Chapter 19: Prisoners

(Narrator's POV)

Zero continued leading them down the corridor, Frank's new form helping them speed after the spectral pup. Finally they came to the end of the path, Zero ducking inside the only opening. Not sure what they would face, Jack slid off Frank's back and walked inside. The room was dark, the only light coming from Zero's jack-o-lantern nose and Frank's glowing eyes. Jack summoned a fireball and used it to light the area for Al and himself. He got in about a few more steps when, suddenly, a spotlight appeared. Zero began to growl and Al could feel the tension spreading through Franks' body, while he pinned back his ears, bared his teeth, and stared to swish his tail.

As Al tried to ease her kelpie, Jack stepped forward to see what had triggered the sudden light. Just five feet ahead, standing under the spotlight was Oogie Boogie. He was posing with one hand on his hip and the other high in the air. Jack doused the fire and ran forward.

"Oogie!" he shouted. "Return the Holiday Leaders to their worlds!"

"I can assure you," Oogie smugly said, "the leader of every holiday is right where he should be — and you're looking at him!"

"Where are you holding Sandy?" Jack demanded.

"Jaaack." Oogie laughed. "Weren't you listening? I said I had a debt to repay old Sandy Claws — a debt I'm going to pay back in person! I don't want you causing any trouble while I'm on my little visit, so I've hidden the Christmas door behind something quite nasty. So in the meantime, let's say we have some fun. The Oogie Casino is now opened!"

Black lights flashed on, casting the lair in eerie purples and blues. The platform Oogie stood on reveal to be a large roulette wheel. The walls lining it were decorated with a variety of strange cards. Jack had no doubt they were concealing all sorts of hidden traps.

"Joy, more traps," Al said before leaning forward. "You can still jump like a boss, right?" she asked Frank. Frank nickered low in reply and Al smiled. She turned to Jack and said, "Jack, if you don't have a plan, I've got one cooking on how to avoid these traps."

"Oh, I don't think so, kid." Oogie stepped on a hidden switch, triggering several chains to drop from the ceiling. The chains wrapped around Frank's legs and with a quick jerk, he was flipped and hoisted up. The force from the jerk during the flip knocked Al free of Frank's adhesive hold on her. She landed hard on the ground while Frank whinnied and hissed as he tried to break apart his restraints.

Jack ran to Al's side and helped her up. She looked up to see her precious kelpie dangling from the ceiling, wrapped in chains. Al glared at Oogie, and a growl escaped her throat. "You bastard! If his legs are broken, so help me, you will wish I had used a Bug Bomb to end your miserable existence!"

"Tsk, tsk. So sorry, half pint," Oogie mocked apologized. "No minors allowed. Wouldn't want to end up like your little friend."

"I'm nineteen, stupid!" Al snapped back. "And what the hell have you done with Will?!" She made a grab for Bertha and pointed the blade in Oogie's direction.

Oogie didn't respond, but chuckled to himself, like it was some private joke.

"Where is she, Oogie?!" Jack demanded, beginning to lose his patience.

Oogie sneered and clapped his hands together. "You know what they say, Jack. 'Curiosity killed the cat.' Well, bat as the case may be." He laughed as something began to rise from the floor behind him.

Another spotlight appeared over the object, making Jack and Al gasp at what they saw. There was Will, bound to a chair by large black and white snakes with blood-red eyes. The chair she sat on was made of dark wood, but as Jack and Al looked closer, they discovered the chair had small, silver spikes covering the back, armrests, seat, leg-rests and footrest. The large snakes coiled tightly around Will's arms and torso, putting more pressure on Will so the spikes would penetrate her flesh even further. Her face was very pale and she was barley breathing. To make matters worse, there were red droplets falling from Will's fingertips.

Jack's fists balled tightly against his sides. From the look of her, Jack guessed Will had passed out from the pain, but as the snakes coiled tighter he could see her hands twitch as the spikes pressed deeper into her skin.

Al was speechless for a moment. "Bastard is too good of a name for you…you… YOU DERANGED BARBIE DOLL!"

