Work Text:
It all started with this:
So, many years later I thought I'd drop in,
And there was old Jack still looking quite thin,
With four or five skeleton children at hand
Playing strange little tunes in their xylophone band.
And I asked old Jack, "Do you remember the night
When the sky was so dark and the moon shone so bright?
When a million small children pretending to sleep
Nearly didn't have Christmas at all, so to speak?
And would, if you could, turn that mighty clock back,
To that long, fateful night. Now, think carefully, Jack.
Would you do the whole thing all over again,
Knowing what you know now, knowing what you knew then?"
And he smiled, like the old pumpkin king that I knew,
Then turned and asked softly of me, "Wouldn't you?"
*
In his great red suit, and his big black boots, Santa Claus found himself almost reluctant to leave the quaint, dark place known as Halloweentown. It would be many years yet before he would see this place - or Jack - again.
Christmas was arriving in merely two days and he had much to prepare before then! There were lists to check and recheck, gifts to pack on his sleigh, elves that needed supervision, and he had to make sure he knew his routes forwards and backwards and side to side. Even now, he hoped that everything back home was working smoothly without him.
Jack volunteered to see him off, through the tree in the forest with the decorated pine-tree. Two of his children, Judy and Tuck, followed them both closely.
"Mister Claws, will you come back and visit us again?" asked Tuck.
"Well, young man, I don't quite know," admitted Santa.
"Oh, why not?" asked Judy. "We would like it if you would. We didn't know about Christmas, but it sounds terrifying!"
"Not terrifying," Tuck hissed at his sister, poking her side with a bony finger so much like his father’s. "Cheerful."
"Oh, right." Judy laughed. "Cheerful."
Santa chuckled and smiled, but he said nothing more.
They'd reached the forest of holiday doors now, and stopped in front of the one shaped like a pine tree.
"Trick or treat!" someone suddenly shouted.
Another voice continued, "Smell my feet!"
And from somewhere near, a third voice cried, "Give me something good to eat!"
"Not too big -"
"- not too small!"
"Just the size of -"
Three horribly familiar figures suddenly jumped out from their hiding spots. Santa Claus noted that the three trick-or-treaters hardly changed since he last saw them. Sure, the two boys seemed to be a little taller; one of them even looked as though he'd begun to grow into a bulkier upper-body. Lock, Shock and Barrel were their names, and together they shouted in harmony, "- Montreal!"
The girl, Shock, began to cackle, pulling the mask from her face. "Merry Christmas, Santa," she crooned. "Didn't expect to see you again."
"But what a pleasant surprise," added the round teenager. Barrel, Santa recalled.
"Is it? I don't remember our last meeting with any particularly fond memories," Santa admitted aloud. "You three were naughty, naughty children."
"We duly apologize for that."
"We do?" This was Lock.
Shock kicked her compatriot in the shins. "Yes, you dummy!" she accused, shrilly.
"Trick-or-treaters!" Jack began, "If you please. Our important guest must return to his world now."
Shock and Barrel exchanged glances, slow grins forming across their faces.
"Of course, Jack."
"Wouldn't dream of stopping him, Jack."
They began to grin, unnerving Santa to the core of his bones. Then they bowed theatrically, one arm raised to the sky while they hung their heads low.
"Well, Jack," said Santa, scratching the back of his neck, "it was nice to see you again."
"And you," replied Jack with his trademark smile, all teeth and crinkled eye-sockets.
The door opened, sending a flurry of light snow into Halloweentown. Then with a smile and a wave, Santa hopped through the opening and disappeared in a swirl of light and colour.
Neither Jack nor Santa noticed the shiny emerald-coloured beetle crawling from Santa’s shoulder to hide beneath his hat.
*
"Well, it was nice of him to drop by," said Sally when Jack arrived home. He let Judy and Tuck rush past him to rejoin their siblings, nearly falling over from their excitement.
