TOIL AND TROUBLE ❄ PART 2

[nightmods]

TOIL AND TROUBLE ❄ PART 2

They say to never split the party but this Halloween, they absolutely need to. A quick flyby of the Sandersons' house shows it's empty - they're out trying to find the children that stole their magic book.

In the meantime, they have other problems. They are seriously outnumbered by the witches and there are still un-evacuated children in the town. They know that Sarah Sanderson will likely soon sing her song to lure children to wherever the Sandersons' intend to feed on them. There are also allies to try to gather, and other witch problems that have surfaced.

There is nothing else for it. The Guardians have to split up in the hopes the situation will get stable enough they can find Jamie's classmates who stole the book before the Sandersons do.

Or hope they can run down the clock until dawn, when they'll disappear in the light of day.

OOC DETAILS
❅ Format: The mod will be using prose because multiple npcs may need to be written speaking but players can pick any format they want, including actionspam.

❅ NPCing: This part of the plot will have mod npcing. If you can, please try to tag at least about once a day to your respective threads so the mod can try to block out some semi-predictable time for npc tags.

❅ Status effects: There will be more dangerous witches here. Witches have magic and that means curses and other injuries the myth healing might not instantly fix. (Magical burns, etc.) You can play with this as you want. Spells and effects can either wear off in a short amount of time, wear off when the plot is over when day breaks, or need magical healing intervention at the Pole. Player choice.

❅ Long-term effects: Players who go with some kind of status effect for a character can optionally have long-term consequences from it if they like.

❅ Environment: Feel free to manipulate the environment in each setting location. You will often have whole setting areas to work with or even the whole open town. In some places, you absolutely can hotwire a car to run over a witch.

Comments

[forceforlight]

This is a massive change from the character that Dick has seen in the movie. (Seeing the skull contort the way it does SHOULD be creepier, but Dick's seen worse under a good dose of Scarecrow's fear toxin.)

He steps forward, intending to take a better look around the room, when his foot lands on something that...well, screams. Sort of. Jumping back, Dick looks down to find a duck, in the same sort of scary-but-not-too-scary motif of the entire place. As soon as his foot is off of it, the scream dies down into more of a wheezing squeak.

He blinks at it for a moment before his eyes start darting over the floor. To the dog bed beside the fainting couch Jack had been lying on. To the various toys on the floor. The sorts of things that any dog owner would have, which is probably why Dick missed them to start with. He's gotten too used to that sort of mess with Haley.

The thing is...

The thing is that Jack's dog is loyal. With Jack in this sort of apparent mood, Jack's dog would never have left his side. Hell, he'd barely left Jack's side in the movie other than at the very beginning.

Which raised the question.

"Jack," he finally says after a slow turn, taking in the room. All it has and all that it lacks. "Where's Zero?"

[nightmods]

Crowley matching his energy unnerves him a little but also strangely makes him feel like someone is trying to meet him where he is.

Then he looks up at Dick suddenly, surprised at mention of Zero. there are multiple places they could've learned he had a pet though, though, including from the rest of town.

Had.

He then looks profoundly sad and collapses in his sprawlin' chair again, only this time he doesn't sprawl. He sits with his hands clasped in front of him.

"I'm afraid my dear little friend has moved on to a place beyond his first death."

He looks to Crowley, to answer his question.

"I went early this year. Last year was so perilous I wanted to scout ahead, to see if any particular dangers were waiting to ruin this Halloween, just so we were prepared."

He scowls.

"And that's how the Pumpkin King met the Nightmare King. He sees fear as his sole domain and took offense to our presence last year."

He rolls up a skinny sleeve to show the arm he'd been rubbing at.

It's obvious that it had been sliced through with a clean slice, at a diagonal angle. Right through the bone like a razor through paper. Though some kind of magic animates the rest of him, binds all his bones together sans joints, that part was not meant to be separated. No magic holds it together.

It looks like the bones have been braced and bolted together again with metal - Dr. Finkelstein and Sally had helped him reattach it on the sly, before the town could find out and fur-eak.

Jack's expression morphs into one of anger.

"And he dared to threaten my people!"

