Shiro looked to DJ for a brief moment before turning back to Luna. "Very well... But take Master Auxillius with you... If you miss out on training at least you'll be able to work off each other. And in these times of uncertainty, you should always have a partner to watch the rear!" DJ sighed. "We really gotta work on how you word things.. She can take the Cruiser ship we left on in Sanctuary." He turned to Luna. "Make sure you can contact somebody here if things get too dicey out there." ------------------------------------------------------- ELSEWHERE Maleficent walks down a long hall, dimly lit to an indigo hue. The hall lined with broken, ancient statues as Nequa lounged in her commanding seat. "Did you bring it?" Maleficent smirked. "But of course..." She held her staff tightly and summoned a sword from a green puff of smoke. The sword levitated in front of Nequa as she gripped it. "The sword of Truth..." "It all went as you said.. Once Prince Phillip was captured, the three fairies set him free and he was given that sword. I faked my death allowing them to escape with aurora... But it cost us a princess of heart," she scowled. "Are you sure that blade worth it all?" "Very much so. And as I said before... There are than enough candidates for princesses. You already have five in the chamber. Only two more. As for me?" She held the sword and stared at it momentarily to admire it. "I'm just one sword away before the final step." Maeficent glared at Nequa impatiently. "And now for your end of the bargain... Which princesses of Heart remain for capture?" She put the sword down and stood in front of the witch. "Way to ruin a moment, lady... We've kept an eye on the ones still within reach of your club. Eilonwy, Jasmine, Tiana and Luna are the last ones you have a hope of capturing still." "Good... At least they'll be found within the worlds we will hav dominion over. Jafar can track down Jasmine. Facilier after Tiana, and the Horseman and I will retrieve Eilonwy..." "And the princess in the SOS? The Princess-o-s?" "I have no need for keyblade wirlders do deter what we've already come so far for.." "Best o' luck to you long horns," Nequa chuckled, saluting her off. Maleficent groaned. "What senseless humor you have from your time in that void. Turned you into quite a fool!" She walked through a dark corridor to leave Nequa sitting back down with the sword in hand. She looked into the reflection of the sword. "Takes a lotta sacrifice to gain a personality..." She stared into the sword as if she didn't recognize herself. "Hey uhh, boss?!" Gilgamesh belted out. "Can't you see I'm reflecting here?" she complained. "No yeah I see that, big character development going on here. But here's the thing, I was talking to the cowboy, the french gal and teacher's pet back there and uhh... we're kinda bored... Like... really bored." "And?" "Can we go bother the SOS kids?" "Why?" "Because I need a Rival! Something to drive my character! Kilo wants to kill Kaida, Whiskey wants to kill Luna, and even Hotel has it out for that Kel kid! I need someone I want to kill!" She sighed loudly before waving her hand to dismiss him. "Fine... go have fun I guess... good luck getting pass that security system..." "Oh don't worry about that... I have plenty of plot bending ideas..." The scene fades to black. "And Sho. I need Sho. Sho will be doing most of the plan."
As Aux began to wander the dorm halls, he slowed down a bit, recalling vague memories of this place. He usually kept to himself most of the time, and kept his helmet on. Rigorous training regiments he gave himself. How did all that change? What happened that gave him more purpose then just getting stronger all the time. While he was staring at the various canvases plastering the halls, Kaida showed up with a giant boomerang in hand. "What's that supposed to be?" he asked. "Boomerang. You throw it and its supposed to return to you. The big one is for bludgeoning or something." Kaida explained almost instantly. She looked at the boomerang before shaking her head and asked, "How're you holding up?" Acknowledging the size of the boomerang, he nodded solemnly. "Well I get why it's called teamwork now," Aux sighed. "Being part of a team is work... I got stuff done quicker when I was working alone. I was given an order and I carried it out. But now everything gets... messier because people need your help." He turned back to her. "Not that it's a bad thing I guess. How're you holding up?" "Well you're supposed to delegate in teamwork. Have many people do smaller jobs to get the big job done faster." Kaida giggled before thinking about the other question and said, "I'm alright. Better than I have been, I suppose. I'm still not completely over what happened on that big ship." 'But what if I can do the job better?' he thought to himself. HE shook his head trying to focus back one what he wanted to ask her. "Yeah a lot happened over the past year... " He thought back to his encounter in the underworld and everything that happened with Seiza. He didn't want to talk about it, but he didn't want to keep putting it off. "Hey, you haven't seen Sieza have you?" Kaida looked confused at the question and said, "I think I would have said something by now had I seen him... but no." she crossed her arms and took a deep breath and said, "I admit I didn't give a thorough look. That's on me... hm..." her thoughts seemed distracted and she placed the boomerang against a wall and looked away and said, "Now that you say it, I'm not doing anything right now. I should give a proper look around." Aux didn't want her to search if it wasn't