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Post by mangaranga on May 14, 2007 2:56:14 GMT -8
Have you ever had someone give you something really random for xmas? Well, when I said I liked TNBC, I never expected her to do what she did. The 1st misadventure of Ranga my alter ego.
Chapter 1: Ranga
I was just lying there on the couch watching the Nightmare Before Christmas once again. It was almost Christmas and I was just relaxing after bashing my way through the shops to get presents. Christmas is meant to be a time of good will and cheer, yet it brings out the worst in everyone. Every shop I went to had people fighting over products of all nature. The car parks were filled with vehicles that would gladly knock a pedestrian down to get a parking spot. And don’t even get me started on the lines at the supermarket and shopping trolley rage. Anyways, better not rant just watch the movie and feel better.
“Hey” said a voice “What are you watching?”
A short figure emerged from behind the couch, she was the height of a seven year old child. Her messy red fringe hung around her face and her hair was tied in a long ponytail. A mischievous smirk on her face as her eyes sparkled with a tinge of trouble. One of her eyes was normal and blue, the other was just a green and black swirl. She wore a purple t-shirt, black pants and boots with a green medallion around her neck.
“Hi Ranga” I replied “I’m watching the Nightmare Before Christmas”
“What’s that?”
“A really good movie”
“About?”
“Sit down and watch it, here have some chocolate”
“Thanks” she took a bit “What kinda chocolate is this anyway?”
“Why?”
“It tastes funny”
“It’s good chocolate from Germany. The reason it tastes weird is because it’s got brandy in it”
“I think I’ll pass on seconds”
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Before you ask, Ranga is not my little sister. She is my alter ego, I first created the concept of her when I was ten. Ranga is merely a chibi (smaller) version of myself but she is more impulsive, braver and adventurous. During my schooling years I spent ages developing a body for her. Now that I have created a suitable form for her, she often shows up on any scrap of paper I scribble on. She is an entity of mischief, often doing things that I’ve never had the courage to do, like a sprite or fairy of some kind.
Ranga turned to me “What do you want for Christmas?”
“Me? Uh… I’ve got no idea. Why do you have to get me a present anyway? You’re not even a physical being”
“Well, you created me, and even though it took you seven long years to give me a proper body. I still feel obliged to get you a gift”
“But what do I get you?”
“Just design me a kitty or puppy to play with!”
“No worries”
“You seem quite a fan of this Nightmare Before Christmas. You do have some merchandise from it and thoroughly enjoy it”
“How do you know that?”
“We’re practically the same person, remember?”
“Yeah, I sometimes forget that one factor”
“Who’s your favourite character from Nightmare?”
“Lock, Shock and Barrel”
“Who?”
“Those three kids” I pointed at the television as the first scene where you see Boogie’s Boys came onto the screen “You know I kinda created you from watching this movie”
“Really? That’s interesting”
I noticed how she intently watched the rest of the movie, she seemed to pay the most attention when Lock, Shock and Barrel were on screen.
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A few hours later I came back from a friend’s house. I looked around, no sign of Ranga at all. I went to the pantry to get another bar of my special brandy chocolate but found the stash gone. Damn it! Ranga’s gone and she took my chocolate!
The full moon hung high in the sky, the inky darkness of night masked all the silvery glitters of the stars. The short red haired figure dashed through the forest, a bag full of tricks over her shoulder. At last she came to a ring of trees, each of which had a door of some kind carved upon it. She remembered the movie, everything was just as it was described. The tree door led the Christmastown which meant the pumpkin door leads to Halloweentown. The little girl walked over to the pumpkin door and opened it. The howling wind called to her, giggling to herself she leapt through the portal of darkness.
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Post by mangaranga on May 14, 2007 2:59:06 GMT -8
Chapter 2: Let the games begin
Ranga looked around herself, she recognised the setting around her. Spiral hill and the cemetery, it worked, she was in the Halloween world. Behind her was the town itself, in front was the forest. She took out the manga she had borrowed, flicking through the pages trying to get her bearings. A plan formed in her mind, she knew what she had to do. She only had till sunrise to get ready and in place. The girl ran off into Halloweentown, she had to get a few things.
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“I’ve had it with you!” Shock yelled, her voice so loud it stunned her two cohorts. They had spent the night at the tree house planning pranks, but one little problem had shattered the calm atmosphere.
