Hello. Just wanted to give all of you an update on my family situation and my mental health.
First of all, thank you for those who donated already and for spreading the word. I especially would like to thank my boyfriend Aaron for the support he has given me. It helped me so much with paying my bills.
As far as schooling goes, due to my mistakes, I cannot return to my MFA program until I clear my debt, regardless if I have to pay my university or Collections.
Our funds are limited and I don't think we will have enough for the mortgage and utilities. We do want to rent out our basement but it's going to take a while.
Currently, I have a part-time job up until August. I did apply to be a paraeducator and I'm still waiting for a response.
To make things easier since I know the economy is bad and there are other more worthy causes, I am asking only for $500 just to pay monthly bills. And it's going to take a while, but I set up a Ko-Fi page in which I'm planning to use as soon as possible for commissions and any avenue available for me. My mental health is staggering and each day is a struggle to survive.
I am so sorry for all of this. Thank you for taking the time to read, donate, or spread the word.
@fandombingo - Oogie Boogie (Nightmare Before Christmas Bingo), "I'm not finished with you yet." (Valentine Trope Flash), Desire is the perfect catalyst for emotions (Reverse: 1999 Bingo)
@squarebysquare - Unexpected Powers
@eclipsingbingo - "Wanna bet?"
@character-plus-bingo - 'There's trouble close at hand.' (Oogie Boogie Bingo)
@thebutcherbingo - The Bugs Are Eating You (Down The Rabbit Hole Bingo)
@halloweenhorrorbingo - The Moment When You Think The Danger Is Over (2024 Alternate Prompt)
@hurtcomfort-bingo - Altered Perception (Pick Your Poison)
Summary: On Spiral Hill, after Swing reveals his true nature, everyone from Halloween Town and Twisted Wonderland comes together to stop the nocturnal fae from succeeding. During the final battle, the Housewarden of Ramshackle, a dorm based on the Creativity of the Boogeyman, makes a well-deserved stand with the help of their friends on Christmas Eve.
AKA Swing's Bad No Good Horrible Rotten Christmas Eve!
Here is my fanfiction piece for the year of 2026: the first chapter of a two-shot that I wanted to do and I was obsessing with writing for a few weeks now. I know that there are other stories I need to get to and I want to wait until Chapter 8/English Server version of the Twisted Wonderland Christmas event, but I wanted to write out my AU version of the Final Boss Fight With Swing featuring my version of Yuu. I felt that it would be interesting to write, considering that Ramshackle dorm has Oogie Boogie as the mascot. Plus I like the idea of my OC Felix haunting the narrative as well as the NRC students being nice to Yuu. The first chapter is longer than usual, featuring two songs and a lot of mayhem and references. The translations of the dialogue come from Valkyrii on YouTube. And in the spirit of Greed and Desire, I decided to fulfill 13 prompts from 13 bingos, representing the Twisted Wonderland characters in the story. If there are other tags that are missing, please let me know. Thank you! Story under the cut:
Well, Jack Howl and Ruggie Bucchi were about to die on Spiral Hill. Not by their Housewarden or some other disaster at Night Raven College, but by an ancient fae about to destroy them for several reasons that include letting the Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington, get away, mentioning Skully J. Graves, and insulting said powerful fae right in his face.
"This is all because you had to say something unnecessary and now Swing's totally lost it, hasn't he?!" Ruggie glared at his kouhai while dodging lightning and cosmic magic.
Jack Howl rubbed the back of his head, still sore, along with Ruggie as they both ducked. "Honestly, even I didn’t expect him to get this angry!”
"Oh, ya think insulting him with the King of Halloween’s name wouldn't do anything?!"
"Who are you calling pathetic?" Swing spoke as he stomped towards the two boys, causing them to back away with each step. "Who are you calling a loser? WHO SAID I COULDN'T DEFEAT SKULLY J. GRAVES?! Skully isn't even worth mentioning. The truth is, I was the one who won! And he ran away from me to a place I can never steal from!"
Both beastmen gulped, knowing full well that the fairy meant the afterlife, and they did not know how to feel about that.
"I want Halloween no matter what." Swing continued seriously before his greed took over, and he grinned. "No, that's not all. I'll take Halloween, Christmas, everything, every last holiday! Mr. Swing will claim them all! Then, it will FINALLY be Mr. Swing's victory, won't it? Isn't that right?!"
"... So, from the very start, you planned to hog every holiday for yourself? You WERE planning to use Oogie Boogie too, weren't you?!" Jack Howl growled.
"Of course I was. That's what it means to be King of Desire, isn't it? EVERYTHING belongs to Mr. Swing! ALL OF IT!" Swing stretched out his arms wide as his centipede tattoo stretched out from his neck, clicking its mandibles together hungrily while Swing laughed maniacally. Before anyone could make a move, however, someone else spoke up.
"I heard that just now... So THAT'S your true nature!"
"Huh?!" Swing, Jack, and Ruggie turned to see Oogie Boogie coming out of nowhere, charging at the dark fairy.
"Oogie Boogie, why are you here?" Swing asked, genuinely surprised to see the Boogeyman out of his lair. He was so shocked that he did not notice a shadow pulling Jack and Ruggie away from him.
"Jack! Ruggie-senpai! Are you okay?!" Deuce exclaimed as he rushed towards the students along with the rest of the group and Jack Skellington.
"Deuce and everyone else, too." Howl grinned before wincing in pain, causing the shadow to retract its hand from his cheek.
"You and Ruggie are completely beaten up," Silver noted in worry.
Lilia smiled at Ruggie, who huffed in annoyance. "Looks like Jack's voice managed to reach Ruggie after all."
"Well, this is annoying." The dark fairy deadpanned. "Why are you in a place like this? And with that Jack Skellington, you hate so much, no less. What about Santa? Christmas? What in the world is going on?!”
Oogie crossed his arms, leaning towards Swing as he glared at the other. "I heard everything from these guys that you tricked me! Taking all the holidays for yourself, huh? Blowing me away and that I ain't fit to rule, right?!"
"What? Tricked you? I would never do that to you, Mr. Oogie Boogie! You don't trust Mr. Swing?" Swing gasped and frowned, his ears drooping as his eyes watered in a creepy-cute way. All he earned was a dismissive stub.
"SAVE IT! A little Spade and Shadow convinced me otherwise. I can't believe this. What a joke!"
Cater chuckled along with Rook and Lilia when they watched the heated exchange take place, "There's no way he'd believe you now~!"
"In the end, it seems you couldn't gain anyone's trust," Lilia added smugly.
"Quietly admit your crimes and surrender!" Silver demanded, taking out a sword that he had borrowed from a giant Nutcracker in Christmas Town.
"If you do it now, I'll forgive you by just giving you a tiiiiight squeeze~!" Floyd grinned while cracking his neck. As every human, beastman, monster, and other beings closed in on the fairy, Swing had a delayed reaction to a previous comment.
"Wait... Little Shadow?"
“Not anymore~!" Oogie cooed, stepping back as the shadow from before marched to Swing and poked Swing's chest.
“How dare you...?” The shadow lifted its head, revealing a glaring Yuu from beneath the hood. “How dare you treat my friends so shamefully? Do you know who you are dealing with?!”
“What’s this all of a sudden? Since when did you grow a backbone? Did Mr. Swing miss something?!"
Yuu pulled off the shadow jacket from their shoulders and threw it into the air, letting it disperse into bats. They wore a dark brown zoot suit with white pinstripes, a black buttoned shirt, a yellow and black striped tie, burlap patches all over the suit, a matching fedora with white trim, a long black and red skirt that resembled a roulette wheel, a bracelet on each wrist with spikes poking out that reminded Yuu of buzzsaws, and a familiar purple spider sitting right on top of their fedora. Their curly brown hair flowed with the movement.
“I am Yuu Imamura of Ramshackle House,” Yuu stated with confidence as they pulled out a mage pen from their pocket and let Grim, who was wearing a black and white fedora, hop onto their shoulder. The NRC students smirked, Skellington clapped his hands, Oogie felt his ego grow instantly, and Swing’s face fell into an eye-twitching wall of envious disbelief. “Our dormitory is founded on the Creativity of the Boogeyman. We live our lives to the fullest and strive for the best experiences. It does not matter how odd we are. We come together to play games, eat feasts, and defeat any opponent. I do not need to be called great. I know we are the best by luck and skill alone.”
“Yer in trouble now, Swing! With my Hench-Human and the Boogeyman on our side, you’re gonna taste defeat by Grim the Great!” Grim boasted with a grin as he pointed to the fae. Yuu patted his head, then frowned as they hugged themselves, knowing their previous actions.
“Jack Skellington, please tell Santa I’m sorry.”
Skellington blinked, surprised. “Whatever for, Yuu?”
“I’m on the Naughty List and Boogie List. Not only for my desires and flaws, but for what I did and about to do. When Swing first did Switch the Doom, I noticed something familiar within me and remembered something. Before we opened the book, a friend of mine used his unique magic to keep an eye out for Grim and me. A part of that magic had traveled with us. Because of this, I found out that I have swapped my unique magic with him. Since you’d thought I would never have powerful magic like you or my peers, you overlooked me to the point that you didn’t notice I held onto the spell when you recast your magic.”
"You cheated?!" Swing frowned, recalling an itch that he had in Halloween Town when he recast his magic, but he thought nothing of it at the time.
Yuu gave a somewhat tired grin, “It’s called a hustle, Sweetheart. Granted, it got me tired and woozy, but it'll be worth it. It took a spirit of Halloween to give me the tools to your weakness."
“And that would be?”
Sensing what was about to happen, but somewhat unsure, Ruggie took out a pair of sparkling red dice from his pocket and threw them to Yuu while whistling. Yuu caught the dice, cupped them with both hands, and closed their eyes, concentrating their energy while praying for a holiday miracle. When they opened their eyes, the pupils were brown with a hint of green among them, while the rest were hollow.
“On the roll of the dice," Yuu and Oogie spoke out loud as Yuu shook the dice with both hands, and the full moon above them shone as bright as the sun. "Let’s live life and kick things up a notch! HIVE JIVE!"
With a strong throw, the pair of dice flew a few feet away, landing just below Spiral Hill with the moon shining on it like a spotlight that Oogie’s shadow helped project.
The dice’s silhouette on the moon showed twelve as a result.
The Housewarden smirked, cracking their neck in anticipation. Perfect. They called out to their friends, “Are you guys all for being a swarm?”
Remembering his promise, Howl handed Ruggie a ladybug pin, which the hyena accepted with some hesitation. Ruggie then grabbed a few items from behind him: three masks. Ruggie gave Howl a brown mask with eyes, threw a blue mask to Deuce, and then donned his ladybug mask. He did not know why, but it felt right to wear. Everyone then glanced and nodded, expecting to go along with it to help with their plan.
“Ready, Mx. Housewarden!”
Oh well, at least it was the thought and solidarity that counted—it worked.
Twelve shadow bugs went from Yuu’s feet to the twelve mages, each of them feeling the shadows tap their bodies. All pairs of eyes turned hollow, and the pins glowed brightly. The eyes widened before they narrowed with fiendish and determined glee.
“Ramshackle, represent!” Thirteen voices exclaimed in unison.
Swing scowled, crossing his arms. "Tch... is that all? It's just a glorified spell to make you bugs more of a hive than you are. Either way, it seems the stitches on my mouth loosened up a bit too much. Fine then. I'll just take all your lives along with everything else in an All or Nothing brawl! Now then, who should I dispose of first~?"
Everyone glared at the smug Swing, taking a step back. Yuu made sure to put the dice in their pocket.
"Times like this call for a coin." Swing reached into one of his pockets for his lucky coin... only to freeze when he felt nothing. "Hm? It's not here." Panicking, he and his centipede checked through every pocket, coming up with nothing. He pressed both his hands on his head, beginning to hyperventilate. "It's not here... no, no, NO, IT'S NOT HERE!"
"What's he looking for?" Grim asked among the hivemind.
"He seems extremely flustered," Ortho noted.
It was then that Ruggie laughed. "Shehehehehe! Is this what you're looking for~?" He pulled out a familiar coin that glittered in his hand.
"That's Swing's coin?!" Jack Howl shouted in shock. "When did you--!"
"You were guarding it so carefully, I figured it had to be something really valuable. So, I couldn't help myself. I just had to take it when I got to you!"
Swing growled, remembering how Ruggie turned into a hyena and bit him hard. That must have been when he got the coin without detecting anything.
"Way to go, Ladybug! That's the Ruggie we know!" Yuu squealed in delight, hopping a little and clapping their hands.
The hyena nodded to Yuu, then glared at Swing. "But it turns out it's just a toy. Totally worthless..."
"GIVE IT BACK!" Swing suddenly roared, pouncing on the beastman, but Ruggie dodged him and took off quickly.
"Combining everyone's strength," Deuce snarled as everyone got ready to work together. He held hands with Yuu as they both stood with Oogie Boogie, who grinned with anticipation. "This time, we settle it once and for ALL!"
Yuu smiled. "And I got a few ideas that would make this interesting~!"
Meanwhile, Ruggie was, once again, running for his life across the graveyard with the nocturnal fairy hot on his trail. He tripped on a rock and landed on a gravestone, keeping the coin in his hand as he struggled to get up. From a distance, he spotted the others, specifically Yuu, Grim, and Oogie, as his hollow eyes sparkled and a strange feeling came over him. His eyes darted back to the opponent, the Funeral's March playing in his mind as the message was clear:
Felix's third and final favor for Ruggie? DEFEAT MR. SWING.
"Well, we're doomed." Ruggie deadpanned, bracing himself for the charging Swing, only to stop with the fairy when they heard something in the background that caused the grounds to glow an iridescent color.
"Huh, music?!"
Swing decided to ignore it as he snarled at Ruggie and charged again, "Return it. That belongs to Mr. Swing!"
Ruggie dodged again, "We didn't think you'd get this worked up!"
"Skully did mention it. That Swing will never let go of anything he's gotten his hands on!" Jack Howl exclaimed as he rushed in to help his senpai. As the others got into different positions, Oogie Boogie seemed to take center stage as he stepped forward with his arms crossed.
"Well, well, well... ya came at a bad time!" He drawled with amusement, feeling as if he had a whole crew of henchmen at his beck and call, not noticing Skellington's intrigued stares as the boogeyman taunted Swing directly. "But you just crossed the line. Ya wanna get wild?"
With a wave of his stub, the hivemind who called themselves Ramshackle got into motion, crying out, "Okay, WE'LL SHOW YOU WILD!"
Ruggie summoned his Jack-in-the-Box along with Howl and Deuce as he paced with quick feet, getting into the rhythm of the music as he sang.
"Better come right, better luck tryin' gettin' to our level. 'Cause you might die, never the time, tryna start a battle!" He flipped the coin a little before passing it to Deuce as Swing jumped towards him. "Here, catch!"
"C-Catch?!" Deuce stammered, trying not to drop the coin as he hid it from Swing’s line of sight.
Yuu nodded at the strategy. "Good idea, Ladybug! Let's play keep away with Swing's coin until we can beat him. Just because he lost his focus doesn't mean he lost his power. Be careful!"
"Yes, Housewarden!" The mages responded through the hive as Jack Howl stepped up to the plate, catching Swing a little off guard by throwing punches towards him while he was distracted.
"Bleeding isn't in our blood. You'll be crying when we're done. Beating you is what we do, do, do, yeah!"
Deuce tossed the coin to Howl when Swing got too close before taking out his pen and dodging each of Swing's punches in some sort of battle dance. He then waved his finger before pulling back. "Body on body. We're naughty! Not even sorry, and when you pull up, we'll pull up a little late to the party!"
"Locked and loaded, we were born for this," sang Yuu as they pulled the trio into a huddle, protecting them with their body like an older sibling would. When Swing came from behind to attack, Ruggie growled and grabbed Yuu by the shoulders, twirling with them away. "There ain't no point in avoiding it. Annoyed? A bit. We're gonna beat ya. Where's the clock? Our time is ticking!"
"Knocking you out like a lullaby," Deuce sang as he cracked his knuckles, fire forming from within his floating box and fists.
"Hear that sound ringing in your mind." Howl snarled, summoning vines on his limbs and flora magic in his box.
Remembering his promise, Ruggie twirled Yuu towards Oogie, patting the prefect on the head as he snatched the coin as if to tell Yuu to leave the magic to the professionals. Both Ruggie and Yuu exchanged hollow glares before Ruggie rushed off with water spheres, and his box crackled with ice.
"Better sit down for the show 'cause we're gonna show you how it's done, done, done!"
In a rhythmic beat, the three jack-in-the-boxes burst open with magic, hitting Swing right in the face and sides. The trio then threw spells at the fairy, keeping him in the middle as they tossed the coin amongst themselves. While this was going on, Yuu pushed their concern away for now and decided to strategize as they always did. Too bad they did not have their stim toy at the moment, and they did not want to risk losing the dice.