Sure, the mayor's the town leader on paper but Jack still sees them as his much-loved friends and neighbors to protect.

The anger drains away again, and is replaced by the sadness.

"Zero tried to protect me, loyal to the end."

Jack still hasn't had the heart to pack up his little toys or move his little dog bed.

"So you see, it's best if we stay away. The other world is far too dangerous and I must keep my people safe. It's only one Halloween, and hopefully by the next, either our world will have reconnected to the old one, or those Guardians we met will have fixed things. I haven't told everyone in town the truth because I don't want them to be afraid."

The new Guardians would've all been briefed on Pitch Black, the Nightmare King. Long-time enemy of the guardians, wants all kids to be miserable and revels in fear, opened the Oldest Door and accidentally unleashed Kuk, etc etc.

Apparently, killing a dude's dog has to be added to his list of sins.

[demonicmiracle]

Crowley looks at Dick, mouthing who the fuck is Zero? before Jack starts explaining, and although it doesn't actually reveal that Zero is a ghost dog, there is enough for him to piece together that Pitch killed someone that Jack cared about. It's enough to know he's trying to protect the town, the people he feels responsible for, but something about it rubs him the wrong way.

Because he thinks about Heaven, always deciding they know what's best for people. He thinks about Aziraphale, hiding Adam from him in those last few hours, and how things might have been different if he'd just trusted him with the truth.

"Why's it your decision to make for them?" He keeps his voice gentle, a genuine question rather than an accusation, because he's not a complete arsehole and Jack is clearly grieving. But why does Jack get to keep this information from people, instead of letting them know the truth?

"Maybe they'd want to help, even with the risk." If they care about Halloween, about the kids, maybe they'll think it's worth it.

[forceforlight]

Dick mouths back, Later to Crowley. Because he knows the explanation from Jack didn't clarify much on that front. Enough that Crowley understands that Zero is important. Enough to understand what that loss would mean to Jack.

He steps forward, looking over Jack's arm. "We have people who may be able to fix that," he says after a moment before moving to crouch in front of Jack. Jack isn't a child, but he is sitting. He's hurting. It's important not to be towering or imperious about this.

"Crowley has a point," Dick says quietly. "Though I understand why you're doing it. The one loss is bad enough. The very idea of putting anybody else in that position, where they may also not return to Halloweentown? It's scary. It's paralyzing. Makes it feel like it's better to stay in one place, not moving forward or back because nobody can get hurt that way."

And in that moment, it's all over Dick's face. The fact that he's been there. That he truly understands where Jack is coming from. The very reasons he'd walked away from the Titans after Donna's death. The fights with Bruce after Jason's death. He doesn't realize he's tapping into his Center, but that power as a Guardian is there.

"You tell them to go without you, but you know they won't do it. You're their leader, especially on Halloween. So it keeps them safe, right?" Dick pauses, then adds, "But they aren't your only responsibility, I don't think."

It's a feeling. One he's had since arriving. "When you first arrived here last year, did you hear anything strange? Something about the children of this world choosing you?"

It's maybe a long shot. Halloweentown had arrived early, maybe, but not TOO early. Jack Frost had had to deliver Christmas presents last year with the help of some of the other Guardians, because North had been taken. It's not impossible that, with the power of belief on a day like Halloween, the Man in the Moon had drawn in some early reinforcements.

[nightmods]

Jack, still up in his feelings about Zero, sits there with his bony fore-arms on his knees, hands clasped, head hanging.

"The moon in the other world told us all of Halloweentown had been connected to that version of their world for a reason. That the children of that world had drawn us all in."

Jack wasn't a Guardian. All of Halloweentown had been drawn in to become their Halloween.

Because they were a far more beloved form of Halloween, shown on TV often. A safer Halloween. Safer than the actual dangerous creatures of that world. The Pumpkin King was a safer alternative to the Nightmare King.

He was someone who made mistakes but, in the end, was willing to save Sandy Claws so Sandy Claws could save Christmas. And Sally was good too, caring and kind, and the first to try to save Sandy Claws before Jack even showed up.

Jack doesn't know about her love yet, but that made them safe, too. The children of Earth have seen it long before Jack has and know love is a thing that true monsters can't feel.

