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Chapter VI
The time: 8:50 AM; the place: Halloweentown Square. The Mayor had just finished giving the town a lecture on whay NOT to put prune juice in the Halloween punch. The Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington, was walking home from the Town Hall.
Now to go home and have the rest of that Snake-'n'-Spider Stew! thought Jack nonchalantly. As he was about to unlock the gate to his property, Sora caught up with him.
"Jack!" Sora called, catching his breath.
"Oh, hello, Sora!" said Jack cheerfully. "How was your Halloween?"
Sora made a nervous laugh. "Like you don't know?! I just never got a chance to thank you for helping the skeleton kid and I with Oogie Boogie last night."
The Pumpkin King's cheery smile faded. "Sora..." he said slowly. "I hope you're joking; Oogie Boogie's been dead for almost two years!"
Sora's face became a paler shade then it ususally was. Had Jack forgotten? No, he couldn't have; something was wrong. He forced a smile and said, "Yeah, you're right! I was just joking. Uh, see you later Jack..."
Sora returned to his apartment in a daze. What was going on? He told Morticai the whole story.
"...and Jack denies it!" he finished.
"Maybe it was just a dream, Sora," Morticai suggested, "You probably had too much punch at the Halloween Party."
Sora's head was spinning...he couldn't recall even going to the Halloween Party. "B-but it seemed so real..." Sora said, feeling like he was slowly making the descent to insanity. "It couldn't have been a d-dream..."
BAMPF!!
Sora whirled around to see what the noise was.
Betelgeuse had just teleported into the room. "Correctomundo, Sora!" he said in that gruff, raspy voice of his. "'Cause if this was your dream, I wouldn't be here; and it sure isn't my dream, 'cause if it was, I'd be gettin' a HUGE promotion and there'd be sexy ladies everywhere!"
"Who the heck are you?!" asked Sora.
"Sorry, kid, IDP regulations; can't tell ya." said Betelgeuse superficially.
"'IDP?' What are you talking about?"
"It's a sort of police force," Betelgeuse lied, "that travels to different dimensions to take in dangerous criminals and I'm afraid you're under arrest!" Well, there's SOME truth to that... he thought. He began to walk over to Sora and grabbed his arm.
"On what charges?" said Sora, getting angry. He tried to pull away when Betelgeuse grabbed him. "H-hey! Leggo of me!"
BAMPF! A pair of hancuffs appeared in Betelgeuse's free hand.
"Sorry, kid," he said insincerely, "just doin' my low-payin' job."
A low growling sound came from Sora as he became enraged; his eye seemed to narrow and his whites became black.
Betelgeuse didn't seemed to notice as he cuffed Sora. "You have the right to remain silent! Heh, I've always wanted to say that..."
Sora's iris became small and white with no pupil; his voice sounded outraged. "I said...'LET GO..."
Betelgeuse looked up, his evil smile fading.
Sora's voice became deep and demonic. "OF ME!!""
Betelgeuse's pupils contracted. "Uh, that's not supposed to happen, is it?"
Sora snapped the handcuffs as if they were made of toothpicks and stomped towars Betelgeuse, who was backing up against the wall. For the first time since a sandworm of Saturn had tried to devour him, Betelgeuse was scared.
Sora's teeth were now shaped like razor sharp blades. He had them bared as he closed in on Betelgeuse.
Betelgeuse began to sweat, cracking a nervous smile. "Uh...easy there, Sora, you wouldn't want to hurt little ol' Betelgeuse, do ya? I mean, c'mon, have a heart!"
"LEAVE...NOW..." Sora bellowed.
Betelgeuse gathered up a little courage. "Fine!" he spat. "But when you burn another building down, don't come crying to me!"
Before Sora could respond and claw the Ghost With the Most's face off, there was another "BAMPF!" and Betelgeuse had disappeared.
The second Betelgeuse had disappeared, Sora's rage melted like ice cream in the sun. The boy fell to the floor and landed face-down with a THUD.