"It was," Jack agreed, "but there is something bothering me. Something I simply cannot put my bony finger on."
"About what? About Santa?"
Jack tapped his chin thoughtfully, and then shook his head. "I'm not sure. It's about the trick-or-treaters. You remember them. Lock, Shock and Barrel."
"Troublemakers," Sally murmured, her expression of suspicion mirroring his own.
"Yes. I have a feeling they're up to something. They were in the forest when we were showing Sandy Claws the way home. They stopped us for a chat but I don't know … something else just doesn't sit right."
Sally took Jack's hand and gave it a light pat. "Maybe it was nothing," she said optimistically. It was clear she was trying to get his mind off such worrying matters, but it wasn't working.
Once Jack had an idea fixed in his mind, particularly one with a seemingly unanswerable puzzle, there was no stopping him until he learned the answer. In Sally’s opinion, it was one of his greatest strengths, but history had shown that it was also a (sometimes disastrous) weakness.
"Maybe."
"Well, Oogie Boogie's gone. He's been gone for years now. We haven't heard from the trick-or-treaters for just as long."
Jack put his arm around her, half-distracted by his own worries. "But Sally, that is what bothers me. That's the suspicious part of this. Why now?"
"I don't know, Jack." She shrugged. "Why did Santa decide to visit this year of all years? It's coincidence."
There was a long pause before Jack sighed. He shook his head. "Oh, maybe you're right. Everything's been fine. There's no reason why that should change. And I'm not planning to dress up in any red suits again. Christmas will be festive as always."
*
When Santa opened the door to his factory, he was surprised to find it in disarray. He'd been gone for an afternoon, and when he returned, Mrs. Claus insisted he finish his dinner before visiting the elves to see how they'd progressed throughout the day without him.
Though his wife's meal was delicious, and he cleaned his plate, Santa couldn't wait to get to work. He was, without quite ever meaning to be, something of a workaholic.
But nothing could prepare him for what he saw.
Around the wide space, machines were spewing out smoke. Step stools and ladders, rolls of fabric and gears – everything that could be had been snapped in half, toppled over, or ripped in two. His employees ran, trying to extinguish the small fires that burst forth from busted engines. Others were attempting to shut off the leaky faucets. It was a mess.
But worst of all, like a sinking stone in the pit of his stomach, Santa made out the hundreds of thousands of damaged toys, none suitable for any girl and boy to receive that holiday.
It was a disaster.
"Mr. Upatree!" Santa called. "What happened here?"
A small man with a pointed hat and matching pointed shoes emerged from the wreckage, his forehead smeared with soot. He was red-faced and frantic, with a big manila folder of files tucked under his arm. "Mr. Claus. Thank goodness you're here! It's been awful! Absolutely horrifying! We're not quite sure how it happened!"
"Explain everything," said Santa, pulling off his gloves. They walked along the top floor of the factory, heading back towards the Claus residence.
Blitz Upatree followed close at Santa's heels, shaking his head. "We were doing our best work, sir, when all of a sudden what do we hear but a loud, rumbling boom of laughter. Next thing I noticed, the MTMM-2000 starts to overheat and smoke's coming out the top. If it weren't for Baffle and Bunny who cried out a warning, who knows how many elves could be hurt?"
Something didn't sit right with Santa. He tapped his chin. "A rumbling boom of laughter, you say?"
"Yes sir that was what we heard."
"What could that be?" Santa frowned. A cold feeling that had nothing to do with the increasing snowfall outside fell upon him, chilling him right to the bone. It was the same sort of feeling he had when seeing those troublesome trick-or-treaters again. "Or who?"
"Who, sir?"
"Yes -"
There was a frantic knock at the door and Blitz turned to Santa. The old man nodded, giving the elf permission to open the door.
A pale elf with alabaster skin, for which he got his name, burst into the room. "We were already going into overtime, sir!" Alabaster, administrator of the Naughty-and-Nice list, cried. "Now I'm not sure our elves will have time to go home before Christmas at this rate!"