With encouragement from a nearby Floyd, Yuu reached for Oogie's stub, rubbing their fingers against the burlap as they relaxed their body and activated their brain. They then spoke through the hivemind:
“Swing has probably a thousand years of experience and is driven by desire alone. He can take a lot of hits, is unpredictable, knows every physical and magical element known to most mages, and makes everything a game before annihilating his prey. Once something of his gets taken, however, Swing's focus only targets getting the item back. His greed can be his downfall, but we can't underestimate him now either. He still has tremendous power."
“Like a horror monster in a film or a cockroach? He can’t go down easily.”
“Exactly, Carrion Beetle! We're evenly matched for now if we play our cards right. We chip away at his health until he passes out, or we find a better plan. If he gets that coin back, we’re done!"
With a new goal in mind, the other mages got their pens, weapons, and present boxes ready, throwing spells at the fae just as he held the coin in his hands.
"Ramshackle don't miss, how it's done, done done!"
The coin flew into the air towards the full moon. Howl, Ruggie, and Deuce raced to retrieve it on Spiral Hill. Once they had reached the top, they turned to find Yuu following them with three full cups of liquid.
"Hey, Ramshackle, don't quit! How it's done, done one! Run, run, we run the town. The whole world playin' our sound, Turnin' up, it's goin' down..."
"Thank you, Housewarden!" Deuce smiled as he took his cup along with his two friends.
"Um, Yuu? What is this?" Howl stared at the questionable glowing and squirming liquid that seemed to hiss and chitter.
"We grabbed some cups of stew before we left in case you boys need some!"
Ruggie groaned and rolled his eyes. "Great. Our last meals are snakes and spiders. And why does it look like lava?"
"Boys, who's trackin' the coin?!" Oogie reminded the teenagers, motioning to the falling coin as it fell beneath thorns and brambles that covered a large patch of the cemetery before them. The three boys, Yuu and Swing from nearby, also stared in the direction where the coin went.
"Ramshackle, show this, how it's done, done, done."
"What meaning does that coin even have?" Deuce asked incredulously.
"There is no meaning." Swing muttered before he roared and rushed towards the brambles like a train. "It's just that Mr. Swing hates having what belongs to Mr. Swing stolen!"
"Is that guy's greed bottomless?!" Howl exclaimed in disbelief.
"Yeeeaaaaaah, this cemetery's gonna be trashed." Ruggie droned before he, Jack Howl, and Deuce chugged their stew, smacking their lips in satisfaction. "Hmm, surprisingly not bad."
With determination, Deuce smirked and cast a water spell with his Jack-in-the-Box, "Okay, let's do this. You're up, Grim and Yuu!"
"Right! Let's go, Hench-human!" Grim hopped off a gravestone and rushed towards the thorns. Yuu called out to the water Deuce had created.
"Friend, help Grim keep the coin away from Swing!" The water shaped into ribbons, then, with the aid of Yuu's flowing arm movements, the ribbons pulled away at the vines while giving Grim cover. Yuu laughed, "Yeah, something about when you come for the crown. That's so humbling, huh?"
"All of a sudden, you're running away from a fight you've started, like what?" Grim sang tauntingly as he swept the coin away with his tail. Zero ran with Grim to help toss the coin around. Swing attempted fire spells to evaporate the water ribbons, but Victor's flying spider webs stopped the magic.
"Nothing to us. Run up, you're done up, we come up from sunup to sundown, so come out to play!" Victor and Yuu sang as a water tendril tripped Swing straight into the thorns.
Grim cheered as he grabbed the coin in his paws, Zero barking happily… until Swing brushed away the webs and thorns, then snatched the coin from Grim. "We won either way, we're one in a million! We kill 'em, like, really? You want it? Okay!"
“Ya think taking my coin away would stop Mr. Swing?” Swing panted a little, having a moment of triumph when he grasped the coin, only for the last of the water to flick the coin away from his fingers.
"Wanna bet?" Ace challenged Swing with a smirk as he and his team began their next attack while passing along the coin amongst themselves.
"Heels!" Ortho kicked Swing’s shins with all the power he could muster. Swing barely dodged it.
"Nails!" Ace threw a punch that Swing caught, but Ace elbowed him with his free arm before pushing himself back.
"Blade..." Silver thrust his sword towards Swing, but the fairy dodged, then almost fell when Floyd came to pounce and squeeze him.
"Mascara~!" Floyd pushed Swing towards a mausoleum where Rook was leaning against a wall, using a pocket mirror to check himself.
"Fit check for my Napalm Era." Rook put away the mirror and pushed Swing into a clearing using a frosty wind spell.
"Need to beat my face," Kalim sang, putting an arm around Swing's shoulders as best he could. Lilia joined in, popping from behind while upside down.
"Make it cute and savage~!"
Cater jumped in to do a surprise selfie with the Pop Culture Club members and Swing, the three members winking while Swing looked confused. "Mira, Mira on my phone, who's the baddest?”
"Us, Hello~?!" Kalim and Lilia laughed, pushing the fae back. Swing glanced around, trying to track his coin again.
"I'm not finished with you yet!" Jack Howl exclaimed as he rushed to Swing with Zero joining in on the chase.
"Knocking you out like a lullaby," Jack Skellington plucked the coin out from behind Yuu’s ear with a grin. Oogie tried to bump his enemy out of the spotlight, causing the former to drop the coin near Spiral Hill. "Hear that sound ringing in your mind. Better sit down for the show 'cause we're gonna show you!"
"We're gonna show you!" Howl, Deuce, and Ruggie readied their ice magic while their peers summoned barriers. "We're gonna show you how it's done, done, done!"
"GIMME MY COIN!" Swing demanded, tired of the shields and barrages of magic, having lost sight of the coin. He was promptly ignored.
“We don't talk, but we bite, full of venom.” Rook smiled as he made sure Yuu looked presentable.
Floyd added while pushing Yuu towards the spotlight, “Spittin' facts, you know that's how it's done, done, done!”
"Okay, like I know I ramble, but when shootin' my words, I go rando! Took blood, sweat, and tears to look natural!" Cater and Lilia stood back-to-back, sharing lyrics in syncopated rhythm.
"That's how it's done, done, done!" Everyone then lined up in a row, extending their arms towards their approaching Housewarden.
“Hear our voice unwavering," Yuu stepped forward, singing with determination as the moon shone brightly on them and a burst of magical energy released throughout the cemetery, causing Swing to stumble back, "Till our song defeats the night. Makin' fear afraid to breathe 'til the dark becomes the light!"
Jack Skellington and Oogie Boogie watched the dreary atmosphere come back to life with magic as the visitors from Twisted Wonderland chanted with excitement, "How it's done, done, done! Run, run, we run the town. The whole world playin' our sound. Turnin' up, it's goin' down. Ramshackle, show this, how it's done, done, done!”
Deuce and Yuu exchanged subtle looks, nodding to each other before Yuu took off.
“We hunt you down!”
"Down, down, down!"
"We got you now!"
"Now, now, now!"
"We show you how!"
"How, how, how!"
"Ramshackle don't miss, how it's done, done, done!"
Swing, who had just recovered from an onslaught of magic and physical activity, slumped onto the floor in front of the posing mages.
“Great job, everyone! The magic of Twisted Wonderland is so spectacular!” Jack Skellington cheered, ever encouraging, whereas Oogie pressed his stubs against his forehead in frustration, lamenting that he had once been associated with the Pumpkin King.
Floyd laughed in relief. "Wow, that was easy. Devil Stinger got all tuckered out!"
"Now we could make sure he never gets that coin again. Yuu’s going to get rid of it right now. We’re saved!" Ace grinned triumphantly.
There was a pause, then Ortho spoke up. “… do you think he’s finished?”
“Nope!” Suddenly, Swing appeared behind the twelve students, glaring at them with a manic smile. “But you are~!” With his centipede and cosmic magic, he barreled over the teenagers in hot pursuit.
Yuu was about to reach the Hinterlands when a voice startled them. "SHADOW!"
Yuu yelped and dashed towards the trees, only to trip when Swing's centipede flew towards their ankles and wrapped its body around them. Spits crawled underneath their fedora.
"You dare to challenge me?" Swing hissed as Yuu fell to the ground, and the centipede pulled. They gripped the ground with their fingers, but their nails dragged as they were getting pulled. "Attempt to defeat me? Try to take something away from me, the King of Desire?!"
The centipede loosened itself from Yuu’s ankles, only for Swing to grab their ankles and tug them harshly, sending Yuu crashing into a gravestone that crumbled on impact. He then marched his way over to the groaning Housewarden, the latter making sure they held onto his coin tightly. "I, who have spared you and taken you under my wing. I, who knows all your secret desires, accept them. After all I've done for you, ya betray me?!"
Swing narrowed his eyes, focusing on the prefect’s neck, which was bruised a little with a recognizable handprint. His emerald eyes widened.
"Don't tell me. You took the pain with that wolf bug. Why? For them?!" Swing grabbed Yuu by the neck and presented them like a ragdoll, forcing them to look at their peers: the students of Night Raven College. Grim. Skellington. Zero. Oogie. "The ones who ignore you? Who takes you for granted every day for their own gain? For being weak?!"
Ruggie and Jack Howl snarled, about to intervene when Deuce and Lilia held out their arms.
With his free hand, the King of Desire forcefully opened Yuu’s fingers one by one to release his coin, Yuu crying out with each tug. "They're doing this to pity you! To make you feel special. You don't need that pity. Can’t you see that none of them will ever understand you as I can? For we are of the same cloth whose desires blend to one source.” When the coin got free, it fell into Swing’s hand. He dropped Yuu unceremoniously, sucking his teeth as he glared down at the human and placed his boot on their chest as if to crush them underfoot.
“Don’t make Mr. Swing your enemy and destroy you. For we are smarter, we are stronger, we are invincible, we have the power, we are superior to them, AND WE SHALL RULE!"
Yuu choked a sob, their right hand still extended as it shook with pain. Swing lifted his foot off and kneeled to Yuu, gently taking their hand and raising them back to their feet. He spoke calmly with an enticing smile.
“All we have to do is work together. Little Shadow—Yuu—join me."
It was then that Yuu realized the key difference between Swing and Felix: Felix would never hurt them on purpose. They hung their head low, which Swing accepted as a defeat, walking with them hand in hand.
"That's better. See? Was that so hard? All you have to do is listen to Mr. Swing—"
With a snarl, Yuu suddenly pulled at Swing's arm at the wrist, opened wide, and bit the arm hard, drawing green blood. Swing screamed, letting go of the coin. Yuu caught it and held it behind their back.
"No, you listen!" Yuu snarled in an Oogie-like sneer, their fangs bared as green blood dripped a little. "We've dealt with you for too long, and we'd never join you. That's because..."
"We are stronger," Floyd and Yuu giggled, their eyes sparkling with sadistic glee as Yuu hid the coin in their pocket.
"We are tres magnifique," Rook and Yuu flipped their hair majestically with a wink.
"We are invincible," Deuce and Yuu cracked their knuckles, the latter silently reminding Deuce that they needed his rebel side fully out.
"We are persistent," Silver and Yuu took a determined stance against the fae.
"We know about our desires and get them ourselves!" Howl and Yuu crossed their arms with confidence.
"We have the power," Cater and Yuu proclaimed with a flourish.
"We have to protect them from you!" Yuu then pushed Swing back before he could protest. As they advanced towards the fairy, they did not notice that a few of their allies had run off somewhere.
"It's you who is to be feared!" Lilia and Yuu glared at Swing, elbowing him roughly.
"'Cause you are a monster!" Grim and Yuu exclaimed, clawing Swing’s face.
"You are scary!" Kalim and Yuu shoved Swing, who doubled over.
"You are greedy!" Ruggie and Yuu barked, a sweeping kick sending Swing falling backwards to the ground.
"You are dangerous!" Ortho and Yuu stomped on Swing's chest.
"You are the unlucky one!" Ace and Yuu sneered, clutching Swing's collar and pulling him close as if going to punch him.
"And you're... not… him!" Yuu shouted, a new baritone voice blended in as they sobbed tears of blot from their widened eyes, letting go of Swing. Then their lips quirked upwards, shaking their head in disbelief as Swing got back up to his feet. "... which makes you fair game."
"Angler-Shrimpy!" Floyd cried out with a grin as he rushed back into the cemetery with Skellington, Rook, Howl, and Silver following close behind. "Oogie's shadow and Skellington took us to a lake this town has that apparently dried up. Who knew? Don't worry. We got the water back and expanded it so it could reach this spot! Try it; the skeleton fishies are so cool~!"
Shit, Swing cursed in thought. After all that trouble of drying up the lake so that the Butterfly of Ramshackle did not get any ideas. Green translucent water seeped from the ground, covering the graveyard with half a foot of water. Swing instinctively hopped to the surface, thankful that he was a bug fae.
A large wave formed from the lake water, the tip of it extending like a head as it lowered to press against Yuu's awaiting palm. Yuu smiled, patting the water like a close friend. One glance around, and the lake understood who the foe was.
Yuu took off their shoes to become barefoot and briefly took off their fedora to wrap their hair in a bun before placing the fedora back in place. Despite their sore body, Yuu gave Swing a manic grin as they tilted their head up and sang in a menacing whisper while holding out their pen,
"When Mr. Oogie Boogie says there's trouble close at hand, ya better pay attention now 'cause we're the boogeyman."
The pen glittered in their grip, and Yuu threw the pen in the air towards the moon. Under the moonlight, the pen magically grew and shifted into a cane with a microphone attached to it, the main microphone piece consisting of the same violet magestone Grim usually wore. The moonlight also shifted slightly into blacklight. The mages' clothes and pupils glowed bright, Oogie's brown burlap changed to green, and Yuu's outfit changed to a neon green, blue, and purple.
Their friends stood in alarm at first, recognizing the song as a silly melody that Felix would sing to himself sometimes. With devious grins, the mages joined in. "And if you aren't shaking, there's somethin' very wrong!"
"'Cause this might be the last time you hear the Boogie Song." Oogie chuckled with delight.
Yuu crooned to their microphone with their friends responding to their call. The water rippled, changing itself to different shapes such as spikes, tendrils, and buzzsaws to attack Swing. Yuu then sang while keeping the coin away, "We're the Ramshackle dorm!"
“Ha! I spent a month in Oogie’s lair. This is child’s play!” Swing boasted as he dodged the water shapes with a sarcastic laugh. “Finally, you’re getting interesting, Shadow! I’d be glad if it weren’t for my coin being stolen!”
"Did you know that some butterflies are parasitic?" Yuu asked out of the blue, poking at their fangs. "And did you know that in Ramshackle, we can hunt someone down by blood and targets?"
Swing's eyes darted to the fresh blood still on his arm, then to the mages and the rippling water by his feet. Echolocation came to mind.
"And did you know that while you were so busy looking down at us bugs, you forgot that we're connected to your biggest threat~?!"
Swing blinked and stopped, getting splashed by water spikes in the process. Wait. The bugs were connected due to powerful magic. One of the bugs was the Spade Beetle. When Swing beat up Yuu, he had also beaten up Spade Beetle, who would give the pain back. Double shit. Now, Swing had to avoid Deuce at all costs.
Oogie and the young mages laughed at Swing’s face. "It's funny! We're laughing! Ya really are too much!"
With a smooth motion, Yuu smirked and slid over to Swing, glancing up at him menacingly despite their head probably reaching Swing’s chin. "And now, with your permission, I'm going to do my stuff!"
"... what are you going to do?"
"I'm gonna do the best I can~" Yuu promised before throwing the coin over to the hyena nearby. "HIT IT, LADYBUG!"
He can't forgive even a single coin being stolen, Ruggie thought as he caught the coin and flipped it a few times. Yeah, I totally get how that feels. He then spoke aloud, "If this is that precious to you, then you should've kept it somewhere safe."
Sensing something was wrong, Swing’s face fell. "Hey, wait a second. What are you planning? Don't tell me...!"
"Something that's yours... We'll do this to it!" After giving Oogie a look and the two nodding, Ruggie threw the coin straight to the other, letting it flip in the air. Swing reached to nab it, but Oogie inhaled deeply like a vacuum, pulling it closer to him as he opened wide and caught the coin in his mouth.
"Noooooooooo!" Swing cried out in agony as Oogie swallowed the coin whole. "STOP IT! What do you think you're doing?!"
As Swing held his head with both his hands in panic, Ruggie and Oogie smirked and crossed their arms with the former laughing, "Ya really thought no one could ever take anything from you, huh? That's pretty naive!"
"Swing is flustered, and his magic is unstable, which means..." Lilia mused in pensive thought when a familiar sensation returned to his being as he exclaimed, "Our original magic has returned! Everyone, now's the time! Give it everything you've got!"
"YEAH!" The Ramshackle hivemind cheered at the news, devious smiles on their faces.