necessary. The underworld might have been playing tricks on him, but he only saw the deceased, as did the others. "Kaida, wait-" he grabbed her forearm trying to stop her from leaving. Kaida looked over at him when he stopped her and she turned to him and waited simply asking confused, "What?" "I uhh..." he looked down and realized he was still holding her arm. He let go as he took a step back. "After No Heart took over, a lot of stuff might have happened and we'll..." he looked back up at her face. Made things much harder. "Umm... anyways... when I was in the underworld at Olympus, I saw the ghosts of dead enemies I faced in the past. And along with them I saw..." he took a deep breath as he tried not to break contact with her silver eyes. "Seiza..." Kaida stared for a long moment before she let out a light chuckle, with a smile that wasn't quite a real smile and said, "Come on, Aux. You literally just asked me if I've seen him. Why would you ask that if you already knew he was dead?" That made things harder. "Because I thought maybe it was just an illusion but the longer I think about the more I keep thinking the worst. And every time I wanted to talk to you something came up like the jail in sanctuary, the aura training, halloweentown and now that I have a chance to breath I just-" he exhaled and inhaled slowly. "Needed to tell you..." This whole conversation was torture. Kaida was quiet for a long time before saying, "Thank you... I appreciate you telling me..." she placed a hand to her chest and admitted, "I... had a feeling he was gone. Something in my heart told me that, but... I didn't actually know. I'm..." she took a deep breath and covered her eyes with her hand a minute and rubbed her eyes saying, "Sorry. I... I know you probably think I'm lame and you can make fun of me for it... ah..." she moved her hand and tears were pouring out her eyes and she said, "I don't really know what a dad is. But... but if I had to imagine what one was like, Seiza was a lot like one to me... um..." she tried to force a smile and said, "It's alright... we'll just try and move forward like we have been... I mean... if I dwell on all the what-ifs, I won't be able to do anything a-a-about it." 12:01 AM Aux hesitated as he stepped forward a bit trying to comfort her. He had never seen her this sad and didn't want to say anything to make it worse. Instinctively, he put a hand on her shoulder. "You can slow down for the moments that matter," he said, trying to get a glimpse of her eyes through the tears. He wasn't really sure how to consol her without messing up so he wrapped his arm around her and buried her face to his chest. He only recently got to reconnect with his family and felt awful that kaida couldn't do the same with hers. "He did an amazing job raising you... I've never met anyone so... y'know... brave." He said, patting the back of her hair. Kaida didn't know why, but the weird hugging only made her tears come out more. She didn't even say anything in response, she just instead found herself full on crying. Aux waited with her until she was all cried out.
"Your keyblades may be the byproduct of the aura, but they aren't the source. When you left the wasteland, you were all left without keyblades for a short time." Aux eyes darted to the floor as he tried not to think about it. "If that happens again, we just wanna make sure you guys can handle yourself. I guess it's not particularly mandatory... but there's a higher chance of success when you learn to use various extensions of yourself." "Young DJ is correct!" Shiro chimed in. HE walked over and began to wield one f the heavier buster swords, twirling it around a bit to showcase the fluidity of this training. "A weapon by definition is a means of gaining a tactical advantage in combat. The keyblade is a very powerful tool, but it never improves to improve your arsenal." He walked up to Kaida and AJ, towering over them. "Not every aura is powered by a blade. While the blade is mighty, i found strength in heavier weapons like the mighty hammer and axes. They helped me take my wind and earth auras to new heights!" "Lea showed me how to use chakrams and it really helped boost my sound aura... Easier to keep rhythm than a sword." Aux looked up to the wall of weapons. He looked at the heavier melee ones, but overall seemed disinterested. "And what if we don't need a weapon... what if I can just free hand it?" "Then you could train with gauntlets for hand to hand prowess!" Shiro instructed. "Cool, I'll do that.." He slumped passed everyone towards the main hall. "I'm going to bed..." Training didn't start until tomorrow anyways, so it didn't seem useful to stay behind. He just felt overall tired from everything. DJ looked to the rest of them. "Look, if you wanna pass up on it, no one's forcing you. But if you want a bit of an extra edge, it couldn't hurt." He opened a small tablet from his pocket and went over the training regiment. "Shiro will be training the warrior and mystic classes in the holo chamber. That mean Karina, Kel, Faust and AJ." "No keyblade use! So if you have proficiency with another weapon, I suggest you use it," he nodded to AJ. "I'll be taking the guardians and hunters off world. That means Kaida, Quill, Aux and Luna are with me. Space, time, light and darkness require a certain amount of exposure to the elements themselves." He turned his head over to Beuce. "Orion insisted you go with him for some kinda selected training tomorrow. Guess you're getting a new path," he shrugged. He turned his attention back to the rest. "We start early tomorrow, so spend the night as you like it."