The children knew, rightly, that Halloweentown would provide a safer Halloween than many other creatures and characters that made Halloween their home.

That thought, that there could be innocent children crying out, did matter. Halloweentown had its own monster children that were cared for and so it's not hard to see the children of Earth as equally precious. There's a reason they only offer scares - scares at a time they want to be scared - than actual harm.

But most importantly of all...

"Why's it your decision to make for them? Maybe they'd want to help, even with the risk."

Jack knows they would want it. He knows that they're also capable of putting fear even into the hearts of the fearsome - they'd done it last Halloween, even if the Nightmare King had proven to be a more dangerous threat than Jack had expected to find.

"You're right."

When he finally raises his head, his bony face morphs into an expression of resolve. Of anger on behalf of innocent children, denied their proper scares. Of indignation over the mess they've made of their holiday!

He jumps to his feet with spider-like grace, an explosion of outrage and starts bounding around the room with intense and furious energy. The words are said in deep and ghoulish tones, the booming voice of someone ready to bring some fear into the hearts of the cruel. "How dare they?"

His voice calming just slightly, he carries on, "How dare they make such a mess of our holiday?! How dare they deny innocent children proper scares and actually bring them to harm?! It's completely unprofessional and needlessly cruel! This is the second Halloween in a row that something truly wicked has tried to claim Halloween for its own in that world." He pounds a bony fit into his other hand for emphasis with a bony clack. "Clearly, we were brought in close to that world for a reason!"

He bounds over to the window facing the town.

"Everyone, listen up!" The residents all turn to look up at him. Sally, worried about what was going to happen next and having turned back from home, peers around the corner of a building across the street. "My friends, I'm afraid I haven't been the most honest with you. Last Halloween, I ran into a being called Pitch Black, the Nightmare King. He - he - overpowered me. He's the real reason poor Zero is gone."

Jack reluctantly shows them the bolted together arm and they all gasp.

"He threatened all of you, too. That's why I wanted to discourage everyone from heading to the Otherworld this Halloween. I was afraid that some of the beings in that other world might bring you all to harm. But..." He briefly looks back at Dick and Crowley. "The newcomers to town have just told me that this Halloween, yet another group of terrible beings has started bringing the humans to harm - a horde of witches targeting children. They don't want to just scare them, they're trying to kill them!"

Soft and worried murmuring, tinged with outrage, ripples through the crowd.

"How awful!" cries out one of vampires.

"How terrible!" cries out one of the witches.

"Completely unprofessional," says the mayor. "You can't kill the humans! Who does that?!"

"The human kids just wants scares on Halloween," says a mummy child. "It's not right to actually hurt them."

"Precisely," says Jack. "I've decided I'm going to the Otherworld to help stop these witches and provide a proper Halloween, and though my instincts tell me to make sure you stay behind, safe, the newcomers have pointed out something important: it's not right for me to decide for you." He holds a hand to his chest. "You should get to choose if you want to undertake the risks - and those risks are great. I'm fully prepared to go alone."

The townspeople quickly murmur between themselves. There's an edge of anger to the crowd, though, even mingled with alarm and fear. The witches take to the air on their brooms first.

"Try and stop us from going! They're giving witches a bad name! And not the right kind of bad!"

"Yeah!" cry out more of the townspeople.

"How fiendish of them! And not in the good way!" cries out the swampwoman.

"How needlessly cruel!" calls out the clown with the tearaway face.

"Completely irresponsible Halloweening!" cries out the creature that hides under the bed.

The crowd calls out their agreement. There isn't a single hold out.

"We'll follow you anywhere, Jack!" cries out the mayor.

Across the street, where she's peeking out, Sally smiles. Jack sees her, sees it, and is even more sure he's making the right choice.

"Then prepare for a fight, my friends. Halloween is back on!"

The crowd cheers and then they run to busy themselves, knowing they may need to be a little more...aggressive this year.

Jack turns back to his two visitors, holding a bony hand delicately to his chest.

"Thank you. I've been so scared for them I lost sight of what they might want. And those children deserve to be properly terrified on Halloween."