Barrel shot Agatha a charming grin, then reached into his hoodie for a candy. He unwrapped it and stuffed it in his mouth.

"I can be good sometimes," he said with a shrug.

"Are you children--?" one of the vampires started.

"We're fine," Shock said.

"Well," Lock said. "Maybe not [i]Carver[/i]."

The tricksters all let out a small cackle at their best friend's "misfortune." Shock then glanced to the remnants of the swamp smoke still filtering from the shop.

"[I]Death[/i], that stuff is noxious."

She perked as a devious, thoughtful smile crossed her lips.

"[I]Delightfully[/i] noxious..."

"Don't get any ideas," Clown told her.

The Melting Man gurgled in agreement. Shock's smile became sweet as she held a hand behind her back. She daintily placed the other hand over her chest.

"Whatever do you [i]mean[/i]?" she asked as she crossed her fingers behind her back.

That got a glare in return. They all knew she knew [i]perfectly[/i] well what Clown meant. They all also knew she was lying through her pointed teeth.

Lock let Carver lean on him, then stuck out his tongue at the crowd. Shock brushed down her skirt and reached up to fix her hat.

"Carver's right," she said. "I'm going home."

Barrel casually strolled behind his sister. Lock "helped" Carver out of the small shopping area and into the main square. All three of the siblings moved with indignance, at least until they passed the main gate. Once they felt they were in the clear, all three of the siblings burst out laughing.

"That went better than expected," Lock said.

He let Carver go now that they were out of sight.

"Yes," Shock agreed. She gave a small glare to Barrel. "Even though [i]someone[/i] went off-script and cost me."

"I'm sorry!" Barrel exclaimed. "I panicked!"

"We literally rehearsed it right before you left!" Shock cried.

Lock grinned. Ooooh, this was worth the wait!

"Cost you?" he asked Shock.

"We now have high-quality spider eyes and are out some claws and venom because Barrel couldn't just stick to the damn plan."

"I said I'd pay you back!" Barrel whined.

"I hope you like cleaning cages and extracting venom, then," Shock said with a glare, "because that's [i]your[/i] job until you make up what you cost me!"

Barrel thought of all the tanks in the back room, and more than that, the numerous scorpions they contained. He let out a long groan as he realized he couldn't take any shortcuts, either, because his older sister would have his head if even the tiniest thing screwed up her carefully-maintained scorpion nests. It was going to be [i]months[/i] before he collected enough venom to make up not only for the loss, but the interest Shock would undoubtedly tack on out of spite.

Lock casually strolled up beside Barrel.

"Maybe next time, bring the flashcards with you."

Barrel shoved him away.

"Shut up!"

Lock punched his arm.

"Make me!"

Barrel gritted his teeth and glared. Shock let them bicker, then turned to Carver.

"Where's Loki?"