Chapter 90

Fun Frights for the Shell-Shocked

Aqua looked around the place in which the party landed. Everything was dark under the cover of night, lit only by orange-glowing street lamps. The building walls were built and the street laid with dark stonework. She noticed that certain aspects of the architecture and street decorations were shaped into monstrous, cartoonish designs.

Looking down at herself, she saw that her clothes had darkened. Her halter top and corset had turned a deep black, the straps and cloths became cobwebs, and her boots became a rougher iron, with bat wings taking the place of the hooks on the sides. Examining her hands, she saw that her skin had turned pale, though she quickly realized that it was only slightly paler than it had been of late, and her fingernails had been painted black. There were stitches around her upper arms, though they appeared to only serve an aesthetic purpose.

Looking around at her companions, she noticed that their appearances had also shifted to fit the atmosphere of the world. Sora's clothes turned to black and dark gray colors, with the shoulders being a lighter grey, his sneakers had been replaced with black shoes with pointed toes and a grey strap over the middle of each one, his legs were wrapped in red and white bandages, and he wore white gloves that extended halfway up his arms and had pointed fingers. An orange mask shaped like a cartoonish devil head with triangular eyes and a jagged mouth sat on the right side of his forehead, covering his right eye, and a pair of bat wings was attached to the back of his jacket. His hair was a slightly darker shade of brown, his skin had developed a paler complexion, and the area around his eyes had become ashen and shadowed, giving him a ghoulish appearance. A pair of pointed fangs stuck out over his lower lip, adding vampire imagery to his guise.

Donald's normally-pristine white feathers were now specked with dust and soot, and his body was wrapped in linen, making him look like a mummy. Most unsettling, however, was the fact that there was an empty space where his abdomen ought to have been, leaving his upper body floating a few inches above his pelvic region, either part connected only by a strip of linen. The same case applied to his right arm, where the linen was loosely wrapped about the forearm to show an empty space beneath, whereas it was more tightly wrapped around his upper arm and his hand. The exposed area around his eyes was marked with black kohl.

Goofy wore a tan turtleneck sweater as well as a yellow jacket and green pants that were both tattered and patched-up. His hat had been replaced with a large steel screw that seemed to be embedded into his scalp. His white gloves were gone, and his toes were bursting out of his brown leather shoes. A metal cone with a small pumpkin sitting on the tip covered his nose, his skin had turned to an almost-chalk white, his eyes were a heterochromia with the right iris being a swirly black and the left iris being blood red, and his fur was ruffled and messy.

Riku was just as pale as Sora, though he seemed to be covered in dirt and ash. His hair was messy and the area around his eyes was shadowed like Sora's. His jeans were black while his jacket was a medium gray. His sneakers looked old and beat-up. He had a lot more arm hair than usual, and there was some hair poking out of his pantlegs, making it look like he was covered in fur. His hands were similarly hairy, and his nails had lengthened and pointed into claws. Most interesting of all, though, were the canine-like ears sticking up on his head, slightly further up from where his human ears usually were.

Kairi's clothes had become a black and purple dress with black frills around her shoulder straps, and her sneakers became black and purple boots. Her belt-satchel took on a design which resembled a spell book. A pointed black witch's hat sat on top of her head. Her fingernails were painted purple, which she admired with amusement. She also had black lipstick and eye shadow.

Mickey looked feral and disheveled, his skin a deep gray and his fur messy and all over the place, shown most prominently on his ears. His sclera were yellow, and his mouth was filled with sharp, uneven teeth. The red and yellow of his clothes were muted, and his sleeves were tattered. The fingers of his gloves were stretched due to pointed claws inside. His tail now had a zig-zag shape.

All seven of them looked at themselves and each other, taking in their new costumes, though Sora, Donald and Goofy were already quite familiar with their own appearances, having been to Halloween Town quite a few times before.

"We look like monsters!" Aqua said, surprised. She took another look around the area, quickly realizing what a world themed around Halloween entailed. "Is everyone here a monster?"

"Yeah, but it's alright. They're all real friendly," Sora assured her. He beckoned the party on. "Come on. It's past the main square, through the graveyard, and into the woods before we get to Christmas Town."

As the rest of the group followed Sora, Aqua had a sinking feeling in her gut. "Graveyard…?" she mumbled. After a brief moment, she ran to catch up with her friends.

As they passed through the avenue, they passed many citizens. Each one was unique, with some of them being classic horror movie monsters and others having more surreal shapes. When the passerby noticed the party, they began to gossip amongst themselves. Sora could hear a few snippets. "Hey, look. It's Sora and the other two… And more friends… Let's introduce them to town…"

Less than a minute later, Riku noticed some movement in an alley, but before he could discern what it was, an obese blue-skinned clown jumped out in front of them, laughing maniacally. Kairi let out a shriek, Donald quacked in surprise, and Aqua jumped in fright, while Riku got into a defensive position. The clown began to laugh more cheerfully and waved to them. "Welcome to Halloween Town," he said. "That was a pretty good shriek there, miss." He waved before trotting off.

After he was out of sight, Riku and Kairi breathed a sigh of relief. Aqua shivered, netting concerned looks from Mickey and Goofy. Donald glared at the clown as he continued his way down the street.