"When at least that's one more of the bad guy roster," DJ sighed. "While you lot were away, Shiro and I paid a visit to Enchanted Dominion.... We found Princess Aurora, but no sign of Maleficent. We managed to contact the Disney Station and they took care of things from there. The villains may be moving faster than expected, so we've got a new training plan to help move your aura training along." The rest of the SOS had finished leaving the shuttle and found Shiro with DJ waiting to great them. "Time to increase your arsenal!" Shiro exclaimed as he strolled with a jaunted over towards the group. He activated a small switch which unveiled a wall full of melee and long range weapons. Bladed weapons, guns, bows galore. "Once you rest for the night, we'll be able to split you off into groups of two, training with weapons outside your keyblade! Here's just a taste of what you can expect!"
The Christmastown and Halloweentown groups reunited before heading back to the gummi ship. Elsewhere the Horseman and Blotimer found the small bug hivemind slithering away. "Where the heck have you been! I had to deal with clean up duty!" Oogie's voice echoed like a high pitched wine. "Now hurry up and help me fashion a new sac body! If we hurry we can-" "Sorry bug boy, but I don't think we'll be doing much of anything..." Mortimer chuckled. "WHAT?!" Ooogie's voice echoed. "Your tactic was... not pragmatic. You let our prey get away," The horseman replied in new dark, raspy voice. "Your resources are now... obsolete." "We're saying your small potatoes!" Blotimer gloated. "Playing checkers when yah should be playing chess." "The Rat is correct..." the Horseman replied. "Your services are no longer required. Consider this your indefinate release." A dark portal opened behind them as he and blotimer stepped through, \"You can't do this to me!" Oogie's voice echoed. "RRRRAAAAHHHHHH!" His cries echoed as the two left him behind. Lock, shock, and Barrel came into view, giggling as they collected his spare bugs crawling about. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ELSEWHERE ABOARD THE SANCTUARY Alexander Xares punched the wall as he collected the things from his office aboard the sanctuary. He lowered his buster sword from his mantle as he stabbed into the ground as he let out a fierce grunt. From his doorway, Queen Sorenia was leaning against the wall, folding her arms as she raised an eyebrow. "I take it you're not takin your dismissal with grace?" she asked. "My military resume never exactly boasted my etiquette when it comes to failure." "I wouldn't exactly call your recent act of treason a failure," Sorenia shrugged. "I wasn't talking about me!" he responded offensively. "It's that good-for-nothing daughter of mine. Her annoyances have continued disappoint me time and time again. Is it just every daugter's whim to defy her fauther's authority?" he groaned. "I did," Sorenia scoffed. "What do you want exactly? That McCracken woman is replacing me and I need to clear out within the hour" Sorenia offered him a tablet she held. "It seems we have a comman ally. Someone hoping to put our full potential to good use." Xares grabbed the tablet away from her and saw Sho's insignia on the e-mail. "You want us to align ourselves with the same menace that helped remove me from office? You wanted an army right? Mindless soldiers you can command without mutiny?" Xares examined the e-mail further. "Not to mention would give you ample opportunity to set your daughter straight," she smirked. "Whatever family matter I have with that girl isn't reason enough to align myself with these... vigilantes of darkness. What about you? Are you considering their offer for an army as well? "Let's just say there's a score that needs to be settled..." Xares continued to skim over the e-mail. He was intrigued but still dismissive on the concept. "A battle of light and darkness... Too black and white for my taste. I don't believe in morality... Only Strength. And the willingness to take what is rightfully mine." Sorenia walked away from the doorway. "I'll meet you at the ship hangar in an hour." "I never said accepted the offer," Xares scolded. "Ye you did... besides, not like you're needed here anymore.. She walked away to leave him with his thoughts. He looked back to the e-mail and read more carefully. "What the hell are nobodies?" he question, reading the document fully. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- CENTRAL HAVEN With everyone regrouped at the gummi ship, the SOS crew returned back to Central Haven with their gifts and rewards from the world. All 9 of them returned safetly into the docking bay of the Central Haven ship hanger. DJ and Shiro approaching them as they returned. "How'd everything go" DJ asked.