“Had it with… who?” Lock replied shakily
“Barrel!”
The devil boy breathed a sigh of relief. Barrel saw Shock’s venomous glare sending a shiver down his spine. He asked nervously “What’s wrong? What did I do?”
“You keep eating all the Halloween candy! Behind our backs”
“You mean it’s all gone!” exclaimed Lock running over to where they kept their stash
“No, it’s just Barrel keeps eating it behind our backs! You know we want some of it too!”
Barrel looked at his feet “But I don’t eat that much of it…”
“Liar!” Lock glared at the youngest trick or treater “There’s less than half of the stash in here! Last I checked there was still heaps of candy left”
“See I told you” Shock looked angrily at Barrel
“Stop looking at me like that” he replied
“Well, if you didn’t eat much of it. Then where is it?”
“I don’t know”
Lock tackled Barrel to the ground, the red haired boy punching Barrel in the stomach chanting “In here! In here! In here!”
“Knock it off” Shock separated the two boys “This is just stupid!”
Barrel retorted “You started it”
“And I’m going to finish it” she grabbed a rope and ensnared Barrel with lightning speed
“So what are we gonna do to him?” asked Lock
“I got a wicked idea”
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“We got anymore?” questioned Lock as he walked into Shock’s room
“Not really” she replied “All out of swamp slugs”
“Clever plan really, feed Barrel all the disgusting things we keep here”
Shock giggled as she left the room. Barrel was sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall, his eyes closed and breathing deeply. The witch girl walked over to him and poked him in his bloated stomach. “No more” Barrel muttered
Shock replied “I don’t think anymore will fit in there”
“Shock, you reckon we should force feed him the slime in Oogie’s Lair?” asked Lock
“You mean the stuff that’s between the hinges of all the torture tools?”
“Yeah”
“That’s a great idea!”
They both ran off down into their master’s lair. Barrel quickly got up, his ropes were cut loose. He had cut them on a sharp piece of glass behind him. Luckily Lock and Shock were constantly leaving and entering the room so he had a chance to break free. Quickly he got out of the tree house, in a few hours he’d come back and his comrades would’ve forgotten about this whole thing. Little did he realise that from a distance, concealed behind a tree, someone was spying on the trio. The figure smirked as she ran back towards Halloweentown, a plan in mind.
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The early morning was upon the Halloween world, Barrel walked through the forest and over the hills when he finally found himself at Spiral Hill. He sat down near a gravestone, he could hear a foil wrapper twisting in the wind. Looking around he saw a leg coming from behind a headstone. In curiosity he walked around the front of it and saw a girl. She had red hair and a swirl for one of her eyes. “Morning” she smiled as she bit into a bar of chocolate
Barrel replied “Never seen you before”
“I’m new around here, name’s Ranga”
“I’m Barrel”
“Nice to meet ya”
“What’s that in your hand?”
“Chocolate… do you want a bit?”
He thought for a moment, his stomach was so full it hurt but his mouth still had the bitter and foul tastes of eyeballs, slugs, asparagus and other strange so called foods that are too foul to repeat the names of (use your imagination with that part coz I’m not repeating the sick thoughts in my head).
“It’s really good chocolate” she taunted
The need to rid the foul tastes from his mouth won, he replied “Yeah, I’ll have a bit”
Ranga passed him her bar “Here, have the rest of it. Have as much as you want”
“Thanks” Barrel quickly ate it “Tasted weird…”
“It’s really good chocolate, nothing like the crap you get trick or treating”
“It tasted great though”
“You want more?”
“Yeah!”
Ranga smiled innocently as she passed Barrel another bar of chocolate. The trick or treater didn’t think twice about her kindness. She seemed like a normal Halloweentown kid, pale skin, creepy eyes, he wondered why he hadn’t seen her before. “What was… um… in this stuff anyway?” asked Barrel after eating another three bars
Ranga smirked “Why? You feeling sick?”
“Yeah” he held his stomach “Why are you laughing?”
Barrel face planted it to the ground. Ranga leaned over and checked for a pulse, he was still alive. She sighed, the stash of alcohol infused chocolate was gone but it’s all worth it for her plans. Retrieving a rope from her bag she tied her victim up before stuffing him in a large sack she found in town. Smirking like a mischievous demon she planned the next part of her kidnapping act.
