((Due to a personal issue IRL, on behalf of SystemOfEleven, I will be taking Phoebus and Pierre this go-around.))

Would that the Holy Virgin make the ground more stable so he could more easily follow precious Cynthia and get her back to her parents before the mob found her first! Pierre stumbled towards the stables after the fleeting little girl. Well, from behind, she certainly had her mother’s dark, unruly hair and taste for purple clothing. And the hat - ah, probably a gift from Clopin, who had an affinity for fine headwear himself! Yes, he remembered - no, no, focus, Pierre! No time to think of christenings and holidays when Esmeralda’s child was in danger of being burned as a witch! He vaguely realized she was certainly small for an eleven-year-old…[i]was[/i] she eleven? Or five? Pierre’s head hurt as he briefly tried to remember the timeline his drunken mind conjured up. Five when...right, something about festivals. So she should be about eight.

Still rather young to be tried and burned as a witch, though, which meant he must get to her first!

“Waaaait, dont’t tun Cyn--” Pierre tripped on a jagged cobblestone and wobbled for a moment, but found his footing, “--wait fer me!”

He followed her to the stables, and to one of the first stalls. He saw “Cynthia” trying to climb into...he wasn’t sure, but she probably shouldn’t be there. Pierre dove to try to catch her.

“I’ll s-s-saaave--!”

The child jumped to evade his grasp. Pierre crashed inside the whatever-it-was. He groaned as he landed on...all sorts of things. Some large and round, others small and sharp. The whatever-it-was began to move, with a rocking motion on either side. Pierre groaned, but the movement felt familiar. After a moment, it came to him. But of course! It must be Cynthia’s cart, pulled by none other than his precious Djahli. She wasn’t trying to evade him - why would she, when she knew him to be a pillar of valor, a valiant hero with the heart of a lion and the bravado of a charging stallion? - she was simply hooking the little goat to her cart!

Clever girl. Much like her mother, she had a plan to get away.

Satisfied by this, Pierre allowed himself to enjoy the ride, at least until the “cart” stopped and two more children joined in. In his drunken haze, he barely picked them out as boys. Right. Child[i]ren[/i]. Pierre pondered on their names. The shorter one was broad...brad...Bradley! Yes, that sounded right. Young Bradley, a precocious little scamp who tagged along behind his older brother...what was his name? He looked like he was named something foreign. Jonas...Jonah...Jonathan. Why couldn’t he just be a Jaques? Oh, right. Phoebus made strange friends in the war, and lost some… Such a bittersweet christening [i]that[/i] was.

The boys came to either of Pierre’s sides, while “Cynthia” positioned herself at the back. Ah, such wonderful children, helping him to sit up so he could see their grateful parents’ faces. He vaguely picked out Esmeralda’s form.

“M’fine,” he said reassuringly. “S’no...s’no trouble at all...”

Pierre felt himself slide against the edge of the “cart”. He gave a goofy grin and a small wave as he tried to stand, only to slip back down. The children made a second attempt, and the next thing Pierre knew, he was smacking into the cobblestones.

Well! Such rude children! Surely, they’d be getting a talking to from their father for ungraciously throwing him out of their cart like that! He tried to stand to at least have a word with Esmeralda, but his ex-wife stepped in front of him to handle one of those black-clothed hooligans. Djahli came barreling out from behind Esmeralda to headbutt a shadow that threatened to get too close.

“My pretty!” Pierre happily called out.

Djahli ignored him and back-kicked a different shadow. He wasn’t able to take it out, but in the bathtub beside him, Lock traded his slingshot for a spiked club and finished the job. The little goat gave a grudging scoff of approval before situating himself beside Esmeralda.

In the main part of the square, Phoebus was shoved away, but he caught himself before he fell. In a quick motion, he retrieved his dropped sword and glared at the hunter before him.

"That was [i]no beast[/i]!" he exclaimed, more hotly than intended, but this buffoon could have severely hurt Quasimodo, or worse. "He's a [i]friend[/i]!"

A large burst of light momentarily diverted his attention. Phoebus kept his sword drawn, and could hardly believe what he saw.