"You wouldn't happen to have caught the culprit, would you?" Santa asked.
Alabaster shook his head. "No, sir. All I heard was a laugh. I don't remember anyone from Christmastown laughing like that."
Santa thought his worst nightmares were coming to life, and he wasn't known for having very many of them. "No, indeed. It seems an investigation must be held while the rest of us try to see how much damage can be dealt with. The toys must be mended, or all the good-behaving boys and girls will have nothing come Christmas morning."
"That just will not do, sir," said Alabaster.
"We'll get on that right away, sir," added Blitz.
"Thank you, Blitz. Alabaster."
When the door closed once more, Santa took a moment to ponder on his own. He had his suspicions but he wished not to voice them. The idea would send his elves into a state of unrelenting panic and he needed them to be strong right now.
From somewhere in the kitchen, a sudden shrill scream rang out. It was Mrs. Claus.
"Mary?" Santa rose from his seat and pounded down the hall, stopping by the kitchen door when he heard it. Three distinctly gleeful and mischievous sets of laughter. He pushed his way through and saw them at once, gathered by the stove, clustered together with their Halloween masks on.
"You three!"
"Merry Christmas, Sandy Claws!" they cheered in unison. The round one with green hair stuck his tongue out through his mask, and a second later, they were racing for the door, faster than Santa could possibly catch them. Well, now he knew for sure who was behind the incident in his toy factory.
He helped Mrs. Claus down from her perch on her chair, where she must have climbed to escape the three troublesome trick-or-treaters and hugged her close.
"Where did they come from, those children? I've never seen such naughty ones before!"
"Halloweentown," Santa answered grimly. "And I have a feeling that is not the last we'll see of them this year."
When Mrs. Claus had been calmed, Santa left the kitchen to his office. He knew what he had to do. There was just one man he could call for help, though he wasn't quite sure he should do it. Given that memorable Christmas Eve many years ago, Santa was reluctant to bring two holidays together again.
But it seemed some Halloweentown citizens were taking matters into their own hands, and it was already far too late.
*
Oogie Boogie couldn't believe his luck.
"Ooh, what have we here?" he boomed, laughing delightedly. His head and torso had already been formed, made up of colourful blocks, and other shapes. "Quickly, trick-or-treaters. Gather these toys will you? We're gonna make me a new body!"
Lock, Shock and Barrel cackled, making their way around the now abandoned factory floor, picking up loose bits of a doll, or the broken cogs of a toy car, gathering them into one pile for Oogie Boogie.
"You're going to look great, Oogie."
"This'll be a fright!"
"Can we terrorize the elves after this?"
But Oogie wasn't listening.
It wasn't ideal. Oogie would have preferred his usual burlap and bug mix, but Christmastown was far too clean for that. And it was far too cold for bugs to live in this climate. But oh, how he loved it anyway. The lights were his favourite. They reminded him of his old gambling quarters before they were boarded up and closed off for good. He would get his revenge on Santa and he would get his revenge on Jack.
And this was the beginning of it.
*
It was the mayor who welcomed two tiny, bright elves dressed in green and white, with golden bells at the ends of their slippers, into his office that day.
"We're looking for Jack," the first one said.
"Jack?" the mayor repeated. "Who are you?" His head spun from cheerful and happy to paranoid and slightly scary. The elves had never seen anything like it before. They shrank back in fear.
"We're from -"
"- Christmastown."
"Blitz Upatree," said the first one.
"Pepper Minstix," said the second, promptly.
"Oh." The mayor's head spun again, back to its gentler expression. "My apologies. Can't be too careful, can we?"
The two elves exchanged a glance. The mayor remained oblivious.
"Can you take us to Jack?" Pepper asked.
"Of course I can!" said the mayor. "Right this way." He led them away from the office porch.
