Lock stared at Carver for a second. All right, that sounded plausible, especially when Shock asked about his "stash" and took a bucket of water balloons. He caught the rock and threw it back at her cage.

Shock nodded as she hovered on the broom. She then clicked on the walkie-talkie.

"Barrel, do a final sweep and head back to base," she said. "We'll meet you there."

"Got it," Barrel replied.

Shock then turned to Lock and Carver.

"You two head back," she said. "I'm gonna do a final check."

She gave a pointed glance to Lock.

"[I]Straight home[/i]," she said with a glare. "You're lucky the twins won't remember this, or I'd clobber you right now."

Lock glared back and stuck his tongue out at her.

"Fine, [i]Your Majesty[/i]," he said.

Shock glowered at him.

"And don't you forget it."

Lock stared her down for a few seconds, then slipped off the tombstone and headed for the tree house as Shock took off again. He pulled out his cigarette pack as he walked with Carver and paused only long enough to light one up. All of this memory bullshit was stressing him out, and he knew he'd need to have some of the edge taken off by the time his older sister got back.

Shock swept the graveyard a final time, then went to the pumpkin patch to relieve Barrel of any extra balloons. Any stragglers she caught from above would find themselves drenched. The rest of her ammo was relieved in the further residential areas of town as a secondary assurance that not a soul in Halloween Town aside from the four tricksters remained unaffected. Shock then headed back to meet the others at the tree house.