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Post by mangaranga on May 14, 2007 3:01:01 GMT -8
Chapter 3: Another one down!
“Where is he!?” exclaimed Lock as they returned from Oogie’s Lair, a bucket of the strange goo with them. “Damn it! I wanted to feed him this stuff, it smells gross”
“Look I don’t know where Barrel has gone” replied Shock “But maybe we were a little too hard on him”
“What? You were the one who started it”
“Well, now I regret it”
“So what’s gonna happen now?”
“I’m going to town to look for Barrel”
“Why?”
“To apologise, sometimes you just gotta do it”
“Apologise? You’re getting soft on me Shock”
“Whatever” the disgruntled witch girl left the tree house
Silently a figure waited in the distance and saw the witchling leave. Reaching once more into her bag of uncountable tricks and mischief she prepared the next act of her dramatic kidnappings.
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A few hours had passed and Lock was getting impatient, he didn’t like it when he was separated. None of the trio did, they were always trying to keep together regardless of where they went. He paced around the tree house, a little apprehensive, maybe this was some big prank Shock and Barrel were playing on him. He looked out the window and saw a figure approach the tree house, the purple witch outfit and teased black hair immediately gave away that it was Shock, who else would come all the way out here. Lock lowered the cage for her and raised it back up. The cage elevator came back to the main room of the tree house.
The devil boy tapped his foot impatiently and immediately asked “Did you find him? Did you find Barrel?”
Shock didn’t reply, her head lowered like she was ashamed.
“You’re getting too easy Shock! Where’s that violent prankster I once knew? I mean, you got the ideas but you don’t have the guts to go through with it! When did you get a conscience?”
Still no response
“Hey Shock!” Lock ripped her hat off “Look at me” he froze with fear, the girl beneath the hat wasn’t his fellow trick or treater. In fact the hat had black hairs stuck to it to make this impostor look like Shock. She was a little taller than him with bright red hair and a green swirl as one of her eyes.
“Trick or treat!” she cheerfully said
“Who are you?” Lock backed away from her, fear rising in his mind
“Just a loyal creation wanting to give their creator a perfect Christmas gift”
“What?”
“Other than that, name’s Ranga” she winked at him in a mischievous way
He fell back and grabbed his plunger, raising it towards the intruder Lock snarled “Try anything and you’re dead”
“You’re going to kill me with a plunger? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard”
“Well, I wasn’t going to really kill you. Just seriously harm you”
“I’d like to see you try”
“Oh really”
“Come on Lock, you hit like a girl!”
His eyes flared with anger, he raised his plunger “NO I DON’T!” and attempted to strike the girl in front of him. She retaliated quickly and dodged his attack. Ranga countered with a single, powerful kick into Lock’s gut. He fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of him. The red haired girl looked down upon him and smirked “Try that again, come on”
Lock stayed on the ground keeping eye contact with her. The girl paused, her face lighted up with an evil grin “I dare you, no wait, I double dare you. Or is it, you won’t get up because you’re too afraid of the consequences?”
He jumped to his feet, no one accused him of being scared. Lock lunged at her again but just like before Ranga dodged his attack.
"Nighty night Locky boy!” Ranga mocked before she hit him across the head sending him sprawling into unconsciousness. A job well done she quickly tied him up just like she had done with Barrel. She paused and contemplated how she was to acquire Shock. She was a difficult one to decipher. Ranga then got the perfect idea, she quickly left the tree house to get her bags, her next plan was going to rock Shock’s world.
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As this all occurred, Shock was walking through Halloweentown, a little lost and concerned about Barrel. It wasn’t right that they were separated for such a long time. She walked past Skellington Manor, Jack and the Mayor discussing matters outside.
“Ah! It’s Boogie’s Boys!” shrieked the Mayor as he ducked for cover behind Jack
The Pumpkin King laughed “Mayor, it’s only one of them. Don’t be so worried”
“Back off you tub of crap!” Shock snarled as she glared at the Mayor “I’ve got enough problems without you accusing us of stuff we didn’t do”
“Problems?” Jack knelt down to her level “What’s wrong?”