Santa Claus examined the ring with intrigue. His face lit up but slowly faded. "It's odd... I know that somebody gave this to you... but I can't recall his face. This rarely happens, but I can't even remember his name. I couldn't even find him on my list even if I wanted to. Something terrible must have happened to him. As if he was wiped from existence. Such a happy memory is a cruel thing to lose." He handed the ring back to Karina. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help. Whoever he was, the teenage boy appreciated you all very much I'm sure..." He took note of the crudely made dice that Faust gave him and smiled. "And another lovely memory to have!" he smiled. "If I can't say so in person, Have a merry christmas and a happy new year" he waved, Shantotto saluting them as they departed with their bag full of gifts. -------------------------------------------------- Aux gave a thumbs up at Kaida's bag of skin. He didn't really know what else to add, so he managed to muster out a weak smile. Regardless of how it was done, it was was another hellfire club member off their list. HALOWEENTOWN / CHRISTMASTOWN World Completion Bonus - 50,000 EXP, 1,000 Munny Disembark - 20,000 EXP Investigation - 30,000 EXP - 200 Munny Brawl - 50,000 EXP - 300 Munny Boss - 100,000 EXP AJ leveled up! (75)(76)(77)(78)(79)(80) All Stats increased! Aux leveled up!(75)(76)(77)(78)(79)(80) All Stats increased! Beuce leveled up! (74)(75)(76)(77)(78)(79)(80) All Stats increased! Faust leveled up! (75)(76)(77)(78)(79) All Stats increased! Castur leveled up! (65) (66)(67)(68)(69) Kaida leveled up! (74)(75)(76)(77)(78) Karina leveled up! (74)(75)(76)(77)(78)(79)(80) All Stats increased! Kel leveled up! (75)(76)(77)(78)(79)(80) All Stats increased! Luna leveled up! (75)(76)(77)(78)(79)(80) All Stats increased! Quill leveled up! (71)(72)(73)(74)(75) All Stats increased!
"No Heart... No Heart..." Santa thought to himself for a moment. "Sorry young man, but I don't do monikers and aliases. The only names I recall are the ones given to people at birth. Unless you know the name of this No Heart, I'm afraid I can't trace who they are..." Shantotto put the bag of presents in front of Beuce as she saluted the group. ------------------------------------------ Aux approached the halloweentown group, Aux appeared before them with a new attire. Hi shirt was now a bloody red and he wore a serial killer's mask to hide his face. He didn't notice the mask that much from his years of covering his face with the dark iron mask he used to wear. He looked around him at all the ghoulish and creepy atmosphere that he was not present for. He shook his head at his missed opportunity. "Dang... This world looked much more appealing in hindsight," hindsight. He found Jack and the rest of the group, walking briskly towards them. "Everything alright on this end?" He asked the group. He looked up at the tall and thin skeleton, trying to think which of their group members it would be in disguise. "Uhh... AJ?" he asked, not knowing who it was. "Jack Skellington's the name. The new Pumpkin King of Halloweentown!" he happily shook Aux's hand. "And you are?" "Aux..." HE looked to the rest of the party, noticing the Oogie Skin that Kaida was now stuck with. "So I see you guys have been busy... We actually just finished up on our end."
A moment of silence echoes as the bugs from Oogie's vessel scurried away like the hive mind it was. "I'll be back one day Jack!!" Oogie's voice echoed as his cackled faded across the hall. OBTAINED THE BOOGIE MAN'S SACK! Jack led the group outside of Oogie's manor for safety. "Oogie's bugs will most likely build im a new vessel by halloween... But I'll be sure to keep a good eye on him until them.." He turned to the rest of the group. "I can't thank you all enough for the service you've done this town .Even helping me to realize my own holiday potential!" he chuckled. His ghost dog began to hover around the party, letting out a few barks. "Haha! Looks like Zero is greatful as well! He says he'll help return the favor however he can!" PARTY LEARNED GHOSTLY SCREAM! PARTY GAINED PUMPKINHEAD KEYBLADE GAINED ZERO SUMMON! "So what's next for you entripid explorers?" he asked curiously. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PART GAINED DECISIVE PUMPKIN PARTY LEARNED HOLIDAY RUSH "Of course with all you've done to protect the holiday worlds, rewards are surely in order!" Santa smiled. "And as Santa Claus, I give presents to only children under normal circumstances, " Shantotto nodded in approval "But today is a special occasion!" Shantotto turned in awe. "But sir! They are much older than when they were!" "Now now Shantotto... Christmas cheer is for all ages. And Heroism is always rewarded. The Lalafell huffed. "I suppose you can do as you propose..." She went to the other room to fetch gift. "You see... Every year, I look at each world to see who is naughty and who is nice. The good children receive gifts and toys that I make here in my factory." Aux thought about everything he had done in the past year and wasn't sure if he wanted to be around when gifts were being passed out. "I'm gonna go check on the others. Let me know when you've wrapped things up here.." He turned and began walking out of the factory. "Mr Zisa... don't you want to see your gift?" Aux never had Christmas on his world, but there were plenty of holidays where gifts were given. He hadn't had a good holiday since he left home. All in all, he didn't feel much like he deserved it. "Thank you... but I think I'll open mine later..." He left the factory just as Shantotto returned with a bag full of gifts. He didnt want to think what present he was deserving of. "Well, I assure you that there are gifts for al your party, he smiled. "Is there any other way I can repay your kindness?"