Swing’s eye twitched. "Excuse me...?"
Chains and shackles made of water wrapped around the nocturnal fairy’s wrists.
“Ya ain’t excused!” Everyone droned as Swing yelped and got pulled into a thick wall of lake water.
The NRC students got prepared. Grim spat out fire. Kalim summoned a pillar of water. Cater created a clone. Everyone tested out their original spells happily. "Whoa, the sound of rolling dice to us is music in the air!"
"'Cause I'm a gambling Boogeyman, although I don't play fair~!" Oogie and Yuu exclaimed in exuberant harmony, the red dice rolling in between Yuu's fingers.
Swing spat out water, annoyed as he emerged from the wall. Welp. It was time to rip apart a sack of bugs for his coin. He had done more unusual actions in centuries. He charged at Oogie, only for ice, water, lightning, fire, leaves, and cosmic magic to hit him relentlessly. It did not help when multiple arrows came flying at him, a few of them landing on his body. Rook had his bow and arrow at the ready, joined by Phobos from the shadows.
"It's much more fun, we must confess!" The assassins grinned, fist-bumping each other in an opportunistic truce.
Floyd used the nearby water to partially transform, forming webbed hands and eel features as he slid over Swing’s feet while singing, "With lives on the line!"
"Not ours, of course, but yours, old boy. Now that'll be just fine!" Oogie's grin grew when Swing got hit by Floyd, then got pounced on by a large white wolf.
"Ugh, stop it! Let go! Hey, you're being too persistent!" Swing winced, struggling to break free from the tight grip, but Howl shifted back to his humanoid form and kept Swing at bay.
"The power of those you looked down on so much... feel it for yourself!"
When the timing felt right and the mages of Night Raven exchanged looks, Lilia politely tapped Yuu's shoulder. "Mx. Yuu, if you're up for it, we want to give you the second half of your Christmas present."
"We want you to perform the finishing blow!" Cater winked while Ace and Floyd smiled mischievously. The Housewarden of Ramshackle gasped at such an honor. They did not deserve such friends or gifts. And Swing's previous words did not help matters. Their face fell as they tied their microphone to their back, their confidence melting into insecurity as they backed up.
“I’m not sure," Yuu hugged themselves, biting their lip as they glanced at the floor warily. "I'm not magical or powerful like you guys. I don't even know how to dance that well. I might mess up or slow you all down."
Deuce went up to Yuu, grasping their hands into his. "You think Oogie cares if he messes up?"
Yuu's eyes darted to Oogie for a second, then they shook their head. Deuce smirked.
"Then let's give it our all! For one special night, you are the strongest mage of Twisted Wonderland. Don't think about it. Just do what feels right!"
Yuu thought for a moment, daydreaming about what they wanted to do as Victor popped out from their fedora and whispered in their ear, helping create a clear image of what they desired. They smiled brightly.
“I got something, but I’ll need a head start!” They cheered as they ran to the main gates of the cemetery that led to Halloween Town, with Deuce following close behind.
“A HEADSTART?!” Swing exclaimed, having a feeling that this final blow would involve the Spade Beetle's signature spell. Triple shit! He struggled to get out of Jack Howl’s grip. “Hell no! Get off me! Release Mr. Swing right now!”
"Oh brother, you're somethin'! You put us in a spin~!" Oogie spun around with sadistic glee.
The rest of the mages sang as they surrounded Swing menacingly, "Ya aren't comprehending the position that you're in!"
"It's hopeless!" scoffed Ruggie.
"You're finished!" Howl snarled.
Grim crossed his arms smugly, "Ya haven't got a prayer!"
"'Cause we're Ramshackle dorm," Oogie motioned to the group dedicated to him, accepting them full-heartedly as he sang proudly. "And you ain't going NOWHERE~!"
Powerful magic coursed through Yuu’s veins as they grinned at Deuce with a flourished bow. "Wanna play a game, blue beetle?"
"Let's dance until we're dead, Mx. Yuu!" Deuce called back, alerting Yuu to run to Spiral Hill.
The dance began like this:
The Flea blew fire to trap the centipede.
“FNAH!” Grim blew his blue fire to surround Swing in a ring, then shouted to Yuu. “Do us proud, Hench-Boss!”
The Fly gave the Butterfly a breeze.
“Knock ‘em out of the park with some wind, Yuu!” Ace smirked, adding some of his wind magic to surround Yuu’s body and feet.
The Blue Beetle joined the Butterfly's dance.
"Mind if I join in on the fun?" Deuce laughed as he joined Yuu in racing to the top of Spiral Hill, holding hands as if they were both dance partners. Deuce's unique magic flowed through his and Yuu's limbs, gathering their stored energy.
The Ants gave support, however they could.
“Yaas, King!” Both Caters cheered as they took their phones and snapped pictures of Yuu and Deuce. “Slay, literally~! We’ll hold him down for you!” They then joined Howl by holding Swing’s legs in place.
The Ladybug brought luck and stilled the foe.
"Fly, bugs, fly! Laugh With Me!" Ruggie threw his remaining ladybug luck to the duo, then activated his signature spell to trap Swing further.
The Wolf Spider snarled and held his prey back.
Jack Howl still held Swing in a vice grip as he snarled and closed his eyes, using the hivemind to apply part of his Unique Magic to the runners. “Faster, sharper, stronger!” Yuu and Deuce ran faster to Spiral Hill as they felt stronger and their eyes glowed with sharp intensity.
The Millipede provided a shield.
“Just like we taught ya, Angler-Shrimpy! Bind The Heart!” Floyd also applied his Unique Magic to the duo, blocking any frazzled spells from Swing and his centipede.
The Scarab gave the partners water.
“You can do anything, Yuu! Oasis Maker!” Kalim summoned extra water that hovered close to Yuu and Deuce's bodies, forming wings.
The Mosquito focused on his mark.
"Spade-Trickster, aim for the base of the jaw or the jugular! Roi du desir is open for your attack!" Rook instructed, using magic to indicate Swing's weak spots.
The Carrion Beetle checked their vitals.
"Usage of blot within the hivemind is 25%." Ortho analyzed the magestones, then cheered, "You are clear for impact!"
The Bedbug stayed with the rest to wait for prey.
Silver stayed in the background for defense, waiting with the rest so they could capture Swing while also praying for Yuu and Deuce to succeed.
The Bat blessed the dance.
"I bless that your aim be true, and that your endeavours with Swing will be met with success!" Lilia clasped his hands, adding fae magic to the duo.
Swing struggled against the grip of the teenagers, barraged a second time by spells as he gritted his teeth. "You... you lot...! YOU MISERABLE LITTLE BUGS!"
And the Butterfly fed its hive.
Yuu and Deuce got to the top of Spiral Hill, red sparkles appearing on their bodies as they leapt into the air. Their bodies covered the full moon as they raised their fists, resembling a flying butterfly and beetle about to attack. The Boogeyman and the hive sang once more.
"Whoa, I'm the Oogie Boogie Man!"
"The Ramshackle Dorm!"
"The Oogie Boogie Man~!"
"Bet The Limit: Midnight Special!" Deuce and Yuu exclaimed, socking Swing right in the jugular and jaw respectively.
The Unique Magic and two fists collided with Swing so hard that a fang flew out of his mouth, and he flew twenty feet away to the side, his body tumbling in a spin as he dropped to the ground. Deuce and Yuu almost collapsed in a heap, but Oogie caught them in time.
"Whoa, that was a mean right hook!" Ace whistled, impressed.
"Get 'im before he gets up!" Grim shouted. As everyone pounced on Swing, Deuce, Yuu, and Oogie stood back on their feet, panting heavily with proud smiles on their faces. Yuu's eyes sparkled with tears, their hands trembling with adrenaline and magic. They turned to hear Swing shouting with everyone's hands and paws on his body.
"No, let go of me, you rotten little bugs! IT'S MINE, I TELL YOU! MINE! GET AWAY FROM ME!" The fae then glared at Oogie. "You can't do this to me! I thought we were brothers!"
Oogie scowled and crossed his arms. "Fool me once, shame on you. But fool me twice? No dice! Now, for the final coin toss…"
Suddenly, Yuu's eyes glowed a soft gold color. It surprised them that it took a while for their perception to shift. In their mind, they saw a man in a blue zoot suit and fedora, butterfly wings on his back as he took out Swing's former coin from his pocket. The man grinned at Yuu, placing a finger to his lips to keep the human quiet before he flipped the coin and caught it in the air. He smirked, showing Heads while mouthing, Mine now. Then, he nodded to Oogie.
“Ramshackle? He’s all yours~!” Oogie nodded knowingly. The mages proceed to beat Swing up with fists and tie him up with anything they got their hands on.
Victor emerged from Yuu's hat, calling out while showing his webbing. “May I join? I got threads!”
“The more, the merrier~!” The Ramshackle Hive cheered.
“Perfect! I may be biased when I say this, but I like you twisted fellas~!” Spits hopped off, then shifted to his humanoid form as he joined Deuce in adding to the swarming heap, holding his webs like a rope. Yuu stayed with Oogie, their twisted perception shared with Oogie and Swing as they all watched the scene change.
Swing was in a torn, black burlap sack with several bugs all over his sore body, the creepy crawlies nibbling on his skin. A large millipede hugged his waist in a tight squeeze. A bat bit his shoulder and drank his blood. A large wolf spider wrapped around his throat while Victor worked tirelessly to wrap Swing's body with webbing in a sewing motion. A ladybug and a blue beetle scittered on his face as he attempted to drag himself out of the swarm and sack. In the altered state of reality, the bugs were eating him alive.
Yuu stayed at their spot, golden eyes widened as they occasionally winced at some of the injuries being inflicted.
"You rotten bugs! Let go!" Swing rasped, desperate to escape and tear everyone apart as he thrashed. The human shook their head, creating a water barrier between them and Swing, tears trickling down their cheeks. Swing glared at his former friend and shadow, raising a weak arm to them.
"IMAMURA!" He roared, reaching once more to an item he would never get back, before he was consumed by the darkness and living beings he looked down upon.
Thirteen voices laughed darkly, blending into one strong voice.
It's very belated, but happy new year in 2026, and so far, it has been a rollercoaster, and it hasn't even been a month yet.
Been busy with two jobs and struggling to juggle the bills along with my mental health. Trying to take things one step at a time and get back to creating despite the blocks and stress.
I spent the holidays with my family in South Carolina, and I am staying warm during the big snowstorm this weekend.
Legends Over The Horizon: The First Christmas Notes
Merry Christmas/Happy Desire Day, everyone! I have had a tiring day with family and work. And I wanted to bring out my ideas before I lose them with my Twisted Wonderland AU since the new event has me in a chokehold.
Until I can figure out how to connect Swing with Felix in the main story, I'm going to share my ideas/notes for the AU version of the Lost in The Book event:
RECAP: Yuu Imamura is an Autistic AFAB nonbinary human who is 18 years old, a First Year student, and the Housewarden of Ramshackle. The only magical things they could do are moving water (not creating it), having a different perception, and a Unique Magic that lets them fuse with another person. They created Ramshackle based on the Creativity of the Boogeyman.
Yuu and Grim go to the library to study with Ace and Deuce. Yuu invites Felix over, but does not get a response yet. There are hints that Felix sends a bug over prior, but when everyone goes into the book, it's just Yuu and Grim.
Due to Felix, the aesthetics of Ramshackle, and the constant stories of the Boogeyman, when Swing introduces himself, Yuu accepts him immediately, but Ruggie stops them in time.
During the first fight, Yuu gets deja vu of Swing's fighting style with Felix's. Lilia's big lore reveal confirms their worries/fears: either Swing knows something, is an ancestor to Felix, or perhaps is Felix from the past??? Exploring every possible theory.
And whoops! Turns out the Boogeyman is real and has joined forces with Swing. Yuu feels conflicted about it. They want answers, but the NRC casts stops them.
During important fights between Swing and the Boys, Yuu wants to help by moving water, but can't go through with attacking Swing because they see Felix.
Seen in "Little Shadow", Yuu has a moral dilemma of dealing with Felix and the possible information they learned about Swing and Oogie Boogie. Grim reassures Yuu and suggests defeating Swing while convincing Oogie to join them instead.
Throughout Christmas preparations, Yuu gets nightmares with Swing trying to persuade them using their desires.
NRC cast discuss how Yuu sacrifices their energy and time for them daily and decides for a Christmas present, they will do something Ramshackle related. They also think of including a brand new outfit for Yuu/promising to let Yuu be powerful for once and help defeat Swing.
Deep down, Yuu is mad about Swing coming around and getting Oogie on his side with ease.
When Swing's UM is revealed, Yuu gets quiet about it, keeping to themself. It will come around later.
After Swing and Ruggie leave, surprise-surprise, Skully coming with information, a kiss for Yuu and Grim, and a surprise guest (a shadow bug that will help later).
The discussion of a new game plan... since they talk about how Swing and Oogie are not alike, they plan on talking with Oogie. It's Ace who suggests that since Yuu is the Housewarden of Ramshackle who built the dorm based on the Boogeyman from the ground up that they will be the spokesperson to get through Oogie. Although it is stressful, Yuu agrees and NRC gives them their first gift: a new Oogie Boogie-style outfit to wear along with Grim.
They also make themselves pins based on the bugs/creatures that Felix would call them.
During moments, Yuu secretly puts themselves on the Naughty list multiple times. They feel like what they are going through is wrong and in order for their friends to have a merry Christmas and get gifts, they feel like they need to be on the Naughty list.
As revealed in "Your Outcome Preferred", Ruggie does get a brief moment with Oogie that not only helps with Felix later but would help Yuu out as well as character development. Ruggie gets something that might help him remember events and he completes 2 out of 3 favors for Felix.
Deuce in this verison will have more knowledge of bugs and his approach of Oogie would be slightly different since he wanted to wait for Yuu. Close Yuu and Deuce relationship since Deuce has known Yuu and Felix well and Deuce is my first SSR.
Oogie Boogie, who finds it nice that strangers from another world are inspired by him and made a dorm based on him, is ecstatic when he meets Yuu and Grim face to face. He is equally mad because the guy who tricked him is also messing with his "loyal fans". He lends Yuu his purple spider and gives their outfit some flair. Oddly warm moment inspired by Villainous show.
The Deus Ex Machina-like reveal, when Swing "Switched The Doom", Yuu's UM got secretly switched with Felix's UM, which acts like a control hivemind power boost for the NRC students. Since Swing did not think that Yuu had powerful magic, he did not realize that they held onto it even though they thought they would never use it... until Skully comes with the shadow bug and Yuu realizes how Swing doesn't like swarms of bugs.
Swing is almost killing Jack Howl and Ruggie Bucchi. Swing's true nature is revealed, Oogie changes sides quickly. Yuu is still hesitant until Jack and Ruggie be like "This guy ain't Felix. You know him. Would Felix ever hurt you?" Yuu realizes that Felix would never and they are mad that Swing is planning on destroying everyone. That's crossing the line. No hesitation. There's also a moment where they imagine Felix being like, "I don't care if Swing is family or me. No one disrespects what's mine. Crush him."
Yuu reveals the UM hustle to Swing, then uses Felix's Hive Jive. Gets 12 as a result. Everyone from NRC agrees to be a hivemind with Yuu and called themselves Ramshackle. Ruggie gets his third favor revealed: DEFEAT SWING. First part of the fight is playing keep away with Swing's coin while spells are flung in Swing's direction. Perhaps NRC cast sings "How It's Done" from Kpop Demon Hunters during this.
Yuu gets Swing's coin and lures Swing in. Swing tries to persuade Yuu again but Yuu fights back and they (and the NRC students) speak using plural pronouns in a monologue similar to the Powerpuff Girls movie speech near the end. Yuu tosses the coin to Ruggie, Ruggie gives the coin for Oogie to eat.
Battle part 2: possible Oogie Boogie Song vibes. Everyone gets their UM back, but they are still in the hivemind until the goal is complete. Magic is thrown everywhere, NRC acts like a swarm who is holding Swing down. Everyone encourages Yuu to do the final blow and Deuce helps. Deuce and Yuu do a duo magic and punch Swing. Swing gets defeated.
Everyone is cheering and being happy to be part of Ramshackle, both the dorm and the hivemind. Yuu disconnects from everyone except for the SSRs. Yuu sternly talks to them in sign language (Oogie translates for them).
And that's what I have so far. Bonus of what I have thought about last year via screenshot:
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
"Wouldn't you like to have some of the magic? Wouldn't you like your outcome preferred? Deep in the night, the fight can be tragic. I'll help you conquer her."
