Shock took the lead as they walked back into town, her footsteps carefully calculated to not only make sure she stayed in Jack's sight, but to delay having to face all of Halloween Town for as long as she could. She admittedly hated crowds and staring eyes, and undoubtedly, Jack was going to announce their punishment and make it known so there was no way any of them could worm their way out of it.

The rest of Halloween Town would keep them in check until their punishment passed.

Barrel moved a hand up to gently pet Carver's vines, both to assuage her, and for his own comfort. Lock trailed behind them, wishing he could hide between his siblings. His tail dragged the ground and occasionally shifted into a nervous twitch as he walked. Zero floated beside him with a soft whine. Lock hardly dared to give him an occasional pet. Jack just calmly walked behind them as they went up the hill and back into town.

The main gate opened. Everyone in the square turned, having been waiting for Jack, and only half-expecting him to come back unaccompanied. By the time they stepped into town, Shock had composed herself back into her normal arrogance. She walked tall and even gave a subtle smirk as the crowd parted to let them through to the steps of Town Hall. Barrel pulled his hands down and shoved them in his hoodie pockets as he followed his sister. Lock just crossed his arms and looked properly disgruntled at being caught.

Many whispers, murmurs, and hisses went through the crowd, mingled with confusion at the whole situation, and some relief that Jack - so far as they knew - talked the culprits into coming clean.

"Great trick, wasn't it?" Shock said deviously as she passed by.

That earned a few nervous giggles from her brothers as her comment earned them some more glares and muttering. Lock, Shock, and Barrel took their places at the steps of Town Hall, with Shock taking a subtle step just behind Lock to put more distance between her and the crowd. Let them assume it was to make sure her little brother couldn't hide behind her. She then crossed her arms and glared. Jack stepped beside them and addressed the town.

"As we suspected, the culprits have been caught," he said. "Furthermore, I have confirmation that the clock [i]is[/i] correct.

That earned many cheers and sighs of relief. Just to keep up appearances, Shock shrugged.

"It was--" she started.

"--Fun while it--" Barrel dared.

"--Lasted," Lock finished, with a flick of his tail.

The three of them softly cackled, just enough to be heard over the crowd. None of them dared full-on laughs. Jack held up his hands for silence. The crowd settled down again. Lock, Shock, and Barrel let their laughter die down, though Barrel still occasionally let out a nervous giggle.

"While I commend the cleverness of this trick, it's also set us back a few days. To make up for that lost time, Lock, Shock, Barrel, and Carver will be assisting with the preparations."

He gave a distinct glance to Shock.

"Starting with the brooms in the witches' shop," he said gently, "so they can focus on other things."

Shock shrugged. That wasn't [i]too[/i] bad.

"And since we can't seem to find the glue dissolver, it will have to be through [i]old-fashioned[/i] means, without damaging the walls or ceiling. But I'm very sure Shock is up for the task."

Shock perked.

"But Jack--!" she started.

"--And should any of the glue dissolver [i]happen[/i] to reappear," he said calmly, "our current arrangement will be [i]immediately[/i] revoked."

Shock quickly went quiet again. After that scare at the tree house, she wasn't going to step out of line and risk [i]actually[/i] missing Halloween. Jack glanced around the square.

"Lock is pretty good at getting into smaller, tighter nooks," he said thoughtfully, "so he'll be assisting with the decorations."

Lock just flicked his tail, but otherwise said nothing. Jack turned to Barrel and Carver.

"Which leaves you two on pumpkin duty," he said. "Barrel to haul - [i]without[/i] eating them - and Carver to help carve them."

Barrel just nodded.

"O-okay, Jack," he said.

"And once they finish those," Jack said, before he turned to the rest of the crowd, "I'm [i]certain[/i] we can all find ways for them to fill their time in the remaining days before Halloween."

Lock, Shock, and Barrel all groaned, but otherwise didn't dare to complain. They were already halfway buried in quicksand, and they didn't want to risk becoming completely submerged. Jack calmly addressed them again.

"You're dismissed," he said, with a hint in his tone to get started.

Barrel quickly stepped down and headed for the pumpkin patch.

"Drop Carver off on your way," Jack said casually.

Barrel stopped at one of the pumpkin carving stations.

"Sorry, Carver," he said quietly.

Shock scoffed and just headed for the witches' shop. Agnes and Agatha followed behind her. Lock simply waited for further instruction as where to start. Jack would first allow volunteers to assign him to a task, and failing that, would make an assignment himself.