Oogie was out of options as he scrambled to take control. His machine was destroyed and he was now out of options. "RRR! You think you've bested the pumpkin king! Nobody scares me! Nobody!" A small rattling was heard that startled the boogie man. HE spun around and growled. "Who's out there! Horseman?! Rat boy?!" "I thought the pumpkin king never got scared..." Jack chuckled. "Skellington? Ha ha... you almost got me. But it's gonna take more that a bony skeleton to pull one over on Oogie Boogie!" The lights went out as more footsteps were heard. "Everyone's afraid of something Oogie..." "Hah! Nice try!" Oogie said, grabbing one of his axes for defense. "You really think the boogie man is afraid of the dark?!" "No oogie... you're afraid of what's INSIDE the darkness... That's why you go so overboard with your scares.... You tell the people of halloweentown instead of letting their own fears come alive. You have no imagination... You scare people until it hurts. And that's not fun... THat's just being a bully..." Oogie continued to walk around, clutching his axe. "Boo." Jack quietly whispered from behind Oogie. The sack of bugs screamed before swinging his axe and falling through his own contraption. He fell from the machine and right in front of the SOS HAlloweentown party. "Oh foo! Fine! I surrender! Those clowns were getting too stuffy for the party sack anyways! As the pumpkin king-" "Actually. I'm the pumpkin king now," Jack interrupted. "What?!" Oogie asked infuriated. "I scared and you screamed. That's the tradition." "RRR.... No one will believe you! It's your word over mine!" The giant screen that previously showed Oogie's face now showed a looped clip of him screaming and falling through the vents. The chuckles of Lock, Shock and Barrel chuckling as they played it over and over. "Traitors!" Oogie called out, shaking his nub at them. "I think halloween has put a sour taste in your mouth Oogie. For my first decree. I'm banishing you from HAlloweentown. And to show you what it really means to fear. I'm going to allow my new friends to escort you out." Oogie looked at the SOS crew and chuckled. "The goodie two shoes gang? HAHA! What're they gonna do? Put me on time out?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shantotto nodded at Karina's request, removing their lyrical curse. "Your fun is done, the art of speech is not for everyone," she scoffed, quickly heading to the contraption. She rerouted the wires on the Oogie-modified merry-go-round and caused it to open up. Steam bursting out of the machine, the attraction opened up to reveal a tied up Santa Claus. "Of all the evil tricks! Tying up St. Nick?!" She quickly ran to him and unbound the jolly holiday man. "Oh thank you dearly Shantotto... I was afraid I was going to be stuck in their until Christmas... He rubbed his wrists from as he as released and walked up to the four SOS members towering over him. "Faust... Beuce.. Karina... Aux. Thank you for your most generous help." "How do you know who we are?" "Ho ho ho! It's my job to know young man!" "Oh really...." Aux summoned out his blade. "Who hired you then," He threatened. "Paws off the Clause!" Shantotto sprouted in front of his blade. "Now now, that's alright Shantotto," Santa chuckled. Follow me to my workshop and I'll explain..."
MISSION COMPLETE Oogie grunted as his machinations had been destroyed. "WHAT?! SNAKE EYES?!" Oogie groaned. "That's not fair! You cheated by following the rules!" His voice blared into the speaker. Blotimer and the Horseman had disappeared from sight, leaving Oogie to clean up the mess. The bag of bugs examined his monitor trying to find Jack.
"No amount of light will save you from the darkness..." a dark booming voice spoke out. From the shadows, The headless horseman appeared with a a hood over his head. "He removed it to show that his head was now that of the Horned King. "It's good to see you and your allies again princess... And being able to communicate no less..." His haunting head looming in an eerie, unsettling way. "You'll find you aren't the only one who's changed over time. He summoned a fireball from his gloved hand and threw it at Luna. Jack immediately stood in front of her. "No!" Jack was hit with the brunt force of it, as he was knocked outside the barrier. A mystic wall arose, locking him and Zero out. "Area 1 secure..." The horseman spoke aloud. Lights flashed onto the group to reveal they were standing on what looked to be a board game. In the center was Oogie Boogie, laughing through several screens from a giant mechanical tower. "HA HA HA! Welcome players! Whose ready to have a ball!" Each player teleported to a different part of the area via Oogie's giant machine. View attachment 50673 ---------------------------------------------------------- Blotimer bounced back and chuckled. "Hehe.. Time to blow the lid of this pop stand!" He took a remote control from his oozing body and pressed the big red button on it. A mytic veil blocked their escape as the snow slowly diminished beneath their feet. "Area 2 secure!" Blotimer replied to his own control. The ground turned into a board game with the merry-go-round rising into a giant mechanical tower. The intercom blaring out Oogie's voice. "HA HA HA! Welcome players! Whose ready to have a ball!" Each player teleported to a different part of the area via Oogie's giant machine. View attachment 50674