Title: Your Outcome Preferred
Rating: Teen and Up
Word Count: 5,013
Fandoms: Twisted Wonderland and Nightmare Before Christmas
Main Character(s): Ruggie Bucchi, Original Characters, and Oogie Boogie
Content Warnings: Bugs, Spiders, Insects, Death Mentions
Prompt: Friends Who Became Family
Summary: Part of the Square by Square Bingo Challenge. Prompt: Friends Who Became Family
When Ruggie Bucchi first met Felix Cavatica, he laughed at his expense and thought nothing of him. Now as he remembers a promise he made at Ramshackle, Ruggie (under the employ of Swing) has to convince a ladybug to go back to Oogie Boogie which may give him a stroke of luck.
An entry for @squarebysquare Bingo challenge!
This was the second fic that I was working on under the hyperfixation of the new Twisted Wonderland event. At the time of writing it, it was after chapter 4 but before chapter 5, predicting what would happen. Not only does most of the canon material align with the themes and ideas that I have for my Legends Over The Horizon AU, but the irony of it all comes with Ruggie joining Swing. In my AU, Ruggie is the classmate of my Twisted Oogie Boogie character, Felix Cavatica. With that in mind, I got inspired to write this fic.
For my AU version of this event, I had a feeling that I would make Ruggie one of the few who remember their time in the book along with some help. And it does help that I am an Oogie Boogie fan and that I was also inspired to create another bug OC for Oogie, a ladybug named Dots.
Oogie may be OOC here, but I wanted to play around with his character rather than what we got in-game, inspired by the Disneyland/Disney World/Disney Cruise/Villainous Show version. Plus, one of the themes I wanted to play with is the expectation and reality of Twisted Wonderland characters meeting the Disney Villains they are based on.
Do not worry. There are other fics in the making, but I have a busy schedule in the next few days. Thank you and I hope you will enjoy!
Story under the cut:
Ruggie Bucchi did not pay the class any mind in homeroom. As far as he was concerned, his second year of Night Raven College would be just the same as last year... until the first full day of class, when Professor Lucid floated upside down in front of the room with his usual manic grin on his face.
"Hey, meatsacks! Welcome to another year at the crow's nest! I got a surprise for you all."
"Don't tell me it's a head that's always screaming again," One classmate sighed.
"It's something better! A somewhat new puppet to play with~! Ink-Bug, why don't you come up and introduce yourself to your inmates for a year or so?"
From the shadows of the classroom, a nearly seven-foot-tall boy with dark skin, green eyes with strangely shaped pupils, and black hair lumbered into view. He wore the school uniform, had ink stains around his neck and eyes, and his pen had a purple magestone with black polkadots.
"Whoa, you're tall," Ruggie murmured to himself after he whistled a little, almost impressed,
"Uh... I'm Felix Cavatica of Ramshackle dorm. Salutations?" The boy greeted the class in a smooth, baritone voice before walking over to an empty seat next to Ruggie and sat down, leaning over to the hyena. "Is Professor Lucid... lucid?"
Ruggie scoffed with a laugh. "Ya shoulda been there last year when he once gifted a student with the highest grades deer teeth. Good luck with your classes, big guy. Yer gonna need it. Shehehehehe~!"
A week after the Spelldrive tournament, Ruggie trudged towards the Ramshackle dormitory with a bag full of ingredients and seasonings. A lot had happened in a month and a half. Besides the secret plots and the overblots, Ruggie learned a little more information about his eccentric classmate.
Felix was cursed. No one knew how it worked except that the guy was half-dead, half-blotting, and a little out there. It reminded Ruggie of Malleus's situation with the school more than anything else.
From what Ruggie had heard from other students and Felix, Yuu, the prefect of Ramshackle, felt so bad about the scenario that they decided to form Ramshackle with Felix as Vice Housewarden and centered it under the Creativity of the Boogeyman. The hyena did not know what the Boogeyman was. He certainly was not part of the Great Seven, but Ruggie did not seem to mind or care, thinking that the human was giving a dying boy his last wish. And now, the hyena was about to cash in on said boy's cooking skills. He stopped at the front door and knocked. A tan-skinned human with curly dark brown hair answered.
"Hey, Ruggie! Feeling better?" Yuu smiled warmly.
"Oh yeah, after Leona helped me out of my injuries from the ordeal, I'm right as rain, shehehehhehehe! So, are you guys ready to cook up that huge feast Felix promised us?"
"Sorry. It'll just be you and Felix cooking. Grim and I have Halloween duty. We must come up with outlines and decoration ideas before we go to the used book sale in Foothill Town in a few days. Felix is waiting for you in the kitchen if you'd like to come in."
"Cool! Sounds fun. See ya at lunch!" With that, Ruggie carried the sack into the kitchen, where Felix had a stew boiling. He turned around, grinning at the hyena.
"You've made it!"
"What? And miss your cooking? I have to be here!" Ruggie smirked as he emptied everything from the bag onto the counter. "Mind if I join?"
"I'd thought you'd never ask~"
The two classmates proceeded with meal preparations that filled the entire kitchen and first floor of the building with savory, sweet, and spicy aromas. As the two sliced meat and vegetables, Ruggie piped up.
"Say, can I ask you something that I've been wondering about for a while?"
"I don't mind. Go ahead."
"I mean, I get the hustle of being in charge of your own place, but would it matter in the long run? You're barely making it in a ramshackle dorm. You're cursed in a school with guys who don't care and survive on their own, and the few ones who could save you consist of two playing cards, a pretty farm boy, a little good wolf, a cat, and a human with little to no magic. Is it worth the hassle?"
Felix chuckled, spreading the meat and vegetables onto a pan. "Don't get me wrong. I asked myself the same question a few times. It's win-win for me whether I live or die, and I'm getting benefits from it. It's oddly nice that a stranger who's in a similar boat with me thinks that I deserve a second shot. Plus, I wanna know who I am before I decide what to do with my life, or afterlife."
Ruggie nodded slowly, not getting it, but he respected the sentiment. As a pizza was prepared with toppings and pans sizzled, the rhythm of the kitchen got Felix singing aloud.
"Wouldn't you like a taste of the power? Wouldn't you like to use more than words? Deep in the night, the fight lasts for hours. You can be hurt, or you can beat her."
Ruggie's ears perked up at the unfamiliar tune, his shoulders shimmying while he placed the pizza in the oven.
"Wouldn't you like to have some of the magic? Wouldn't you like your outcome preferred? Deep in the night, the fight can be tragic. I'll help you conquer her."
"Where's that song come from? And who are you talking about?"
"Oh, it's a song that came from a musical that Yuu listens to once in a while. It's about a King who goes on a journey with his crew to get home. The songs are catchy. And I was talking about Lady Luck since I tend to be unlucky. This song gets to me. Makes me feel like a fae, y'know?"
"Hmmm, sounds like my kind of song." The cooking finished sooner than expected, and the two classmates set up the tables with several dishes of food as Felix called Yuu and Grim over. With a loud cheer from the cat, the four sat down at the table. Ruggie sat across from Yuu while Felix and Grim sat on either side of him. It felt different sitting with the Ramshackle students who live in a haunted building by themselves. With Ruggie, he would eat with his grandmother, the neighborhood children, or currently with Leona and Jack. Here, he felt something as he was surrounded by misfits just trying to survive.
"Say, does anybody mind it if I practice my signature spell while we eat?" Felix asked casually while Yuu and Grim nodded in excitement. Felix then leaned over to whisper to Ruggie, shaking the latter out from his thoughts. "I'm teaching Yuu to indulge. They sometimes forget to eat. Maybe our huge appetites will transfer to them."
The hyena shrugged after thinking about it for a moment. "Sure, I'll try it just once. The only freebie yer gettin'!"
Felix closed his eyes, concentrating as he chanted the spell into his mind before calling out, "Hive Jive!" He shook his fist, and purple dice splotched with blot fell out of his hand, revealing three as the result. Shadow bugs then came from his body, giving gentle taps to Yuu, Grim, and Ruggie, their eyes turning hollow for a moment.
Ruggie watched as Yuu and Grim wore a butterfly pin and a flea pin, respectively, then he glanced down at his jacket to see a distinct pin as well.
"A ladybug? Oh, I'm a ladybug because of my spots? How original~" Ruggie laughed a little, the three Ramshackle students sharing the same laugh style as him, almost speaking in unison with him. The hyena then blinked when he suddenly found Felix floating, with purple and black sparkles around him. "How are you doing that?"
"I don't know. Half-fae power? I feel like floating." Felix guessed with a shrug. He waved some sparkles over a plate of food, making it lift to his level as he grabbed it. A thought then came into his mind before everyone began to eat.
"Hey, Ruggie, while we're like this, could you do us a favor? It's only fair since I cooked the feast for you, and witnesses need to be here just in case."
The hyena stared at Felix, skeptical. "What do you have in mind?"
"Look, I don't know what's going to happen to me in a day, week, month, or year. Out of the three of us here, I'm the one with the spell know-how, and honestly, it's a little sad. So here's my favor. I don't know when or how, but the next time this creature set-up happens, I need three things. No harm shall happen to Yuu and Grim. If you could find out anything about who I am or my history, do so. And the third thing is a request of my choice when the moment comes. If you do it, I'll owe you a lot."
Thinking that it would not happen for a long while and it would be simple tasks, Ruggie laughed and nodded in agreement before feasting with the others.
"Sure thing! I could do those three things for ya. You're not like Leona or other troublesome guys, so I can get behind your offer. I expect to be rewarded in the future. Don't kick the bucket until then! Shehehehehehehe!"
"YAY, A NEW BIG BROTHER!" Lock, Shock, and Barrel cheered as they pulled Ruggie into a birdcage that rose towards a decrepit treehouse. The hyena could not believe the events that led up to this moment: a strange book at the library had transported him and a random group of his peers into the Holiday Worlds of Old, where a dangerous and powerful fairy named Swing, along with his group of devious beings, stood in everyone's way of holidays and their way home. After a week or so of Christmas preparations and one plan failing after another, Ruggie decided it would be better to join the winning side... which meant going into the trio's treehouse of horror.
Ruggie grinned sheepishly while glancing around, "A big bro? All right. I can work with that. Since I'm a part of your gang now, I'll get a mask to blend in. Got any spare ones?"
"Sure! Don't take the ones on the wall. Those are the tributes." Shock warned nonchalantly while emptying the walking bathtub of traps and weapons. Ruggie shivered a little.
Barrel climbed onto a worn-down sofa and rummaged through the cushions before pulling out a faded, spotted mask. "I found one you can use until you can make a better one!"
"Gee, thanks." The hyena took the mask and placed it on, making a scary face before moving it to the side to reveal his face. "Not bad." He then tilted his head when a familiar fairy floated into the treehouse with a scowl. "What happened to you, Swing?"
Swing sighed, his ears drooping as he crossed his arms. "Mr. Oogie Boogie's madder than usual. He's killing the mood again. We gotta get him happy, or we'll never get a new holiday running."
"What's gotten the boss moody this time? We got Jack and everyone else. We won Halloween and Christmas." Lock complained.
"Not sure. Mr. Swing came over to bring the good news, but Boogie got grumpy all of a sudden."
Ruggie observed around the room for any abnormalities until he spotted something bright red from a nearby window. Looking out from it, he pointed, "Uh, is that one of yours?"
Swing, Lock, Shock, and Barrel crowded by the window with Ruggie to see a lone figure sitting on a tree branch. They were pale with slick black hair and wore black and red clothes.
"Ah, one of Oogie Boogie's bugs got out. It must be one of the special ones!" Shock concluded.
"Well, is anyone gonna go get it?" Ruggie inquired.
"We don't wanna risk squishin' part of the boss!" The trio exclaimed.
"Mr. Swing would, but Oogie and I have been a little antsy the past few days. Don't wanna ruin the moment while it's good."
Ruggie sucked his teeth. Well, it was either this or being embarrassed at caroling while being chased by killer jack-in-the-boxes and narrowly avoiding untimely demise. He would take his chances with the fairy, boogeyman, and three children. Sighing, he raised his hand. "I'll go get the bug, Boss."
"That's the spirit, boy! Go get 'em!" Swing smacked Ruggie on the back with a grin and waved some black and purple sparkles at the hyena.
"Try not to end up in a stew~!" Lock, Shock, and Barrel sang out mockingly. Then, Ruggie got teleported to the tree branch outside with Swing's magic.
"Gee, thanks." He groaned before approaching the humanoid on the branch. As he got closer to the other, Ruggie noticed that the person had golden eyes, translucent wings, a portly yet flexible figure, their outfit consisting of red with black dots, and that they had a prim look about them at first glance. It reminded him of Pomefiore in style and an older version of Riddle Rosehearts in looks. Regardless, he approached this humanoid ladybug cautiously in greeting. "Excuse me, Miss... ter?"
"Call me Dots. He/They. What do ya want?" The ladybug answered in a light yet rough masculine voice, not moving as he stared off into the Hinterlands nearby.
Ruggie sighed in relief at his presumption, walking over to Dots with a small grin. "Hey, Dots. The name's Ruggie Bucchi. I'm the new guy around here, and I overheard that Oogie's missing a special bug. I was wondering if maybe ya wanna go back to him?"
Dots picked up his head, staring at the hyena with his eyes briefly turning hollow before he scoffed and turned away. "I don't see why I should. This was supposed to be fun, and I was getting what I wanted, but now it's getting too serious. It's time to look out for me for a change!"
Ruggie's eye twitched, feeling a sense of deja vu. He sat down across from the ladybug, keeping his distance as he gave a knowing look.
"Tell me about it. That's the story of my life and why I joined in the first place. Don't they know that there are people way out of my league? Ya do what it takes to win and survive, am I right?"
"Exactly! Finally, someone who knows what I'm saying! Come over, and we can complain together. I got a stash of drinks in that hole over there whenever I come up to breathe." Dots pointed to a nearby hole in the tree. Ruggie leaned over and pulled out two bottles of juice that seemed to have ladybugs inside.
"Isn't this cannibalism?"
"I'm technically a corpse. Expect the unexpected here."
"Some people where I come from eat slimy yet satisfying things. Hakuna Matata." Ruggie shrugged, passing a bottle to Dots before opening his own and taking a swig of it. He smacked his lips a little, surprised at the sweet taste. "Mmmm, not bad. So, what's your story?"
Dots drank from his bottle, his eyes hollowing briefly again as he nodded. "Okay, I'm far away from the boss enough. Get this: I'm the playful side of Oogie. It's a simple afterlife. I don't ask for much. We all thought we'd have fun with Mr. Swing except for Spits. Everything was good for a few days until you guys showed up. We wanted to get Skellington right away with a powerful guy, but Swing's more chaotic than Phobos is, and too laid back! He keeps flipping his coin and causing drama for all of us. Victor's salty, and I'm just done with it."
"Oh yeah? Try getting your tail bitten off. Or being forced to play an instrument off the bat. Or doing laundry and food delivery for a lazy lion while being in a mage academy full of guys that are barks and bites. Can't say anything about my new boss, Swing, but I have had the Lion's share of troubles."
"You see?" Dots laughed knowingly. "We get the short end of the stick. That's why ya can't trust anybody, even the people you know! I'm backing out before it gets worse."
Ruggie scowled. If the ladybug flew off, then both the boogeyman and the fairy would get angry. When an idea popped into his head, he grinned.
"Say, I saw a deck of playing cards in the tree." Ruggie pulled out the deck from his pocket. "Let's play 21 for it. If I lose, I'll leave you alone and cover for you. If I win, you can go back to your hive. If it's a draw, we could run off together. What do ya say? Best two out of three?"
The ladybug swayed his head a little before shrugging. "Eh, why not? I have time, and I was itchin' for a game anyway."
Ruggie used magic to grow a giant leaf to use as a table while Dots shuffled the cards and dealed them. They then proceeded to play, taking turns being the dealer while calls of "Hit me" and "Stay" were casually exchanged. As they played, Ruggie couldn't help but hum before the rhythm in his mind became words.
"Wouldn't you like a taste of the power? Wouldn't you like to use more than words? Deep in the night, the fight lasts for hours. You can be hurt, or you can beat her. Wouldn't you like to have some of the magic? Wouldn't you like your outcome preferred? Deep in the night, the fight can be tragic. I'll help you conquer her."
Dots raised an eyebrow. "What are you singing?"
"Ah!" Ruggie gagged, startled, before he blushed and laughed. "I-It's a song I overheard once. It's about a guy who meets a powerful being and gets a magical power boost. I don't know why it's stuck in my head right now."
"It's catchy. And you're surprisingly good at this game. You kids from Twisted Wonderland can be annoying, but fun. You make a great henchman for any powerful boss."
"Between you and me, the best ones are the people you're willing to work for, no matter what. The big spider guy's one of 'em."
"Big spider guy? You never met Spits... wait. Yer talkin' about that kid from your world who came for Halloween, right? Protective big boss energy? Ink stains on his body? Wearing striped suits and had a pair of dice in his hand? He's cool."
"Yeah, Felix Cavatica. He's my classmate, and I hang out with him sometimes to get a meal. One time, he mentioned a Halloween Town and that he met his hero. I didn't believe any of it until now. It's such a wild ride. 21!" Ruggie grinned, revealing his hand of cards that totaled to 21 while the ladybug had 25.