“Barrel is missing, well, fair enough he ran away because we were torturing him but we always torture each other. Besides, all three of us always come back to the tree house after a few hours… and even then we can find whoever is missing”
“Well Shock, I’m afraid I cannot help you. I haven’t seen Barrel all day”
“That’s really weird”
“Yeah” the Mayor snickered “He’s usually trying to steal candy from the other children in town”
“Shut up!” Shock commanded again
Jack said in a caring manner “Look, just go home. You’re stressed and panicking, you can’t search efficiently like that. If I see anything, I’ll tell you, alright?”
“Alright, thanks”
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Post by mangaranga on May 14, 2007 3:21:12 GMT -8
Chapter 4: Negotiations
Shock returned to the tree house, the cage elevator was down as normal. Without a second thought she entered it and triggered it to return to the inner chambers of their tree house. Making it to the main room it was strangely quiet and empty. She could tell something was wrong.
“Lock? Barrel? You two here?” she asked out loud as she left the elevator
A flash caught her eye as she looked to the mirror hanging on the wall nearby, she could see her own reflection and a diabolical red haired girl sitting on the couch on the opposite side. Shock turned to see nothing but the couch they had made out of an old coffin. Fear tore through her soul, she did not recognise the girl she had seen in the mirror. Nervously she walked through the tree house, searching every room and corner of it for one of her cohorts. Standing up on the tower of the tree house she looked around, there was nothing but silence, it was eerie.
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Suddenly the sound of doors slamming shut echoed through the tree house. The witch girl shrieked in a panic, quickly she calmed herself, just doors closing. Lock must’ve been taking a nap or something and now awoke, that’s the most logical reason, wasn’t it!? Shock went down into the main room and walked into the centre of the main room.
“Lock? Are you here?” she asked again, too afraid to know the answer
No reply to her question, Shock turned and leapt back with a shriek of fear. Her footing became loose due to the fright she had received, sending her falling to the ground. For behind her was the red haired girl she had seen in the mirror. It was no illusion, she did exist, she wasn’t a figment of Shock’s imagination.
“Hello Shock” said the girl calmly
“Who… who are you?” stammered the witch girl
“Where are my manners, I am called Ranga”
Shock couldn’t believe this girl, Ranga, she was so calm, so collected. Her emotionless face made her seem inhuman. It was creepy. “How do you know who I am?” she questioned in a calm voice trying to hide her fear “I’ve never even met you before”
“I know of you from stories and film”
“But why are you here? Can I help you in any way?”
“Yes you can, please come with me”
“You’re kidnapping me?”
“Not really, I’m just asking you”
“No, you can’t take me anywhere”
“It’s not like you have a choice here Shock”
“Wait… have you got my friends? Have you got Lock and Barrel?”
“Indeed I do. They were easy to acquire”
“What do you mean?”
“Seeing as we’re both intellectuals I guess I could explain this to you”
“Go ahead, I’m listening”
“Well, Barrel and Lock have obvious weaknesses. Barrel is childish and naïve with a sweet tooth, as Lock is cocky and competitive with a habit of not backing down from any accusation of his fear. So I easily used their weaknesses to my advantage. But you Shock, you are different from the other two, so I came up with this negotiation”
“What is it you want?”
“Simple, you can come with me peacefully and be reunited with Lock and Barrel unharmed. Or I take you by force and beat Lock and Barrel to a bloody pulp”
“You can’t make me do anything”
“Oh yes I can”
Ranga pulled a large black bag out from another room, throwing it open revealed Lock and Barrel tied back to back. Shock felt nervous, she didn’t think Ranga had them imprisoned. The red haired girl then proceeded to unsheathe a dagger from her side. Raising it high she prepared to plunge it into Lock’s unconscious form.
“Stop it!” Shock cried “I’ll go with you, just don’t hurt them”
“Good choice” Ranga smirked as she lassoed the third and final member of the trio
“I guess I am different, I didn’t have some simple flaw you could exploit”
“Not exactly, as much as you desire to harm your cohorts, you still care about them. Don’t deny it, you care about them”
The witch girl was thrown into the black bag. Ranga closed it up and prepared for her journey home.
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It was evening by now, Jack was worried about Shock. He hadn’t seen any of the other trick or treaters at all which was unnatural. They would always show up as a trio at least once a day to pull pranks on unsuspecting victims. The Mayor entered his study.
