LePouvantail

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Sally came over to her little sister. It said enough that she didn't ask for a favor in exchange for repairs as she often did with the trio, nor did she ask the specifics of what happened. She leaned down and gave Carver a quick hug.

"I'll get it back to you as soon as I finish," she said.

Barrel finished the rest of his pumpkin juice. He was still just as antsy, but looked a lot more relieved.

"Thanks, Sally," he said, before he turned to Carver. He actually managed a small smile. "Y-yeah, sounds good. Maybe we can see if there are any weird pumpkins that can make a cool head later!"

Sally smiled and ushered them to the door. At least their moods had improved.

~~~

It said enough that Shock wasn't seen in town for a few days, and in the following week, Lock and Barrel weren't up to their usual trouble. Whenever one of the trio was off-balance, the other two often focused more on damage control than mischief until their usual dynamics picked up again. And after what happened that week, the trickster brothers were actually somewhat behaved because they simply didn't have the energy for their usual antics. To help ease some of the tension and make their larger task easier, Barrel subtly clued Lock in to where some of the instrument pieces were hidden so his older brother had one less distraction on his mind.

Shock put a lot of her focus into setting up their prank. Several of the forget-me-lots became fine powder under her forceful hands. Barrel made sure to get the sundew sap and fog juice from Agatha as soon as he could, and conveniently made meals with alligator eyes for a few days. Lock checked Town Hall to make sure there were no upcoming weddings. He didn't think there were, but after he knew for certain, he knew no one would notice the wedding broom missing from storage.

The relative peace in Halloween Town wouldn't last, especially when Shock decided to join them again. Sally's repair job was immaculate; no one would ever suspect the hat had ever been damaged. The oldest trickster had some cuts and dark bruising on her face, stomach, and what little other skin showed from under her clothes, yet she walked tall and proud, practically brandishing her injuries. An astute citizen might pick up that Carmilla, who had a bit of bruising herself that couldn't completely be hidden with powder, most assuredly had things to do in the opposite direction if her path happened to cross Shock's. Lock and Barrel might or might not have subtly clued her in first if they saw her before their older sister did.

Lock cancelled that week's practice, but decided to pick it up again the following week, just to make sure things were as settled as they could be. He wasn't sure if Carmilla and Lillith would join them - he wouldn't blame them if they didn't - but it was the closest thing to a peace offering he could give them. Even after all that, Shock hadn't revoked her permission, which even he found surprising.

One thing was for certain: they weren't going to practice "Siren Song."

For her part, Shock was in a much better mood. She was still getting used to the tighter fit, which was slightly aggravating, but the fact that she looked and felt like herself again said enough on its own. Barrel tapped out a beat as he waited. He didn't bother with popcorn for this practice, and suspected Carver wouldn't either. Lock had the theremin set up again and was sitting down and calmly tuning his guitar. His tail twitched a bit nervously as he shot a glance to the window to look for the bats.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Barrel shoved the muffin in his mouth and devoured it in two bites. If anything, Sally knew food helped to calm him down. He accepted Carver's vine and sat closer to her so it wouldn't be as easily noticed, then sipped at his pumpkin juice. That his hand shook as he held the cup said more than enough.

Sally nodded to Carver.

"It will probably be a slightly tighter fit than she's used to, but yes, I can fix it."

"Good enough!" Barrel said.

He lowered his cup.

"Why will it take so long, though?" he asked.

"I have to hand-stitch it," Sally explained. "I'm worried my sewing machine might be too rough on some of the edges."

She tried to give him an assuring smile.

"But they'll hold better than the old threads."

Barrel just nodded and clutched Carver's vine a little tighter. He already decided that maybe they should find something to do in Halloween Town for a while. Perhaps a few hours. Maybe all night, to be safe. Perhaps see if the witches needed help, or pay Behemoth a visit in the Pumpkin Patch. They haven't done that in a while, have they? And then come home with an offering from the Crypt Cafe if she wasn't asleep by the time they eventually made their way back to the tree house. Barrel quickly took another sip of pumpkin juice.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Shock watched Carmilla until the vampiress was completely out of sight. She reached up to move some hair out of her face, then dusted herself off. A satisfied smirk crossed her lips. Every cut and bruise she'd gained in that fight was worn like a badge of honor in her victory. The adrenaline rush gave her a high, but she knew it wouldn't last. The grimness of reality would soon set in. Until then, she intended to ride the high for as long as she could.

Her victory assured, Shock glanced around the outskirts for Carver and Barrel. All she saw was scarred ground and upturned dirt and grass from where she and Carmilla threw each other around. Shock also realized she didn't see the remnants of her hat, either. She quickly put two and two together. They must have taken it. Whether they did it to simply get it out of her sight, or to try to fix it didn't matter right now. Shock glowered, but tried not to let her thoughts get in the way of her victory.

That she felt incomplete and not entirely herself.

She then made her way back to the tree house, as she figured Lock and Lillith were probably still searching the lair for their instrument components. Good. Shock didn't want to see Lillith or be seen by anyone else right now.