Dots whistled, giving an impressive smirk. "Damn, kid! Ya got me talking and having fun so much, I forgot to cheat to win. You sure are something~"
"Yeah." Ruggie laughed, then frowned a bit. "I don't want to forget this, even if I don't understand any of what's going on. Now I know how Felix feels...." He then cleared his throat. "Anyway, I don't get this whole giving-and-getting thing, but I got a grandma back home. If anyone deserves gifts or desires, it's her and she's one of the few I could trust. If you can't go back because of Mr. Swing, go back because it's your hive in the afterlife. What you want the most and trust, right?"
"Hmm, maybe." Dots shrugged, then his eyes brightened as a manic grin spread across his face. "Do you wanna fly?
Ruggie shook his head. "What? Nah, I'm a hyena. We're not meant to fly unless it's by broomstick."
"Ah, come on! Live a little~! We don't have strong magic like you and your friends have or Swing's, but you deserve a taste of the magic or whatever you were singin' about." Suddenly, Dots grabbed Ruggie by the collar of his special suit, opened his wings, and flew up, pulling the hyena close to him. Both men sparkled in red as Ruggie yelped and tried holding onto the hybrid for dear life while the other laughed.
"Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Don't let go, don't let go, don't let go! I'm still alive and I bruise easily!"
"Bwahahahahaha, you're good at this! So funny. I like you. Us ladybugs gotta stick together!"
Back inside the treehouse, Swing scowled and crossed his arms. Jack Skellington had been difficult on the way over in a dazed state, and if Oogie found out that his enemy had tried escaping, Swing would not hear the end of it. The plan needs to work. Oogie would get Halloween, Swing would get Christmas, and other holidays would be up for grabs. If Swing could not get what he desired, he'd settle for the next best thing.
Just then, the hyena and ladybug returned, arm in arm like kindred spirits coming home after a long night of fun. Dots smirked, elbowing Ruggie and whispering into his ear before the two snickered, passing the fairy nonchalantly. Notably, Ruggie had a paler complexion than usual as if the hyena had seen a ghost. Swing also saw red glitter on the boy but thought nothing of it.
"What are you two laughin' about?" Swing raised an eyebrow suspiciously.
Dots grinned playfully and leaned to poke Swing's nose before dragging Ruggie towards the gaping maw of a chute surrounded by trick-or-treating masks that would lead into Oogie Boogie's lair.
Ruggie called out with a wave, "I'll be right back, Mr. Swing~! Just have to deliver Dots to Oogie and see what he wants."
"Sure but be quick about it. We gotta prepare Skellington for Mr. Oogie!"
Ruggie gave Swing a thumbs up, then followed Dots into the chute like a twisted slide. Was this what Santa Claus felt when he supposedly slid down chimneys? Dots and Ruggie plopped onto the turning mechanism of a giant roulette wheel, the blacklights turned on to make the surroundings glow a neon color. Ruggie's eyes and the white stitching of his suit glowed a light blue. Ruggie laughed after recovering from the fall, then he grabbed Dots by the hand and raised them while sitting up.
"Hey, did anybody lose a bug?" He half-joked. He heard the rattling of dice in the distance, then gulped when a shadow emerged nearby.
Oogie Boogie loomed over Ruggie in his nearly ten-foot-tall neon green glory as he narrowed his eye sockets, then gasped in multiple voices. "There you are!"
Ruggie glanced back at his hand. In the few seconds that he was focused on Oogie, he did not realize that Dots shifted, so he felt shocked when a real ladybug three times its original size sat in his hand instead. He yelped, cupping his hands together carefully before presenting the ladybug to the boogeyman.
Without a word yet, one of Oogie's stubs unraveled with a few insects spreading out as a couple of insects plus a purple spider came out to greet Dots. The voices cried out at once.
"Dots, we missed you. You've had us worried sick! You're one of us, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know! I came back, didn't I?" Dots laughed in a squeakier voice, but it was still noticeable as he crawled towards the opening. "Next time, I'll let ya know when I need a break. Ya got nothin' to worry about!"
Before the arthropods returned to the sack, Ruggie's eyes widened at the distinct setup: a ladybug, a flea, a butterfly, and a purple spider huddled close. A strange shiver travelled up Ruggie's spine as if fate, irony, or whatever strange magic at play was poking at him. He remembered the words that he promised to uphold while almost imagining Felix's greedy grin plastered on his face.
It was official: the universe hated Ruggie Bucchi. No matter what happened or how greedy he was, he wanted to go back to the Ramshackle family by any means. Ruggie sighed mentally while the stitching merged the stub once more.
Felix, you smug jerk, making me keep your promise at a time like this. This better be worth it. Also, your possible great grandpa is a real piece of work, Ruggie thought almost bitterly, scowling.
Meanwhile, Oogie paused, letting all his components settle inside him before he burst into boisterous laughter.
"Oogie Boogie's back! So, who are you?"
Ruggie saluted with two fingers with a serious frown. "Ruggie Bucchi, new henchman of the premises. Listen up, Boogie Man. Not like I care since I'm on the winning side, but you better prove to me you're just how the stories say you are."
Oogie angled his eye sockets at the small and strange teenager before him. "Huh? What made ya say that?"
The hyena had a ghost of a grin as he shrugged lightly "Let's just say I'm also here on a promise to a friend on the brink of life, y'know? Before I forget, mind if I take a picture?"
The boogeyman was about to react when the teen pulled out a cell phone, got in front of Oogie, and snapped a selfie. He then started typing on his phone, realizing that he did not have cell service to send the picture to Felix, but he could make a note on the picture himself as well as reminders to show it to his classmate. Ruggie doubted this plan would work, but he had to try.
"What was that for?" Oogie growled in confusion.
"Just for a friend. Anyway, I'm here to help before I have to go back to Swing. I have one request before you order me around. Whatever happens, please don't hurt Yuu the Human and Grim the Cat? They ain't worth the trouble."
"Yuu and Grim...?" Oogie trailed in thought, recollecting memories and information when he let out a startled cry. "Ah, the butterfly and flea! I remember! They’re with that kid who asked for my help saving his minions some time ago. Felix, was it? He told me that they all made a house based on me. Is that true?"
Ruggie blinked in awe. "Oh, yeah! We call it Ramshackle. Yuu the Butterfly insisted on creating a dorm based on the Creativity of the Boogeyman since Felix looks up to you as a role model. They're the leader of the dorm and Felix's the vice-leader. Come to think of it, their outfits, food, decorations, and game nights fit your style. No joke!"
The boogeyman stood back, stunned that strangers from another world would think about using his image as inspiration. He pursed his lips, then hummed in thought with a rare smile.
"Huh. I've never been a role model before... yeah, I'll think about sparing such loyal fans."
"Shehehehehehehe, that's all I wanna hear! So, got any jobs for me?" Ruggie laughed, all smiles now that he took care most of the promised favors. He placed his arms behind his head and observed the lair. No sign of Santa Claus or any Halloween Town residents. Perhaps they were in another room. He then guessed, "Those one-armed bandits need a tune-up or something?"
“Kinda. I wanna spruce up the lair before I have fun. I don’t have the energy to do the whole lair and the last time my boys did it, they messed up a few of my toys. Do this before heading to Swing and maybe I’ll give ya Snake and Spider Stew afterwards.” Oogie gave Ruggie a wrench to work with, then pointed to some of the gambling mechanisms in his lair including playing cards, iron maidens, buzzsaws, slots, and other interesting items. Ruggie noticed that some of the items that needed fixing were up high.
“How am I gonna get up there?” The hyena mused when suddenly, red sparkles glowed on his body and he started floating upwards, the catchy tune and Dots’s laugh in his mind as he gasped. "I can fly?! Note to self, be careful with fairies and bugs. Still, convenient."
Ruggie floated by the bandits, using the wrench to tighten any loose bolts while moving chains and skeletons around upon Oogie’s request. He hovered by some skeleton bats sporting primary colors when Oogie hollered at him.
"Hey, Hyena, catch~!" Oogie blew into one of his stubs, then threw something in Ruggie's direction. Ruggie caught the item, bringing it up to his face to find a pair of red dice with skulls crafted on its faces. They were carved by expert hands, or stubs in this case, and had the same red glitter shimmering on the surface. He sensed that the dice were beyond special, imbued with ladybug luck. Ruggie would save that luck for later. He then noticed something else in his hand. A purple web wrapped around his ring finger in a complex braided knot, the words 'Never Forget' woven within the strands.
“Dots told me about you,” Oogie continued with a grin. “Don’t know if the web would work, but it’s worth a shot. The dice are for Felix. Don’t worry, that pair’s a spare! If my fans come here, I’ll give ‘em rewards too! For now, I’ll promise ya a holiday as a gift for following Mister Oogie’s orders. What kind of holiday would ya like?”
"Uh… maybe a holiday where it's really warm?"
"Ahahahaha, Independence Day, it is!"
Ruggie did not know what Independence Day was, but he liked the sound of it. He hovered above Oogie, stunned by the Boogeyman’s generosity and attention to detail. He thought that he would never get along with Oogie Boogie but here he was, getting Boogeyman’s favor. Would Swing act the same way? Regardless, Ruggie smiled and finished up his work, placing his ladybug mask on with luck on his side as he laughed joyfully.
"Oh?" Oogie grinned, liking what he was hearing. He stepped forward in curiosity. "Interesting. Tell me more~!"
"No, tell us less.” Victor gracefully pushed back his hive, then shooed the stranger, attempting to bump him out of the way. “Now, why don't ya swing back to where ya came from? Bye-bye, green guy!"
Title: Brother Bugs
Rating: Teen and Up
Word Count: 3,087
Fandoms: Twisted Wonderland and Nightmare Before Christmas
Main Character(s): Oogie Boogie (Nightmare Before Christmas), Original Character(s) and Swing (Twisted Wonderland)
Content Warnings: Bugs, Spiders, Insects, Centipedes, Arthropods, Kidnappings, Chasing, Brief Moment of Stabbing
Prompt: Greed
Summary: A Legends Over The Horizon One-Shot based on the new Lost In The Book Christmas event. After another successful Halloween, Oogie Boogie seethes in the shadows, wishing to be the King of Halloween. However, he might get more than what he bargained for when a mysterious and mystical stranger appears.
A fanfiction entry for @fandom-free-bingo
Like most hyperfixations, I ride it out using fanfiction. With Twisted Wonderland on the rise, I have two fics I'm trying to finish before going to another fandom and finishing some fics from there. One of the fics being an alternate version of how Oogie Boogie and Swing met. Not only did I want to brainstorm for my Legends Over The Horizon AU, but I was also wondering how did an entire town of creatures got kidnapped. This ended up being the result.
I was surprised writing these two fics because I was fueled by creating and developing Oogie's bugs a bit more. My OC, Felix Cavatica, is mentioned in this, but does not make an appearance. I tried to follow with canon along with some humor with this. I feel like Swing made up his name on the spot when he meets the NRC cast, so in this fic, he would be reffered to as 'Stitches'. For the prompt, I thought Greed would come to mind since Swing is all about Greed and Desires.
Thank you and I hope this is okay. Story underneath the cut:
"Damn that creepy skeleton, Jack!" A monstrous growl echoed across the cemetery once Jack Skellington and Zero had left after seeing off young magical people from a different world. Once again, it was November 1st, a night to remember after another successful Halloween... with Oogie seething against a gravestone.
When it came to Halloween, Oogie only had his shadow go out in the moon and stayed in his lair as part of his banishment. But this year, he had the luck of sneaking off to watch in secret since his henchmen were too busy at the moment. The boogeyman snarled and crossed his arms in complaint.
"What Pumpkin King he is taking everything again! I'm always in the shadows while he's the only one who gets the glory. Sure, I had some cool magic kid with style ask for my help, and I got to see a scary battle that made me laugh, but Jack has to ruin everything! How annoying... If only Jack were gone, then I, the great Oogie Boogie, would be the true king of Halloween!"
Suddenly, someone clapped out of nowhere and whistled, impressed. "Nice! Very greedy, ain't ya?"
"Huh?!" Oogie jumped off the ground and turned around, seeing a strange man emerge from the shadows of the mausoleum. "What? Who are you?"
The man had corpse-like skin, scars, pointed ears, golden earrings, unruly black hair in a black ponytail, green eyes with insect-shaped pupils, and a centipede tattoo wrapped around his neck. He wore a stitched green jacket over a white and black ensemble that seemed to come out of a prison, along with dark boots and a shackle on his left wrist. He had a devious smile about him as he casually shrugged while taking out a coin from his pocket and moving it around in between his fingers.
"I go by many names, and I'm still picking one out, but that's not important now. You're Oogie Boogie... right? Former King of Bug Day? The shadow ruler of Halloween Town is said to have power rivaling Jack Skellington. I heard tons of folks adored you like the King of Halloween. Well... legends and reality don't always match, do they?"
Upon hearing the last comment, Oogie glared and crossed his arms. "What?! Are you making fun of me?"
"No way! I love people like you. You're fun, and I like your style! See? We even match!" With a grin, the man flipped the hood of his jacket up, his green eyes glowing through the eyeholes to oddly resemble Oogie's neon colors whenever the boogeyman had the blacklights on in his lair.
Oogie angled his eye sockets to mimic an eyebrow raise. Inside his head, Oogie's brain bug and the rest of the bugs murmured amongst themselves as a purple spider nearby hummed in suspicion.
"Boss, this guy's a boogeyman like we are, but there's something off about him. We gotta watch out for 'em." It whispered in spider language with a soft, masculine voice. A nearby red-and-black assassin bug nudged the spider.
"Ah, don't be a worrywart, Spits! This guy seems creepy-cool!"
"I can understand insects and arachnids, you know." The two arthropods heard the man pipe up, making them shiver a little. "I get it. I'd be wary of a strange guy who pops outta nowhere, too. If ya got something to say, why don't you come out and join us? We’re reasonable adults, right?"
After much internal debate, which mostly consisted of the roach-earwig leader scolding, the flap of Oogie’s head opened to reveal a spider dangling out on a thread of web with a purple sheen to its body. The spider cut the thread and fell onto the gray grass of the graveyard before shadows consumed it. There in its place was a plump purple-and-black humanoid with three pairs of arms, short purple hair, blue eyes, eyeglasses, a purple fedora, and a simple black-and-purple pin-striped suit. Victor the spider did not know what the man was, but he had the notion to be cautious about what information to give out.
Likewise, the man had a feeling he would be dealing with the one part of Oogie that was rational, and how he needed to get through the small part to get the boogeyman on board. Upon seeing Victor’s transformation, the man hollered with excitement, taking the hood off.
"Whoa, I didn't know magic exists here too, within the residents! Sweet~ Hey, why don't we join forces?" Not liking the change in topics, Victor crossed all three pairs of his arms as he stepped in front of Oogie, his eyes briefly turning hollow.
"Okay, so you did some research about us. So what? It doesn't prove anything. Ya think we team up with any stranger off any cemetery?" Victor asked along with Oogie and the other bugs inside the sack in multiple voices at the same time.
The strange man just grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "I just think we've got the same goal here. I know what it's like being in the shadows. I ain't here to harm y'all. Just have a little fun and shake things up!"
"Oh?" Oogie grinned, liking what he was hearing. He stepped forward in curiosity. "Interesting. Tell me more~!"
"No, tell us less.” Victor gracefully pushed back his hive, then shooed the stranger, attempting to bump him out of the way. “Now, why don't ya swing back to where ya came from? Bye-bye, green guy!"
The man perked up upon hearing Victor's words, but kept his thoughts to himself and his happy composure, confident in his chances of an alliance. Oogie pulled Victor back and frowned.
“What’s goin’ on with you, Spits? Don’t you want to hear the guy out?”
“Nuh-uh. We barely made it back to the afterlife from Sandy Claws and Jack last year. And we don’t do team-ups. That’s what you have the boys and us for!”
While Oogie and Spits talked, the man’s emerald eyes briefly sparkled after homing in on the transformed spider before adding, “If you give me a chance, I’ll make it worth your while in a favorite game of yours~”
Victor glared at the other, then turned back to Oogie with a sigh, "All I’m saying is that we can’t trust anybody we find. Don't you find it strange that this guy looks like he escaped a cell and has a jacket that looks like you? I don’t know what this fella is, but I know the type: ancient, magical, dangerous, and the type to do tricks and wordplay. You don't need this guy or this nonsense. Ya already got your fill of fun with that big magic boy on Spiral Hill!"
"Ya think that kid's fun?" The man scoffed as he placed an arm around Oogie and dusted it off while shoving Spits away. "I'm way more wild and powerful! I can bring you fun days and nights if ya stick with me. What do ya say?"