She revved Bertha and charged, but Oogie quickly stepped on another hidden switch. A trapdoor opened and Al fell through. Her scream was cut off and out of the trapdoor came a seven foot tall Iron Maiden. If Al could have been heard, someone would've heard this:

"LET ME OUT, YOU OVER GROWN SACK OF FROG FEED! I SWEAR, OOGIE, IF JACK DOESN'T FINISH YOU, I'M FORCE FEEDING YOU A LIVE BUG ZAPPER!"

Sadly, all Jack and the others could hear was the sound of Al pounding her firsts against the thick iron, her screams sealed inside. Jack's anger flared as Oogie laughed uncontrollably at his captives suffering.

"Well, now the stakes have raised, my boy," Oogie declared. "Care to make a little wager?"

Jack did a double flip and landed inside the wheel. He glared up at Oogie, prepared for anything the Boogieman could throw at him.

Oogie glared back at Jack and crossed his arms over his chest. "What are we gambling for you ask? Nothing all that valuable — just your life! Cue the music!"

When music began to play, Jack had to balance himself as the roulette wheel began to spin. Nine fighting cards popped up from the floor, and Jack attacked them with the Soul Robber, while Oogie paraded around.

OOGIE
Well, well, well!
Look what the bat dragged in!
Jack, you made it this far?
Oh, I'm really scared!

JACK
Oogie, I'm here to finish this
Once and for all!

Far off, a low steady pounding could be heard inside the Iron Maiden. If anyone could peer inside, they would see Al had found an open spot to pound her head against. And if they could what she was saying, it would sound something like, "… These spikes don't look half bad right now…"

Meanwhile, Jack was carefully avoiding the spinning blades, and even managed to knock out four of the cards. Before he could take out the next one, the cards sunk into the ground and the roulette wheel began to descend as well. He looked around for whatever surprises were in store when the sound of gunfire made him dive to the ground. He looked up to see where the shots were coming from.

Not far off along the wall three one-armed bandits were firing at him. Last time he faced these he had used a saw to cut off their arms. But now these mechanical gunmen were slashed inside the wall. Jack carefully moved to the other side of the wheel to avoid getting shot. He needed a way to turn the table on his old foe. He peeked out from his hiding spot to look around for anyway to stop the gunmen.

Suddenly he got an idea. Jack transformed into his Pumpkin King persona, and dashed toward the gunmen, dodging bullets as he went, until he was directly in front of them. Summoning his Pumpkin Flame, Jack used a fire blast attack. The force of the blast pushed the gunmen back. They continued to fire, but now their bullets were pointed up and firing at Oogie. The Boogieman screamed as the bullets ran upon him from below. Unable to take it, he sent his bandits back and jumped back inside the wheel. Jack turned as the floor began to rise and the remaining fighting cards appeared.

OOGIE
You're jokin'! You're jokin'!
I can't believe my ears!
You're jokin'! You gotta be!
Best laugh I've had in years!

JACK
I hope you did amuse yourself
With this, your little fling!
You'd better pay attention now
'Cause I'm the Pumpkin King!

OOGIE
You think you are winning
But that's a lot of noise!
Just to be a sport, dear Jack
I'll share my Oogie-toys!

Jack finished off the final cards with the Soul Robber, leaving Oogie open for an attack. "Your plan is finished," he shouted.

"Not if I cheat a little." Oogie began to chuckle and tossed some white dice to the floor. Jack had only looked at them for about a few seconds before they began to glow red and exploded, throwing him back.

OOGIE
Whoa oh!

JACK
Ohhh!

OOGIE
Ohhh!

JACK
Ohhh!

OOGIE
Whoa oh!

JACK
Ohhh!

OOGIE
I'm the Oogie Boogie Man

While his master fought off the conniving Boogieman, Zero flew over to check on his friends. First, he tried to help Frank, but the poor kelpie had gotten himself hopelessly tangled into his chains. He would need the others to get him free.

