Like Father,Like Daughter - Hugs.And.Kisses (best novel books to read TXT) 📗

and Sally knew it. "Something?"

Jack sighed, speeding up slightly to keep the glowing orb dancing ahead of him in sight. "The Boogeyman."

"Oogie?"

"No… well, not really. It's hard to explain. He got a hold of Raphael, Jacob, and Cay, and… well…" He paused. "My mother destroyed him after she sent Cay and Jacob into Eternal Sleep, and accidentally created Oogie in the process." The orb braked suddenly, stopping in front of a pair of plain, steel doors. He set Sally down, moving in front of her.

The doors slammed open with a whoosh of hot air. "Come on in, Jacky." Raphael's voice floated out in a cackle.

Jack turned to Sally and kissed her forehead. "Stay here. Please." He walked through the doors, and they slammed shut behind him. Sally wrung her hands together, as she had a habit of doing when she was nervous.

"Be careful Jack." She whispered.

.o0o.

Jack didn't jump as the doors slammed behind him noisily. Instead, he observed the room that Raphael was hiding in. It was smaller than the throne room, not by much, and had a square, arena-like platform in the middle of the room with a stone bridge leading to it. Around the room's edges was a long drop, leading down into a moat of boiling lava. "Getting a little overdramatic, aren't we Raphael?"

Raphael smirked at him from his spot in the middle of the Arena. "Now, Jacky, I think that YOU, of all people, should appreciate a few over-the-top theatrics."

"We're going to have a fair fight this time, Raphael." Jack growled. "You don't have any leverage against me this time."

Raphael shrugged. "Are you trying to make a point here, Jacky?"

Jack's eyes narrowed. "Yes. We're going to fight, I'm going to win, and then," The corners of Jack's mouth tugged up into a smile, "I'm going to kill you."

Raphael put a hand over his chest. "My, my, Jacky. This is quite a new side of you. I thought you hated getting your hands dirty." He smirked. "Or is sending your mommy not good enough?"

Jack snarled and ran at Raphael, his fist missing the other man's face by inches. Raphael's expression turned from one of contempt to one of fear as he realized just how serious Jack was. He regained his bearings and aimed a punch at the skeleton's rib cage. Jack danced back, just out of reach.

It continued like this. One would attack, and the other would dodge and retaliate. And if they didn't dodge, they counterattacked just as the other attack hit, throwing both back.

It was after one of these attacks that Raphael began to change strategies. Instead of attacking Jack straight on, he baited him, aiming his attacks low and hard. Jack leapt back from a near blow to his skull, grimacing.

Raphael smirked at him. "It seems that the battle has turned in my favor, Jack."

'Not Jacky?' The Pumpkin King mused to himself. 'He's getting serious. I guess that means I'd better up my game.' Closing his eyes, he felt a burning start in his chest, spreading outwards until it consumed his entire body.

Raphael watched as fire consumed his opponent, disappearing in a matter of seconds to reveal Jack… but not Jack. The pinstriped tuxedo was gone, replaced by a dark maroon shirt and tan pants. His hands were no longer bone, but almost looked like straw or wood, and a pumpkin sat in his skull's place. "You wanted the Pumpkin King Raphael, and you've got him." Jack growled; his voice was harsher now, and much darker. He raised a hand in front of him, fire dancing around it. "Prepare to burn."

.o0o.

"How much farther can it be?" Shock growled, running after Lock's tracker.

"Hopefully not much!" Lock called back. Barrel looked over at Shock worriedly. She was lagging behind, quite a bit actually, and he thought that she still hadn't gotten her energy back. He slowed down a little so that he was in pace with her.

"You all right?" He asked under his breath.

Shock nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine." Barrel let it drop and sped back up, catching up with Aubrey. Shock bit her lip. Since when did she feel guilty about lying to Barrel? And why was she so… ugh, happy that Barrel was concerned about her? Did she…? No. She did not, could not, like Barrel. Not like that anyway.

"Mom!" Aubrey's sudden yell brought Shock back to reality as she slowed down next to the rest of the group.

Sally turned, surprised. "Aubrey! Your wings…?"

Aubrey hugged Sally tightly. "Yeah, they grew back. But we can talk about that later; where's dad?"

Sally motioned to the doors behind her. "In there. With Raphael."

Aubrey's eyes narrowed and took on a slight red glow as she walked over to the doors. After examining them for a moment, she turned around. "Lock, Shock, Barrel; get over here and help me with this."

All three looked at each other. For a second there, Aubrey sounded almost like Jack. They all ran over and put their weight into shoving the doors open. "Come on you stupid doors…" Lock growled, digging his heels into the stone floor.

After another few minutes, all four had collapsed on the ground. "Why… won't it… move?" Shock panted.

Barrel shook his head. "We were all pushing randomly. If we combine strength, we should be able to get it open." Lock, Shock, and Aubrey looked at him. "What?"

