FanFiction.Net - unleash your imagination|
Author of 16 Stories |
If you’re reading this, I’m assuming you’ve played Kingdom Hearts 1. If not, don’t fret. I’ll recap everything you need to know. Realize that if you ever intend to play the game there will be spoilers, but I’ll try to only touch on what is absolutely necessary for you to learn. That way, all can enjoy! (Plus, it’s a good refresher for those that haven’t played lately.)
The Kingdom Hearts universe is composed of several worlds that are connected to one another, but blocked from intermingling by mystical keyholes. Each “world” is focused around a different Disney movie represented by a planet-like sphere floating in space—so, for example, Aladdin has its own “world,” Hercules has one, the Nightmare Before Christmas has one, etc. etc.—but none of these worlds know about the others.
The Heartless—shadowy beings created when a person loses their heart—seek to devour these worlds out of some primal, animalistic hunger. In doing so, the Heartless are slowly breaking/opening the mystical keyholes and covering each world in a spreading network of Darkness. The main protagonists—Sora, Donald, and Goofy—are on cleanup, traveling from world to world trying to undo the damage by fighting alongside the characters from each movie and relocking the mystical keyholes with Sora’s weapon: the Keyblade.
This story deals with the Nightmare Before Christmas world.
Now, those of us that have played the game all know that the second “boss Oogie” form (when he becomes the tree) sucks. He’s pathetically easy and not, in any way, challenging. My fanfiction deals with an alternate second battle with Oogie that, if ever made into a video game, would hopefully be more exciting.
As a consequence, this story is kind of AU and kind of not. If it wasn’t for the fact that Kingdom Hearts 2 is now out, I’d probably be able to start the story as-is (in the middle of the level) and have everyone know where I am. Since that’s not the case, I’ll just take a shortcut and quickly narrate what’s going on so far so you don’t have to read through a long, boring novelization.
This will be a multi-chaptered story, updated as I get it written, and I hope you enjoy every minute of it. I’m very open to readers, so if during the course of skimming through this you have a thought—be it positive, negative, black, white, skinny, long, or short—shout it out! Review, email, IM, whatever. I love to hear anything and everything the readers are thinking.
Speaking of readers, a huge gigantic thanks needs to go out to my two awesome beta readers: faye chua and thejennamonster. They are both very talented authors who keep me from making very untalented mistakes. Thanks guys! You rock!
And lastly, these characters aren’t mine. And I love s’mores. That is all.
Bon appetite!
Lock, Shock, and Barrel have just stolen the fake heart that Jack and Dr. Finkelstein were working on. Our story begins with Jack, Sora, Donald, and Goofy chasing after them, trying to get it back before Oogie gets his hands on it. If you want a full refresher on the level, check out www(dot)ffcrystals(dot)limited-chaos(dot)com/KHScript(dot)php where you can find a complete script of the entire game.
-------------------- Undead Hearts --------------------
By: Lael Adair
Chapter 1
Over the shadows of a darkened graveyard, navy clouds parted in a starless sky to cast moonlight on the dead below. The inner cemetery was a favorite among the citizens of Halloween Town, for in the young hours of the night when mist first rose from the decaying ground, the unique outline of Spiral Hill could be seen silhouetted against the rising moon. Unfortunately, what was often a serene and eerie picture was quickly ruined by a large Victorian tub trotting its way with surprising speed over the top of the landmark. As the graceful curl of the hilltop extended to allow safe passage over the inner iron fence separating the town from the surrounding wilderness, three childish heads peeked over the back rim of the tub to survey the success of their getaway.
“Jack’s right behind us!” a young boy in a skull mask shouted as he pointed in the distance where, through the mist and the towering headstones, he could see a flurry of activity. A girl in a witch costume roughly pushed him aside, clonking him on the head with her own appropriately-themed mask.
“If you shout like that he’s sure to find us, maggot head! We’re almost outside the pumpkin patch. Once we reach the woods we can lose him in the trees.”
A third child dressed as the devil chuckled throatily from where he was crouched on the other end of the tub. With noticeable pride he lifted up a beating mechanical heart that was almost as large as his torso. “Meanwhile, the Heartless will make sure to take care of him. And if they don’t...” he flashed a wicked grin, “then Jack can play with us.”
