Chapter 14: Don't Drink the Juice
(Narrator's POV)
Jack led the girls through the Residential Area. Will remembered how easily she had gotten lost the first time she explored Halloween Town, so she made sure Al and her stuck close to Jack. They reached the gate leading to the Hemlock Homestead when they saw Clown coming up to meet them.
"You can get to the Vampire's or Mayor's houses through this gate," he said excitedly. "I just hope those three little mischief makers haven't gotten to 'em yet."
"No kidding," Will commented.
"Thank you, Clown. We appreciate your help," Jack said. He was about to step through the gate when suddenly the ground began to shake. He jumped back just as a King Skeleton broke through the surface. It roared at them and readied its axe for battle.
Clown screamed, and Jack held out his hand. "Clown, please head back to your home, where it's safe."
"Sure no problem. I've had enough terror for one day, and not the good kind. Good luck you guys." Clown took off faster than anyone could blink.
"Lucky bugger…" Al murmured before saying, "Hold on tight Frank. I don't want to loose you."
"You ready to take this guy down?" Will asked. She had already unsheathed her swords and was ready to jump in. Al nodded and Frank took hold of some of her hair with his feet and mouth, ready to hang on.
"Lets go!" Jack whipped out his Soul Robber and the three of them charged.
Jack raced around to the back of the creature as Will and Al attacked it from the sides. They each took turned slashing at the Skeleton, but this one seemed better suited for combat. It turned and managed to knock Jack with the side of its axe. Jack was thrown on his back as the monster roared in triumph.
"Jack!" Distracted, the King Skeleton took the opportunity to backhand Will into one of the buildings. The wind was knocked out of her and she fell to the ground.
"You bastard!" Al screamed, her postal side coming out in full, vengeful force. She attacked with a bloody intent. Her chainsaw hacked at the armor. The King Skeleton swiped at her, but she blocked the attack by drawing her halberd. Using both weapons, she battled the monster. It was Frank who finally gave her the edge by hopping from her head onto the King Skeleton's face, blocking his view. With the creature distracted, Al moved to finish him off. As she attacked, another King Skeleton appeared, and went straight for Will's barely conscious form.
Seeing her in trouble, Jack picked himself off the ground and dove for her. He managed to grab her just before the second King Skeleton could slice her in half. He moved to prop her behind a couple of crates in an alleyway. She choked as she tried to regulate her breathing. "Will, are you all right?"
"Yeah…" she coughed. "Just… Just give me a minute, okay?"
"Al and I have this, you rest." He reached over and pulled out the Crystal Bottle in her pack. "Here, sip on this."
"Hey Jack! A little HELP!" Al called as the two King Skeleton's advanced on her. "I'm only one crazy person here!"
Jack sprang to her feet and rushed to her side. Al managed to take one out, while Jack slashed at the other one. It used its axe to block the Soul Robber's attacks. Al was about to help by taking out the monster's legs, when a third King Skeleton appeared.
"Oh, for the love of…" Al groaned. "I'm seriously gonna need a nap or some coffee after this."
She charged and managed to take a chunk out of the King Skeleton's tibia. It staggered from the blow to its balance, giving Jack an opening. He used the Soul Robber to knock the creature's axe from his hand. Before it could recover its weapon, Jack picked it up with the Soul Robber and finished it off.
"Woohoo!" Al cheered. "Main Bone Man with the save! … Now, to worry about Will." Jack and her ran to where Jack had set Will when the girl appeared from the alley. "You alright now, Will?"
"I'm thine, Al, thou I don wrecommend dwinking the Sthpring Wata." She cringed. Jack and Al gave her a puzzled look, and Will rolled her eyes. "Serwiouwy, how can thomething that's col and sthlimy bur your tongue? It didn't bur whe we stheplased this stuff on our sthkin!"
Al cocked her head and Jack chuckled, remembering the time he had burned his tongue from a cup of hot chocolate. "Sorry, guess the living aren't meant to drink the Spring Water."
"No kidding." Al snickered, prompting Will to give her a dirty look. "I may drink from a hose used to water horses, but not even I would drink that water."
Will growled but shook her head. "Less go," she said before walking off. Jack followed, taking up the leads again while Al rushed to grab her frog and catch up. They ran along the road until they came to a dead end.
"Oh great, now what?" Al asked.