Aubrey smiled at him and ruffled his yellow-green hair. "Athletic and smart; that's a first." She stood back up. "Alright; let's give this one more try."

Lock pulled Shock to her feet and placed his hands on the door. "On three?"

"One…" Barrel started.

"Two…" Shock muttered. Everyone's muscles tensed.

"Three!" Came the unanimous cry. All four shoved at the steel door, sweat trickling down their foreheads. A loud scraping sound of steel against stone filled five pairs of ears, and the doors flew open…

…just in time to see Raphael send his fist into Jack's jaw and send him flying backwards. "Jack!" Sally gasped, her hands covering her mouth.

"Dad!" Aubrey yelled.

-Earlier…-

Raphael leapt to the side, rolling dangerously close to the edge of the arena as a fireball flew at the spot he was previously standing in. Blood dripped from his busted lip and a cut above his right eye, while burns shone on his chest where Jack's fire had eaten away at the cloth of his shirt. Thankfully, Jack had run out of energy and had been forced to turn back to normal.

Speaking of whom, Jack wasn't faring well either. Raphael had torn a large hole in the left shoulder of his shirt, and that was all, thankfully, and there was a thin, almost unnoticeable gash about two inches long from the bottom of his left eye socket.

A loud noise from behind him made Jack hesitate for a moment, and then he heard the sickening crack of Raphael's fist connecting with his bottom jaw. The Pumpkin King flew back, landing painfully at the edge of the stone bridge.

"Jack!" 'Sally?' Jack thought blearily through his pain.

"Dad!"

Raphael looked up, surprised to see Aubrey standing in the doorway. But what surprised, and angered, him more was that she ran over to Jack's side, not his. Lock and Barrel ran over, pulling Jack to his feet, while Shock examined the crack in his cheek. With a quick word, it vanished, leaving no trace of any injury.

Raphael took a step forward, his eyes blazing with fury. "Aubrey. Come here."

The group froze. Aubrey turned to look at Raphael, her eyes narrowing slightly. But she didn't move. Raphael growled. "Didn't you hear me?" He snapped. "Come here. Now."

Jack put an arm around Aubrey's shoulders. "She doesn't have to do anything."

"She's my daughter, and she will do what I say!" Raphael roared.

"You are not my father." Aubrey hissed.

Raphael froze, and then looked at her with an emotion resting between shock and utter rage. "What did you just say?"

"You aren't my father." She repeated. "Jack is."

Raphael's fingers twitched, and his hands balled into fists. He let out another roar and a violent wind whipped through the room.

"Hold on!" Jack yelled, wrapping his arms around Sally and the four clinging tightly to each other. When the wind died down, Raphael was gone.

"What the hell was that?" Lock asked to no one in particular.

Jack growled. "Transportation spell. He's trying to run." He stepped away from Sally, looking at her remorsefully.

She didn't look at him. "You're going after him, aren't you?"

Jack nodded slowly, kissing her cheek before turning to the kids, his expression now stern. "Stay here." He ordered before running out of the room.

.o0o.

Raphael threw open the doors of his throne room, barely stopping himself from falling into the pit of spikes. His eyes immediately fell on the tattered and torn figure of Vanessa, impaled on one of the bikes. A scowl crossed his face as he jumped down, landing neatly in between two the pointed implements of sharp and painful DEATH(!). Walking over, he examined the lifeless body, frowning deeper when he didn't see what he was looking for.

He looked down as his foot set down on something cold and metallic. Lifting his foot, Raphael smiled, lifting the knife. Wind whipped through the room and he closed his eyes as a slightly uncomfortable tingling overtook his body. When he opened them, he was standing in Vanessa's room.

Walking over to the closet, he flung the door open to reveal a limp figure slumped over in an elegant chair- almost a throne. He looked down at the dagger's hilt, popping a glowing red, ruby-like jewel out of its setting in the hand guard.

Tossing the dagger away, Raphael knelt down in front of the figure, pressing the jewel over their heart. Slowly, it sunk through the dusty clothing and into their chest. A moment passed before the figure's head slowly rose, revealing ebony black eyes. Raphael smiled. "Welcome back, Vanessa."


Chapter 15

Chapter 15

True Intentions

"Mom? What are you doing?" Aubrey questioned as Sally started toward the door.

Sally smiled at her over her shoulder. "If Jack thinks that I'm just going to sit here and do nothing, he has another thing coming." She walked over to the door and slipped through the barely wide enough crack. "Stay here." Her voice floated back into the room.

Shock frowned. "We really should listen to Sally…"

"No we shouldn't." Lock corrected. "Because we have a serious revenge complex, remember?"

Barrel laughed. "Right!"

"Well let's go then." Lock said, walking toward the door. The other three got up and followed him out.