Oogie pursed his lips, glancing between the two. A part of him shared the bad feeling with Victor, knowing how much he loved to control situations. However, nearly all his bugs, including the main one, got interested in the man’s words and aesthetics. It would not hurt to listen to what the other had to say, and if he did not like it, Oogie could always eat him or betray him somehow. Sharing his thoughts mentally with Victor, who nodded and relented before taking a step back, Oogie grinned while giving the man a side hug. "I say keep talkin', Stitches!"
"Oooh, that's a cute nickname~ I won't use it for myself, but you can if you want!"
"Before we go kidnapping Halloween Town and other holidays, I gotta magic-proof you in case anyone tries messing with us." The newly dubbed stranger named Stitches said as he, Oogie, and Spits sat underneath a dead tree that sat a good distance away from Spiral Hill. Stitches leaned against the tree as he added, "To do that, I have to enchant both your sack and the swarm inside it."
Oogie and Spits were next to each other, giving a wary glance before the former sighed and relented, "Fine, but if ya try stepping or eating me, I'm allowed to consume you too, Stitches."
"Sounds fair t'me!"
Reluctantly, Oogie's sack unraveled with help from Victor's nimble fingers. An entire swarm of bugs, worms, spiders, and other creepy crawlies stood before the fairy, who whistled.
"Wow, there are thousands of you! I got my work cut out for me." The shape loosened, and the hive toppled right on top of the man, covering him from head to toe. "A scorpion for a voice box? A snake for a tongue? You guys come up with everything!" Stitches laughed as different arthropods crawled all over his body. "Bwhahaha, that tickles!"
A red and black centipede skittered across the chest, its antennae brushing against the tattoo on the grey neck. It chittered in its own language, a smooth yet chipper masculine voice.
"You, me, beautiful eggs. Now."
Suddenly, the centipede tattoo came to life, its head popping out from the skin effortlessly. Its attennae twitched as well before it scoffed, its voice difficult to fathom yet as smooth as darkness itself.
"You? Me? Fat chance." It huffed and blew black fire that the other centipede dodged. He gasped, then purred and growled in delight.
"I have a chance, and it's fat! Let me go, guys! Let me go!" Centi tried to pounce, but the other insects grabbed his long body, pulling him away from the tattoo.
"Ahahahaha, that sure is something! Now, for the power boost. Bippty-Boppity-Boo." Stitches closed his eyes and wiggled his fingers as black and purple sparkles washed over every part of Oogie's hive, including Spits (who spat out a web and glitter from the spell). The sparkles then fell upon the burlap sack before Stitches crossed his arms with a smirk.
"All done. You can go back in."
The swarm hesitated before gradually filling up the sack, forming the boogeyman once more. Victor stepped in to redo the stitching. Oogie's sack now had a glossy green shine to it. He stretched out his limbs and patted himself down, a bit surprised as he narrowed his eyes at Stitches.
"I feel like a million bugs! What do you get out of this?"
"Besides us being holiday kings? A couple of laughs and lots of excitement. Don't worry about it. Now, as promised, we gotta play a game!" Stitches pulled Victor into a shoulder hug, away from Oogie. "Are ya up for chess or billiards? Wait, I know!"
The spider was about to question how the other knew his two favorite games when Stitches took out a slightly golden coin from his pocket. Victor raised an eyebrow.
"A good luck charm for me," Stitches explained before flipping the coin and catching it with ease. He glanced at the result, then smiled. "Pool it is!"
"What, are you gonna make a pool table appear next?" Spits scoffed, rolling his eyes.
Emerald eyes glistened in mischief and greed as Stitches grinned. "Or a better idea: we use Halloween Town as the table."
Oogie and Victor froze, especially the latter, who shuddered in newfound delight. The idea of treating the town as a giant game intrigued them. Plus, Victor loved large-sized boards, insisting on a room in the lair to hold a giant chess match with life-sized pieces. The spider craved such action and aesthetic, smiling from ear to ear.
"Oh, you are sick, and I love it! So, are we thinking slow burn or all at once?"
Stitches contemplated flipping for it again, then he matched Victor's grin deviously.
"Why not both?!"
A few days had passed. Citizens of Halloween Town disappeared one by one. First, it was Dr. Finklestein whom everyone assumed was buried in his laboratory as always. Then Behemoth presumably got lost in his Pumpkin Patch. When the Hanging Tree and his men vanished, everyone began to panic. Promising to solve the disappearances, Jack Skellington worked tirelessly in his home with Zero right by his side.
At the center of Halloween Town, Stitches and Victor stood on the roof of Town Hall with cups of Ladybug Punch in their hands, surveying the citizens as they thought of methods on how to capture them.
"For the ultimate game, solids or stripes?" Spits asked seriously. Unlike Oogie, the spider sometimes played his favorite games fairly with a poker face.
Stitches hummed in thought. "Hmmm, stripes. And the Pumpkin Queen's the eight ball."
They clinked their glasses before guzzling down their drinks and throwing the empty glasses away.
"Ready, Spits?" Stitches grinned as he put his hood up. Spits gave a small smirk of acknowledgement.
"Ready to play, Stitches!"
Sally the Ragdoll walked in the streets of Halloween town carefully with her basket, running errands even though tensions were rising. Halloween preparations slowed down with the disappearances, but the townfolk had trusted their Pumpkin King to figure things out. Sally, however, was not too sure. Still, her day would not be ruined by fear. She was on her way to the Witch's Shop when a black cat crossed her path. Smiling, she patted the cat gently, watching it hop on a trash can. The cat suddenly lost its balance, landing on its feet on the ground while the lid flew off the can, flipping into the air until it landed face up with shadows upon it that looked oddly familiar.
"Something's not right," Sally murmured before her eyes widened in realized horror. Before she could tell anyone her vision, an unfamiliar, smooth baritone voice projected all around the town.
"Ladies and gentlemen, ghouls of all ages!" Every other remaining citizen glanced to see a strange man in a green hooded jacket that, oddly enough, resembled Oogie Boogie, floating over the town's fountain as he grinned maniacally. "As of this moment, you're all mine!" A large centipede shadow emerged from the man, orbs of shadows and fire surrounding him.
"RUN!" The werewolf howled. With that, everyone scattered like ants to avoid the orbs while fast jazz music seemed to play in everyone's minds.
From the shadows of the roof, Victor raised an eyebrow at Stitches. "You even come with your own music?"
"It's a gift." Stitches shrugged, then laughed as he descended by the fountain. "Undersea Gal, corner pocket!"
The Undersea Gal shrieked and dove into the water, but shadowy arms scooped her out, and she vanished into darkness. The fae then rushed to another creature. "Mr. Hyde's found!"
Large purple webs flew out to capture the Corpse Family as Victor jumped onto the street. "Trick shot with the Corpses!" He was about to attempt the Vampire Brothers when the witches cornered him, about to cast a spell on him, but Stitches blocked the magic and captured the witches instead.
"Watch yourself, brother!"
"Don't underestimate me, Long Legs!"
One by one, the denizens disappeared into the darkness to who knew where. Sally ran through the streets, desperate to warn Jack and Zero. Even though shadows were dangerous, she did not want to be out in the open. She snuck into alleyways as she neared Jack's house, then squealed as she bumped into someone.
"Oogie Boogie?" Sally gasped with slight confusion.
"Not quite~! You're coming with me, doll." Stitches turned around, grinning as he grabbed Sally's wrist and pulled her closer.
"No, I'm not!" Frowning, Sally reached into her pockets, pulling out a sewing needle as she stabbed Stitches in the shoulder. She then unraveled her wrist and ran off without a left hand.
Stitches let out a sharp hiss, almost dropping the hand, but he pocketed it instead before he pulled the needle out from his shoulder. He felt somewhat impressed.
Victor sauntered from behind, a smug grin on his face at the misfortune, before he reported. "All the balls are in the pockets except for the important one."
Stitches and Spits glanced at each other with wicked smirks, then gave chase.
With the route to Jack's house compromised, the ragdoll found herself running off into the cemetery. Sally dodged each web Victor spat out and any fireballs without losing any other limbs. She had just reached Spiral Hill when she skidded to a stop upon seeing a large shadow centipede crawling towards her. Sally then shrieked when a large web attached to her by her waist, arms, and legs, sending her to the ground. She spotted Victor by one of the distant gravestones and Stitches approaching her from on top of Spiral Hill.
"Missing this, your majesty?" Stitches took Sally's hand from his pocket, which waved at her sheepishly. Sally noticed a dull green ooze coming from the shoulder that faded away in black and purple sparkles.
"Fortunately for you, I like my possessions in one piece." With a smooth and surprisingly gentle air, Stitches kneeled to Sally and carefully sewed her hand back on her wrist with magic. He then stood on his feet and heaved Sally onto his back to carry her like a sack. "Upsie-daisy! You're feistier than you look, Queenie. Thank ya for the nice chase~"
Sally was about to protest when her mouth got magically sewn shut. Stitches took a few steps when he stopped upon seeing a familiar purple spider sprawled on top of a gravestone.
"I was right. You go back to your true form after using a lot of energy, huh?" Stitches smirked, amused.
Spits, who had to transform back from a lack of energy, cursed at himself, but he was too sore to crawl away.
"I was wondering why you chose to stay out for so long. Good to know." The man mused as he scooped Victor with a free hand and raised him to eye level. He then narrowed his eyes as he frowned in a dangerous tone, "Don't mess with a fae like me or we're gonna have problems, okay?"
Victor shivered, knowing that at any moment, the fae could crush him with ease. Stitches was more preceptive than the spider thought he would be. Oogie's spider nodded.
Stitches grinned again as he made his way towards an old treehouse with Victor and Sally in tow, while laughing. "Perfect~ Let's get back to Mr. Oogie Boogie with the lovely Miss and tell him the good news. We got everyone except Jack Skellington. Tomorrow will be so fun and fancy free, and before you know it, the holidays will be ours!"
A parallel I noticed for Felix and Swing just now under the cut due to spoilers:
So far, I have only seen Swing’s Unique Magic translated and explained (which I had a feeling what it was before it got revealed).
Essentially, Swing swaps important magic at random, making everything a chaotic gamble. And his chant suggest that in the heat of the moment, you must switch the doom before the seams rip and it can’t be repaired anymore.
Whereas for Felix Cavatica, my Oogie Boogie twisted oc who’s essentially the descendant of Swing and Ramshackle’s Vice Housewarden… his UM brings people together.
“On the roll of the dice, let’s live life and kick things up a notch. Hive jive!”
Felix would roll a pair of dice and depending on what it lands on, he could unite/control that amount of people at a time. Since he’s still learning and all, the number ranges from 2 to 12. The people he picks must agree to become one with his mind via a hivemind. They would get a pin representing a creature. The ones who are controlled are still individuals but sometimes, Felix could see through them, they could speak in unison using plural pronouns, share thoughts and use their magic or abilities towards a goal. Felix would know what type of skills the people have and use it to plan out strategies. However, if he goes above the number rolled, it would produce more blot and his control of the people would slip.
Felix usually uses his UM to keep an eye out on Yuu and Grim, but he rarely uses it during battle unless absolutely necessary due to trauma.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
"Ah, what a glorious feast fit for a holiday king like myself. Best of all, I got this limited-Holiday edition, savory, fancy tuna with the Everything Seasoning. If only the Great and Magnificent Grim would come and join in on this feast with me~!" Seemingly out of nowhere, Swing pulled out a glowing bowl of said tuna the size of a car while sporting a devilish, knowing grin. Yuu's eyes widened in realized horror.
Immediately, Grim popped out from a box, exclaiming happily before rushing towards Swing, "The Great and Magnificent Grim is here!"
Title: Little Shadow
Fandom: Twisted Wonderland
Rating: Teen and Up, Gen
Word Count: 4,186
Main Character(s): Yuu Imamura (OC), Grim, and Swing
Summary: A Legends Over The Horizon Event One-Shot based on the Recent Lost In The Book Event!
With recent events getting to them and after a conversation with Santa, Yuu Imamura and Grim unawaringly enter a shared dream discussing how to take the new information to their dormmate, Felix, in the future. Meanwhile, Swing overhears the two Ramshackle students and takes matters into his own hands. Wholesome and subtle possessive chaos ensues!
Hey look, a self-indulgent one-shot of a hyperfixation that keeps me sane, my beloved. I wrote and posted this before Chapter 3 of the Christmas Event... only to laugh when I saw the interaction happening. So, I wanted to write Swing's character along with some headcanons and at least one theme or two of what I want to work on for my Legends Over The Horizon AU. Memories and second chances have always been the main focus when I brainstorm, but with this event, it makes me want to take things further with the morality of it all.
I also wanted to include references to the Nightmare Before Christmas video game sequel, "Oogie's Revenge" for this, so Yuu and Grim are in Holiday Trash Hill in the dream space. I like the idea of Swing luring Yuu and Grim and being "nice"... in his way, of course. First time combining giant/tiny with stuffing... so I am a little nervous sharing. But I had fun writing it.
Thank you and I hope you enjoy. Story under the cut:
After saving Ace and Ortho from Swing, the students of Night Raven College returned to Christmas Town for a well-deserved rest for the night. Santa Claus had provided beds and guest rooms for the teenagers to use as they prepared to give it their all for the next two weeks of Christmas preparation.
As the third-year students and Jack Skellington tended to the others, Yuu Imamura approached Santa's room with a concerned look.
"Mr. Claus, may I speak with you?"
"Of course you can, my child. Sit here by the fire. I got some cocoa and cookies as well." Santa sat in his armchair by the fireplace, a scroll full of names in his hand as he beckoned the human closer. Yuu shyly walked towards the fireplace, where a small table held a plate of cookies and mugs of hot chocolate. Thanking the jolly old elf, Yuu politely took a mug and a tiny cookie to nibble on. Once Santa finished the name he left off on, he looked at Yuu in worry.
"Is there something the matter? Perhaps with helping Christmas? You seem to know all about it than your friends."
Yuu hugged themselves, lost in a daze of the cocoa with watery brown eyes, before shaking their head with a tearful smile. "Don't worry, Santa. I will do my best to make sure Christmas comes. I just want to clear my conscious of something to bring me peace of mind."
"Sure, what is it?"
"Say that there's someone who loses his memory and you don't know whether he's on the Naughty or Nice list. He wants a second chance, but it's getting harder to do so each day. And I just found out that there's a chance he could be related to a bad guy, or maybe he is the bad guy. What do I do?"
Gradually putting two and two together, Santa nodded sagely. "Ah, I see the problem. Well, when you met this fellow, what did you think of him?"
"When I first met him, he was scary, grumpy, and wanted to attack Grim and me. But I saw that he was scared, confused, and alone. I wanted to help him. Even though we had a rough start at first, we all get along and look after each other. He's one of my best friends." Yuu smiled fondly, then gasped. "If I give you his name, could you see if he's on one of your lists?"
"Hmm, we could always try. What's his name?"
"Felix Cavatica?"
Santa held up the scroll, which glowed a little before the glow dimmed, and he shook his head, "I'm sorry, but since you all come from a different world, his name does not appear on any of my lists."
Yuu frowned. "Oh, I'd figure that would happen. Thank you for checking anyway."
"... Remember Mr. Scrooge and the long night that changed him for the better?"
"Yeah?"
"And I'd hate to admit this, but even if Jack Skellington is an eccentric fellow, his heart was in the right place, just not his mind or execution. Even though he took over Christmas and got me kidnapped, he did apologize and went back to set things right, along with that wonderful woman who tried to save me. So, I believe as long as they make the effort and attempt to change, anyone deserves another chance in life, regardless of their past."
"Really?" The human smiled with newfound hope and jumped, giving Santa a hug. "Thank you so much, Mr. Claus!"
Santa laughed, returning the hug. "You're very welcome! And what of you, child? How are you feeling?"
"A lot of feelings. Excited, sad, scared, and everything in between!"
"Imamura, you carry the weight of the world all on your shoulders. With the friends that you have, I could see why. But sometimes, you must learn to share the load and make things easier to carry. Now, why don't you go to bed and get some shut-eye? You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow."
"Okay, Santa."
Grim woke up to a barren and dreary wasteland that almost reminded him of the Hinterlands, except the clouds were a dark grey and only hills could be seen for miles. He spotted Yuu sitting with their head pressed against their knees and their curly brown hair sluggishly covering their shoulders, moaning in frustration. Worried, the cat walked up to the human.
"What's wrong, henchman?"
"I don't know. My mind's still reeling about Swing and Oogie Boogie, you know?" Yuu lifted their head just enough so that their words would not be muffled.
"Oh yeah. The scary bad guy problem and the Boogeyman that is based on our dorm being friends with him. Yer scared that Felix might be bad too?"
"Maybe, but it's more like how would Felix feel about his past and his hero being different. I tried talking to Santa about it, and it helped a little, but I'm still worried."
Grim shivered, thinking about Swing briefly as he crossed his arms in deep thought. After some time, he figured out something. "Well, we defeated Riddle the tyrant during our first weeks of class together, right?"