"There was never a block here before…" Jack looked around until he spotted a few outcroppings. He smiled as he got an idea. "Will, Al. Grab on." The girls looked at him but did as they were told. Once they had a tight grip, Jack whipped the Soul Robber to attach onto one of the outcrops. Then he pulled them to the roof of the building where he grabbed another outcrop and swung them to the ground. Al was slightly panicked, still not quit over her fear of heights, but once they were on the ground she was fine.
"Now, lets go." Jack took off down the road, Will and Al hurrying to catch up.
"So, how will we know which house is the Vampires'?" Al asked.
"I'll give you one guess. Hey! Back to normal," Will cheered. Suddenly they stopped as they approached a large house with a ginormous bat structure on the front.
"Hmm… I'm gonna go with that one," Al said, pointing to the obvious one.
"Come on!" Jack called. "The door's unlocked, but something's wrong." He disappeared inside. The girls followed after him and soon they were inside the Vampire Brother's house. The first thing they encountered was a living room with a large bookcase, a bed, a couch, a dresser, and an old grandfather clock. However, aside from the bookcase, the furniture was actually four large open coffins.
Jack told the girls to stand back while he checked out the coffins. Normally, the Vampire Brothers never left them open, but in case they were sleeping, he wanted Will and Al to keep their distance. Disturbing a sleeping vampire was about as pleasant as poking a rabid werewolf. First, he went to inspect the bed coffin, however, when he looked inside.
"What is it?" Will asked.
"This is the coffin of the eldest Vampire Brother. But it's empty." Jack quickly inspected the surrounding coffins. "They're all empty."
"I wonder where they went… Maybe out for a sucking good time?" Al joked stupidly, making Jack give her a concerned look. "I'm tired, so sue me."
"I don't know, but we'd better search for them," Jack said. "After what happened to Clown, I'm beginning to worry about the rest of the town residents."
They continued to search the room. Will stopped and leaned back against a table with strange lab-like equipment on it. "Well, where the heck do you suppose those guys could be?" she said, setting her hand down behind her, only to pause. Something wet pooled beneath her fingers. She pulled back to find her hand cover in a sticky red substance. "Uh, guys?"
"Blood!" Al yelled, looking up at Will's hand and the bloodstained cups behind her. Frank let out a slightly alarmed croak as Al clutched him tighter.
"It's not blood," Will assured her. She brought her hand closer to her face and gave her palm a sniff. "Actually, it smells like…"—She quickly licked her palm.—"Huh, tomato juice. Not bad actually." She cleaned off her hand before turning and pouring herself a cup. "Dang, this is good."
"What? … Tomato juice!? Now that's interesting!" Jack commented.
"Tomato juice? What's it doing here?" Al asked, no longer flipping out over blood.
Jack turned to Al. "Well, the Vampire Brothers don't normally drink tomato juice. They usually only drink it before Halloween to prevent themselves from going into a feeding frenzy. We want to scare people, not hurt them."
"Well, that makes sense–"
There was a load crash. Jack and Al turned to see what caused it, but to their surprise, they discovered Will was gone. On the floor lay a broken cup, her backpack, her key, and her katanas, yet Will was nowhere in sight. It was as if she had vanished into thin air.
"When did Will become Houdini?" Al asked just before realization set. "Will?!"
"I-I don't understand. Where could she have gone?" Jack looked around for any sign of their missing friend. "Will? Will, where are you?"
"Will? …" Al continued to look as well. She searched the coffins while Jack checked upstairs. "Come on! We already have four missing vampires. We don't need to add one missing Will!" Al began to search behind the couch coffin, when suddenly, she screamed.
"Aaaaah!"
Jack rushed back downstairs. "Al, are you alright!?"
"Get it off! Get it off! Get it OFF!" she screamed, trying her best to claw at something that had attached itself to her face. Seeing what it was, Jack sighed and calmly walked over to place his hand on Al's shoulder.
"It's alright, Al," Jack assured her. When she was calm, he gently lifted the creature from her face. "See, it's just a bat. Probably one of the vampires' pets."
Indeed, sitting in Jack's hand was a rather small bat. Its reddish brown wings were folded against its light furred body, and large eyes were staring up at Jack and Al. It had a pink nose and feet, and sharp claws on its wings. The little bat calmed down for a moment before it began to chirp excessively at Jack, flapping its wings frantically.