The main road was nothing like Christmastown's. It was paved in dark stones that held a strange shininess, as though it had just rained. It wound and twisted in all directions. In some places, it branched into smaller streets, some leading to tall looming buildings and others to short, squat structures that looked like they could eat you alive.
Blitz and Pepper stayed close to each other and followed the mayor. The citizens of this town were unnerving, and neither of them would have disagreed with the other on that. How did Santa know such a place, and what did they expect to find when they met this 'Jack Skellington'? He didn't sound particularly friendly.
The mayor continued to hum, innocent to the elves' thoughts. Soon they arrived at the thin, twisted gate of an impossibly tall tower, which seemed to bend forward like a flower leaning into the light. How it didn't manage to topple over from an imbalance of weight, the elves didn't know. But right now, for this moment, they didn't really care. They wanted to do what Santa had asked of them and return straight home to where it was safe and familiar.
"Follow me, gentlepeople!" said the mayor cheerfully, pushing the gate open, and leading the way up the uneven steps of the tower's porch. The stout mayor pulled a chain, and the wail of a cat rang through.
He rang it again and the sound of clicking and clacking feet could be heard within.
Pepper clutched Blitz's arm, her eyes widening with fearful anticipation. Blitz swallowed nervously.
The door opened and a small skeletal child peered through, his eyes dark and empty and yet still strangely full of life. "Mr. Mayor!" he cheered. "Dad, it's Mr. Mayor!"
"Well, let him in then, Tuck my boy!"
The door was pulled open wider, revealing the rest of the bony child.
Blitz and Pepper stood where they were, rooted to their spots in fright.
The Mayor patted Tuck on the head and stepped inside. There was a moment's pause, and then the two elves followed.
"What is it -" Jack started, before he caught sight of Santa's helpers. He bent forward, twisting with spider-like grace, blinking his eyes at them the same way his son did. "You two are from Christmastown, aren't you?"
Blitz nodded. "Santa's - um. He's asked us to -"
"- he's asked for your help, Mr. Skellington."
"Something's - happened."
"The factory has been tampered with."
"Nothing's working anymore."
"The elves are in a right state!"
"As is Mr. Claus!"
Jack straightened. "Slow down, elves! Tell me everything."
And so, they did.
"Well, I'm not surprised," he began to say. "I'd suspected something odd. But I just wasn't sure what. Now that you've come, well - now my guesses are confirmed!"
Blitz thought Jack sounded a lot more cheerful about it than he should.
"The trick-or-treaters. They're behind this!" Jack continued. "After Sandy left, I went to check on them and lo and behold, they were nowhere to be found. But enough of that. We need to help Sandy Claws!"
Pepper nodded. "Yes, that's it. Mr. Claus sent us to find you. He said you would know what to do."
"I've got just the plan!" he declared. "Sally? Pack your things and bring the kids! We're going back to Christmastown!"
*
Elves ran screaming across the snowy terrain, fleeing the rest of Santa's workshop and rushing towards their bunkers.
Santa could hear Oogie from the production floor, his voice growing deeper, scarier. He crept forward, pulling his bright red hat from his head to get a better look down below.
It was, without a doubt, a Christmas nightmare. Oogie had changed from the large burlap sack the old man remembered. Now he was bright and colourful, made up of multiple different parts of Christmas toys. There were doll limbs sticking out of Lego blocks, and robot arms emerging from toy cars and trucks. Blinking lights of toy fire-trucks made up Oogie's new eyes, and an assortment of holiday wrap and ribbon held everything together. Santa had never seen anything quite so frightening since his last visit to Halloweentown, and he hoped he never would again.
"Run away, little elves! Run far, far away," Oogie sang. As he moved, the sound of his footsteps thundered across the floor. "I'm gonna make you wish you'd never been born! How 'bout a game, hmm? I do miss my gambling games. No? No one wants to play?"
"We do, Oogie! We want to play!" shouted the trick-or-treaters.
They were giggling. Santa couldn't see them, but the sound of their voices echoed from down below, filling him with a chill he couldn’t shake. He slipped back out the door and into his house where Mary waited.