“Jack, we have so many problems” wailed the Mayor
He replied “What is it?” with a tiny hint of disappointment, Jack was meant to go out with Sally tonight. But it seemed like the town was trying to keep them apart with all the issues currently circulating around.
“Well, firstly we only have a short time until next Halloween! Then there’s the break in”
“Break in? What break in?”
“Apparently someone broke into the witch’s shop and stole some things”
“Such as…”
“A large black bag, rope, a dagger, a whole witch outfit and some black spider thread”
“Strange, there’s more to steal in the witch’s shop apart from that”
“What are you saying?”
“Not sure, just thinking”
“The musicians have also reported sightings of a new child in Halloweentown, they saw a young red haired girl walk around in the early hours of the morning”
“What kind of monster was it?”
“Well, apparently a human”
“A human!? In this world! That’s outrageous! This is no world for the likes of them”
“But she did have a swirl for one eye”
“This is all too strange, first Barrel’s missing, then the break in, then sightings of a mystery girl... oh no!”
“What is it?”
“I have a horrible feeling about this”
Jack sprinted from his house and ran all the way to the outskirts of town, to the location of the tree house or Oogie’s Lair. He came to the house but there was no sign of activity at all. In the soft dirt he saw footprints and lines, like someone had dragged something heavy through here. Following the tracks he ran into the forest, searching for the culprit of these strange activities.
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Post by mangaranga on May 14, 2007 3:22:54 GMT -8
Chapter 5: Friend or foe?
When Lock opened his eyes he immediately remembered the last thing he saw. “Ranga! You’re so dead!” he exclaimed, then stopped realising he wasn’t in the tree house anymore “What the? Where is this?”
He was in a chamber of some kind, it was like a witch’s lair from a fantasy tale, mountains of magical talismans, books and charms were messily spread through the shelves. A single bed and dressing table in the corner, bottles and jars of unknown and strange creatures and organs were on the shelves and dangled from the ceiling. The entire room lighted up by three glowing orbs that hung in the air. A set of double doors at the edge of the room they were painted black with a few talismans attached to it for decoration. Two other single doors on opposite sides of the chamber, one was made of crystal with a black frame, swirls of black twisted through the clear surface, a hole of darkness and emptiness on the other side of it. The other door was a plain wooden door like something from a medieval castle. Lock was hanging from the wall, his arms tied up with ropes, the back of his shirt snagged on a hook. Barrel was on the ground snoring softly, his arms were shackled, one of his legs chained to the ground. Shock was shackled in a similar manner.
“This is Ranga’s Lair” sighed Shock
Lock replied “Shock, what happened?”
“What do you remember?”
“Well, I was waiting for you and I thought you came back. But it was Ranga in disguise, she tricked me and kept taunting me! She said I hit like a girl. Then she just knocked me out”
“I also met this Ranga girl, she threatened to kill you and Barrel if I didn’t go with her. She then just brought us here, chained us up and left”
“What about Barrel? How can he sleep at a time like this?”
“I don’t know, maybe she gave him a sleep potion or something. What does Ranga want with us anyway? Why did she kidnap us!?”
“She said something to me about how she was a creation just wanting to give her creator the perfect gift”
“You mean she has a master!? Oh no, if Ranga is this crazy what would her master be like!?”
“Calm down Shock, we’ll find a way out of this, we always do!”
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Abruptly a hole formed from nowhere above the bed of the room, Ranga fell down from the strange hole and landed on her bed. The hole vanished like it never existed. She laughed “That was so awesome! This new world she’s made up is really going places!” she sat up and noticed her prisoners “Forgot I had you three in here” as she placed a ring of keys on her dressing table
“Why did you kidnap us? And be honest about it!” snapped Shock
“Very well, I’ll explain. You have a right to know” Ranga skipped over to them and sat a little way from her prisoners “You see, my creator is a really big fan of yours. So I thought that for Christmas I’d give her you three”
“A big fan? How does she even know us?”
“Oh dear, this is a problem…” Ranga paused, she can’t reveal to these three that they’re fictional characters, it would really shatter their world. So she lied “She’s magic! Like a… psychic! She knows heaps of stuff and saw you kidnap Santa Claus. She thinks you three are adorable”
“We’re not adorable!” retorted Lock
“Yes you are! You’re all so cute!”
Shock tilted her head in confusion “What exactly are you anyway?”