[Quote=Spooky, scary scarecrow][color=orangered][b]"AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"[/b][/color][/quote]

The walking skeleton was now a walking [i]scarecrow[/i]?! A more religious man might have crossed himself. Phoebus simply watched the scarecrow in horror for a second, and more, the shadows heading his way. He quickly took a defensive stance and readied himself to cut them down. He could berate Gaston later; right now, he had more immediate concerns, such as keeping these things from the tavern, and by that right, Esmeralda, the strange children, and Pierre. His sword cut through a shadow as it leaped for him.

With the scarecrow providing a new source of light, the shadows fled...but many of them, dark but sheer before, became more opaque once directly out of the Pumpkin King's immediate glow. As the saying went, the brighter the light, the darker the shadow. They avoided Jack directly, but the more opaque they grew, the more they strengthened as the brighter light contrasted with their darker forms. So long as a direct beam of light didn't hit them, they could use the light to their advantage.

Gaston was about to argue back, but the increasing severity of these monsters forced him to focus back on the immediate danger. His blunderbuss reloaded, Gaston took aim and fired a shot through three shadows standing close together.

A strange device landed near his and Phoebus’s feet. A sharp, loud sound, a burst of light, and a sudden shrill whistle emitted as it sparked and spun. Phoebus cried out in terror as the loud [i]BANG[/i] and shrill whistle reminded him of a cannonball sailing by. He unwittingly swiped at the air and barely missed striking Gaston. Gaston shoved him away with a snarl. Unlike Phoebus, the sound reminded him of his glory days in the war. He swung his blunderbuss to take out two more shadows and buy himself another moment to reload.

Esmeralda saw the burst of light, heard the sharp, shrill noise from the strange weapon the trickster children threw, and the startled cry from Phoebus. In the second it distracted her, a shadow grabbed the fire poker and tried to pull it from her grasp. She kicked at it, but a few more slipped towards her. She wrested the poker back as more shadows came her way. Behind them, she saw the newcomer and called out to him.

"Quasi!"

The hunchback came barreling towards her, moving with grace to avoid some of the shadows, while taking out any that directly crossed his path. Quasimodo only briefly glanced at the light from the firework before continuing on his way. The light and color from the strange device caught his attention more than the loud [i]BANG[/i] that came from it. Near-deaf as he was, though, even [i]he[/i] heard it.

More of the shadows tried to block his path. In the light from the tavern windows behind her, Quasimodo saw Esmeralda's lips move, though he guessed she'd uttered his name even without it.

"Esmeralda!"

He kept going, as aside from his dearest friend, he also saw three children in a basin of sorts, and a drunk and likely useless Pierre nearby. While he trusted Esmeralda could handle herself, there were others who needed protection. He tackled another shadow, and - with greater difficulty than before - took it out.

Lock, Shock, and Barrel looked over at the strange man Esmeralda called out to, and curiously took him in. The three of them grinned under their masks. Two more shadows went down from their slingshots before they turned to Esmeralda.

"You didn't tell us--" Barrel started, impressed.

"--You had--" Shock continued.

"--A [i]monster[/i] friend!" Lock finished.

There was no malice in their tones, only curiosity and excitement, and Lock's emphasis on the word "monster" came with genuine solidarity. The trio seemed to believe he was one of their own. He'd probably fit right in, in Halloween Town! Lock lifted his mask to get a better look, but Shock elbowed him to get him back on task as the darker shadows came their way.

"Admire your new boyfriend later," she said.

Barrel giggled. Lock stuck his tongue out at his sister and pulled his mask back down, but otherwise went back to assisting his siblings. They had more shadows to fight and trouble to cause.

Having access to a lot more projectiles allowed Barrel to reload more quickly. While he didn't always hit his target, the rapid fire kept the shadows thinned out just enough that his siblings and Esmeralda could more easily handle the ones that slipped through, especially now that they were stronger than before. Shock assisted Barrel on a different side of the bathtub. She couldn't reload her slingshot as quickly as her little brother, but her accuracy was better. 