He hoped Jack would get here soon.
*
The elves were confused with how a coffin-shaped box was going to get them to Christmastown, but they asked no questions when Jack powered up the strange skeletal reindeer. (One could daresay they were far too frightened to say anything.)
"Jack, you got it fixed!" cried the mayor in surprise.
"It was a favour from Dr. Finkelstein," Jack explained, lifting one child into the sleigh at a time. Each of them – four in all – cheered.
Sally, waiting for her turn to climb into the sleigh, nodded. "He said it was no trouble at all. Lately his life has been so grand with his new assistant," she said, smiling a stitch-lined smile. "He's been far more cheerful."
"Up you get," said Jack to the two elves standing close to each other.
"On that thing?"
"Is it safe?"
Jack began to laugh. "Of course it is! Finkelstein built it himself, and I wouldn't trust another mechanic!"
They flew towards Christmastown, with Jack's children squealing and cheering with excitement as the two elves hugged each other closely, making themselves as small as possible. All the while, the Pumpkin King was thinking.
Santa had called on him for help. It was important that he not let the other man down not after what happened that fateful Christmas (despite Jack's ability to set things right again). He stopped Oogie Boogie before. If he can do that, the trick-or-treaters would be no problem, though he had to wonder what they were up to, and why. There had been a number of peaceful, holiday years when neither Christmas nor Halloween interacted with each other. Jack and Sally settled down, had four frightfully horrible children, and helped to rule Halloweentown so that each holiday was scarier than the last. Christmas had not been on his mind save the stray memory here and there when Jack was looking for inspiration.
The trick-or-treaters had been quiet, obedient even. It seemed, Jack thought, they were taking their own role in Halloween more seriously.
Until now.
"There it is!" Judy called out with glee. She sounded so much like him, he couldn't help but beam with pride.
All four of the Skellington children leaned over one side of the coffin-sleigh, fingers gripping the edge of their ride, their eyes and mouths wide with wonder. Jack remembered when he first came to Christmastown. His own reaction had been much the same.
It looked exactly like he remembered. Soft snow fell like glitter across the land; bright and colourful lights bathed the ground and the houses in a warm glow. It felt cheerful and jolly, the landscape oblivious to the problem at hand in Santa's workshop.
"Over there, skele-deer!" Jack directed, gesturing to a clear patch of snow near the majestic red brick house where he knew Santa lived. Blitz and Pepper looked relieved to be home, but at the same time they both wore identical expressions of worry on their faces.
When they landed, nearly every occupant burst from the safety of the sleigh with pent up excitement. The Skellington children couldn't wait to play with the snow, something they'd never seen before in their short lives. Sally, too, looked entranced by it as she watched her children play, bending down to touch the cold, glittery flakes herself. It had been years since she’d last seen snow.
"Jack," she said, "this is wonderful."
Jack grinned. "Isn't it? I truly did miss this town."
"Quickly, Mr. Skellington!" Pepper prompted him. "Mr. Claus will want to see you immediately!"
"There's not a moment to lose!” added Blitz. “Follow us!"
"I'll be right back," said Jack, touching his wife's hand, before he turned back to the elves. “Take me to Sandy Claws.”
*
Jack followed the elves towards a very familiar, cozy red brick house. The door was wide open, which Jack found strange in itself, but it was Santa looking dispirited and anxious that worried him most.
"Sandy Claws?"
Santa looked up. He shook his head and waved at Blitz. The elf understood immediately, moving towards the door and closing it after him, leaving Jack and Santa alone.
"Are you all right?" Jack asked, turning back to the man of Christmastown.
Santa let out a breath and straightened to stand up. "Perhaps, Jack, it's best if you saw for yourself." He made his way towards the other door in the room, and Jack followed in earnest.
They walked through the kitchen with the stovetop still on, something simmering gently in a pot. It smelled warm and good, and a little sweet. Santa led him into a dimly lit hall, where he paused before a red-painted door.