“Me? My master’s alter ego! She made me with her mind” Ranga paused “She’s a kind person and I just… wanted to make her happy”
The crystal door slammed open as a vicious vortex of darkness echoed from it sending Jack Skellington into the strange chamber. He snarled “What’s going on here!?”
“Jack! It wasn’t us this time!” exclaimed Lock and Shock
“You!” he pointed his long bony finger at Ranga “What are you? Why are you kidnapping people of my world?”
“Why are you so angry with me?” replied Ranga “You did exactly the same thing a few years ago when you took over Christmas!”
“Well… uh… that’s besides the point! You cannot just go to Halloweentown, kidnap people, break into shops and loot!”
“How else was I meant to borrow the stuff I needed to acquire these three without breaking in? All the shops were closed”
Jack stepped forward, a dark aura radiating from him sending a feeling of fright into the hearts of all in the room. Ranga turned and sprinted for the medieval door, throwing it open and running for her life. The legendary Pumpkin King pursued her.
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“Come on we have to find her!” said Shock “Lock, get yourself down from there!”
Her cohort looked at her in confusion “What? Why do you want to save Ranga so much?”
“Just do it and stop asking questions!”
Lock wriggled his shoulders around tearing the back of his shirt as he crashed into the floor bellow. Shock immediately stretched as far as she could and grabbed a dagger that was resting on a shelf nearby. She cut the ropes free from Lock’s arms. “Go get the key!” she ordered
The devil boy obeyed, he was not in the mood to argue with her. Grabbing the key from the dressing table, he quickly unlocked the shackles from around Shock.
“What about Barrel?” he asked
“Leave the keys here, he’s not going anywhere” replied Shock
They both ran for it through the door Ranga and Jack had disappeared through.
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Post by mangaranga on May 14, 2007 3:24:31 GMT -8
Chapter 6: I'm going insane, right?
I hadn’t seen Ranga for most of the day and when she did return she didn’t tell me where she had gone. Usually I can tell where she’s been because we’re the same person in a way but I couldn’t detect any sign of where she had been. A bit worried about her I headed to the cupboard under the stairs, I took a bottle of Ouzo with me too, just to get her talking. Crawling through the masses of junk my family and I kept in that space beneath the stairs I finally made it to the darkest and most forbidding part of the area. It was a dark tunnel that led down to Ranga’s Lair. Don’t laugh, I didn’t have anywhere else I could put her in this house so I created a home for her under my stairs.
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Walking into her chamber I could see no sign of her but then again the crystal door leading to my portal of fantasy as well as the medieval door to my garden of delusions wide open. I walked over and closed the crystal door, Ranga never goes through this door unless she intends to go somewhere. However it is impossible to travel to any of the fantasy worlds I’ve created or any sort of world unless she has something to guide her. Ranga had to be in the garden of delusions. I heard something groan behind me, which was weird, Ranga had no pets yet. Turning I saw a familiar figure sitting up on the ground, he was shackled. I froze, it was Barrel from the Nightmare Before Christmas, how was this even possible!?
“Where am I?” he moaned
“Ranga’s Lair” I replied as I walked over to him
“Ranga’s Lair… ow, my stomach”
“You gonna chunder?”
I didn’t need an answer I quickly grabbed a bucket and gave it to him. Barrel took it and threw up. I knelt down near him and rubbed his back. “Thankyou” he coughed when he stopped spewing
“It’s alright” I took the bucket, making a hole appear in the floor I dumped it into the darkness and made the hole vanish again.
“Are you a witch!?”
“Not quite, just a teenager with an overactive imagination”
“You look a lot like Ranga but different”
We should look different, firstly she’s a kid with a swirl for an eye. I have normal eyes and am a seventeen year old girl. Also I wear a black t-shirt and flared jeans, she has a different outfit.
I replied “We should look alike, we are kinda the same person”
“What?”
I sat down near him and explained “She’s my alter ego. I created her. Now then Barrel, what happened?”
“How do you know my name!?”
“Magic, now tell me what’s going on”
“Well, I was just in the cemetery one minute then I met Ranga. She gave me this weird chocolate and I passed out”
“So that’s where my brandy chocolate went”
“What?”
“Never mind, come on, we have to find her” I picked up my bottle of Ouzo and walked over to the door. He followed me as I walked through the medieval door.
