LePouvantail

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Sally briefly returned the wave, then continued on her way. In the lab, Jack was actually quite grateful for the distraction, and perked when he saw his girlfriend.

"Sally!" he said brightly. "Did you find anything?"

She nodded.

"I certainly did, Jack," she said. "I spoke with the witches. It's possible that the memory loss was caused by forget-me-lots, in the fog that cropped up the other day."

"Forget-me-lots?" Jack asked, then frowned.

Dr. Finklestein perked up.

"Forget-me-lots, hmmm?" he asked. "Wouldn't it take quite a few to cause such a grand effect on the entire town?"

Sally nodded.

"That's what Aggie said." She turned to Jack. "And for the sheer amount of them needed to work, and how to activate them...it had to be planned."

Jack pondered on that, then frowned as he came to the same conclusion as the witches had. This had the tricksters' claw marks all over it. Particularly Shock's, with the sheer amount of thought, effort, and misery caused by the aftermath.

Vlad spoke up then.

"I believe my daughter also has a piece to this puzzle," he said, then gently ushered Carmilla forward.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

"Of course not," Sally said. She then addressed the crowd. "We'll be back shortly. I promise, we'll have an answer when we return."

She stepped down to join Vlad and Carmilla. Sally walked with them to Dr. Finklestein's home. She greeted Igor as they passed, then rang. After a moment with no response, she tried the door. It was open.

"Doctor?" she called. "Jewel? Jack?"

Her voice hardly echoed up, but Jewel was coming down the railing.

"What is it?"

"I think I know what happened," Sally said, then gestured to the vampires with her, "and they have something that might help."

Jewel nodded, then gestured to follow.

"This way," she said, as she lead them to the lab.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Putting any random OCs we come up with for later use here.

Halloween Town

• Sobki - Mummy Boy's older brother, based on the Egyptian god, Sobek. Town heartthrob. Has a crocodile skull for a head. He's a peacemaker, very kind, and a good cook. Doesn't like to hurt anyone (which later means Lock finds him frustrating in bed). Lillith's ex, though they broke amicably, and are still good friends.
• Chad/Wolfboy - a reverse werewolf who comes at a new moon. Wolfy is your generic nice citizen, a little skittish, but well-meaning. Chad is every handsome frat boy stereotype rolled into one. Tall, blonde jock who occasionally terrorizes Halloween Town. Accidentally crashed a party the tricksters were hosting years back because Wolfy was invited, but at the time, no one knew who Chad was. He learned the hard way not to mess with Shock, or hit on female monsters, as they now have a system to list jerks they avoid.
• Medusa - monster who lives in the sewer and is basically Halloween Town's wine mom for every teenager in town. After Jack, she's the one they respect the most.

Valentine's Day

• Cupid - as the name implies. Basically a well-meaning fanboy who hooks up his citizens as he sees fit. His ships vary from week to week.
• Adora - a romance-positive aro-ace under a curse and desperate to break it, but the "true love's kiss" caveat makes it difficult, as she can't feel romantic love, and has no context for other forms of love. She tries to date Shock, to disastrous results.
• Alex - a token Goth of indeterminate gender. Shock strikes out with them while trying to figure out this romance thing.
• Bernard - a big, loveable goof who forgets he's bigger than everyone else.
• Prince Henry - a Disney prince stereotype who gets to learn about heartbreak and that True Love's Kiss doesn't fix everything.
• Romeo and Juliet - gag characters in the background who try to get together, but Cupid keeps hooking them up with other people.
• Fabian - a Gaston type and Valentine's Town's version of Oogie in being that one resident who twists the ideology of the holiday for sinister purposes.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Sally quickly made her way to the front of the crowd. She heard the murmurs and chattering, and knew she had to do something. As she carefully stepped forward, she felt several eyes on her. Sally bit back her nervousness. They needed words of comfort, and as Jack's special monster, they looked to her for answers in his absence.

She walked up the steps of Town Hall, closed her eyes to gain her bearings, then turned to face the crowd. Sally waited for the panic to die down before she spoke.

"Jack is currently with Dr. Finklestein," she said.

Sally chose her words with care. She would bet her stitches that she was right, but making an accusation right now would only rile the crowd up further. She needed to assuage them first.

"We have a theory as to what's going on, but Jack's still investigating. Please be patient. We'll have some answers for you soon."

~~~

"That's what she's trying to find out," Jack replied, "but several citizens couldn't recall what they were doing before Halloween. She thinks something affected the water to affect so many monsters."

Jack gave Carver a wave and a smile as he passed as well. It wasn't unusual to see her doing chores while chained to the wall. The stunt at the witches' shop had started to come back to him, and he figured that was tied to her current punishment. Once they arrived at the lab, he approached the old scientist.

"Anything, doctor?" he asked.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Jack strolled up the path to the Finklestein home. He gave a warm greeting to Igor as he passed. The hunchbacked assistant waved, then went back to sorting assorted junk in one of the side yards. Jewel answered when he rang.

"Jack," she said. "We've been expecting you."

Jack nodded. He'd been off and on checking on with the doctor for thr last two days for any new theories.

"There's definitely something wrong with the countdown clock," he said. "It changed again."

He followed Jewel up the ramp and into the lab. Zero floated behind them, happy enough to be with Jack.

"And Sally thinks there might be an issue with the town's water supply. That might be something else to look into."