"This is the door to my factory, Jack," Santa explained. "Please ... don't make a sound. He's in there."
"- he?" Jack repeated, a little confused. He had been certain the trick-or-treaters were behind this. But there was another culprit? This was very odd, indeed! With a grim nod, Santa turned the knob and pushed the door open a crack.
Immediately, Jack noted the damage done below. All the broken toys, the torn equipment, the bits of ribbon, paper and the miscellaneous debris - it was a very large mess. But that was not nearly all. He saw three little children rush across the floor to pick objects from the ground - a sizeable black tire, a mop of blonde doll hair, and a plastic leg - before running back from where they came from, disappearing from view.
"What could they be up to?" he whispered.
Santa pointed towards the looming shadow Jack hadn't noticed until that moment. It moved, and then it began to laugh. It was a sound so familiar to Jack, bringing back all his feelings of loathing that the bony man could remember.
"Oogie."
"What do you propose we do?" asked Santa beside him, his voice kept low.
Jack was already thinking. "We need to take apart his new body, find the brain," he explained. "Once we've found that, then -"
"- Mr. Claus?"
The door opened, and one of Santa's elves poked his head through the space. "You're needed."
"Can't you see we're in the middle of something, Evergreene?" Santa hissed.
"Oh! Sorry, Mr. Claus."
"Hmm? Who's there?" someone called from down below.
Evergreene the elf froze, his eyes suddenly going wide.
"Drat. Our cover's blown," Jack murmured under his breath. "Well, we might as well get this over with, Mr. Claws."
Jack straightened to his full height, which was quite impressive considering. Before Santa could call him back, Jack leapt off the railing of the level they were hiding on, landing gracefully on ground level. Santa swallowed.
"Evergreene? Send back up. We're going to need it," Santa said before he began to descend the steps leading to Oogie and Jack.
Jack was far more surprised to see Oogie and the trick-or-treaters than he would have liked to admit. And Oogie looked quite unrecognizable. It was only his voice that gave his identity away.
"Hello again, Oogie."
"Ooh-hoo-hoo. Is that Jack I hear? Why hello, Pumpkin King," Oogie crooned. "Long time no see!"
"I'd been hoping it would be longer," Jack said primly.
Oogie turned around to laugh, his fire-truck-glowing eyes blinking in amusement. "Say what you want about me, old Jack. I'm the one taking over Christmas this year."
"Not on my watch, Oogie."
"Nor mine!" Santa said, coming to join the Pumpkin King. He was a little out of breath, but the fierce look in his eyes showed that Oogie was going to be up for quite a fight.
"Remember Sandy," Jack said, leaning forward to confide in him, "His body needs to come apart. We need to get to the brain."
Santa nodded. "My elves are on their way," he said. "For now though, it's you and me, Jack."
Jack suddenly grinned his skeleton grin. "Well, then. Let's do our best, shall we?"
With the trick-or-treaters running about, adding parts to Oogie's growing form, the idea of getting access to Oogie's head seemed impossible. But Santa was a useful ally to have. He filled his hat with stocking stuffers and with one hard swing, he forced the three trick-or-treaters down long enough to delay any new additions.
Jack began to climb. He clung to him, arms and legs wrapped around the boxes and plastic parts that made up Oogie's left leg.
"Get off me!" Oogie cried, swinging his arms towards him, but his form was too unstable to get an accurate hit.
"Not a chance!" Jack shouted in response. Jack continued to climb upwards, clinging every time Oogie made a sudden shift in movement, trying to shake the skeleton man off of him.
Santa, meanwhile, was assembling the cavalry. His elves, Jack could hear, had arrived.
"Elves! Assemble!" Santa called.
Jack didn't know how many elves there were, but when he turned his head to have a look it was all Oogie needed to dislodge Jack from his body.
Jack landed, sprawled like a spider, across the floor.