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The garden of delusions is a strange place, it’s not really filled with normal things. It’s a place where all the worlds from some of my favourite fantasy video games have mashed together into one setting that keeps changing. This was gonna be a hard place to search for Ranga, the scenery wavered and became the swamplands from the Majora’s Mask game of the Zelda series. The rotten purple water surged around the log I stood on.
“What the!? What is this place!?” exclaimed Barrel in fright
“If I explained it to you, you’d never understand” I replied
The plant Barrel was standing on fell beneath the water, I quickly grabbed him before he could fall into the poisonous water, he was clinging onto me like his life depended on it. I hugged him back, enjoying the moment, it’s not everyday you get to hug one of your favourite characters of all time. I calmly suggested to him “Why don’t I just carry you? Alright, that way you don’t have to worry about the dodgy scenery”
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Barrel was perched on my shoulder, one of my arms keeping him secure. I dashed from the swamplands and ran into a cave. On the other side of the cave was another scene change, the Black Mage Village from Final Fantasy nine. I kept walking through these safer surroundings trying to work out where Ranga would run to. I then sensed it, I opened the door of one of the houses and entered to find myself in the sinister chambers of the Dark Ruins from Dragon Quest eight.
I couldn’t believe my eyes, Jack Skellington, Lock and Shock were there. I quickly let go of Barrel so he could be reunited with his fellow trick or treaters. At the back of the room was Jack arched over Ranga like a beast ready to attack. I immediately walked past Lock, Shock and Barrel, even though I loved them to pieces I had to save Ranga.
“Who’s she?” asked Lock as I walked past
“I don’t actually know” replied Barrel “But she created Ranga!”
“WHAT!?” screeched Lock and Shock
“Did she hurt you?” snapped Shock
Lock added “Does she have mental problems like Ranga?”
“Not really” Barrel looked at her feet “She’s really nice… and gives good hugs”
“She hugged you!? What kind of psycho is she?”
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Post by mangaranga on May 14, 2007 3:28:00 GMT -8
Chapter 7: Time to set everything right
“Jack Skellington I presume” I said politely. The skeleton turned and stared at me in confusion. I guess seeing two people who looked similar shook his mind a little. “Hey, how ya going? Can I please talk to Ranga?”
“Who might you be?” he asked
“Ranga’s master”
“Were you the one who ordered her to kidnap members of my town?”
“Not really, she did that of her own accord”
“Then perhaps you should have better control of your creation. I mean, I have control of Lock, Shock and Barrel even though they’re Boogie’s henchmen”
“As if!” scoffed Lock
Shock laughed “You’re not the boss of us!”
“Keep dreaming Jack!” Barrel said smugly
Jack pulled his face into a twisted scream revealing his rows of fangs. Lock, Shock and Barrel cowered behind me. The most reaction I got from that was a mere eye twitch, but I usually have a slow reaction time.
“You done?” I asked
“What? You mean you’re not scared?” Jack looked at me like I was some freaky science experiment “How is this possible?”
“You don’t even realise what she is” Ranga stood up and declared “She is the creator of a thousand worlds, she creates lives and gives them destinies! You’re not scary to her Jack because she can create countless demons of unimaginable horror! Thus is the power of those who are storytellers!”
I sighed “Then why does everyone think I’m cute?”
“Because they can’t see what really goes on in your head”
Lock, Shock and Barrel backed away from me like I was some kind of monster. Jack too had an expression of fear on his skull.
“Excuse me” I reached out and pulled his skull right off his body
“Hey! What are you doing!?” he kept shouting at I fiddled with his jaw
“Just a second” a painful sounding click “There we go!” I tossed Jack’s skull and jaw to Lock, Shock and Barrel “Look after these for a moment”
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I ignored the mischievous trio taunting Jack’s body to follow them and passing the skull and jawbone between each other. I walked right up to Ranga who was crying at the back of the room.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her
“You peeked at your Christmas presents!” she snapped
“Pardon?”
“I kidnapped those three to give to you as a present!”
“Why?”
“Coz you’re a fan of theirs”
“But what am I going to do with them? I can’t exactly keep them as pets”
“You can make a world for them and home and they can live in the garden of delusions”
“They already have a home back in the Halloween world. This is just wrong Ranga, you can’t kidnap people!”
