Making Fantasia (KF Prequel): The Nightmare After Christmas

Chapter 15: God Rest Ye Scary Gentleman

Chapter 15: God Rest Ye Scary Gentleman

Jon had yet to be assigned on a covert mission for the military, but he already knew this would be the strangest.

Jack and Sally had agreed to help in exchange for their freedom, but they couldn't accompany him directly because they were chained to the ticket booth.

So, they lent him body parts.

Yes, body parts. 

Sally detached her arm by pulling out stitches at the elbow, and Jack decapitated himself. 

Armed with their amputations, Jon carried his new allies into the Crawloween Circus.

The plan was remarkably simple. Jack's skull would guide Jon to Oogie Boogie's mad scientist, Dr. Finkelstein. Once they infiltrated his lair, Sally's arm would pick Dr. Finkelstein's pocket for keys.

"There are three keys – " Jack's orbital sockets squinted as Jon navigated the crowd. "One unlocks the fox girl's neck clamp, the second will unlock the boy's cages, and the third will free Sally and myself!"

Jon wove through an inebriated mass. They were in a casino.

"Who is Dr. Finkelstein?" He murmured, shifting Jack's skull under his arm. Simultaneously, he felt Sally's fingers tighten around his collar. "You said he was a scientist?"

"Mad scientist." Jack corrected. "It really wouldn't be an evil circus without one, would it? Dr. Finkelstein experiments in the grey area between life and death. The undead, so to speak. Head to the left."

"Undead?" Jon followed Jack's nod toward a gigantic roulette wheel. It was huge, the size of a swimming pool. "You mean...like AI? Artificial Intelligence?"

Sally playfully flicked his ear. 

"No." Jack translated for her. "Artificial implies an inorganic existence; thoughts and emotions simulated by computers. The undead are sentient as you, just neither dead nor alive. The undead can be cruel as Oogie Boogie, or utterly beautiful as Sally..."

Sally made a flattered motion, clasping Jon's chest as if it was her own. As for Jack, he blushed to his bones.

"Sally – " Jack coughed, clearing air from his trachea. "—was manufactured by Dr. Finkelstein, in his lab. She's not really alive, but not really dead. She has feelings and dreams which are her own."

"Like..." Jon swallowed hard. He thought of his godfather. "A cyborg?"

"Similar!" Jack congratulated, voice lifting, "Cyborgs are tricky. I'd argue it depends on the robot -to-organic ratio, but you're right on track."

Jon felt like he wasn't. So Jack explained further. 

"Halloween Town is undead itself! And that's the fun of Halloween, isn't it? Ghosts and spirits roaming the land! The thrill of touching the other side! Mostly dead, but slightly alive!  Why – think of how you arrived here! The only way to enter Halloween Town is by saying 'This is Halloween' while – "

Sally's finger tapped urgently. As Jon turned, Jack hissed, "They're bringing the fox boy through! Quick Jon, this is our chance! While they're not looking – spin the roulette wheel to Red 1!"

Bystanders rushed by, nearly dislodging Jack from Jon's grip. Within seconds, a mob was swarming a procession of clowns, who in turn were swarming a snarling prisoner. 

Jack had identified the prisoner as 'the fox boy,' so Jon knew it must be Loch, but he looked nothing like his ZNN photo.

The Crawloween Circus had turned Loch into a monster. His physique was more fox than human, and his brain was a lightning-rod for violence. He snapped at onlookers with oversized incisors and an overdeveloped jaw.