Next, Zero tried to figure out a way to free Al from the Iron Maiden. However, this was the very same one Zero had hid Sally and Sandy Claws in the last time Oogie and Jack fought. That meant there was a secret switch hidden among the spikes to open it from the inside. All Zero had to do was use his intangibility to get inside and show Al which spike released the trigger. The problem was, the moment Zero's nose touched the metal door, he was violently pushed back. The poor pup had forgotten one tiny thing: iron repels ghosts. There was no way he could get inside and show Al the way out. Luckily, the torture device was too wide to impale the girl with its deadly spikes, though she must have little room to maneuver around in.

That left Will. Zero quickly flew over to her side. The snakes hissed as he approached, but Zero growled back, completely unafraid. He noticed Will begin to stir and that made his sheet wag. He started barking as loud as he could, hoping he could somehow wake her up. He barked louder, getting a positive response when he noticed her eyes begin to flutter.

Seeing their prey beginning to stir, the snakes twisted around and lunged at Zero. They snapped their jaws and bared their teeth, allowing translucent yellow venom to drip down their fangs. The drops that fell on Will's arms seemed to almost burn the skin, sliding down into the open wounds under her arms. The pain caused Will's breathing to become more rapid, and she was pushed further against the spikes as the snakes tightened their coils. Zero knew if he didn't get those snakes off her soon, Will could be in real danger, but he also had to be careful. One wrong move, and those poisonous reptiles would dig their fangs into Will's flesh and kill her in mere seconds.

Thinking over his options, Zero suddenly had a brilliant idea. He barked to keep the snakes' focus on him, then flew behind the chair where their tails clasped around Will's torso. He took one look at where the tails connected and bite down hard. Zero then looked up and saw the two snakes' heads coming at him from opposite sides of the chair. They hissed in annoyance and lunged, but Zero had the advantage. Instead of biting skin, the snakes went through Zero's body and bit each other's tails. The venom quickly spread through their bodies, causing them both to hemorrhage and fall to the ground.

Pleased, Zero went to try to wake Will. He whined and licked her face, trying desperately to get her to open her eyes. Her eyes fluttered and Zero barked when he saw two dark blue eyes look at him. As she tried to focus her cloudy vision, Will looked through Zero's ghostly form to see Jack dodge several of Oogie's exploding dice.

JACK
The leaders of the holidays
Must right now be set free!
Release them all at once
Or you'll have to deal with me!

OOGIE
You beat my men, so what? Big deal!
You even ran the maze!
You still can't stop me!
I'm the King of Seven Holidays!

"Just give up, Oogie," Jack yelled, staggering back to his feet.

"Please! My seams!" Oogie laughed and threw another couple of dice, and then, as if Jack didn't have enough trouble, Oogie began sucking in air, creating a powerful vacuum that pulled Jack closer to the dice. Jack used the Soul Robber to keep from being sucked either into one of the dice as it exploded, or from being impaled by the spikes that surrounded Oogie's platform.

"Jack!" Jack looked up and gasped when he saw it was Will calling out to him. "U-Use th-the…dice," she said, barley making her words coherent. She was using one of the armrests to push herself up, causing her to gasp from the pain. "Y-You can throw…into h-his…mouth…" She tried to stand, but the loss of blood caused her to fall to her knees. Zero stayed quickly went to her side, nudging the side of her face.

Oogie turned and laughed when he saw Will crumble to the ground. "You lose, Jack!"

But Jack had heard what Will had said.

OOGIE
Ohhh!

JACK
Whoa oh!

OOGIE
Whoa oh!

JACK
Whoa oh!

OOGIE
Whoa oh!

JACK
Whoa oh!
I'm the only Pumpkin King!

As Oogie opened his mouth again, Jack quickly grabbed two dice and threw them in front of him. The vacuum sucked the dice into Oogie's mouth and he swallowed them. Jack managed to throw in three more just as they turned red, before Oogie realized what his foe was doing. As his mouth closed, the dice exploded and Oogie was knocked to the ground. Immediately the roulette wheel stopped spinning, and all of Oogie's traps were unlocked. The chains recoiled and Frank fell from the ceiling, suffering only minor bruises due to his thick hide. The Iron Maiden opened and Al fell out, rolling a few feet.

