The Pumpkin King

A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

TW: THIS IS NOT A STORY FOR CHILDREN. Mildly graphic violence and character death ahead. Read at your own discretion. 

Not many people remain from back then, and even less remember it. I would say it's almost a shame. But, a wolf in sheep's clothing relies on people thinking that it's a sheep.

He now sees me as an annoyance. The Pumpkin King's side in him is enough to stop me from causing trouble too often, at least. 

Yes, the Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington. I think that I'm the only one that remembers how he used to be. The scientist doesn't care for anything except his work. I doubt he'd notice if everyone vanished and he was the only person left in Halloween Town. Perhaps the spineless mayor still remembers. My trick-or-treaters tell me that the mayor would do anything to make him happy. Or, the dear Mayor knows that the citizens would follow Jack before they would even consider following him. That's probably right. No one wants to remember the unpleasant.

But I know the truth.

Jack Skellington earned the title of Pumpkin King. Years ago, when there were only a few citizens in our fair town, we needed a leader. The first one was cruel. But, back then, Jack cared little for things outside of his own interests and projects.

Then, something happened. No one was sure what happened, even then. All we knew was that one day Jack started helping more with Halloween preparations, and the king perpetually wore a smirk. Rumors flew around, as they often do, but none seemed more plausible than the last.

Besides, something like that wasn't like that was a new development. Someone wouldn't contribute enough to the Halloween preparations, and then they would turn over a new leaf overnight. Suspicions flew towards the king, but no one was brave enough to talk about the elephant in the room. The last person to confront the king was hung from town square. Anyone that fed them or tried to take them down was put up right next to them. By the time that all was said and done, four bodies were hanging from town square like decorations.

But I digress; years passed without much change, and the king continued to care less and less about Jack. Jack was a model citizen, and eventually people forgot that he wasn't always like that. That's when the real story starts.

It was Halloween night, and everyone had gotten back from their Halloween events. Everyone but Jack. The townsfolk shook it off, recalling how Jack had been setting up his plans for hours the week before, and how he used to get so invested in his little pet projects. But I remember how furious the king was. The traditional parade pressed on, though, with the king leading the charge.

The parade ended near the fountain. A stage had been set up for the king to speak, and he began regaling the town about how he was so proud of them, and how it was under his supervision that everything came together for another amazing Halloween. What droll; the king did nothing, save for scaring people into doing his work for him so that he could continue to do nothing. 

No one was really paying attention to what he was saying, though. Most eyes were on the shadows behind him. There were quick flashes of movement, too quick for anyone to do anything but wait for another flash. 

Eventually, the king realized that no one was paying attention to him, and followed their eyes to the shadows behind him. He demanded for whatever was behind him to come out.

"As you wish," a voice snarled. 

Suddenly, everything went dark. People were clamoring for a light, trying to find their friends and family, but a shriek ripped through the commotion, and everyone turned to the stage. 

The moon illuminated the king's body, dead in the fountain. It looked like he had tripped, and smashed his head against the stone rim. The blood from his skull dyed the water red, and his face was twisted in fear.

Slowly, Jack emerged down from the shadows. No one could say anything; Jack, the guy that helped anyone in town without asking for something in return, who played with the children when their parents were busy, who was so proud of each of his projects that he'd share them with anyone that asked, had scared the king to death. For surely, that's what happened. The scream and look of terror etched on the kings face told the story of his fate clearly. 

Slowly, someone began to kneel to him. Then another, and another after that. Before long, everyone in town was kneeling to him; even I was. Anyone that could scare the Pumpkin King to death was a fearsome foe, indeed. 

He told us to rise, and that he would be a fair and just king, if we let him be. Murmurs of agreement rose from the crowd, and he smiled so widely I mildly wondered if his jaw would fall off. 

From that day on, he did what he said he would do. He allowed people to pursue interests outside of what could be used for Halloween, and a renaissance of sorts followed. Jack himself contributed to a lot of it, and the quality of life improved greatly. Houses were nicer, and people became content with working towards Halloween when only 3 months were dedicated to it, instead of all year. 

And yet, I couldn't stop thinking about how this skeleton had scare the previous king to death. He was all smiles and charm, whereas the growl was purely predatory.

So, I concocted a plan to see the darker side of the beloved king. Late one night, I snuck into his house, like I did when distributing nightmares. I crept around, looking for the king. Just as I was about to give up hope that he was home, I was slammed into the wall. 

"Is there any reason in particular that you are in my house?" he growled, "I was under the impression that your work was 'too important to be neglected in favor of other activities'."

I just smirked; this was what I was looking for. The savage and proud Pumpkin King.

He eventually let me go with a warning to not disturb private residences of Halloween Town residents. He wasn't so kind when another one of my plots against him backfired. He banished me to my lair.

Now I have to use Lock, Shock, and Barrel to find out about what's going on in town. They are adequate at their job, though their arguments tend to give me a headache more often then not. At least Jack is kind enough to let the children into town and to not take his annoyance at me out on them. I highly doubt that the last king would have done so. 

I must keep one thing in mind for my next plot, though: Jack Skellington is more dangerous than he looks. 

Author's Note: I tried to keep it canon, but I've never played the video games, so I don't know if it is correct. Basically, I was trying to explain why Oogie Boogie seemed so scared of Jack when he appeared in his lair.