"SORA!" yelled Morticai. "Are you hurt?! Are you okay?!"
Silence...
In a few seconds, Sora raised his head; his features returned to normal and Sora looked dazed. "Morticai?" he asked, sounding like he had just taken a long nap. "What happened? Who was that guy?"
Back at IDP Headquarters, Betelgeuse was just finishing giving his report to Number 208.
"So..yeah..." said Betelgeuse, slowly, "the kid went ape on me after I tried to grab him. He's using the power without even knowing."
Number 208 let out a heavy sigh. "That means he can become increasingly dangerous at an alarming rate. Were you able to see what he was capable of like that?"
"Are you crazy?! That kid might've torn me apart if I didn't bail!"
"Alright, then..." said Number 208 distantly, obviously trying to concoct a plan. "We must..."
"Don't bother, butt-chin!" Oogie had just entered the room.
"That's 'Number 208' to you, Number 1306!"
"What do you want, Oogie? OW!" Betelgeuse said as Number 208 elowed him. "What was that f--? Oh, I mean, 'what do you want, Number 1306?'"
"Don't bother with destroying Sora!" said the Boogieman. "I'll be in Halloweentown anyway! While I'm trying to destroy Jack, I might as well crush that little black-haired brat, too, while I'm at it! And with my three little henchmen with me, I can't lose!"
Lock, Shock, and Barrel had entered the room.
Barrel had put his cloak on backwards and the hood was going over his face. "Help! Shock! I can't see!" he said, muffled by the hood.
"You have it on backwards, idiot!" Shock said dismissively, not caring much.
Lock was reading the tag on his. "'Dryclean only.' Weird..."
Betelgeuse and Number 208 exchanged skeptic glances.
"I know you're a bit hesitant now, but me and my henchmen are Grade A players, you'll see!"
"Number 1306," Number 208 said slowly. "What do you want in return if you and Numbers 1307, 1308, and 1309 suceed?"
"Nothing..." Oogie said surprisingly. "...if I don't kill Jack, that is. Now, how do I get back to Halloweentown?"
"The cloak has magical properties." Betelgeuse explained. "Just picture Halloweentown in your mind and say the word 'go' in your thoughts."
"Can all you guys do that?"
Betelgeuse nodded. "Yeah, and some of us, like myself, can do it without the getup."
Oogie, with Lock, Shock, and Barrel, stood silent for a moment.
BAMPF!
BAMPF!
BAMPF!
BAMPF!
Betelgeuse turned to his hooded colleague. "When I was in Halloweentown, Number 208, I heard the name 'Tom Bohnne' mentioned."
"Oh?"
"Yes, by Lock, Shock, & Barrel. He definately involved with Oogie Boogie's return to mortallity not to mention attempted murder of said Boogieman. He may not sound like much, but he's smart, from what I can gather...kinda like me!" He let out a short, snorty laugh.
"Funny you should mention Tom Bohnne..." Number 208 said, sitting down in the chair Betelgeuse had been sitting in the night before.
"Why? Is he the secret word?"
"Not exactly. While you were gone, I was doing a bit of research on Tom Bohnne's background. You'd be suprised to find out how much he's 'kinda like you,' Number 475."
Betelgeuse's eyebrows raised. "Uh-huh?"
Number 208 bngan to rapidly type on the nearest keyboard. There was a "blip" sound and a pciture of Tom appeared on the screen.
"That's him?"
His colleague said nothing. The picture shrank until it was a small as a fingernail. Soon, a line appeared at the top of it, leading to another dot, and then another, then another. Betelgeuse realized he was being shown a family tree.
Number 208 pointed to a dot high on the tree. "See that dot?"
"If you move your finger, I c--"
"That's you."
Betelgeuse became silent. "Whuh?" was all he could say.
"You're Tom Bohnne's uncle." said Number 208. "His middle name is 'Betelgeuse,' you know."
Betelgeuse turned around and left the room silently.
Chapter:
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