"Now, now, little one," Jack lightly scolded. "I've no time for games. I must find the Vampire Brothers. Now, off with you." Jack lightly tossed the bat in the air, expecting it to fly away. However, it shrieked loudly and crashed to the floor.
"That's odd. I never met a bat that couldn't fly."
Jack and Al watched as the tiny creature dusted itself off. It chirped harshly at Jack before crawling over to Al.
"Poor baby can't fly," Al said, scooping the bat up and cuddling it. The bat chirped in protest, and nipped at her finger when she tried to scratch it under its chin. Al lightly tapped its nose and said, "No bite." Al was then able to scratch the bat behind its ears, making the little creature chirp and calm down extremely.
"Hey, maybe he knows where the Vampire Brothers are!" Al brought the little bat up to her face. "Do you know anything, little guy?"
The bat just stared at her, an annoyed expression on its face. It rolled its eyes and then turned its furry head to Jack. It looked at him with the same annoyed expression, and pointed its left wing over to the bookcase. Jack followed the bat's directions. He walked over and looked around the bookshelves, but he couldn't' find anything. As he turned back, he walked past a podium. Something lying on top caught his eye.
"Hmm? What's this?" Jack picked up a note. He gasped, and turned to Al. "Al, listen to this. It says, 'Oogie Boogie transformed us into four bats. Find us and return us to our coffins.' It looks like we were too late." As he set the note down Jack's eye sockets suddenly went wide. "Uh-oh!"
"Uh-oh what?" Al asked, tilting her head.
"Umm, Al…" He stared at her with a concerned, though slightly bemused, expression. "I think I know what happened to Will."
"What?"
Jack's only answer was to look down at Al's hands. She followed his gaze to look at the small bat. It stared back at her with big, hopeful eyes. Big hopeful, blue eyes… The light bulb went off in Al's mind.
"OMG! Will, you're a person in a bat suit!" Al flipped out and almost dropped her friend. "But not like Batman…he's an actual man in a bat suit on purpose so– WILL!" Al screamed, startling the bat as she hugged the tiny bat. "You are so cute as a wittle bat!"
Will chirped in protest of being dropped yet again, and tried to push herself from the crushing embrace.
"No escaping, young lady! Let us not forget that you can't fly," Al scolded.
"Al, I think she's trying to tell you you're crushing her," Jack suggested.
"Oh… Sorry Bat-Girl," Al said, snickering a bit.
"Maybe I should hold onto her," Jack suggested, holding out his hand for Will.
"No!" Al said. "I'll be softer."
However, Will struggled and managed to weakly flap her way over to Jack. She barley managed to make to his hand as she grasped his wrist with her claws. She managed to quickly maneuver so she was hanging upside down from his wrist. She chirped angrily at Al before settling into her new position.
"I think she's made up her mind." Jack couldn't help but chuckle at the pout on Al's face.
"Fine!" Al said, grabbing her halberd up. "Let's go find some batty Vampire Brothers."
XXX
(Will's POV)
I was so confused when I suddenly found myself as well, small. Honestly, how was I supposed to know? The video game never explained how the Vampire Brothers were turned into bats, but does that means I was supposed to know the tomato juice had been spiked with a bat potion? No! So when I found myself suddenly shrunk down to two inches, you can imagine the panic I felt. I tried to call for help but all that came out of my mouth were chirps. Then I remembered the scene in the game where the Vampires had left a note. It was a long shot, but I needed to get Jack or Al to find the note so they could realize what happened. But let me tell you, trying to get Jack and Al's attention… Yeah, not easy. I couldn't even walk. I did manage to flap and hop my way over to the couch, but instead of getting Al to see me, I may have jumped onto her face. And then Jack had the audacity to throw me in the air. Seriously, what the hell was that?! I felt like Yuki did in that one episode of Fruits Basket.
Luckily, Jack found the note, though how bats were able to write with no hands was a mystery to me. But at least they finally understood what had happened to me.
I had to admit, being a bat wasn't so bad — if you didn't count not being able to talk. There was also the fact that walking was difficult and I couldn't fly. I barely merged to escape Al's death grip in order to latch onto Jack. Blood rushed to my head as I hung from his wrist. Fortunately, Jack moved me from his wrist to allow me to perch on his shoulder as we left the Vampires' house. I wrapped my wings around my body as I listened to their plan.