The skeleton child plopped happily into a sitting position, the witch following suit. “And then we can throw his head into the Town Square fountain and see if it floats!”
“If there are any pieces left.”
The three glanced at one another and burst into laughter as the tub stepped off of Spiral Hill and continued its way into the darkness.
“Don’t stop to engage them! Follow the children!”
Sora danced frantically between the countless granite blocks protruding from the ground as he tried to maintain enough swinging room for his Keyblade. He had seen some of the Heartless variations here before—such as the ghost-like apparitions that haunted Atlantica—but many others were new, as were their attack patterns in battle. He cried out in pain and stumbled forward as a small mummy-like Heartless dug into his unprotected back with a set of fine silver claws. At his side Donald gave a similar shout as he was caught in the face on the backside of the monster’s swing. Sora whipped the Keyblade in a desperate circle to save himself from another strike, but a tall spindly figure was already protecting him, knocking the mummified Wight backwards with a theatrical sweep of its arms.
“Don’t stop,” Jack Skellington repeated, turning his skull sideways to keep one eye socket on Sora as he focused the other on the fight. “We can deal with the Heartless later. We have to catch those three before they get away!”
“Over here!”
Sora, Jack, and Donald turned at the shout just as Goofy spun on one foot and knocked three Heartless down with his shield. With one last stab at an approaching Ghost, Sora raced with the others through the newly-created hole and across the rest of the graveyard. The four burst into the pumpkin patch with a small herd of Heartless in close pursuit. Beneath their feet, long coiled vines suddenly came to life as they twisted and writhed with an almost conscious annoyance to keep from being trampled. One caught Goofy around the ankle and set him stumbling to the ground. Donald moved in with practiced grace to cover him long enough to get up. A few feet away, Jack and Sora stood together, facing off against a line of flying gargoyle Heartless that had suddenly appeared in their path. Just beyond them, Spiral Hill stood peacefully, coiled and unmoving, in its resting state.
Without warning several black clouds suddenly materialized into being around the small group, branching out from the line of Heartless already guarding the hill—first at the sides, then the back, and finally directly in their midst. Separated from the others by a solid wall of Gargoyles, Jack and Sora pressed into each other and readied to attack. Donald and Goofy did the same.
“I’ve never seen such restless spirits,” Jack muttered to himself. He stepped forward deftly to slash at a Ghost but was forced to retreat as another dashed in to catch him on the side.
Sora grunted. “Lucky you.” Two Heartless exploded in clouds of black smoke with a single swing of his Keyblade. “We’ve been fighting them in every world since—”
“Sora!” Donald shouted in warning even as he fired off a healing spell. “X-nay on the other orldsway!”
Jack gasped and recoiled past the key bearer as a Wight managed to break through his defenses and land a good slash on his torso. He kicked at it with his foot but soon followed with a leaping strike, fists clawed and stretched at his sides. He was only able to pursue it for a short ways before he was forced to retreat back into their defensive circle which was rapidly shrinking amidst the chaos.
“We should start making our way up the hill!” Sora called out.
“I fear the hill will be too slow at this point.” Without warning, Jack suddenly wrapped a delicate arm around Sora’s middle and lifted him off the ground. “Goofy!” A bone-white fist raised into the air as particles of something began to swirl around it. “Follow me!”
Goofy nodded and scooped up Donald, who flew into a string of unintelligible curses at the unexpected jostling.
With a terrifying shriek that sent a piercing shiver through everyone’s spine, Jack thrust his palm at the Heartless and let loose a wave of something that Sora could only think to describe as fear. From under Jack’s arm he saw the Heartless tumble backwards, trembling violently, and fade into the distance as the skeleton used his long legs to clear the fence bordering the pumpkin patch.
Goofy tried to follow suit, but at the end of his leap one of the iron spikes adorning the top of the fence caught on his pants and he fell upside-down against the gate with a painful CLANG, the underside of his jaw brushing the ground. Donald tumbled roughly from his grasp and somersaulted twice before snapping upright in a sitting position, his white feathers completely covered in a grayish-purple dust. He muttered angrily to himself as he got to his feet and stomped over to help a bashful Goofy off the fence.
Jack put Sora down, but while the key bearer and his friends were all focused on the struggle with Goofy’s pants, his attention was pointed in the opposite direction, far into the distance.
