Quintessence by Hugs.And.Kisses (book recommendations website TXT) 📕

the electricity stopped flowing, and the two were free to go through.

Aubrey shook her head. "Is that your solution to everything? Smash it?"

Lock grinned- it was hard to take her scolding seriously when she was laughing. "It's working, isn't it?"

After smashing the next two gates into rubble, they came across a giant, sparking generator. "Guess this is it." Aubrey said, carefully examining it out of the range of the sparks. "Let's see, there's got to be an 'off' switch here somewhere…" She muttered.

Lock, on the other hand, was preparing his way of shutting down the field. Cocking his arm back, a large fireball appeared in his hand. "Aubs, I'd get back if I were you." He said before (after making the ball even bigger) tossing it at the machine.

"Aha- wait, why?" Aubrey said, turning to see the fireball. "Fuck- draug!"

The machine, predictably, exploded as Lock's flames engulfed it, and was left as a smoldering pile of half liquefied metal. There was a loud clanking as Aubrey dropped her makeshift shield and turned to glare at her fiancé.

"What?" Lock asked.

"Next time you want to blow something up, give me a little more warning so I don't almost get blown up with it!" She growled, poking his chest with a claw.

Lock smiled sheepishly. "Eh heh. I'm sorry?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Let's just go find my dad and head inside. With our luck, he's probably got a backup somewhere."

"I said sorry!" Lock called, chasing after her.

Aubrey sighed. "I know, just… seriously, Lock, blowing shit up is NOT the way to solve all your problems."

"But it usually works. I love you."

"I love you too. Now, come on, let's go fix Doctor Finklestein." She said, heading out of the junkyard.

Surprisingly, Jack was already there waiting for them. "Dad?"

"I saw the explosion. I figured that the two of you had located the generator." Jack explained, looking pointedly at Lock, who just grinned. "Let's get inside, I want to stop the Doctor from making Oogie's creations as soon as possible."

Pushing open the doors, the trio realized that this wasn't going to be as easy as they thought. "Shock? Why am I not surprised…" Lock muttered, glaring up at the witch.

"You sure kept me waiting." Shock said, floating on her broom near the top of the tower.

"Well, you sure kept yourself busy. Never knew you were into home renovations." Aubrey snapped back, her wings flaring out a bit. "The death trap's a bit over the top."

Shock smirked. "Well, if the obligatory witty banter's out of the way, I'd like to just kill you and get it over with." The witch flipped the lever on the large machine, which began to sputter and churn out giant iron spheres, which made their way down the ramp toward the trio.

Fortunately, they seemed to just disappear about a quarter of the way from the bottom. "Great, how do we get past those?" Lock muttered.

Aubrey looked up. "We go around." She said, leaping off the ground.

"Oh please, do you really think I wouldn't have thought of that?" Shock asked, sounding a little insulted. Lock and Jack didn't miss her wine as Aubrey slammed into the previously invisible barrier, her body crackling with magic-infused lightning as she fell.

Lock caught her before she could hit the floor. "You had to know that wasn't going to work." He admonished.

"Figured it was worth a try." Aubrey muttered, holding her head. "Didn't see you coming up with a plan."

Lock paused, then smirked. "Actually, I just might have one."


Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The Not-So-Good Doctor II

Shock tapped her fingers at the end of her broom impatiently as Lock, Aubrey, and Jack huddled down at the bottom of the tower, presumably plotting a way to beat her death trap. Come up with something good, guys. She pleaded to herself, even as the mark on her side burned at her treacherous thoughts.

Movement caught her eye suddenly as the trio charged the ramp. No, no, no!

"That the best you got?" She taunted, sincerely hoping that it wasn't. She was almost relieved to see that they were dodging the balls, ducking into nooks and leaping over them. It wasn't until she realized that Aubrey had run out of room to fly over the balls did she panic, unable to stop the sphere hurtling toward the winged girl. Her scream of warning cut off in her throat as the mark activated, stopping her from saving the heir to Halloween Town's throne.

What happened next confused her greatly for several moments- the sphere hit Aubrey, but rather than crushing her flat, it phased through her- or, rather, she phased through it.

The sound of wings behind her made Shock realize that Lock and Jack had just been a distraction, and she turned to see a very annoyed looking Aubrey. Glancing down at the barrier, she saw that a rather large hole had been eaten through. "Clever." She said, returning her gaze to Aubrey.