"Right...?" Yuu raised an eyebrow, not sure where their friend was going with this.
"And we defeated Leona during the Spelldrive thingy, right?"
"Right."
"Night Raven College is full of weirdoes who seem bad at first, but they have other sides to them, too! Even though Swing can be scary, I think we can take him! So what if our boss becomes a scary, bad guy? We defeated him and those ghosts all by ourselves when we first met, so we could do it again."
"Huh." Yuu sat up straight, nodding at Grim's logic. "You do have a point."
"And something tells me the Headmage won't let us change our mascot for Ramshackle, so we gotta own up to it. We gotta show Oogie Boogie that we're way better than Swing! Ramshackle, represent! Let's do our boss proud!" Grim grinned, pumping his paw in the air in confidence. Yuu cheered in agreement, standing up from the ground with newfound energy as they followed Grim, who marched forward to explore the strange new place they ended up in.
The two did not notice a figure in the shadows who listened to the whole conversation, flipping a coin in the air before grinning.
The duo neared a small mountain, approaching the entrance of a tunnel, when Grim spotted a shadowy mass lying on a rock and poked at it with his nose. "What's this thing?"
"It looks like Swing's jacket, but all dark," Yuu observed, picking up the large jacket.
"Maybe you should wear it! It'll look cool, and maybe if we think like Swing, it'll help us out."
At first, Yuu hesitated at Grim's suggestion, yet shrugged. Although there were dangers of being curious, the human did want to wear such a creative jacket, so they decided to tie their hair in a ponytail, put the jacket on, and pull the hood up. Yuu now looked like a shadowy monster with glowing golden eyes. Suddenly, they scooped Grim off the ground and hugged him close to their chest. "Mine!"
"Let me go, henchman! I'm not a toy!" Grim whined, struggling against the human's grip. Yuu gasped and let go.
"Whoops! Sorry, Grim. I didn't know what came over me. This thing's powerful. Anyway, let's go!" Yuu rushed off into the tunnel with Grim following behind as best he could, calling for his henchman to slow down. They felt like running off through a forest while laughing at the top of their lungs. It must be the magic of the shadow jacket. They kept running until they emerged from the other side of the tunnel, revealing a large dome-like clearing with levels of trash, junk, and memorabilia from different holidays. Grim caught up to the human and joined them as they both stared at the area in awe.
"What is this place, Grim?"
"A junkyard for all the holidays? You think all the missing people are here?"
"I don't think so. But there might be something we could find about where they are, Swing's weaknesses, or anything about Felix."
Yuu and Grim spent the next hour or so exploring the junkyard while trying to avoid any steep hills or sharp objects. At one point, Grim climbed into a cardboard box and threw away random objects over his shoulder.
"Junk, junk, junk... and more junk! What did you find, Yuu?" Grim turned his head to find Yuu holding a plastic pumpkin, a large paper heart, and Christmas lights tangled around their body, along with trinkets sticking out from their jacket.
"I don't think anything important." They admitted with a bashful grin, dropping the items they had acquired and brushing off the Christmas lights.
"It's a good thing Ace and Deuce aren't here. They'd tease us to no end... I miss the Boss Man."
"I miss Felix, too. We'll find something soon." As if the universe came to answer, Yuu and Grim felt a large amount of energy enter the area as a spell was cast, making them cry out in shock.
Appearing in black and purple sparkles was a bountiful feast ten times the size of a human on top of an enormous platform that acted like a table against the edges of the dome. It consisted of chocolate-covered strawberries, a hefty slice of red velvet cake, shepherd's pie, fried potatoes, glazed ham slices, roasted carrots, barbequed ribs, a pile of burgers, several hot dogs, assorted candies, a bowl of snake and spider stew, sliced turkey, macaroni and cheese, cranberry sauce, gingerbread cookies, figgy pudding, and a large mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows.
"Wow, a delicious feast that'll last for months! We hit the jackpot tonight!" Grim cheered, about to head towards the food, when Yuu raised their arm to block his way.
"Wait, Grim! That food appeared out of thin air, and the sparkles seem familiar. It's a trap." They concluded, then wondered to themselves why the trap was an extra-large size.
Thoom. Thoom. Thoom. Thoom.
The answer came in tremors from the ground that Yuu recognized as footsteps, causing them to glance in the direction of the sound with Grim.
Towering more than a hundred feet tall was Swing, with a confident grin on his face, his eyes glowing eerily as he stomped towards the feast. Instead of the usual green, his hooded jacket was stitched in rags with browns and different patches representing the holiday doors. A simple crown adorned his head proudly.
The two Ramshackle students stared at the approaching giant before Grim turned to Yuu with a disappointed glare, crossing his arms.
Yuu blinked, semi-innocent. "What? Why are you giving me that look, Grim?"
"Why do I get a feeling that this is a dream come true for you?"
Yuu laughed sheepishly with a slight blush before sighing in defeat. "More like a nightmare before Christmas."
"Henchman, you are a predictable weirdo." The monster cat groaned, then grinned as he quietly scampered off to an area away from the feast. "But you're my predictable weirdo. Now, let's go find some clues before Swing notices us!"
Yuu's face fell in awe before they smiled and nodded, following Grim. They were so surprised and proud of Grim for being serious and mature when it mattered most. As the two silently searched through items, the giant fae stopped right in front of the feast, cheering with booming laughter.
"Finally, I can relax in my realm surrounded by my collection! Oh, I'm feeling weak... with hunger! All that playing around has gotten me starving. Mr. Swing's lucky to grab all this food from the towns he paid a visit to~!"
Swing plopped down in the free space of the dome, the collection surrounding him trembling as he lounged back like sitting on a throne. He then took out his coin.
Yuu stayed as far away from Swing as possible, hidden yet close enough to keep an eye out for him. They could not help but stare as the giant coin weaved in between large fingers so effortlessly before being flipped high into the air and caught with ease. They wondered what Swing decided to do with that coin flip... only to regret it when Swing sighed dramatically.
"Ah, what a glorious feast fit for a holiday king like myself. Best of all, I got this limited-Holiday edition, savory, fancy tuna with the Everything Seasoning. If only the Great and Magnificent Grim would come and join in on this feast with me~!" Seemingly out of nowhere, Swing pulled out a glowing bowl of said tuna the size of a car while sporting a devilish, knowing grin. Yuu's eyes widened in realized horror.
Immediately, Grim popped out from a box, exclaiming happily before rushing towards Swing, "The Great and Magnificent Grim is here!"
"Grim, NO!" The human tried to grab Grim, but the cat slipped out of reach.
"Grim, yes~" Swing cooed, scooping up a drooling Grim into one of his palms while the cat begged to eat some of the food.
"Don't ever change, Grim." Yuu groaned softly, ducking low as they snuck off as quickly as possible. Perhaps the fairy did not notice them?
"My Little Shadow, you've returned to Mr. Swing!"
Yuu immediately screamed and made a run for it, trying not to stumble over the debris around them.
"Ah, ah, ah, not so fast~!" With ease, Swing used three fingers to pluck the human up from the ground, lifting them to eye level and causing their hood to drop from their head. Yuu dangled in front of his face, literally the size of his thumb, as they groaned in defeat.
"Hi, Swing."
"Hi, Yuu. Whatcha doin'? Mr. Swing sees you've got your gift."
"Your gift?" They smiled nervously, knowing full well that they were in crushing or eating range. The hairs on the back of their neck stood on end as they replied while clearing their throat. "It's lovely! We were just exploring. Yeah, exploring! We were totally not finding ways to defeat you because that would be bad! Right, Grim?"
Getting the hint, Grim briefly focused on the situation as he nodded and crossed his arms in a united front. "Oh yeah, that's right! We're wandering around, and we don't know where anybody else is, including Jack Skellington!"
Swing raised an eyebrow in disbelief, narrowing his eyes at the Ramshackle students. He deposited the human next to Grim, then smirked as he raised his free hand and gathered magical energy into it.
"Since you won't tell me where Skellington is, I might as well have my fun with you!"
Grim and Yuu hugged each other for dear life, thinking that whatever chaotic magic Swing had planned would either kill them or change them permanently.
"Welp, it's been nice knowing me, henchman!"
"You as well, Grim! Wait, what's that supposed to mean?!" They did a double-take, then screamed along with Grim as the two closed their eyes, bracing themselves as the fingers snapped... but nothing happened.
"Y'all ain't dead yet." Swing deadpanned. Upon hearing that, Yuu and Grim opened their eyes, their screams dying down.
Instead of the Christmas costume with the hat and beard, Grim was now wearing a green and black ribbon with a scary face on it.
Under the shadow jacket, Yuu now wore a stitched purple shirt and black pants.
"Huh, we're alive?!"
"Bwahahahaha, look at those cute, funny faces! Priceless!" Swing roared with laughter, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye. "All I did was give you both some flair since you're in the presence of a king... Y'know, whoever this Felix is, he's lucky to have henchmen like you two."
Yuu hummed quizzically at Swing's vague, thoughtful tone, but got interrupted with Grim pointing at the giant angrily. "Hey, how come you're nice to us all of a sudden?"
Swing shrugged. "You two barely have any strong magic, so I have to be fair. The coin told me so."
Or you have something else in mind, Yuu thought.
"Besides, I want the one with little magic to experience what it's like being me, right? Ain't it thrilling?"
"A little." The human admitted.
"That's the spirit! For playing with me and still standin' to tell the tale, you shall join me. And before ya ask, Yuu, this food ain't fae made, so ya don't have to worry about curses or stealing you guys away yet. Here you go!" Swing unceremoniously dropped Grim into the tuna bowl.
The human leaned forward to call out, "Grim, do not eat the food! Mr. Swing's trying to keep us! Do something!"
"I was wrong about you, Swing! You're the best!" Grim smiled before sticking his head into the fish and chowing down.
Yuu gave Grim an eye-twitching look that clearly read, 'If we survive this, I will strangle you.'
"Oooh, that's the same face Oogie gets right before he scolds me! Looks silly on you~! I like you, kid. You got moxie and style! Ya seem to like this sorta setup, so you deserve the best seat in the house. I'll put you riiiiiiiight here!" Swing placed Yuu between his neck and the centipede tattoo, loosening a little before wrapping around Yuu, keeping them in place as the giant chuckled. "Nice and snug for Mr. Swing."
Yuu shuddered, feeling the legs vibrate against their body, then they became still. "Gee, thanks?"
"Welcome. Next is your treat." Swing hovered his hand over the center of the feast. Yuu could not help but stare at the food hungrily, their eyes lingering on the chocolate-covered strawberries for a few seconds. Without a glance, the giant fairy picked one out and offered it to Yuu.
"How did you know I wanted one?"
Swing chuckled, placing a treasure chest-sized strawberry in Yuu's hands. "King of Desire, remember? I can sense anyone's greed or desire very well. Good henchmen get what they want."
They did not understand why, but Yuu felt compelled to take large, squelching bites out of their treat, consuming as much sweetness as possible while Swing watched as if feeding off the new greed. After a while, he glanced down at Yuu.
"Satisfied?"
"Yes?"
"Good. The rest are mine~!" He cracked his knuckles, pulled out a heavy pitchfork using sleight of hand, and dug into the potatoes first like a starved animal.
Yuu dropped the half-eaten strawberry in shock at the speed Swing devoured. Although he savored each bite with a moan, he slurped large gulps of potatoes, carrots, and cheesy pasta as if the very food he conjured would disappear in minutes. Yuu could not see the face or mouth, but they had full access to the slowly expanding abdomen below them, with soft gurgles and groans accentuating every morsel that dropped into the stomach.
Each swallow pushed and dragged against Yuu's back, massaging it as they shuddered. While turkey and ham were consumed next, Yuu resorted to their thoughts.
Now I know where Felix gets his large appetite from. Remember, Yuu: he's old, powerful, and your friend's possible family. Do not engage. Survive until rescue is possible. Stay strong!
"HHHHUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRP!" An earth-shaking belch spewed out from Swing's lips after guzzling down the bowl of Snake and Spider Stew in one long gulp.
Grim took a break from eating, whistling at the sound. "Whoa, nice one! Not as good as mine, though."
"Is that a bet, Pint-Size?" Swing smiled at the challenge, then proceeded to release more belches along with Grim in an impromptu contest, the junkyard shaking at each noise bursting out.
Yuu buried their red face into their hands, several curses swimming in their mind as they attempted to keep their composure with a straight face. They had willpower as strong as a paper towel. Adding the facts that there was no water in the area to move and no other living person to help, Yuu had the nerve-wracking task of dealing with their eccentric cat and a powerful criminal who could end them at any time, but chose not to based entirely on luck.
The feast went on seemingly for hours with gluttonous abandon. The hot dogs, candies, and strawberries were swallowed whole. For the rest of the food, the giant threw away the fork and used his hands. Dishes licked clean were stacked in a semi-neat pile. By the time Swing finished it off with the mug of hot chocolate, his belly grew to the size of a watermelon from his perspective, but to the human and cat, it was the size of a mansion that stretched out his shirt.
"OOOOOOOUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRP! Damn, that hit the spot~ You like that, huh, Little Shadow?"
What Yuu wanted to say was how Swing was a gross and smug jerk. What came out was a thumbs up and a "No comment." They then squealed as they slid out of the tattoo's grip, down the chest, and landed on top of the distended gut, sinking onto it like a sloshing beanbag.
Swing scooped up the half-eaten bowl of tuna where Grim lay on the rim, extremely full. He fell off the ledge, but Yuu caught him just in time.
"Whoops," Swing picked up the two with a free hand, amused after a yawn. "There you go, making funny faces again and acting so greedy! I'm so proud of you! I think that's enough fun and torture for one night. Mr. Swing'll get you to talk once we all wake up in the mornin'." He slurped up the remaining tuna, made the dishes and platform disappear, stretched out his stuffed body, and leaned forward into the junk pile, drifting off to sleep with Yuu and Grim nestled in his arms. It seemed like the two would be stuck as prisoners for a long--
"Psst!" Yuu glanced down to see Silver hiding behind one of the nearby pumpkins and Lilia behind a present box.
"We're getting both of you out of here," Lilia promised in a whisper. Yuu and Grim smiled in quiet relief.
"Thank goodness!"
"What kept you? I had to handle Swing all by myself with Henchman's help!"
"Well, we're here now, and that's what matters at the moment. Hold still and quiet!" Lilia and Silver came out from their hiding spaces once they sensed that the giant fairy was in a deep sleep. They carefully walked to the arms with Lilia levitating to the duo, lifting them from Swing's loose grip. Once the three were on solid ground, they joined Silver in tiptoeing out of the junkyard.
During the stealth mission, Yuu observed Swing's body when something strange caught their eye. They watched as the centipede tattoo on the neck extended towards Swing's earlobe, almost whispering into the ear. Grim gasped at the sight, then whispered harshly, "Snitches get stitches, ya crawlie-worm!"
The tattoo seemed to bristle at the name.
"Um, Grim? I don't think you should have done that." Silver warned. Before Grim could ask why, a pair of giant green eyes with insect pupils suddenly opened up, glaring at the four students.
Yuu stammered with a nervous smile, "Sh-Shall we run for our lives?"
"Let's~!" With a grin, Lilia ran while carrying Yuu, and Silver followed behind with Grim in his arms. They kept on running even with shadows looming over them and a frustrated roar shaking the air. Before a hand could reach to grab them...
Yuu woke with a startled gasp in their cozy bed, glancing around at the warm atmosphere around them and the snows of Christmas Town outside the nearby window. Grim was resting by their feet, semi-awake. After settling down, they sighed in both relief and disappointment.
"Aww, man, it was a dream!"
"Aww, man, it was a dream!" Swing groaned in frustration after waking up against the Christmas Tree door in the Hinterlands. He was so close to getting what he desired sooner, but the fae and his son had to show up at the end. The fairy scowled and stood up, crossing his arms. He did not know why his luck chose his current path, nor of the strange feelings he had towards the Ramshackle duo. He closed his eyes as he remembered their first official meeting some time ago.
"Yo! Did I interrupt anything?" Swing had called out to the group at the center of Halloween Town with his hood up. "Oops, my bad, my bad. I heard such happy voices, I just couldn't help myself. I wanna play too! Mind letting me join the gang?"
Instead of confusion, fear, or apprehension that the others had, Yuu smiled and stepped forward, extending an open hand to a powerful and magical fae they knew nothing about with a friendly and accepting air.
"Hey there! Not at all. We were just saying hi. Nice to meet you, stranger!"
Swing opened his eyes that glowed fiercely in memory of the recent dream, thinking about how loyal and dedicated Yuu and Grim were, deciding right then and there, on another object or two that he desired.
Summary: Part of AO3 Favorite Tags Bingo! Prompt: Teasing.