"All right, elves. Attack!" Santa shouted, moving towards Jack, while the elves began pelting things at Oogie's body, clearly hoping to chip away at his limbs. "Jack," Santa prompted, shaking his bony shoulders, "Jack, are you okay?"
Jack groaned, one hand reaching up to clutch the side of his head. "Yes," he said. "Yes, I'm all right. We still have a job to do." He began to get up once more. "Your elves are quite impressive in their aim."
"Stop it!" Oogie shouted, swinging his arms and legs to rid himself of the attacking elves. "Get off me, you bite-sized gnats!"
Several colourful rubber spheres about the size of tennis balls flew at him, knocking an EZ-Bake Oven from the top of Oogie's head. It clanked to the ground and broke into several pieces.
Oogie groaned, moving this way and that, the sounds of his giant feet thundering against the factory floor. Jack used the distraction of the elves to climb up the back of Oogie's body, unbeknownst to him.
"Again, elves! Attack!" Santa called.
Jack continued to climb. He'd reached Oogie's shoulders when the great head twisted, turning to face him with those fire-truck lights. "Jack!" he boomed.
"Hello, Oogie." With a ferocious expression, Jack wrapped his long, spindly arms around Oogie's head and pulled. Boxes, plastic parts, metallic gears and other miscellaneous packaging material quickly began to fall apart in his grasp.
"Not again!" Oogie cried in panic. "No, no, no! Not again! Lock! Shock! Barrel! Where are you no-good trick-or-treaters?"
Jack, Santa and Santa's elves continued to chip away at Oogie's body until it crumbled into a colourful pile of half-broken Christmas junk. Jack leaned over and plucked a small Jack-in-the-Box from the pile. Within it was, as Jack had expected, Oogie's brain. The little emerald-coloured beetle hissed at him.
"Oh, you think you can stop me, Jack?" he cried, his voice ten times higher than Jack was used to.
"Oogie, you will no longer terrorize any other holiday-town. Or anyone at all."
Oogie began to laugh. "We'll see, Jack. Oh, yes. We'll see." Then he flitted out of the box in a flurry of buzzing movement only to be pelted flat into the nearest iron construction beam with a red rubber ball.
Jack and Santa both turned in surprise. Behind them, Pepper the elf was standing with hand around another rubber ball.
"Good job, Pepper!" Santa cheered.
Pepper beamed, her cheeks turning a bashful shade of red. "Just doing my duty, sir!"
Jack smiled but he knew that things were not over yet. There were still three trick-or-treaters to contend with.
"All right, Lock. Shock. Barrel. Come out," Jack commanded, his expression sobering immediately. "You've lost. Oogie is gone, once and for all."
Three figures emerged from their hiding places in the factory with slow, reluctant steps. Jack waited like a patient but livid father, his arms folded across his chest. He tapped his foot.
"We didn't mean it Jack," Lock started, before Shock struck him across the arm.
"Don't say anything!" she hissed.
"Ow! Why'd you hit me?"
"Because you're a blabbering idiot, that's why!"
Jack had done this before. He'd really thought the three of them had grown up. Pulling at the corners of his mouth, he roared ferociously, "Enough!"
That silenced them immediately.
Staring down at the trick-or-treaters, he began, "What did you think you were doing, bringing Oogie to Christmastown?"
When none of them answered, Jack shook his head. "Your trouble-making days are over. From now on, you'll be taught the meaning of hard work. You'll get to see what you've wrecked and clean up the mess you've made."
"But, Jack -"
"I won't hear it," he said. "Get a mop, Shock. Grab the bucket, Barrel. Find some sponges, Lock. This floor needs to be clean by midnight."
Groaning, the three trick-or-treaters hesitated before Jack roared again. In a flurry of movement, they hurried off to do what he asked.