As they continued along, more of the monstrous townspeople jumped in front of them to give them a scary greeting. After the third, most of the party had gotten used to the bizarre greetings, and barely reacted to the appearance of three vampires, one of which held a black parasol heedless of the time of day. However, Aqua became more and more jumpy and agitated. She looked around at each of the monsters skittishly, seeing spooky-looking but friendly-seeming people, but expecting any one of them to jump out and strike, only for each one to just laugh and wave before leaving. Although no one was harmed, she could not be sure that there would not be any danger around.

The party soon entered the Guillotine Square, the center of town. In the very center, there was a fountain with a spout shaped like some sort of gargoyle, which spewed a glowing green liquid into the basin. Surrounding the square were different, important-seeming buildings. Up a long flight of stairs, Sora, Donald and Goofy recognized the laboratory of Dr. Finkelstein. To the right, there was a multi-storied house elevated above the ground accessed by a thin staircase, with a doorbell string shaped like a spider on a web. Sora knew that house was the home of Jack Skellington. The city hall was to the left of the party as they entered. Between the laboratory and Jack's house, Sora could see the pathway to the graveyard.

As they started to pass the fountain, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, and Donald turned around and noticed Aqua's agitation. "Hey, are you okay?" Kairi asked.

Aqua sighed and rested her forehead in her hand. "Sorry," she said. "I guess I'm a bit paranoid…"

Before she could elaborate, a skinny figure rose from the fountain basin. The body was dripping with the green liquid. Aqua tensed up at the sight. When the others turned around, it took them a moment to realize what was actually going on.

The figure was a skeleton that was stick-thin, with a nearly-spherical skull, though his mouth looked almost as it would with human flesh, albeit wider, rather than being a mandible attached to the skull by two joints. His torso was well-proportioned to his thin frame, but his legs were very long. He wore a tight-fitting black pinstriped suit with a white undershirt, black shoes fitting his rather small feet, and a bowtie that looked like a bat. The skeleton jumped out of the pool and performed a flip in midair. He landed a few feet in front of the party, his arms spread out, and leaned it, putting on a menacing expression.

Sora, Donald and Goofy, despite knowing this character personally, still jumped in fright from the ambush. Riku, Kairi and Mickey jumped as well, with Mickey letting out a yelp. Aqua screamed in terror and brought her arms up in a defensive brace, squeezing her eyes shut as well. Her panic was at such a level that she lacked the presence of mind to summon her Keyblade defensively.

The skeleton, Jack Skellington himself, stood up straight and let out a laugh. "Hello, everyone!" he greeted cheerfully. "I heard from word on the street that you were back in town. And what do you know? You brought friends to share in the frights. Oh, it is so great to meet you all." He stopped as he noticed the visitor in the back of the band. "Um, did I say something wrong?"

Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, Kairi, and Mickey turned around again and saw Aqua cowering, in the middle of her panic attack. Their expressions of surprise and confusion quickly turned to concern and sympathy as they realized how badly Jack's jump scare had affected her.

Mickey immediately ran to her side. "Aqua, it's okay. There aren't any Heartless. No monsters that will hurt you," he said soothingly. "It's fine. You're safe."

Jack tilted his head, perplexed. "What's the matter?" he asked.

Sora rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, though the action did not have the same personal effect as usual due to the fact that his fingers were covered. "Aqua's been stuck in the Realm of Darkness for a long time, fighting for survival with strong Heartless attacking her almost constantly. The darkness also threatened to pull her into despair," he explained, starting to understand exactly what was happening to Aqua.

Jack let out a gasp, realizing just how much harm the scares were doing to her. "Oh, I am terribly sorry. I had no idea," he said. He approached Aqua calmly and gingerly patted her on the shoulder. He turned to look at the rest of the party and shifted the bone structure around his eye socket to mimic a raised eyebrow. "So, after you presumably rescued her from that trauma, you then proceeded to bring an emotionally- fragile woman to a town where everybody scares each other for a living?"

The party averted his gaze, feeling ashamed of what they had just done. "Yeah… I guess we didn't really think this through all that much," Sora admitted. "We were actually trying to get to Christmas Town, hoping it's be a little less stressful on her."

"Oh. I'm sure that would be better for her. But you couldn't just go straight there?" Jack asked.

Sora shook his head. "We've only been able to get there by coming here first, so we figured we'd just pass through to get there," he explained. He turned to look at Aqua. "Sorry about that, Aqua."

By that point, a walking ragdoll made of stitched-up parts and wearing a patchwork dress had come out of the laboratory and come onto the scene. Seeing Aqua's distress, she immediately ran to her side. She had overheard the entire exchange beforehand and understood the situation, so she wasted no time in helping to calm Aqua down. Sora, Donald and Goofy recognized the woman as Sally, the "daughter" of Dr. Finkelstein and Jack's girlfriend.

"Come with me, everyone. I'll make some tea. It should help you relax," Sally said. She led Aqua along, and the rest of the group followed her into her home as she led them to her chamber above her father's lab. There, she made tea and gave everyone a cup each. "Now, please, tell us what happened."

A/N: Sorry about all the trouble I put Aqua through in this chapter. I'll try to go easy on her the more she recovers.