"How we supposed to find the Vampire Brothers?" Al asked. "There's got to be a bunch of bats all over Halloween Town roaming around willy-nilly."
"Yes, but the Vampire Brothers look different from other bats," Jack explained. "Just look for green and black bats with red eyes."
As they talked, I looked around and spotted a bat that fit Jack's description. It was circling a lamppost just over our heads. I chirped in Jack's ear and once he looked at me, I pointed with my wing in the direction of the bat.
"Look, Will found one!" he exclaimed when he spotted the bat.
"Yeah, but how do we get it?" Al asked.
I rolled my eyes. Using my talons, I crawled across Jack's shoulders and down his right arm. I chirped and clawed at the Soul Robber. Jack looked down and smiled as he understood what I was trying to tell him.
"Good thinking, Will." He held out his left hand for me to crawl onto so he could use the Soul Robber. I crawled onto his hand and watched as Jack threw the Soul Robber, catching the bat on the first try. When he brought it back, the bat screeched and hissed.
Release me! Release me at once! That voice. I recognized it as Bela, the vampire who popped out his eye from the movie. I was surprised I could understand him…then realized it was probably due to being a bat myself. I scurried across Jack's shoulder and down his arm again, and tried to call out to Bela.
Calm down, Bela, I chirped. It's us: Jack, Al, and Will.
He stopped fidgeting and looked at me. Will? Is that really you? What the– Oh, poor little one.
Yeah, I accidentally drank the bat potion, I know, but that's not important. We need your help to find your brothers so we can get you all back to normal… Well, maybe abnormal is more appropriate.
"Their having a little conversation that no on else understand…kinda like me and Crepe… Even then that cat doesn't pht my accent pht," Al said.
I rolled my eyes, wishing I could tell her now was not the time for a SpongeBob reference. I turned to see Jack was smiling at me. "Well, it appears you turning into a bat wasn't so bad after all."
If I had hands, I'd smack him upside his skull, but in a way, Jack had a point. Thanks to my new form, I was able to calm down Bela and get us another pair of eyes to search for the other Vampire Brothers. I looked at Jack and tried my best to gesture to let Bela go. Jack seemed puzzled for a moment, but eventually he understood and released Bela.
Bela beat his wings and called after me. Will, come with me. It will be faster with two eyes in the sky.
Uh, Bela, I'm not really a bat. I don't know how to fly.
He chuckled. Don't be silly. It is easy. He fluttered down and landed beside me on Jack's opposite shoulder. Just open your wings and flap them as hard as you can. Come now, try.
I shrugged and did as he said.
Yes, that's it, he cheered. Now jump off and take to the sky.
Well, here goes everything. Closing my eyes, I leapt off Jack's shoulder and flapped my wings as hard as I could. For a moment, I waited for the pain of free falling right smack into the cobblestone ground to hit. But it never came. I cracked open one eye and saw I was not falling, but was suspended in midair. I looked around and happily chirped. I was flying! I was really flying!
Woohoo! I took off and climbed higher. The feeling was amazing and I couldn't help but laugh at the joy and freedom I felt. I suddenly heard a laugh behind me.
I see you've taken to your new wings, Bela complimented. Now, shall we be on our way?
I nodded and followed after him. I looked below to see Jack and Al following after us. We flew through the town, searching everywhere for Bela's missing brothers. Up ahead I spotted another one of Oogie's traps. I shook my head. How cliché, using swinging axes along the path. Bela and I could easily fly over them, but Jack and Al would have to cross through them. I quickly flew down in front of Jack before he could run right into the swinging blades. He looked at the trap and then back to me.
"You two go on ahead. We'll catch up soon enough."
I nodded and turned back to Bela, relaying the message. He agreed and the two of us flew on ahead, managing to avoid the blades. As we flew over the town, I spotted several other traps and monsters. I wanted to warn Jack and Al again, but something told me they'd figure it out. I just hoped they would be okay.
Hey, Bela! Wait up!
XXX
GodlyJewel: So yeah, Will's having a bad day with drinks.
CosmicHorse: I hate when that happens.
GodlyJewel: On to the next chapter... Cause we really need to find Will a cure.