Mulan was correct in that there would be a difficult fight on their hands. Several shadows barreled for the group in the alley, with wicked delight in their hollow faces. As the Chinese soldier had dealt with them before, the first few to cross her path were felled by her blade.
The first shadow that came for Cassim got cut through like a stick through smoke. It vanished upon defeat, with a second one meeting a similar fate on the back swing. A different shadow slipped behind Cassim to follow Iago and reached for the bird's tail feathers.
A few more reached for Kuzco and his guard. With a
manly flail and a panicked cry of, "No touchy!" the emperor would find his quick karate chop motions took out a small shadow that was gunning for him.
One of Merida’s arrows hit its mark, albeit accidentally, as the shadow miscalculated its dodge from the drunken aim. Two other arrows missed and clattered against the cobblestones, while the fourth hit its mark intentionally, though only on the shadow's arm. The injured shadow angrily charged for the group, followed by a few of its friends to try to chase them out of the alley and into the courtyard.
At the tavern entrance, Shock struggled to free herself from the soldier's grip.
"Let me go!"
Shock was about to try to kick his shin when the second gunshot rang out. She quickly broke free and scurried for the stables. Shock was aware one of the tavern patrons was following her - how could she not with how loud he was being about "youthful innonence!"? - but paid him no mind. Jack needed their help, and they needed their equipment to better assist him.
"Over here, everyone!"
"We're here--" Lock called out.
"--Jack!" Barrel finished.
Esmeralda didn't answer as a few shadows came for the tavern entrance. Lock and Barrel both grabbed small projectiles from their pockets and quickly took out a shadow each. Barrel reloaded more quickly than his brother and quickly fired two more shots, one of which missed. Esmeralda positioned herself carefully to stay near the boys, staying out of their firing range, but providing back-up. One shadow got too close and met its demise with a poker through its chest.
Gaston saw the cloaked figure appear again, and took aim. He had his finger on the trigger, when:
"NO!"
The barrel of the blunderbuss was pulled away from the target. The shot hit the edge of a rooftop and shattered some of the wood, giving an idea of the kind of destruction it could have done to its target. Gaston growled and tried to knock Phoebus away from him.
"You made me
miss! That Beast is a threat to this whole city!"
He was about to tussle with the soldier when a delightfully wicked cackle filled the air.
"AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
Esmeralda fended off another shadow before she caught sight of a fiery demon! Her eyes went wide, but she barely had time to comprehend it before she saw another shadow come her way. Lock and Barrel both grinned, and any fear they might have had at the situation went away when they saw their Pumpkin King in his element. Now things were getting fun again! Gaston stepped back in fear, then quickly reloaded his blunderbuss.
Back at the stables, Shock ran for the bathtub and quickly climbed inside. The drunken patron was still following her. She climbed up onto the rim. The patron tried to grab her. In annoyance, Shock jumped to the other end of the tub to evade him. The patron ended up falling in after her. Shock didn't have time to try to push him out; her brothers - and Jack - needed her!
And speaking of Jack, she heard him right as she re-entered the courtyard.
"Halloween's come early this year, everybody! Though, it's not a matter of simple Trick-or-Treating right now! I'm all for a bit of trickery, but these shadows have pulled a trick that not even I'd pull!"
Several shadows screeched from the light as they disappeared, while others fled in terror from Jack and went for other targets. Many of the creatures came in larger hoards for the groups at the tavern entrance, and near the alley.
"Mind giving this old sack of skulls a hand at handling these naughty shadows?!"
As if answering the call, something jumped down from the rooftops. The strange cloaked figure Jack and Gaston - and now Phoebus - saw earlier landed on one of the shadows heading for Esmeralda. The shadow dispersed like fog under its weight. No longer seen from a distance, the figure was a lot smaller than the Beast Gaston mistook it for, and in fact, would not have reached even halfway up his massive chest. A hood covered its face, but based on its position, the creature's face wasn't on top of its body, but inserted lower in its chest.
The cloaked figure, having no weapon of its own, dove for another shadow and wrapped its massive arms around it.
In another moment, a strange galloping sound sounded. Shock returned with the rest of the tricksters’ equipment -- and Pierre, unfortunately. Having had a little time to think on the way to and from the tavern, Shock held a small firecracker in her hand.
“Lock!”
Lock looked up and saw what his sister tossed to him. He caught it with a nod and set down his slingshot so he could reach into his pocket for a match. Esmeralda wasn’t sure what the strange device was, but she provided some cover as Lock lit the firecracker.
“Barrel!”
The second Barrel looked over, Lock shoved the firecracker in his hand. With a confirming nod, Barrel loaded it into his slingshot and quickly aimed it for the small hoard of shadows approaching their group. The fuse reached its limit just before it landed in the shadows' midst. The sudden noise and burst of colored light caused several of the shadows to scatter, though some of them still came for their prey. All three of the little tricksters giggled at their mayhem, then quickly got back to it. Lock and Barrel joined Shock in the bathtub. They pushed Pierre out beside Esmeralda so they could better move freely.
The cloaked figure tumbled forward as it tussled with the shadow. After a moment, its strong arms tightened around the thing's chest, before the shadow burst into wisps of dark fog. In the fight, the figure's hood fell back, revealing a mess of red hair under the cloak.
Gaston caught sight of it first. It wasn't
the Beast as he initially thought, but...a beast nonetheless.
A beast with a monstrous face. One eye practically bulged out of its socket, while the other could barely be seen under folds of deformed flesh. Its back twisted up into a hunch, while the thick arms gave an idea of strength.
This newcomer didn't say a word as he quickly targeted another shadow.