~~~

Lock actually laughed.

"The opposite, actually. When we started growing, Carver wanted to grow with us, so she actually got Finklestein to give her enhanced limbs."

He settled down, and was about to say something else when he heard the familiar rattle of wooden boards. Lock quickly moved a finger to his lips and pointed towards the slide. He slid off of Lillith's lap and ran to it with a gesture for her to follow. The implication was clear: after the brutality of what little of the fight they witnessed, they shouldn't be here, and especially not the one monster in town who looked exactly like the one Shock just defeated.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Shock took advantage to reverse their positions. She dug her knee into Carmilla's stomach and shoved it directly under her ribcage, making sure to hit points that already bruised before positioning herself. Shock adjusted her grip to be uncomfortable, but only loose enough to show Carmilla that this was the closest she'd get to mercy, that she wasn't going to outright break her neck and leave her to heal it for months.

"You should be afraid," Shock said quietly, "because the only reason your head is still on your shoulders right now is because it isn't worth the headache I'd get from Jack later."

She dug her knee in further and shifted her stance to ensure Carmilla's flailing wouldn't give her any advantage. She twisted the vampiress's neck both to cause her more pain, and to prove she was holding back.

"Now get the hell off my property, and stay out of my way until next week, or I might just decide that Jack's wrath is worth it."

Shock stood up, but kept her grip on Carmilla's neck. She lifted the vampiress by her throat and threw her towards the hill leading back into town.

~~~

Lock glanced to Lillith. He debated for a moment, as this was a personal secret, not only for him, but his siblings as well. And pondering on it, he decided he trusted Lillith.

"Nothing leaves these walls," he said sternly. "No one but Carver knows this, so if it gets out, we'll know."

Lock flicked his tail.

"No one in town is like us, Lillith. And I don't just mean different monsters. I mean that literally, no one else ages like we do. A lot of older monsters knew us when we were kids. That part's not really a secret. Ask Jack or Mayor or hell, maybe even your dad. We were little kids for most of our lives. Like literally, almost a full century. All of this--" he gestured to his body, and then around the tree house, "-- it's still kind of new to us. And freaky. And not in a good way."

Lock gently pet her fur again.

"For a long time, it was torture, knowing that things weren't going to stay the same. We didn't know what to do about it. We were growing up when everyone else we knew...weren't. We've come to terms with it, sort of, but having something that can grow with her, that doesn't change...it made the transition a little easier for Shock. It's one of the few things we still have from childhood that feels...untouched, I guess is a good way to put it. We've outgrown or had to get rid of so many things in what to us is a really short time. Destroying it is just a reminder that nothing lasts. That things have to change for us when they don't change for anyone else, and we can't stop it."

He gently nuzzled his head against hers.

"And the worst part is being in that stasis as kids for so long...I think it permanently did something to us. It feels like...like we should still be children. That there's a part of us that can't grow up, not really, and sometimes, that part tries to take over. So every day is sort of a mental battle between what we were as kids, and what we are now. We all just handle it differently."

Lock crossed his arms and settled back into the couch. He also listened carefully, as he didn't hear anymore screams from the fight. He specifically listened for the rattling of the bridge. If Shock was headed this way, he wanted to give Lillith time to either hide or take a window out, if they didn't just run for the slide and go down into the lair entirely to avoid the remnants of her wrath. He suspected Carver and Barrel already got the hell out of dodge, as he didn't see either of them when he climbed up.

"What Carmilla did was make that battle worse. Shock's off-balance right now, and it's going to take her some time to function again."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Shock reached up under Carmilla's arms to make it harder to pull away, then grabbed her throat. By the tightness of her grip, she threatened to snap the vampiress's neck.

"Wrong answer," she said. "You're on my turf."

She dug her elbows into Carmilla's sides and shifted her hips to try to knock the vampiress off of her.

