I am the shadow on the moon at night
Lock stumbles out first, followed closely by Shock. Barrel falls out, knocking all three to the ground.
"Barrel! Watch it, you nearly knocked me on that- what the heck is that?!?!" Shock's eyes grow wide with confusion.
Before them lies the Corpse Family, huddled closely together in a large trembling pile of limbs and flesh.
"Hey- hey, what's- WHOA!" Lock jumps back when the Father snarls and lashes out at him. "Watch it! I'm Lock, crazy pants!"
Barrel is standing back from them now, peering over the giant heaping mass of Mother Corpse.
"Uh, guys? Look." He points past them toward the Curling Hill.
Nothing's there but a dark gray soup.
"That doesn't look like fog." Lock gapes.
Shock nods her head slowly, looking from the soup to the Corpse Family. "We should get out of here. Try to find somebody."
Lock gulps, nodding. "C'mon Barrel."
~~~*****~~~
"They're all scared of something- you can see it."
"It's just like when Oogie Boogie was around."
"D'ya think he's back?"
The three small children huddle close together, hiding in Tub under a street lamp.
"Don't say that! You don't want it to be true, do you? He'll hear you and come back if you say his name! NO he won't! Jack destroyed him! But we know he's powerful enough to come back! Do you really think he could come back?"
A chorus of low whispers call out. "Whozat? Who's there? Hello!"
Lock Shock and Barrel each poke just enough of their heads over the side of Tub to see who's there.
"HYDE!" All three jump out of Tub and onto Hyde, knocking his lantern away, which causes it to shatter.
"Children! No, now look what you've done! Harlequin, come on, it's them!" The Harlequin Demon stalks out of the shadows, swinging another lantern.
"Sorry Hyde, why're you guys carrying lanterns anyway? What's that big gray cloud? It doesn't look like fog! Why is everybody all scared? Is Oogie Boogie back? BARREL!" Shock shushes him with a slap to his shoulders.
"Tut, Shock, no, Barrel, Oogie Boogie is not back. The Nightmare Shadows he commanded have revolted against Jack, and now he's locked away up in his tower, all alone. He even drove Sally and the Children out."
The Nightmare Shadows existed to do Oogie's bidding. He assigned them to a person, and then sent them out to infect that person with nightmares. That way, he could sit back and have a good laugh. It was once Lock, Shock and Barrel's job to collect the nightmares and shadows and help them slip out of Halloween Town unseen on days that weren't Halloween.
"But- no! No, we have to make them stop!"
"How, exactly, do you think we can do that? Many of us have been infected, including, as I just noted, Jack. We have a meeting place where some of the uninfected have gathered, but we really have no idea how to stop them. We were hoping you might shed some light on the situation, to be honest." It's a gentle reproach, but it's still a reproach.
Shock Lock and Barrel stare at eachother for a few moments. "Well, we'll need to drive them back down into Oogie's Lair somehow."
"Remember, they're afraid of light! So we need light!"
"And we'll need more people to help."
A tempest force wind blows and all is darkness.
"Barrel! Watch it, you nearly knocked me on that- what the heck is that?!?!" Shock's eyes grow wide with confusion.
Before them lies the Corpse Family, huddled closely together in a large trembling pile of limbs and flesh.
"Hey- hey, what's- WHOA!" Lock jumps back when the Father snarls and lashes out at him. "Watch it! I'm Lock, crazy pants!"
Barrel is standing back from them now, peering over the giant heaping mass of Mother Corpse.
"Uh, guys? Look." He points past them toward the Curling Hill.
Nothing's there but a dark gray soup.
"That doesn't look like fog." Lock gapes.
Shock nods her head slowly, looking from the soup to the Corpse Family. "We should get out of here. Try to find somebody."
Lock gulps, nodding. "C'mon Barrel."
~~~*****~~~
"They're all scared of something- you can see it."
"It's just like when Oogie Boogie was around."
"D'ya think he's back?"
The three small children huddle close together, hiding in Tub under a street lamp.
"Don't say that! You don't want it to be true, do you? He'll hear you and come back if you say his name! NO he won't! Jack destroyed him! But we know he's powerful enough to come back! Do you really think he could come back?"
A chorus of low whispers call out. "Whozat? Who's there? Hello!"
Lock Shock and Barrel each poke just enough of their heads over the side of Tub to see who's there.
"HYDE!" All three jump out of Tub and onto Hyde, knocking his lantern away, which causes it to shatter.
"Children! No, now look what you've done! Harlequin, come on, it's them!" The Harlequin Demon stalks out of the shadows, swinging another lantern.
"Sorry Hyde, why're you guys carrying lanterns anyway? What's that big gray cloud? It doesn't look like fog! Why is everybody all scared? Is Oogie Boogie back? BARREL!" Shock shushes him with a slap to his shoulders.
"Tut, Shock, no, Barrel, Oogie Boogie is not back. The Nightmare Shadows he commanded have revolted against Jack, and now he's locked away up in his tower, all alone. He even drove Sally and the Children out."
The Nightmare Shadows existed to do Oogie's bidding. He assigned them to a person, and then sent them out to infect that person with nightmares. That way, he could sit back and have a good laugh. It was once Lock, Shock and Barrel's job to collect the nightmares and shadows and help them slip out of Halloween Town unseen on days that weren't Halloween.
"But- no! No, we have to make them stop!"
"How, exactly, do you think we can do that? Many of us have been infected, including, as I just noted, Jack. We have a meeting place where some of the uninfected have gathered, but we really have no idea how to stop them. We were hoping you might shed some light on the situation, to be honest." It's a gentle reproach, but it's still a reproach.
Shock Lock and Barrel stare at eachother for a few moments. "Well, we'll need to drive them back down into Oogie's Lair somehow."
"Remember, they're afraid of light! So we need light!"
"And we'll need more people to help."
A tempest force wind blows and all is darkness.