There were some small scratches from the spikes, but other than a slight headache from her tumble, Al was fine. She grabbed the side of her head and waited for the stars to clear from her eyes. "Let's not do this again…" she said before shaking her head and seeing Will. "Will!"

She ran to her friend's side and picked up her torso, cradling her close. As she held her closer and checked for severe wounds, Al noticed that Will had returned to her human form. That was some relief, but she was still bleeding and there were nasty looking burns on her arms.

Suddenly, Will began to stir and she looked up through half lidded eyes. "… Al?" she rasped.

"Hey Willy girl," Al said, smiling. Zero barked and did a double flip in the air. Frank pranced up to Al's side and nicked loudly in delight, though it was slightly hissed and gravely.

Seeing his friends were alright, Jack focused his attention on Oogie. He had staggered to his hands and knees and was panting. "Huff… Huff… You've got some nerve escaping my perfect trap. Still, the real loser is you, Jack…" Oogie stood and looked right at Jack. "For he who has the last laugh wins!"

"Would you shut up already!?" Al demanded. Will looked up and tried to say something, but only managed to cough. "Easy, Will."

Jack turned and gasped as Oogie suddenly began to dissolve. "What's this?"

When he stood, it was revealed the Oogie that Jack had been fighting was nothing more than a shadow puppet. It glared at Jack with its sickly yellow eyes and laughed. "Congratulations, hero," the Shadow replied. "You've defeated my shadow. Neat trick, huh? The real me is in Christmas Town. Bye now!" The Shadow waved goodbye and exploded in a blinding light, causing everyone to cover their eyes.

When the light disappeared, Jack looked up to see that the Shadow Oogie was gone. The explosion had knocked the platform clean off and left a large gapping hole. However, something stuck out of what was left of the platform it had been standing on. He hoped over to the platform and discovered another Holiday Door sticking out from the center. He pulled it out to reveal the Easter Door.

"The Easter Door!?" he exclaimed. "But, where's the Christmas Door!? We'd better get back to the Plaza."

"What about Will?" Al asked.

"Oh!" Jack set the door down and ran to the girls. He dropped to his knees and looked over Will's injuries. "Hmm… Al, do you still have the Crystal Bottles from the Witch Shop?" he asked.

"Yeah," Al said, gesturing to the bag. "This backpack is tough. None of the nails made any holes." She swung the pack off one shoulder and undid the clasp. As she reached inside, Frank nosed around in it and pulled out one of the bottles with his tongue, while Al grabbed the other.

Jack took the bottle from Frank and turned to Al. "Now, I'll use this on Will. I want you to use the other bottle to treat any wounds you or Frank might have.

"Ten four, good buddy," Al said, passing Will to him, and took the extra bottle to attend to herself and Frank.

Jack propped Will up and began to pour water over her wounds. He started with the burns on the top of her arms, then he turned her arms over to tend to the multiple stab wounds. He would pour a little on each area, then set the bottle down to rub the healing water into her skin. The wounds disappeared the moment the water touched them. By the time he had her arms healed, Al had finished tending to Frank and herself. Jack decided to let her finish tending to Will's back and legs. Once Al had taken Will and the Crystal Bottle from him, Jack stood and retrieved the shrinking potion from the backpack. He walked back to where he had left the Easter Door. He poured one drop and waited as the door shrunk down. He picked up the door and walked back to the girls.

The water from the Crystal Bottle had taken care of Will's wounds, but she was still very weak. Al looked up with concern in her eyes. "Jack, what gives?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," he answered. "I think it only healed her surface wounds, but she did lose a lot of blood sitting in that chair. I also noticed burns on her arms from snake venom. I think some of it might have seeped into the wounds under her arm."

"None of that sounds good," Al said, her voice getting a little shrill.