When Jack and Santa emerged from the factory floor, they were surprised to see that Santa's house had been turned, more or less into an assembly line for the toys that had to be mended. It was a Christmas miracle. A whole team of Santa's elves, singing carols in unison, their voices harmonized as one to motivate their work patterns.
Santa had assigned Pepper and a team of elves to supervise the trick-or-treaters. Jack was a little worried that they might try to pull another prank, but Santa assured him that if anyone was right for the job, it was Pepper Minstix. After her bravery against Oogie, Jack was inclined to agree.
Jack found Sally and his children crowded in amongst the elves, working and singing along as though they belonged here. The only thing that made them stick out like sore thumbs were their dark clothing and rather special physique.
"Dad!" Tuck called. "Look at what we've made!"
"Yes, but - careful, now. This one still has a crack along her face, see?" prompted the elf beside him.
"I thought it looked pretty," Tuck argued.
The elf nodded quietly, taking the doll from the skeleton-boy's hands, and worked to fix it the way Santa would have liked. Jack chuckled, patting his son on the head.
"This is amazing!" Jack cried. "Everyone's banded together to save Christmas."
"Indeed it is," said Santa, whose eyes were a little shiny with emotion. He laughed a hearty, "Ho ho ho!" and the two of them continued onwards to inspect the work the elves and Jack's family had accomplished thus far.
*
It was only another hour to midnight, and Santa Claus would usually be having a last-minute plate of cookies to help his energy levels for the night before he put on his hat and boarded his freshly buffed Christmas sleigh. The toys would already be packed into the large sack in the backseat, and Rudolph and all his reindeer would be anxious to start moving.
Instead, Santa Claus was sitting between Jack and Alabaster the elf, putting the finishing touches on a baby doll that cried for her 'mama' every time someone poked her tummy. He had not done this sort of hands-on work for many, many years. Not since the elves volunteered to help him, which turned into an empire all on its own.
Still, Santa was grateful for the help. It seemed that Jack was willing more than ever to help him and his elves finish mending the broken toys that Oogie had destroyed. And he wasn't too terrible at it either, once he was taught that most dolls did not have fangs, and that a number of toys came in colours other than black and red.
But could they get everything fixed before midnight? The old mahogany grandfather clock was ticking ominously behind them as though to dampen his spirits.
Ignoring it, Santa worked on.
*
"Jack?" It was Sally. She passed a newly painted toy car to an elf for collection behind him.
Jack stood up, glad to see his wife. He took her hands in his and smiled. Then together they walked outside for a moment, away from the heat and light of Santa's house. It was quiet now on the cusp of Christmas day, snowflakes softly falling around them. "How have you and the children been?"
"Judy seems to have taken to this job very well," Sally said fondly. "Tuck and Sage are still learning. But they love it here. They've learned a lot about helping the elves and about helping others."
"And you?"
"It feels nice to mend something again." She laughed lightly. "Better that it's not my arm or leg. Or one of the children's."
Jack grinned, pulling his wife close.
Her arms went around him. "How did it go with the trick-or-treaters?"
"That was the surprise. The trick-or-treaters weren't the only ones behind this," Jack said seriously. "They helped, all right, but the real mastermind was Oogie Boogie."
"Oogie?" Sally pulled back a little, her eyes wide with surprise. "How did he -"
"I don't know. I guess he must have been hiding out until now, waiting for the right moment. He chose Christmastown because of Santa and I."
"But he's gone now?"
"Yes. He's gone now," he assured her. "For good, we hope."
"Oh, Jack." Sally smiled widely. "You've saved Christmas."
He gestured towards his children inside, bent over their work amongst the brightly costumed elves on either side. The trick-or-treaters who emerged looking dirty and a little worse-for-wear, came from the factory floor and were sent to an empty toy station at the end of the tables to quicken the work process. A bright yellow sponge had been pierced into one of the horns on Lock's devil's mask.
"No," he said, feeling the warmth of the holiday glow in his skeletal body. "Halloweentown saved Christmas. Just the way Christmastown once saved Halloween."
End