With the first firecracker having been a success, Lock took note of how many they had left. They had a small pile, but they'd need to be careful, especially since the shadow monsters weren't clumped together like they were before. Between the first firecracker, Cassim’s lantern, and Jack's pumpkin flames, the monsters were [i]already[/i] adapting to that tactic. They spread out a lot more so fewer of them could be hurt or defeated so easily, and did their best to stay in the sweet spots of Jack's light to allow their forms to darken, lash out at their targets, and double back. Lock readied another firecracker. He lit and threw it when a few more of the stronger shadows got close.

Another loud [i]BANG![/i] and burst of light weakened these newly-powered shadows, only for a barrage of rocks and bone shards to finish the job.

Esmeralda was more than grateful that Lock, Shock, and Barrel could handle themselves. It meant she didn't have to put all of her focus into guarding them, and instead could focus on keeping Pierre safe, and the shadows away from the tavern entrance.

A massive white stallion jumped into the fray and trampled a few shadows under his hooves. Esmeralda watched as the horse kicked away a few more. From behind her, Djahli came barreling through to headbutt another shadow.

Esmeralda smiled at the stallion.

"Thanks," she said, before she stabbed through another shadow with the fire poker.

This one was a bit more resilient, and required a few kicks from Djahli and a direct punch to the jaw to dissipate.

One shadow got behind the stallion and grabbed his tail in an attempt to startle him, all the while minding his hind legs. Several more tried to attack in a wave on one side of the stallion, and conveniently out of line of the tricksters' fire.

Over in the alley, Mulan's shift to defend herself paid off as one of the stronger shadows came for her. It didn't disintegrate like the others before, and would take more work to be rid of, but after a few more swipes, it joined its previously-slain brethren. Another shadow slipped behind her to try to take Mushu. Flame from any source could help or hinder their cause, and they believed the dragon to be more of a detriment.

Kuzco would be able to take a few more down before the next wave.

[Quote=Prideful emperor about to fall][i]'...HA!'[/i][/quote]

The new wave was of the opaque shadows strengthened by Jack's pumpkin fire. The first opaque shadow simply grinned at him when the emperor's foot halted against its chest.

They wouldn't get another chance as Cassim's pointed combination of the lantern and scimitar cut through a group of them.

[Quote=Cassim][color=035096]"Hurry, boy! Group with a partner, don't let yourself get surround-Guk!"[/color][/quote]

One of the shadows took its opportunity. A second later, it disappeared into wisps of fog as a brick landed in it.

[Quote=Iago][color=red]"I AM NOT A CHICKEN!"[/color][/quote]

He was loud enough to be heard at the tavern entrance, which earned some snickers from the brat pack. Could have fooled them!

Zero's nose combined with their slingshot ammo took out a few more of the stronger ones and bought a moment of reprieve for the trickster trio. Lock, having both of his hands free after throwing the firecracker, was able to give Zero a pet and a proper scratch behind the ears.

"Good boy," he said.

Shock and Barrel each gave him a quick pat before grabbing more ammunition. All three of them giggled at the licks to their faces, or rather, the masks covering them.

"Ready to--" Shock started.

"--Cause some more--" Barrel continued.

"--Trouble, Zero?" Lock asked.

A few more shadows were heading their way.

[Quote=Drunken princess]"REDHEATDS UNITNITE"[/quote]

Quasimodo had almost reached Esmeralda and Pierre when something landed on his shoulders. In the overall commotion, he didn't hear the "battle cry" and thus had no warning of the approaching princess - not that he'd have heard it anyway from that distance. A sudden weight threw off his balance and focus. Quasimodo quickly reached up to pull the alleged attacker away, thinking it was another shadow.

[Quote=THE PUMPKIN KING][color=orangered]"I guess it's just too hot for some of these shadows to bear! In fact..."[/color][/quote]

The new burst of light took out another round of the weakened shadows. The stronger ones, however, still remained, though they scattered to avoid the Pumpkin King and keep him from weakening them again, or any further. The ploy had some success in that some of the hordes that started coming seemed to think better of it. A few of the wiser ones came only close enough to Jack's light to gain a bit more strength.

Several of the shadow creatures began to retreat, though others came towards Jack to strengthen their forms.

It seemed they were gearing up for a final, terrifying attack.