"Thanks. Now, do me a favor and hold still." Shock didn't have time to contemplate that odd request before Aubrey lunged at her, pressing her hand to the 'X' etched into her side as they fell on the platform the machine rested on. Burning pain shot through the witch, and with it came a strange, wonderful sense of freedom. Having two such conflicting emotions running through her at once was too much for her brain to handle at the moment, and she passed out from the strain.

Rewind, Aubrey's POV

Lock's plan was surprisingly plausible- I love him, and I know it's mean to say that, but it's true. Most of his plans are… well, kinda stupid. This one actually had a pretty good chance of working.

I cast an invisibility spell on my real body created a magical copy of myself to keep Shock from seeing what I would really be doing while the copy, Lock, and Jack fought their way past her trap.

Hovering was never my strong suit, and it was taking a lot of effort to stay in one place while I vented all the magic I could spare toward the barrier. Finally, a small hole that I probably couldn't have fit a finger through appeared in it, and it was as good as done. Having something to focus on now, I ripped the barrier open further, until the gap was wide enough for me to comfortably fit through.

Things almost got really complicated then- Shock made a choking sound, and I looked over to see that my dummy had been hit with one of the spheres. Since it didn't have any real substance, it just passed through it, but now I was busted, and I wasn't about to let Shock get away. Launching myself up, I gave up on the proxy and the invisibility spell as Shock turned around, surprised to see me. I saw her look down at the barrier, and at the hole, before she looked back up at me.

"Clever." She complimented- it was the first genuine thing I think she'd said since we'd come in.

"Thanks." I said, shifting subtly in my preparation to knock us both out of the air. "Now, do me a favor, and hold still."

Her confusion gave me all the time I needed to tackle us both to the top floor of the lab, and I pressed my hand against the bottom of her ribs- I knew I had the right place when my arm went numb from the dark magic that was trying to shove me away. Whatever happened last time didn't seem to be happening, but I forced myself to find that power source again. Heat welled up in my chest, and then shot down my arm, making it glow gold. Light surged from beneath my hand, and I heard Shock cry out in pain, then slump back to the ground.

I stood up and wobbled over to the machine, pulling the lever to shut it off. It sputtered to a stop, and I sat down heavily, leaning against the wall to stay up.

Back to 3rd Person

It was quite the relief for Jack and Lock when the spheres stopped rolling down the ramp, and the two made their way to the top floor, where Shock was laying unconscious, and Aubrey looked like she was on her way to following. "Hey, look. I didn't pass out this time." She joked weakly, letting Lock pull her to her feet and leaning on him to stay that way.

He kissed her temple, murmuring, "You did good," as Jack helped the stirring Shock sit up.

"What happened? What did you do?" Shock asked, looking over at Aubrey.

"She broke your contract." Lock explained. "Just like she did mine."

Shock's eyes widened. "It's over? You mean it?" Lock nodded, and Shock let out a cry of joy. "Thank god! Oogie can go to hell!"

"Nice to be able to say it again, isn't it?" Lock grinned.

Shock laughed and nodded, but sobered up quickly. "Now we just need to free Barrel…" She muttered, obviously worried about her boyfriend.

"Don't worry, he's top priority after we get Doctor Finklestein's brain back in his head." Aubrey said, stepping away from Lock.

Shock nodded understandingly, but her expression turned to panic as the elevator began to come down from the lab. "Hide!" She hissed. "He might not realize I'm not under Oogie's control anymore!" The three nodded and ran down the ramp a ways, ducking into Sally's old room just before the elevator touched down.

"What was all that racket?" The wheelchair-bound doctor demanded.

"Sure sounds like Doctor Finklestein." Lock muttered. Aubrey rolled her eyes and put a hand over his mouth.

"I was just testing the machine." Shock lied easily, the contempt in her voice barely hidden.

The Doctor observed her for a few moments before letting out a 'hmph.' "Well keep it down! These procedures are delicate." He said, maneuvering back into the elevator. "I'll be taking dinner in my lab tonight."

"Sure thing." Shock answered, uninterested. Only when the noise of the elevator had stopped did the bedroom door creak open and the three stepped out.

"That was… weird." Aubrey said, looking up toward the lab. "It sounds and acts just like him."

"It basically is him." Shock said. "Don't ask me how, but Oogie managed to pretty much copy the Doc's brainwaves down to a 'T.' Just, ya know, more evil and loyal to him."

Lock paused. "So, basically, he's exactly like the real Doc?"

"Isn't that what I just sa- wait, I know that look." Shock said, frowning. "What are you planning?"

"I think I know a how we can 'distract' the Doc while we switch the brains