"What is this, poetry hour?" Mortimer asked.He chuckled as he held his gut. "Somebody's gettin' soft!" While Mortimer continued to laugh at the group, Aux kept thinking to himself. Where did he hear this named before? Mortimer.. Mortimer... His head snapped back as his eyes widened, finally remembering. He smirked, knowing how to use this curse to his advantage. Aux let loose a fake laugh, trying to get his attention. Mortimer stopped his laughing in confusion. "Heh? What's that guy's deal?" "Now I remember where you're from! You're the dummy the hellfire club kept under their thumb! You were the patsy promised a key, so long as you kept the SOS busy... So I finally get the meet the clown, who stalled until I reached Disneytown." "Would you cut the nursery rhymes already?!" "You felt in control, but you were the deficit, playing right into the hands of Maleficent. You thought you were so smart Mortimer... Thought you were extorting her... Thought she;d make you strong, but in the end, you were the pawn. And look how long it took to leave the book, Only to escape and save face by running back to the group you disgraced." "I said shut up!!" Mortimer stood up and hunched over as his ink-like hands turned sharp. "But I'm confused... Were you this slimy before or after the ooze?" "THAT'S IT!" Mortimer angrily solidified his ink and fired shards at the group, growing his own body in size to intimidate them. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jack nodded. "Yup! That's Oogie's Manor alright..." Skellington led them to the front door s he rung the doorbell. The sound it made was a terrified woman's shriek. "Umm.. Mr. Boogie, sir?" Jack asked timidly. A voice box came on as Shock's voice came onto the comm. "Yeeeeees?" JAck sighed. "Shock, I have to speak with Oogie... It's uh... It's about the Zombie Snakes..." "I'm sorry," Shock gllefully apologized. "Mr. Oogie isn't available, please leave a message after the trap door!" "Trap door?" Jack asked. Before anyone could do anything, the floor under them swung open, causing them all to fall into a large pit, the only source of light from the Trap door above them. They had fallen roughly twnety feet, as the door above them closed and they were left in complete darkness. The kids' voiced chuckled as they were surrounded in darkness. Now the only light being Zero's nose. "Heheheh... who here's afraid of the dark?" Lock chuckled.
As Shantotto took charge, she led the four SOS PArty members into the square. Something was off though. There was a lack of lights. No children singing carols, or people decorating. It was almost like a ghost town. The ink led the direction of the party onto the top of the carousel were Blotimer leaned on his knee, looking down at them. "Well it's about time you yahoos showed up! I was almost bored waitin' for yah!" he chuckled. Small ink droplets falling onto the snow bank below. ""Funny, I thought there'd be more o' yah... You two I remember from Arandelle.." he said, waving his hand to Faust and BEuce. "You, I don't really know.... OR the short stack..." he said in regards to you Aux and Shantotto. His eyes narrowed on Karina. "As for you hot stuff, you just can't get enough of old reliable can yah? Well ha cha cha, you had your chance toots. Now that I'm gonna be a big shot, you just couldn't wait to come crawling back..." It took all Aux's taciturn strength to not laugh at that moment. "Enough guffaws! Where is Claus?!" Shantotto ordered. "Oh, the fat guy? Don't worry, we're takin' good care o' him. Oogie's got some plans and I'm just here to make sure things go nice and smooth like..." ---------------------------------------------------------- Jack shook his head and did a mental party count to see if everyone was accounted for. "Everyone all right? No broken bones or bruises?" He asked, still keeping a chipper demeanor. Zero popped up from the ground and barked to his owner. "Well even if you had bones, I'm glad their not broken," Jack chuckled.
Mission complete "Why does that name ring a bell?..." Aux though aloud. "This fiend she wishes to discover.. perhaps a former lover?" She asked the rest of the party. "Thats my working theory," Aux shrugged before gently putting Shantotto on the ground. The lalafell dusted off her garments and pouted. The fighting has at least stopped for the rest of the group. "Very well, the culprit must be near Santa's workshop. And for now I will align with you lot..." she smirked before waving her hands. "But just to keep you earnest and clean. Your words will now speak rhyme schemes.." A small buff fluttered over the party. The party will now rhyme for the remainder of Cristmastown..
"Hmph! It's possible I'm sure, that your not my aim of capture. But If I'm to buy your claim, whose the culprit's name?" Shantotto frowned, still tussling and spinning around as Aux held her by the collar like a puppy. "Trust me, we're not who your hunting for..." He paused after seeing Karina's antlers. "Well maybe she is... But you've If you can help us find this rat, we cn get your boss back." "I need not your help! Villanous whelp!" she argued. Aux held her up and sighed, before looking to Beuce and Faust. "You know either of you can jump in at anytime..."