“Oh no...”
Goofy fell hard to the ground on top of Donald, finally free, and lifted his shield off of his head. “Did we lose ‘em?”
Eyes drooping in a skeletal frown, Jack spun in place and glanced downward, searching the ground for tracks, though none were visible. Directly before him in a U-shape formation that cradled the edge of the town was a massive forest of mottled black-and-grey trees—the Hinterlands.
“No” he moaned. “I know where they’re going.”
Donald shot up into a kneeling position. “What? Then what was that wild chase for!”
Jack walked over with a disappointed sigh and stooped down to help the duck to his feet. “Because once they get there they will be infinitely harder to reason with.” His voice lowered as he continued to himself. “Oogie Boogie could convince those three to steal the Reaper’s scythe if he wanted it.”
“Who’s Oogie Boogie?” Sora asked.
“Oh!” Jack gasped, spinning to face him. “I’m terribly sorry! You must think me horribly rude!” He dipped low in an elegant bow. “I certainly haven’t provided much of a reception, have I? And I’m the Pumpkin King; of all my responsibilities, welcoming newcomers should be the first. I do hope you won’t judge your entire stay here based on this momentary lapse in my manners.”
Sora stepped backward at the profuseness of Jack’s apology. “Oh, uh, that’s okay.” He shared an awkward glance with Donald and Goofy. “We’re just passing through, anyway.”
Jack straightened and tilted his head with a sad, pitying look in his lifeless eyes. “Of course.” He stepped forward to place a gentle hand on the boy’s shoulder. “But you may come to find, Sora, that you’re here for a little longer than you expect...”
Suddenly, he withdrew, his demeanor changing within an instant. “Besides, you’ve come at the most wonderful time imaginable!” He flared his fingers in excitement. “Halloween!”
“Halloween?” Goofy repeated.
“It’s only a few weeks away! It’s also the reason for my terse introduction earlier as there’s still quite a bit left to do. Sometimes I tend to get carried away with my projects.”
“And one of them is the heart we’re supposed to be chasing!” Donald interrupted.
Jack turned to him. “There would be little point in hurrying anymore. It will take us a while to reach Oogie’s Manor, as it’s in the opposite direction. It seems Lock, Shock, and Barrel led us this way on purpose. They’re probably already there by now.”
“We could try fightin’ through the graveyard again” Goofy offered, to which Donald and Sora shouted “No!”
Jack lifted a slender finger to his jaw in thought. “Better to go around the outer gates, I think. It’s the long way, but the pumpkin patches can be quite...territorial...at times, especially if they’re trampled. It’s also quite possible that Lock, Shock, and Barrel have laid Tricks in the streets in anticipation of our passage. They won’t think to send the Heartless or anything else after us out here.” He chuckled. “The little hellions.”
Sora, Donald, and Goofy exchanged wary glances. They certainly didn’t feel like chuckling. With a hopeless shrug, they all fell in step alongside Jack, whose lengthy strides easily covered three of their own—or, in Donald’s case, four.
“So” Sora started, craning his neck upward to look into the skeleton’s face. “Who are those three kids? They work for this ‘Oogie Boogie’?”
“Mischief-makers by reputation” Jack answered, “Lock, Shock, and Barrel by name. Shock is the girl, Lock and Barrel are the devil and the skeleton, respectively. They don’t ‘work’ for Oogie Boogie per se, I really think they’re just misguided—though there are many in the town who would disagree with me. You saw them steal the heart Dr. Finkelstein and I were working on?”
Sora and the others nodded. They had been present when it happened. Jack and the doctor were trying to create an artificial heart that would allow them to control the Heartless. Jack had wanted to include a handful of Ghosts in a dance number at his annual Halloween celebration, but was having some difficulty in getting the fake heart to work. The initial ingredients he and the doctor had added were common necessities—namely pulse, emotion, terror, fear, hope, and despair. But after a test trial and a subsequent failure, they chose to add memory and surprise as well, which the doctor said was sure to work. Unfortunately, before they could test the heart a second time, Lock, Shock, and Barrel interrupted and stole it, leading to the desperate chase through the graveyards towards the outskirts of town.
Jack shook his head. “I know those three would have no use for such a thing. Oogie must have told them to take it, or they did it thinking it would please him.”
“But who is Oogie Boogie?” Donald asked.