~~~

Jack and Sally weren't the only ones to notice the clock. Clown saw it on the way to the sewers, and quickly wheeled around town in a panic. It wasn't too much longer before other monsters came from their homes and crypts to see what was going on.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock sleepily answered the phone after Shock kicked him towards it. Once he realized what Carver was getting at, he kicked Shock to hand her the phone.

"Thisbetterbeworthit," she mumbled.

Upon hearing Carver's suggestion, she immediately shot awake and grinned at this new development.

By morning, the countdown clock would be back to normal.

~~~

Upon entering the square, Jack looked up at the countdown clock. Why did it now say 14 days? Perhaps there was a malfunction...but it still didn't explain the town's memory loss.

"I'm going to speak with Dr. Finklestein," Jack told Sally. "Maybe he can look at the countdown clock."

"And I'll see what I can find about the water," Sally promised. "There was a fog a few days ago..."

Jack leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Tell me what you find."

He then made his way to the Finklestein household. Sally walked to the little courtyard bordering the square to enter the witches' shop. At the ring of the little bell, Aggie perked up, happy to have a customer.

"Oh, hello, Sally!" she said brightly. "What can we get for you today?"

"I actually just have a question," Sally said. "Is there anything that can cause temporary memory loss?"

"Forget-me-lots," Agnes replied matter-of-factly, as she climbed up a stool to stock some inventory. She frowned as she wished she had her broom to assist. "Why?"

Sally brightened. Of course!

"Jack and I were trying to get to the bottom of what happened with Halloween," she explained, "and noticed that no one can really recall what they were doing. I think maybe something affected the water."

Aggie started to pick up on it.

"And it might be forget-me-lots." She crossed her arms and put a thoughtful hand on her chin. "Forget-me-lot powder would do it - if it were dry. It loses its power in the water."

"Unless mixed with an activator agent," Agnes reminded her, "like sundew sap."

"You would also need quite a few of them," Aggie said. "One whiff of a fresh forget-me-lot can make one lose their mind for an hour or so, but dried and powdered, they lose their potency."

"And if mixed with fog juice," Sally said, "we have a recipe for disaster."

"But who would--" Aggie started, then stopped.

They all knew exactly who would go to those sorts of lengths.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock's tail flicked in agitation. Carmilla didn't know, of course, but given his recent conversation with Lillith, it stung, possibly more than it should. He quickly reached up to kiss her cheek so there wouldn't be an awkward pause, and felt more than a little relieved when she became affectionate with him again. Lock rested his head on Lillith's shoulder and made a soft noise of contentment when she nuzzled him again. He watched Carver wander off towards the shop, and just quietly sat on Lillith's hip as the girls hashed out their plans to visit the human world until he got bored enough to slip away and find his siblings.

The rest of the day went by in an awkward tension as more citizens started to regain their memories and tried to figure out what they were doing the day before. Most came to the conclusion that they were doing some sort of preparation or other. Dr. Finkelstein took a look at the countdown clock to check for any malfunctions. Jack made rounds around town to check on various citizens and try to piece together what could have possibly happened. Sally assisted where she could. What could have possibly affected the entire town like this?

Lock, Shock, and Barrel wandered around town to observe, though they never stayed anywhere for too long. Their prank would likely wind down within the next day or two, and before the sun went down, Shock made the executive decision to make one check tomorrow, but otherwise stay in the lair.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock settled himself on Lillith's hip again, then glanced to Carmilla. Without Shock there to give the younger vampire sister a headache, he often got along with her on his own terms.

"Who's the unlucky girl?" he asked, with a curious flick of his tail. "Or is this another fling?"

As the twins turned the conversation to a girl's day, Lock began to lose interest, more for the lack of trouble to cause than anything.

"Guess I'll leave you to it, then," he said. "I've got tricks to play."

In a moment or two. He'd just gotten comfortable again.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock stepped down to the ground and unwound his tail once Carver loosened the vines from his throat. If anything, his amusement at the whole matter gave Carver's story a bit more weight. His smile never dropped.

"Of course not," he said.

Lock was tempted to cross his fingers. Carver's threat kept his hands where she could see them. While her vengeance couldn't rival Shock's, he knew the pumpkin creature picked up most of her troublemaking lessons from his older sister, and that was enough to allow him to think twice. His amusement having run its course, Lock gestured for Lillith to pick him up again. He had been quite comfortable before Carver pulled him away.

"So you guys doing anything else today besides solving the mystery of the mysterious spices?"

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock's grin remained even as Carver grabbed his throat and pulled him away from Lillith. He grabbed the vines near his throat to keep his own weight from pulling him down, then swung his body to hook his ankles and tail around her vines to further mitigate any damage to his neck.

"Oh, come on, Carver," Lock said cheerfully. "She already got you back for it."

His tail tightened around her vines to bind them together, but that he didn't otherwise try to fight back said enough: all he wanted was a laugh at her expense for the moment, and nothing more.

"And bringing it up now will just put a target on both of our backs. I'd rather keep her attention on Barrel."

Which would unwittingly clue in to the rest of the group what sort of mishap happened with who, but he didn't care. Lock hung like a sloth from Carver's vines, then turned to Carmilla. He gave her a weird shrug while he held onto the vines.

"Wasn't us," he said, then gave a knowing glance to Agatha. "For some reason, we can't get into the building if the shop's not open."

Lock grinned at her. He knew perfectly well about the hexes the witches put on their building to keep him and his siblings not only out of the shop when it was closed, but the living areas upstairs as well.