While the rest of the group runs away into the Hinterlands, Cater, Lilia and Rook stay to hold Swing and Oogie Boogie off while protecting Jack Skellington and Zero. During a battle with music and bruises, the third years discover things about the Boogeyman that make things more difficult for them.
An entry for @ao3tagbingo
I wrote this on a limb after the first chapter of the new Twisted Wonderland event. I wanted to try writing for Swing while also incorporating how I write Oogie, so I thought up this silly songfic one-shot that ended up being non-canon, but I enjoyed writing it. As you can tell, I need to work on writing fight scenes. I picked the song "(You Drive Me) Crazy" by Britney Spears because aesthetics and I thought it would fit.
Happy Thanksgiving weekend for those who celebrate and enjoy. Story under the cut:
One moment, they were at the library trying to study while talking about holidays. The next, Lilia, Rook, and Cater were preventing a dangerous fae and a sack of bugs from taking over one of the most beloved holidays, while their peers rushed off to find help or a plan. The three huddled together, Jack Skellington and Zero behind them, staring at their opponents.
"So, what's the deal with Swing?" Cater asked his friend seriously. "I get that we have to hold off and endure, but what are we dealing with here besides what we saw before?"
Honestly, Lilia had no clue how to deal with a fae that he had only heard about in stories, but he could tell just by first impressions the dark cosmic magic that Swing possessed.
He sighed, "Imagine if Floyd became ten times stronger, equally unpredictable, and a fae." Cater shuddered a little.
"Monsieur Skellington, how about this Oogie Boogie fellow?" Rook inquired.
Jack leaned close to Rook in a hushed tone. "I fought with him before. Oogie usually has his trio do his bidding, but he has strength and schemes before Swing came here. Keep your guard." Zero barked softly in agreement.
"Cater, you protect Jack and Zero at all costs! Rook, try to look for any weaknesses. I'll handle Swing." Lilia ordered with a determined glare. Rook dashed through the graveyard for a vantage point, ignoring Swing and Oogie approaching the group like opportunistic predators. The orange-haired human scoffed a little.
"It's like looking at a mirror-- I got it!" Cater snapped his fingers, then used Split Card to create seven clones of himself, which surrounded Jack Skellington like a barrier.
The sack of bugs grinned as he loomed over the group mockingly. "Aww, ain't that cute? The wannabe playing cards think they can stop us."
Swing nodded with a teasing smirk, lurking near the group of Caters.
"Precious! We have some time before we can get to the others. We might as well have fun before stealing them away like this. Yoink~!" Swing's centipede tattoo suddenly snatched Cater's cell phone from his hands.
"Hey, give me back my phone!" One of the Caters reached to grab the phone back, but Swing shoved the clone aside while he played with it.
"Oooh, human technology advanced over the millennia, huh?" Swing smirked, accidentally taking selfies with a struggling Cater before scrolling through different apps and poking at a musical note. "Ya got music on this thing?"
"Not the Merry Melodies app!" Too late. The app opened up, and a random song began playing, which the three visitors from Twisted Wonderland immediately recognized.
"Whitney Fears? Really?!" Lilia glared in disapproval at the wrong timing and song choice, crossing his arms.
Cater cried dramatically. "She's an icon, Lils! An icon!"
Both boogeyman and fae bopped their heads to the catchy beat, then nodded to each other as Swing pocketed Cater's phone.
"Ashes to ashes and dust to dust, let's see how Oogie and Swing kick things up a knotch!" They exclaimed in unison with Oogie licking his lips with his snake-tongue and Swing cracking his knuckles before placing his hood back on and singing along with the phone.
"Baby, I'm so into you. You got that something... What can I do?"
Lilia threw pink and black cosmic magic at Swing, but the other countered it with his own cosmic magic. He then grabbed Lilia's hands and posed as if they were dance partners, much to Lilia's chagrin.
"Baby, you spin me around."
Swing twirled Lilia at full force before kicking him away, causing the fae to crash into a nearby mausoleum.
"The earth is moving, but I can't feel the ground."
Meanwhile, Cater took out his pen and cast a spell. Vines burst out of the ground and wrapped around Oogie's limbs, trying to entangle the monster, but Oogie pulled at them, trying to uproot them by force. Cater threw a fireball, but it barely missed Oogie's head. The tip of Oogie's head unravelled, revealing a purple spider dangling out, spewing angry, high-pitched shouting before returning into the head.
"Every time you look at me, my bugs are jumping; it's easy to see." Oogie sang as a few of his stitches opened up. Leaf-cutter ants came onto the vines to chew them away as Oogie rushed towards Jack, but Jack and the Caters dodged.
"Scarin' you means so much more. More than anything I ever felt before!"
"Aren't you like the King of Halloween or the Pumpkin King? Don't you have a trick up your sleeve?" Cater asked as his clones spread out, but stayed close to Jack and Zero.
Jack sighed, "Believe me, I tried to stop them and protect my people, but they are powerful together. None of my usual strategies worked. It's like Oogie and Swing have covered their bases. I'm just as frustrated."
To prove Jack right, Oogie and Swing stood back to back with confident grins like kindred brothers as they sang as proudly as performing during karaoke night.
"You drive me crazy. I just can't sleep. I'm so excited, I'm in too deep."
Lilia ran toward Swing with a long, sharp spike he found from a nearby wall. Since he did not have a sword, he had to improvise. One of the Caters rushed as well with a box full of ice magic. The antagonists smirked at each other before they maneuvered so that Swing could trip Cater with a foot, and Lilia got pushed onto his knees by Oogie.
"Whoa, crazy, but it feels alright! Baby, thinking of you keeps me up all night!"
"Ohhhh, I'm really scared! Whatcha gonna do? Drown me with a little water spell?" Oogie guffawed while ducking from a water sphere. Swing took out a Cater with a fire spell when...
An arrow whizzed by, aimed for the dark fae's heart from behind, but Swing caught it in mid-air before it could hit its target. He then snapped the arrow in two by crushing it in his hand.
From a large tombstone near Spiral Hill, Rook had his bow drawn, his eyes widened, impressed.
"Oh my! Roi du Desir is very perceptive." He commented to himself, about to aim at Oogie next, when he heard multiple deep voices coming from above him.
"You think you can hide from the shadow of the moon at night, filling your dreams to the brim with fright?" Sensing something falling towards him, the hunter dodged a shadowy dagger, rolling on the ground as his gaze fell onto the full moon above him.
"A hunter like myself? Zut alors... an assassin!"
On top of Spiral Hill was a tall, tan-skinned man with a pale complexion, reddish-golden eyes, two pairs of arms, antennae, and wild red hair. He wore a black and red leather ensemble with boots and a spiked collar. Daggers were strapped upon his person as he gazed at Rook, a silhouette of Oogie's shadow on the moon.
The man grinned, his eyes briefly turning hollow, "Name's Phobos. A pleasure to meet a fellow hunter. How'd you know it was me?"
"A hunter studies a variety of animals, non? It does help that I'm in the science club of my academy. Judging from your coloration, where you appeared from, your antennae, and stance, you are an assassin bug that resides in Oogie as instinct or recklessness. You're the type who used to hunt spiders. How interesting. Monsieur Esprit de Ruche, I cannot wait to study you!"
Phobos blushed sheepishly before scowling and cracking his knuckles. "Flattery would get you nowhere. Now, let's see the hunter become the hunted!" He rushed towards the human with fists and bared fangs. Rook caught the fists, then swerved out of the way of the fangs. He pushed Phobos off of him, then returned to the center of the graveyard as he had his back to Lilia's and Cater's.
"No known weaknesses so far, but Swing is as powerful as you say, and Oogie does have abilities that surprise me. He's able to spy on us in the shadows and send bugs in our way." Rook reported.
"I'm down to four of me, and Skellington's still safe!" Cater added.
"Good. We just have to hold them off a little longer!" Lilia nodded as he took in the information while keeping an eye out for either opponent. Just then, Phobos arrived, strutting towards the trio with a manic grin on his face as he sang with fangs glistening,
"Tell me you're so into me that I'm the only one you will see."
"Do not get close!" Rook warned as he placed an arm out protectively. "Assassin bugs can liquefy the organs of arthropods. Who knows what a humanoid one could do to us?"
To demonstrate, Phobos lunged at one of the nearby Caters and bit down on his neck, injecting something into his veins. The clone froze, then trembled slightly.
"Can't move my body!" He wheezed before collapsing and disappearing. Lilia and Cater realized in grim horror that the humanoid bug was helping out with the kidnapping in such a way. They put up a barrier, feeling that Phobos did not have the magic or strength to break it.
"Tell me I'm not in the blue, that I'm not wasting my feelings on you."
The plan worked... for a few seconds before Phobos kneeled while putting his open palms together. From behind, Swing ran to step on the palms, and Phobos launched him into the air. The dark fairy concentrated his magic onto his boots and kicked the barrier hard, breaking it on impact.
"Scaring you means so much more. More than anything I ever felt before!"
When the barrier broke, the three mages scattered, with Cater exclaiming while returning to Jack and his remaining clones, "All of this because we didn't study at the library?! They never covered this in classes!" Rook and Lilia threw more spells, but they did not affect the scary trio.
"You drive me crazy. I just can't sleep. I'm so excited, I'm in too deep. Whoa oh oh, crazy, but it feels alright! Baby, thinking of you keeps me up all night!"
"Lilia, I've noticed something that I may need to confirm with Skellington later. Do you think that all the Halloween Town Residents are deceased?"
"Perhaps. Why do you ask?"
"I have the strange suspicion that we're fighting against a colony of corpses."
"And that's our cue to retreat. Let's get Cater and Jack!" Lilia and Rook took off after using ice magic to make shields for themselves. As shadows formed in the graveyard, the fae looked at Phobos with a raised eyebrow before taking out a coin.
"Heads, we get Batty. Snakes, we get the Hunter." Swing flipped his coin again and caught it, glancing at the result before grinning maniacally. "Oh, BATTY~!" With a snap of the fingers, Swing's centipede flew off his neck and pounced towards Lilia, breaking the ice shield in the process.
"It's more than just a tattoo!" Lilia exclaimed as he tussled with the creature, "Cater, I could use some help!"
"Kinda busy at the moment!" The real Cater called back, currently in the middle of a tug-of-war with his remaining clothes, Jack Skellington, and Oogie Boogie, with the latter opening up to reveal several bugs grabbing at Cater. Swing noticed this and muttered a spell. In a flash, the Cater clones disappeared, turning into playing cards. The force knocked Cater into the pile of bugs, which quickly closed the burlap sack. It also made Jack's head pop out from his body and fly into the air, but Rook caught it in the nick of time. Jack’s body pushed out of Oogie’s grasps, attempting to follow the others.
Rook rushed off to the Hinterlands with Jack's skull in tow and Zero following after him. He winced after feeling something on his ankle, but kept going.
Swing picked up the playing cards the clones turned into, shuffling them into the air and making them vanish, he then checked on his centipede.
Lilia screamed muffled curses as the shadow centipede encircled his body. He felt himself shrink to the size of a thumb before being picked up by rough long fingers and staring at large bug-shaped pupils.
"Aww, how cute you are with your little yummy outfit! I'm savin' you for later~" Swing unceremoniously dropped Lilia into one of his jacket pockets.
"You'll never get away with this-- hey, there's black licorice in here!" Lilia yelped when the pocket flap shut above him.
As the shadow centipede returned to Swing’s neck as a tattoo, Phobos walked up to Swing before shifting into a small red and black insect that landed onto Swing’s palm. It bit at a finger and Swing’s eyes flash gold.
"Christmas Town, huh?" He blinked before chuckling and rubbing Phobos proudly "You did amazing, Phobos! Take a rest." He walked up to Oogie and placed Phobos in Oogie’s mouth. He then took out his coin and flipped it again before nodding.
"Meet ya back at the lair, brother, and take yer prize with ya! I’m gonna take a walk and wait by the Hinterlands. We got all the time in the world to get them.” Swing chuckled and slapped Oogie’s stub with his hand like a high five before placing his hood back on, eyes glowing green greedily as he walked slowly to the Hinterlands, humming darkly.
so the thing I've been turning over in my brain re:NMBC 2 is that, just based on how it seems like it's going so far, they're probably all going to end up having to pool their resources and abilities to beat Swing with the Power Of Teamwork ("gross" - every NRC student ever). and, well, everyone's got their own special skills and magic and obviously it wouldn't be reasonable to expect them all to get used, given the particular subset of characters we've got, but also.
*Cracks Knuckles* Doing these based on what little context clues we have and based on how I write for Oogie Boogie:
Older than Lilia, yet would sometimes nickname Lilia “Gramps”, “Old-Timer”, or “Batty”
Very Observant and catches onto things quick
Loves Swing/Jazz, but would listen to modern music as well to make things interesting. Pop, Freestyle, and Electric Swing
His centipede is she/her and she’s doing amazing sweetie
The dark type of fae who would steal you away, trap you in a circle, and steal your name/pronouns/gender/etc.
Is attracted to chaos and vices, especially greed so anytime someone acts greedy, he hones in on it
Size-Shifting magic
Would definitely eat small fairies
Loves technology/toys to play with
Likes Oogie’s aesthetic and genuinely likes the Boogeyman (even though I have a feeling of betrayal going to happen)
hooked Oogie Boogie up with magic so they could kidnap Halloween Town
To make Oogie seem invincible, he had to enchant the burlap sack, so Oogie unraveled himself and all his bugs and Swing got ecstatic! He’s appreciating each bug like wow that’s so cool as he’s planning how to be the Holidays King. Just two monsters being bug nerds and bros
*In one of my Fics*
Malleus, while hanging out with Yuu and Grim: Felix Cavatica, I do not know what happened to you, but I will do everything in my power so that you will get more of a voice at this academy. While your friends work on your curse, we shall converse and enjoy each others company while learning how to socialize.
Felix: Yeah, well, don't expect special treatment, but I appreciate it, Dragonfly.
Malleus: You know, I find you amusing with the Child of Man. I like you.
*In The New Twisted Wonderland Event APPARENTLY*
Swing, while fighting Lilia in some swing/jazz dance style: C'mon, stop bein' borin' Old Man. Shouldn't dance partners help each other out?
Lilia, glaring: We are NOT partners! Stop flirting with me and leave my mortals out of this!
Swing: Keep tellin' yourself that, Bat~ I'm havin' the time of my life here! Bwahahahahaha!
I have yet to plot and brainstorm, but with the new Twisted Wonderland event, it is blowing my mind how some of it aligns with my plot points well. Let me compare Swing to my OC, Felix Cavatica:
Felix Cavatica
17-18 years old, Half Spider Fae, 210 cm in height
He remembers living in a small town in Briar Valley with his mom, a spider fae
A Diasomnia Student mysteriously cursed in a half-Overblot/half alive state.
Crowley would call Felix’s predicament a dangerous situation
Most of NRC does not recognize him
Only freshmen and new people at NRC are not affected by the curse
First meets Yuu and Grim at the basement of Ramshackle when he wakes up and he immediately fights them.
He ends up as Vice Housewarden of Ramshackle
Ramshackle is created under the Creativity of the Boogeyman with Oogie Boogie as the mascot
Felix is a fan of Oogie Boogie
Swing
Centuries Old, Fae, The King of Desires/Greed that caused chaos for Briar Valley and Twisted Wonderland
Lilia, A war general of Briar Valley and Vice Housewarden of Diasomnia, knows of Swing
The first time Swing meets the group, Yuu, and Grim, he fights them
Most of the group in this event has freshmen and vice housewardens
Oogie Boogie and Swing seem to like each other.
Do you see how everything ALIGNS?! I want to wait until we learn more in the event, but wow! But some of my ideas under the cut:
Before all of this, I had Felix come in Part 1 but not be in Part 2... still waiting for translations, but so far, I think that will work in my favor and the ideas I have already:
Some angst/trauma with Yuu and Grim looking at Swing as if looking at Felix, reliving their first encounter. Bonus for Lilia of all people to have such information and rather than share it, he stops Yuu and Grim from engaging. Yuu has a conversation on how they could try to gather information to help with Felix's curse.
For Legends Over The Horizon, I do want to incorporate Swing's fighting style with Felix.
Themes about second chances, generational trauma, morality, and the ethics of revealing that you/your family have different ethics (I feel like Deuce is a good choice for this.)
This feels like a direct sequel to The First Halloween and for that one, Felix was going to ask Oogie (in Shadow form) for help in defeating Skully in part 1. Soooooo, if the liveblogs are anything to go by, Felix unawaringly becomes the cause of part 2 due to his brief moment with Oogie.
Yall so I come back here for a while to say I am in love with a disaster fairy that caused chaos in Twisted Wonderland named; Swing (Least that what he calls himself)
Only the first part has been released, and already, I'm seeing people falling in love with this guy. This centuries-old, powerful, friendly, but naughty man basically fighting teenagers plus one grandpa veteran fae...
You do realize this is the Twisted/Anime version of Oogie Boogie, right?