Jack nodded. He thought about pouring some of the water into Will's mouth, but then he remembered how it had burned her tongue when she had tried to drink some earlier. Well, they didn't have much of a choice. He knelt beside Al and took the bottle from her hand. "Al, tip her head back and open her mouth," he instructed.

Al nodded and did as she was told. Then Jack carefully tipped the bottle as the green water spilled over Will's lips. After a few moments, Will immediately opened her eyes and sat up, coughing up some of the water. "What the hell!?" she said through a gag. "You trying to drown me, or burn off my vocal cords?"

"We're trying to wake you up, stupid." Al laughed, hugging her tightly. Will chuckled and embraced her back.

Jack smiled and placed a hand over her shoulder, causing her to look up at him. "Good to see you are all right," he said. "And I'm glad to see you're back to your old self, in more ways then one." But as he looked over her human form, Jack's smile dropped to a puzzled frown as he looked more closely at her. "Will, your eyes?"

"What about them?" she asked.

Al pulled back and looked to spot what Jack had seen. Her own eyes widen and her eyebrows rose. "Uh, Will. You're eyes…are blue… Like that sickly blue from Avengers blue."

Will looked at her puzzled before grabbing the Crystal Bottle from Al's hand. From what she could see in the reflection on the clear glass, her eyes were normal except they were cerulean with a cobalt blue sclera. Will huffed. "Great. Now I look like a blue-eyed Cheza."

"Yeah, you do." Al laughed, prompting Will to join her.

Jack didn't understand the joke, but he was glad to see the girls were laughing. As much as he hated to spoil their fun, they had to get moving. "All right. We have the Easter Door, but we still need to find where Oogie hid the Christmas Door. Without it we can't get to Christmas Town."

"Can't we use Will's magical skeleton key to get to Christmas Town?" Al asked.

"Sorry but no dice." Will looked at them regrettably and sighed. "Before Oogie's Shadow tied me down to that Torture Chair, it stole my key. No telling what that creep will do with it."

"Damn it!" Al said rather frustrated. Frank nickered and nudged Al's shoulder, hoping to offer his mistress some comfort. Zero took the opportunity to nuzzle up to Will, offering the same comfort. Both girls smiled but they still held an air of despair.

"Look there's nothing we can do about it now," Jack said, trying to reassure the girls. "What's important is stopping Oogie from destroying Christmas."

Will looked up. "You have a point, Jack," she said. "You're already on Santa's list for nearly wrecking Christmas last year. Not gonna help if Oogie manages to ruin this year."

"Well, what are we waiting for people?" Al said, standing up and vaulting onto Frank's back.

Will staggered to her feet, but she managed to get up and have Al help her onto Frank's back. Seeing the girls were ready, Jack had Zero lead the way. They followed the ghost pup back to the center of the roulette wheel where Oogie's Shadow had caused the large explosion. Zero disappeared down the hole and Jack dropped down after him. Will and Al heard Jack land with a splash, meaning he had landed in water, but they had no idea how deep it was.

Feeling Frank tense, Will leaned over the side of the large kelpie and looked the beast in the eye. "This would be the right time to curb your murderous tendencies," she told him.

Frank snorted in irritation, but bobbed his head in agreement. The kelpie eyed the distance and took one step back before breaking into a quick canter gait. Gathering his limbs under his body, he leapt from the ground and plunged into the hole. "Best down bank ever!" Al yelled with a slightly maniacal laugh.

XXX

GodlyJewel: Is it wrong for me to say I kind of had fun writing the torture parts?

CosmicHorse: It's just a little morbid…

GodlyJewel: *innocent laugh* Just couldn't help going a little dark. Hope nobody was too freaked out. Hey, at least I didn't make it as bad. I could've put in some scary hell scenes, like say, from Mama.

CosmicHorse: You heathen! How DARE you bring up that movie!

GodlyJewel: Yeah, should've known I'd get in trouble for bringing that up… Anyway, references used in this passage include: Wolf's Rain and Igor.