“I thought this would be a good gift for you”
“Kidnapping is wrong!”
“I worked so hard to kidnap them… actually, no not really… but I went to a lot of effort and you just want to release them! How ungrateful!”
“I’m not ungrateful, I’m amazed you’ve done this but, you have to return them home, this isn’t right. Why did you do all this?”
“I know Christmas is a bad time for you and you never seem happy with all the crap given to you from everywhere. I just wanted to make you smile so you’d be happy”
“Life’s shit, you just gotta get through it Ranga!”
She was looking at her feet, I could feel people watching me from behind. I turned to face the characters from Nightmare Before Christmas that Ranga had brought here.
“This has nothing to do with you guys, so stop looking at me like that” I turned back to Ranga and knelt down to her level “I appreciate what you’ve done, this is one of the better days of my life, but you gotta set things right, return them back to their own world”
“I’m glad” Ranga smiled
“Seeing as I got my present early, you may have yours”
I stood up and held my left palm out flat and open. With my right hand I reached into my left palm like it was a hole. I pulled out a creature from my own soul, just as I had done to create Ranga. It was a little penguin with blood red eyes and a red swirl on its white belly.
“Ranga, this is your present”
“A penguin! I love penguins!” she cheered “How did you know?”
“Like you said, we’re practically the same person”
“Awesome! I’m gonna call it Ragu!”
“Ragu?” I couldn’t argue with her “Ragu it is”
“Excuse me” Jack said as his skull and jaw was returned to him “But what is going on here?”
“Just celebrating Christmas… kinda” I remembered the Ouzo I had brought with me “How bout a drink?” as I held the bottle up
“What is it?”
“Ouzo, it tastes like liquorice”
“Alright I’ll have some”
I opened the bottle “Here ya go”
Jack sniffed it and took a long gulp of the clear liquid. Ouzo is a spirit with a high alcohol content, it tastes sweet and leaves your mouth burning, yeah, really good when you need a kick! Usually you take it in shot glasses but Jack had quite a big gulp. I grabbed the bottle as he fell to the ground unconscious. When he wakes up this will all be a hazy, hung over and unclear memory.
“Can I have some?” asked Barrel “I love liquorice!”
Shock snickered “You love any form of candy”
I smiled “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Now then, let’s get back to the crystal door”
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I had carried Jack’s passed out form to Ranga’s Lair. Ranga and her new beloved penguin, Ragu, were near the door, she opened it and chanted a few words. The portal becoming still as the darkness cleared a revealed the Hinterlands. “Well, guess this is it” smiled Lock
“It’s such a relief that’s over” sighed Shock
They dragged Jack’s body into the Hinterlands. Barrel looked at Ranga, the two midgets seemed to be talking to each other with their eyes. Then he turned to me. I have no idea why but he ran over and hugged my leg because he was so short. Embracing the moment I picked him up and hugged him again. “Barrel? What are you doing?” snapped Shock “We gotta go”
“Not yet” he said, turning to me “Can you give Lock and Shock hugs? So they know how good they are”
I crossed my arms “You sure? You were scared of me back there”
“What are you, nuts?” said Shock
“Trust me” Barrel led the witch girl over to me, I didn’t really know what to say. So I knelt down and gave her a hug. Surprisingly, she hugged back too.
“You’re right Barrel, for once” Shock sighed “She does give good hugs”
They both disappeared into the portal only to abruptly return dragging Lock with them.
“I don’t want a hug from some red haired psycho that would probably kill me!” the devil boy cried like I was some kind of monster, he was kicking and squirming
“Look who’s talking, you’re a ranga too!” Ranga stamped her foot
“Just enjoy it stupid!” Shock said as she pushed him over to me. I caught him and gave him a hug like his friends wanted me to, after a few seconds he hugged back. Personally I’m confused by this situation too! It’s kinda creepy but either way I got to hug them which was really good.
Anyways Lock, Shock and Barrel disappeared into the Hinterlands, I was never gonna see them again. But it was such an amazing present, to actually see some of my childhood idols in the flesh and hug them. I looked over at Ranga and opened the bottle of Ouzo, pouring us each a drink.
“Cheers” we both said as we clinked shot glasses
Alright that's the end, maybe I'll post the other Ranga stories, or maybe I won't, I haven't decided yet. I just put this up to explain how she met LS&B
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