After seeing how Karina tried to blend swap her way into an explanation to avoid further combat, Aux tried to recuperate his thoughts. He didn't exactly want to turn into a merman or a lion again. The Gravity spell was still trying to suck her back in, but she was standing her ground well enough. So instead he tried to force everyone away from each other by providing some air to breathe. Literally. He was going to cast aero spells on everyone so they could stop being smashed together like clay. He clasped his fingers together as an Aero spell forged around Beuce, Faust and himself. They ind caused some grinding slashes as they were all confined to their own personal air bubble. Thankfully the gravity spell wore off as the three men fell back onto the ground, the Aero spells still in tact. Shantotto was still unconvinced by Karina's plea. "Your illusionary magic means nothing to me, You are still outsiders to my own degree..." She waved her staff and rained down powerful thunderbolts. Bolts of thunder continued to strike down around the party in a powerful cascade of electricity. "Santa Clause was captured not too long ago. But luckily the culprit left behind a note. That the captors who took our jolly friend, wielded blades with keys on the end!" She said, pointing to Karina's keyblade. Aux shifted forward and blinked out of sight. He appeared behind Shantotto with Hyperjump and kicked her up into the air, grabbing her by the collar. The small lalafell kicking and swiping her staff around. He knew it wasn't the most direct of actions, but he had to get her to stop attacking. "Unhand me you troll! Else it be you who pays the toll!" Aux glared, not enjoying these very demeaning nicknames. "Look, we're the people who are here to stop the ones who forged that note..." 6/10 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Zero bounced happily alongside Luna while Jack continued to guide the group through the graveyard. As they came into view of the Spiraling hill, he continued to answer their questions. "Why being the Pumpkin King makes you the patron spirit of all Halloween. A symbol and leader on the night of frights! But it's not just about terrorizing people that makes this night special... It's the scare! Fear and doubt are signs of a strong heart. They push your heart, strike out in new directions! Without them, your zest for life might fade... as would your taste for fear. And believe me, that would really ruin my fun." As Quill answered his head, Jack sighed. "Oh, those three again? Those little troublemakers aren't always trying to be bad... They're just kids who like to get into trouble every now and then. I assure you they love Halloween as much as anyone here. Theyre just a bit... misguided. And Oogie doesn't seem to be helping at all.." As they approached the hill, several Halloween heartless appeared around the group. White Knights, Hover Ghosts and Gargoyles began to corner in on them. Neoshadows also rose up from the ground. Jack quickly took guard with his Soul Robber. "Speaking of Which..." Jack said, as he engaged. I. Monster Mash Objective: Defeat the heartless Information: Heartless have appeared! Fight and defeat them. Fight for 12 posts. Reward: 40,000 EXP
Aux guarded against the fire spell with his arm, causing a bit of burnt singing on the side of his santa coat. He patted down any remaining cinders quickly as he summoned his keyblade. The small and nimble mage was darting around making it harder to hit the woman. He didn't want to use any long range attacks in fear of hitting one of his own party members. Thus he has to try and get into more closed quarters combat. Beuce and Karina had already joined into the Frey, allowing Aux to watch and examine their interactions to see if there was any opening he could move in on and exploit. Thus far, there was sadly none. Shantotto chuckled at Beuce's claim. "From a whelp like you, I'd be quite flattered.. Though your divided efforts should be less scattered!" She waved her staff and cast a giant magnet spell to pull Faust, Aux, Karina and Beuce together. Smashing into one another vie a powerful magnetic force. Aux left arm kept welded to Beuce's shoulder as his right hand was fused to Karina's back. He struggled trying to pull away from the two. Shantotto scoffed. "You are uncouth! Admit the truth!" Aux pushed his boots against Karina and Beuce, trying to wriggle free of their sticking situation. Everyone's keyblades were also being clanged together from the lalafell's powerful magnetic spell. She wasn't very keen on listening to reason and she seemed more of an annoying obstacle then a serious threat. Aux tried to think of a less violent action since he didn't know if this would turn into one of those 'enemy turned ally' situations. He sighed, trying not to get overly aggressive and went limp for a moment. He looked to the others to see what their course of action was before acting further on the battle. 4/10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jack nodded opening the door and allowed the group to follow him through Halloweentown. "The path to Oogie's Manor can be found by going trough Spiral Hill... Just be sure to be on your guard. A lot of less friendly horrors have been popping up lately. Are you all prepared for that kind of threat?" The group went past the center of the town and passed a small fountain with a gargoyle spewing green liquid. He led the group passed the graveyard gated and found them surrounded by several tombs.