~~~

Lock didn't answer Lillith at first. He simply scurried up into the tree house before his sister could see them. Only when they were safely out of sight did he speak.

"There are lines even we don't cross with each other," he said, "and Carmilla just dashed right over one."

His tail flicked in nervousness. Lock moved a hand to stroke Lillith's fur, more for his own assurance than hers.

"It's not just a hat to her," Lock said quietly, "and if Carmilla actually destroyed it..."

He shuddered, and was already glancing around the tree house to make sure there was nothing around that Lillith's eyes shouldn't see. Fortunately, most of the prank preparations were down in a the living areas, and what few items of mischief needed for it up here wouldn't stick out among the mess of blankets on the floor and the miscellaneous items on the shelves. Lock glanced around the room, at how much had changed in just a few short decades. Memories of what it used to be, when it was more a playtime fortress than a makeshift bedroom, came to mind.

None of them wanted to grow up, and for a long time, they didn't think they could. And then, one day...their clothes didn't fit right, and the tree house, once more than big enough for the three of them, suddenly felt smaller. It only worsened when they saw the rest of the town stood still while they changed. Only Carver really came close to changing like they did, and that was solely due to her limb upgrades. Shock took it the hardest when they came to terms with their new reality, that they really wouldn't be kids forever.

It meant she had to grow up first.

Lock took a seat on the couch - one of the few pieces of furniture they left up here.

"I guess the easiest way to explain it is what it represents. That when you're living your worst nightmare, it helps when something familiar stays the same."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock let Lillith situate on his shoulder before he climbed up the second rope ladder to the bridge. He got up just in time to see the end results of Carmilla's attack. Shock kicked her off, and actually seemed content for a few seconds, as it looked like she'd won. Lock noticed that Shock was missing her hat, and at first assumed that it got knocked off in the fight.

Then Carmilla spoke. If Lock wasn't already chalk-white, he would have gone pale.

"...Oh, no," he said quietly. "She didn't."

Even from here, he caught the look of fury on Shock's face. With Carmilla down on one knee, the oldest trickster saw a wicked opportunity and grabbed for the vampiress's hair, making sure to grab near the root. Shock then forcibly turned Carmilla's head as far as she could.

"Unlike those cauldron-stirrers," she said coldly, "I don't need magic."

She stepped down on Carmilla's calf to keep her kneeling.

"Or did you forget why half this town fears me?"

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Shock slid across the ground from the kick, but the screech she got from Carmilla was more than worth it.

"Correction," she said as she stood up.

She made sure to let her legs shake and moved a hand to her head as if the kick had taken more out of her. In actuality, she'd palmed another stone and was waiting for Carmilla to shift a little more...yes, just like that. Shock quickly reloaded and fired.

