brought Oogie back to life. All the skeletons and ghosts that are probably attacking you by now were made by Dr. Finklestein and are being controlled by Oogie. These Oogie monsters were specifically made to attack you, and will stop at nothing to track you down!
"Well, what is it?" I asked.
"A paper plane from Sally!"
"Looks like it came from that direction," Will said, pointing off to where we had found the hanged man in the open grave.
"Down that way lays the underground Burial Chamber," said Hanging Tree.
"The Burial Chamber?" Jack asked.
"It's the largest grave in this area. It's infested with spiders and cobwebs. How romantic."
"That's is! That's where Sally must be!" With that in mind, Jack ran off toward the Burial Chamber, completely unaware his friends weren't following.
"Spiders and cobwebs are romantic? Where in the world did you get your relationship advice?"
"Come on, Ally," Will encouraged. "Could be a lot of fun." She smiled and took off after Jack.
"Fun being the opportune word there. If there are any spiders that get too close, they better watch out for my heel!" I said. "Should have grabbed a pair of stilettos…"
XXX
GodlyJewel: I'd like to send out another thanks to Werejaguar for agreeing to edit our chapters. You find all the mistakes I miss and I really appreciate it.
Cosmic Horse: THIS WAS SO LONG! It actually hurt me… I… I have to go take a nap now…
GodlyJewel: Yeah, sorry for the long chapter... that was my fault. I just felt that, "The Hanging Tree" and "Grave Danger" chapters should have been combined into one chapter. If you played the game, or watched some of the walkthroughs on YouTube, you'd agree it was stupid of the game designers to separate those two chapters. So, with that in mind, some of the next chapters may be long, or longer, than this one.