Jack nodded to AJ's request. "Oogie is in the same place he is every year. It's a bit trick to get to, so I have no problem escorting you there. I just have to make a quick stop at the Doctor's lab before we continue if that's alright." He noticed that a few more stragglers of the SOS had joined them as well. "More the merrier of course! Oogie has made Halloweentown a bit dangerous. Scary is wonderful, but a few of us think he's gone a bit overboard... The Pumpkin King's job is to scare of course... But i dunno... Halloween is supposed to be full of fun and surprises!" He smiled. Skellington was quite passionate about the holiday. He escorted the group into the lab, where they found a pale, fragile man in a wheel chair. He hound small, tinted spectacles on an enormous head. He dusted off his black gloves and looked to Jack. "More members of your Halloween Committee, Jack?" The Doctor asked. "Nope! Just a couple of new faces looking for Oogie Boogie, Dr. Finkelstein... Here's the ingredients you asked for Doctor... what are they for?" he asked after handing the Doctor a small bag. The Doctor quickly took the ingredients from Jack and rolled to his work table.He unveiled the white sheet covering it to reveal body parts of a human sized rag doll. "My assistant is almost complete! She's just the kind of help I need around here since with that Boogie crackpot is still running things. We need to elect a new Pumpkin King like we need a new mayor!" he grumbled. "Now Doctor, Oogie is the scariest creature in Halloweentown. Rules are rules," Jack nodded. "Feh! You're twice the scarer that Bag of bugs will ever be! You just have no confidence! Everyone can see you have a spine except for you!" Jack looked a bit embarrassed as the Doctor rolled back over to him and handed him a small ball of green slime. "And here's my end of the bargain. A shape shifting slime you can use to fight off Oogie's goons if they get to close... I call it the Soul Robber!" Jack grinned as he molded the slime into different shapes, mostly sticking consistently with a whip. "Brilliant a always!" he grinned. "Of course... I invented it after all..." He put the rest of the ingredients into the ragdoll's body. He shook his head at the sight of her. "I think I made her to cheerful... How's she supposed to scare anyone with that smile? What am I even supposed to call her? Smiley? Sappy?" Jack thought for a brief moment. "Hmm... What about 'Sally?" The Doctor opened his own head and scratched his brain before closing it shut. "Seems a bit pedestrian.... Let's give it a go..." HE cleared his throat before speaking. \ "SALLY, YOU USELESS ASSISTANT! Sally? SALLY?!" He nodded his head. "I could see that name working, I suppose" he thought aloud. Jack turned to the rest of the group. "Read to head off?" ----------------------------------------------------------- Beuce and Faust arrived, causing the small dwarven lady to take a battle stance with her staff. Shantotto felt insulted at the sight of Beuce. "First his garb and now his beard?! claims of peace are far from clear! And I see no rat, just ink and lies! Now prepare you stance! Your doom is nigh!" Mystic barriers surrounded the four, as Shantotto prepared to fight. Disembark Objective: Defeat Shantotto Information: The powerful lalafell mage refuses to let you pass. Fight for 10 posts. Reward: 40,000 EXP
Aux rolled his eyes as Karina pushed forward ahead of him, the two following the black sludge that led into town. As they approached the gates of the town, "A raven haired wench and very large man! What strangers claim to see this land?" A Shakespearean woman's voice belted out, causing the two to turn. Boths Heads went downward as the voice and claim came from a small, blonde woman who was sitting at only two feet tall. Aux turned to Karina. "Did... did that thing just call me fat?" "That 'thing' is named Shantatto naive!, Disrespect again and meet your grave! She glared at Aux's suit. "Your attire matches that of Santa Claus... " She took out her staff, almost as if offended. "You made him vanish! You are the cause!?" Aux looked down at his christmastown getup. "Is Santa Claws the name of the rat guy you hate?" he asked Karina. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Why the only festival that matters of course... Halloween!" He said with glee. "It's only a few months away, y'know..." He smiled. "Denizen?... Oh how rude of me, my name is Jack Skellington. I'm the curator for most of the festivities this year. And it's a pleasure to meet you both!" Zero began floating around Luna and Quill as if he was sniffing them out. "Don't mind Zero... he's just naturally curious. It's so rare I get to take him skulking anywhere... Curator duties have had me quite busy! Normally that's reserved for the Pumpkin King, but he's more... preoccupied this year," he remarked sadly. He began grimacing at the rest of his to-do list. "This year will uh... definitely be eventful..."
As Luna and Quill were near the graveyard on the outskirt of Halloweentown, a very tall and slender skeleton began walking by them. His attention was focused on a clipboard he was writing on, checking each box as he murmured each grotesque thing off the list. "Ventriloquist dummy full of man-eating spiders, (sigh) check... Blood bombs.... check..." Beside him was the floating ghost of a dead dog. The dog himself had a bright red nose and his body was more of a floating sheet. The skeleton scratched the back of his head. "I don't know Zero... some of these seem to be going a little too far. Even for Halloween..." he told his dog. As he marched further, he was stopped at the sight of the White Cat and Gargoyle. "Oh?! Are you here to help with the preparations as well?" the friendly skeleton asked the two.