"Boob-s!"

~~~

Down in the lair, Lock managed to find one of his guitar strings in the guitar case, because of course they'd put it where it was supposed to be, sort of. He had been near the window to check behind one of Oogie's old (and now deactivated, to avoid an unfortunate mishap) trap switches when he heard Carmilla screech:

"That was my boob, you little tramp!"

He'd heard Shock scream something indecipherable a moment ago, and now it sounded like something was going down. Sensing trouble, Lock scurried up the rope ladder. If Shock made a retort, he didn't hear it.

"Maybe they're finally fighting it out," he said as he reached the window. "Hey, Lillith, wanna come see?"

Banding Together in Halloween Town

She missed. She wouldn't miss again. Shock readied another stone, but didn't load it this time, mostly so the vampiress had no obvious tell for where she would aim and therefore be able to dodge again. She trailed Carmilla, shifted her stance, then took aim the second she saw the mist that always came with a transformation.

Cute trick. But Shock had been pulling tricks since she learned to walk. This time, she aimed straight at Carmilla's heart for a particularly painful blow.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carver had barely finished speaking before Barrel burst out:

"Before she murders us all!"

Sally glanced down to what Carver shoved in her hands. She recognized the color before she recognized the shape...and the extent of the damage.

"...Oh, Death," she said quietly.

She didn't even bother to ask what happened, only ushered them inside. Sally lead them to the living room as she looked over the torn seams and examined the remnants of thread. A quick glance showed she could probably mend it without too much trouble, but she would need to take a closer look to determine the extent of the damage, and how she might tackle the repairs.

Sally set the hat down and gestured for Carver and Barrel to take a seat on the couch. She then went to the kitchen to get some pumpkin juice and a moldy muffin for Barrel and a bowl of a nutrient mix for Carver to soak her vines in to help them both calm down. Sally picked up Shock's hat again and took a seat in Jack's armchair to better examine it.

Parts of the cloth frayed at the ends, but it was nothing a little fabric glue couldn't take care of. She was more worried about how much she would have to tighten it to get back to its normal shape. It might fit a bit more snugly than Shock was used to, but it would still at least be wearable.

"It's going to take a day or two," Sally said after a few moments. "I'm surprised it's lasted this long, though, given the original craftsmanship."

~~~

Huh. So the prissy little bloodsucker had some skill after all. Shock grinned, actually a bit excited at this discovery. It made the fight a lot more satisfying than just having the vampiress take a beating and be done with it. She pulled Carmilla closer, mostly to make it easier to curl her legs underneath her without her opponent noticing so she could kick her off. She reached for her slingshot once she had thrown Carmilla far enough, then scooped up a large stone nearby for ammunition.

This was another skill her brothers both excelled at: reload speed. But her accuracy had always been superior over both of theirs.

They didn't need to know a slight adjustment from her magic helped at times, particularly when against a moving target. The first stone would barely be launched before she had another at the ready, but it took a few seconds to position the next.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Once Carver started running, Barrel ran after her, initially more to try to throw her behind him when he realized that they had managed to get far enough away that neither Shock nor Carmilla acknowledged them. He trailed behind her, up the hill and into Halloween Town proper. He followed her to Jack's house and quickly realized what she was up to.

It would be to both of their relief that Sally was the one to open the door.

"Carver!" she said, and quickly picked up on the pumpkin creature's distress. "What's wro--?"

Sally saw who had accompanied her, and who looked just as much, if not more frantic.

"Barrel?"

It was unusual for any of the tricksters to be at Jack's doorstep, which meant this was likely gravely serious.

~~~

Barrel was bigger and stronger than Shock, yet it said enough that the youngest trickster rarely started a fight with her. Shock was only too happy to teach Carmilla why. She didn't fight with brute strength alone. She strategized, and looked for any opening her opponent left her.

And decades of two-on-one fights gave her plenty of practice.

Shock took the hits and threw Carmilla to the ground. She might have missed the kick, but that hardly deterred her.

"I should thank Lock," she sneered, "for giving me a warm-up!"

She pounced at Carmilla, aiming to get the vampiress before she could completely get back to her feet. She grabbed for her arms to twist them behind her back.