Jack glanced backwards with a sly smile. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“And why’s that?”
“Because you don’t believe in the Boogieman.”
“Hyuk” Goofy laughed. “He’s gotcha there, Donald.”
“Here in Halloween Town” Jack continued, “it’s our job to make sure Halloween goes as planned—each year more terrifying than the last if we can manage it. Oogie, however, has never been one to participate much in the effort.”
“Do you two not get along?” Sora asked, picking up on the tone in Jack’s voice.
The skeleton scowled in the darkness. The brief facets of light collected eerily around his face, highlighting an almost demonic shadow upon his bleach-white skull. “You might put it that way. Needless to say Oogie and I have slightly differing opinions on how best to scare. His method often involves harm of some sort. This...won’t be the first confrontation we’ve had. In fact, I’m the reason he’s currently banished to the place we’re journeying to.”
“Gawrsh. Ya banished him?”
Jack sighed. “I didn’t want to” he said sadly, his expression lending truth to his words. “But Oogie wouldn’t listen to reason. You see, long ago, before he or I ever came into this world, Halloween wasn’t just a holiday celebrated once a year. It was a state of life. Ghosts and ghouls, phantoms and spirits, witches, werewolves, vampires, and all other manners of fear-based creatures happily terrorized mortals in the, shall we say, ‘central’ world.”
“Oh come on” Donald interrupted. “You’re trying to tell us that all those things are real? Those are just stories. Vampires and werewolves don’t really attack people.”
“They don’t anymore, but they used to” Jack said solemnly. “Fear through harm was the most coveted of all techniques until I managed to convince the others differently.”
Goofy nodded. “And I’m bettin’ Oogie didn’t take to the suggestion.”
“No. He had lived in Halloween Town much longer than myself, and had a particularly strong attachment to the old ways of doing things.”
“So was he the previous king?” Sora asked.
Jack stopped. “Previous king?”
“Yeah. I know if I was ruler I’d be upset with someone just coming in and taking over, too.”
Jack recoiled, seemingly hurt at the suggestion that he would ever take anything from anyone. “It was hardly a takeover” he said as he continued walking, now a little slower. “There was no Pumpkin King before me. There was only Fear. I was awarded the title as a gesture of gratitude. In those times the mortals were growing increasingly adept at, well, destroying us. And, as you can imagine, death while dead is permanent.” He brightened. “My solution was quite optimal all the way around.”
Donald glanced about nervously. “So now you just show up every once and a while to scare the living daylights out of people?”
Jack flashed a wicked smile. “Everyone needs a good jolt now and again. Don’t you think?”
Goofy and Sora nodded quickly, though Donald didn’t follow suit. He was about to open his beak again when he was gently kneed in the side.
“We’re supposed to be blending in,” Sora whispered, low so Jack wouldn’t hear. “Remember?”
Again, Donald opened his beak to retort but was promptly interrupted.
“There it is.”
The party drew to a halt at Jack’s voice. Following the Pumpkin King’s extended arm they glanced up...and up...and up at an enormous gnarled tree growing inside a valley between two dark and foreboding cliffs on either side. A sickening knot formed in each of their stomachs as Donald, Goofy, and Sora inched forward to the edge and glanced far below at a small river that pulsed with an eerie green glow as it wound its way amidst the rock. The roots of the tree seemed to slash angrily through the ground, jutting out at odd angles in the places where they’d mercilessly ripped the earth to get to the surface. Following the wrinkled trunk upward, they saw that wooden catwalks and metal cages had been manually anchored into the bark to allow a rugged path around and up the trunk of the behemoth plant. There were no leaves at the crown where angry branches tore at the sky. The tree was either dead, or naturally menacing.
“Would ya look at that” Goofy whispered in awe. “It’s huge.”
“Yeah” Sora muttered absently. He gestured to the fifty-foot gap separating them from the massive trunk. “Wonder how we’re supposed to get across.”
“Over there.” Jack inclined his head further down the cliff wall toward a rickety wooden bridge spanning the distance across the chasm.
“You want us to cross that!” Donald squawked.
“It’s not so bad” Jack said as he began to stride towards it. He grinned privately to himself as he waved a nonchalant hand over his back, unable to resist the casual fright. “Just don’t fall off...”
:
:
:
:
