I used to play the Riddler a lot, so I'd have a bunch of Google and Wiki tabs open to look up obscure shit to use to make up riddles, references and double speak, often on the fly in instant messengers. I will say it's done wonders for my vocabulary and knowledge of misc. shit I wouldn't know otherwise.
In the days left until Halloween, Lock, Shock, Barrel, and Carver stayed busy, though as the holiday approached, Halloween Town found less and less for them to do. Jack even let them stop early the day before Halloween to give them extra time to finish their own preparations.
As promised, Shock brought Aggie the scorpion tails, though she hid them nearby for the witch to find at her earliest convenience so the other two witches didn't catch onto the bribe. Lock had since given up on trying to get Lillith to speak with him, while Barrel filled himself on enough pumpkin scraps between jobs that he was tired of snacking on them. None of them really had the energy to fight or bicker with each other. Shock reserved her last bits of energy to tend to her scorpions and quietly plot trouble. Her brothers simply lounged around the lair.
Halloween went as well as it always did, with the trio's moods lifting as they pulled out all of the stops for trouble. This year, they found more than a few worthy victims of their mischief, from troublesome teens to a few rowdy adults who needed to be put in their place. They especially enjoyed the esteemed gentleman they caught stalking a young group of trick-or-treaters. He found himself precariously dangling from a tree with the band of his underpants tactfully caught in a branch so they'd tighten if he struggled too much. Barrel was the most proud, having actually thought up the cherry on top, much to the pride and amusement of his older siblings.
By the night's end, all of them were in better moods. Now that their punishment was over and Halloween concluded, there were other things to focus on. Like Lock keeping his end of the bargain he made with Agatha. Deals with any of the three were always made with caution, but Lock knew it was always beneficial to be on the witches' good side.
While there were key items they were all banned from buying, and while there was no guarantee literally anything else they were allowed to purchase wouldn't be used for trouble, the Witches' Shop was convenient and as advertised, the best bargain in town. There was also a mutual understanding between them that anything the tricksters misused was solely on them, and that it was better for the witches to let the trio restock while making a profit off of them than for the sinister siblings to go elsewhere, possibly get an inferior product (and possibly through unsavory means), and make any trouble they caused with it worse than it might have been otherwise.
That had been a hard-learned lesson for all of them. Nevertheless, as a werewolf turned on a full moon and a vampire needed blood, it was known the trio had an innate need to cause mischief. Better to let them get their fill while having some control over potential outcomes than to leave them entirely to their own devices.
Thus, Lock, to give his mind something to do while serving his punishment, thought of a way to arrange Agatha a date with Barrel. The moment he got his little brother alone, he carefully brought it up.
"She's still upset about the swamp smoke," he said, as he and Barrel worked on fixing one of Oogie's old traps. "I mean. We did kind of use her."
"She seemed pretty okay when she offered to clean my hoodie," Barrel replied.
Lock flicked his tail.
"That was so she didn't have to sell us anything," he reminded his little brother. "She's still mad, or she would have let Carver buy it with some haggling first."
Barrel frowned.
"Why do I have to do it?" he asked.
"Because I'm still working off something I owe her for, and she damn well won't trust Shock," Lock replied, irritably.
"What do you--?"
"None of your business," Lock said.
He used his tail to hold a piece in place for Barrel as he oiled down another part.
"...How do I make it up to her?" Barrel asked as he tightened a bolt.
Good, Lock thought. He took the bait.
'Well, what makes you feel better?" Lock asked.
"A good meal," Barrel said, "but I don't see--"
"Rule one with girls," Lock said. "They like sincere gestures. Agatha knows you like to cook, and that you're good at it. It's your passion. So sharing it with her as an apology lets her know you really are sorry and trying to make her feel better, because it makes you feel better."
"I guess that makes sense," Barrel said, "but what do I make?"
"You could make a few things," Lock suggested. "Like a three-course meal. She'll definitely think you're sorry, and if she doesn't like something, you have options."
The wrench stopped.
"That's a good idea," Barrel said, "but I've never done that before..."
"All the better," Lock replied. He picked up a rag to wipe his hands. "More effort, more sincerity. She'll love it."
Barrel thought it over. He did have some of the spices back, and he could make a few good dishes with them...
"...Okay," he said. "That's a lot of food, though."
"Just make enough for you and her," Lock said. "It's probably better if Shock and I aren't around. She might think something's up."
"Right," Barrel agreed. "But when--?"
"Tomorrow night," Lock said. "Shock and Carver were going to see Medusa, and I can just find something else to do. You'll have the whole place to yourself."
Barrel nodded in agreement.
"Okay," he said.
Lock helped him finish up.
"You should probably go invite her over," he suggested, "or I can. I was going to try to talk to Lillith again anyway."
"Could you?" Barrel asked. "I've got to think about what to make and see what we have."
Lock smirked.
"Sure, bro," he said as he gave Barrel a quick pat on the arm. "I'll let her know."
~~~
The bell over the shop jingled. Lock strolled in, hoping to see Agatha at the counter, only to find Aggie running it. He frowned, but it didn't deter him. Merely an inconvenience, was all.
Kuzco's yelling seemed to get a lot of the group's attention, as well as the shadows'. A few of them came for him and his guard in earnest.
'You're making them stronger!'
It took Phoebus a few seconds to push back the effects from the second firecracker. This was a battle, and now he knew those bright things were a possibility. He quickly got himself into a better mindset. There were lives at stake. He couldn't afford to falter right now.
Just then, Emperor Kuzco landed between him and Gaston, after his successful attempt to get the fiery scarecrow's attention.
'Hey, fellas! You mind if we join you?'
"The more hands in battle, the swifter the victory," Phoebus said.
He sliced through another shadow with his sword.
Gaston let out a hearty laugh as he reloaded his blunderbuss.
"We're barely getting started!"
"Normally, I'd like to keep my scaring in the name of fun, but even I know when to stop being scary!"
The entire square went dark. Many shadows took those few brief seconds to regroup. A few merged with each other so they could share strength. Then, the light of Jack's torch sent several crawling back to their graves. Others were cut down or severely injured with the flaming bat boomerang that followed.
Back in the alley, Mulan cut her way through another tough shadow to try to gather near the tavern where most of the other fighters were grouping together. She felt Mushu's claws on her neck as he was pulled away.
"Aaaaaaah! Let me go, let me--!"
Before Mushu could let out another burst of flame, the shadow clasped around his mouth. He pitifully struggled in its grasp.
"Mushu!"
Mulan dealt with the current shadow as quickly as she could, though the timing of the second firecracker allowed her to perfectly cut through the shadow and retrieve her dragon. Mushu blew a burst of flame towards it to finish it off.
"Teach you to mess with a dragon!" he cried. "Next time, do it to my face, you limp di--whoa!"
His threat was cut short as Mulan ran for the middle of the square with Phoebus and Gaston.
"Then let's make that victory swift!"
Over by the tavern, Esmeralda was locked with another shadow. Even Djahli's headbutts weren't knocking it back. That strange man in the red dress was right. They were stronger!
"Are these the fabled Parisian nights I’m always hearing about?”
Esmeralda fended off the shadow long enough for Cassim to cut through it. She accepted his position at her back, as it gave Pierre a chance to crawl away and courageously hide behind the bathtub.
"It hasn't been this exciting since last year's battle for Notre Dame," she said.
"I believe they're regrouping for one final assault! Let's make them fear the day they messed with us!"
Esmeralda worked with Cassim to take out a few more shadows, before the King of Thieves tucked and rolled towards the tricksters.
"Looks like things are going to get worse before they get better! Everyone! Group up together! Around the children!”
”Nuts to that! I wanna li-i-i-aaaaah!”
Lock, Shock, and Barrel giggled.
"He can--" Barrel offered.
"--Hide in here--" Lock continued.
"--With Zero," Shock said, sweetly.
She gave the ghost dog a quick pet, before she rejoined her brothers in slingshotting the shadows.
Quasimodo barely kept himself from completely throwing his assailant to the ground when he saw a girl's face in front of him. He could smell the mead on her, and now factoring that he had a drunk girl on his shoulders, he shifted his position to better see the shadows.
"Woah calm down, it's just meeeeeee… You take the ones in front, I will watch your back."
Quasimodo picked out a strange tinge in her voice now that she was practically right by his ear, and as he read her lips, he "heard" her clearly.
"I-if you're sure," he said.
He didn't have time to fight or argue, as the shadows were coming together a lot more quickly. If anything, the drunkard on his shoulders was probably safer there than under his or anyone else's feet. Quasimodo pushed past two more shadows as he continued to make his way to the tavern.
He watched as the white stallion galloped towards the children in the strange basin. The three little hellions took notice immediately. Lock and Barrel each fired another shot while Shock reloaded. Lock, being the closest, looked up at this new white beast. Shock took notice as well.
"What--" Lock started.
"--Is--" Shock continued.
"--It?" Barrel finished, without looking up from his slingshot.
Shock fired another bone shard to cover him. Lock watched as the creature gestured into the tub with its nose while Barrel fired off again. The creature then looked to the shadows, snorted, then back to their tub. Lock got it a second later. The white creature was pointing out the fireworks. He nodded in understanding.
"We--"
Shock picked up on it next.
"--Got you--"
Barrel reached back for another projectile.
"--Covered."
They let the white beast situate itself near their bathtub. They would have to time this perfectly.
Zero, having been inspired by Jack's fiery show of shadow destruction, rose up to assist the strange beast. His glowing nose provided a beacon for the group overall, marking their gathering place.
At Cassim's command, Mulan ran for the bathtub.
"He's right, and so is the fiery one!" she cried. "They're desperate! Everyone, group up, hold strong, and keep a clear mind!"
Phoebus didn't need to be told twice. He followed Mulan and pulled Kuzco and his guard with him as they went behind the bathtub to provide cover from any shadows creeping up that way. Blunderbuss reloaded, Gaston was going to fire again, but reluctantly followed Phoebus and Mulan. As much as he wanted the glory of taking these things down, he knew he couldn't do it alone. Nevertheless, when the final attack came, he'd be ready for it.
Quasimodo wasn't able to hear Cassim or Mulan, but he quickly picked up on the plan when he saw the rest of those battling the shadows gathering around the children. He positioned himself near Esmeralda to close the gap.
The shadows all formed into one giant mass as the group gathered and situated then. Then, with those few precious seconds, they swooped forward in a wave of darkness to cover the brave heroes and Pierre.
Barrel just nodded and took the hoodie. He pulled it back on with a quickly muttered "thanks", then turned to Agatha.
"Thanks anyway," he said. "I should get going."
He gave a quick wave goodbye to Shock, who lazily returned it before going back to her task. Barrel then headed back out to work. Now alone with the other witches, Shock started another round of acetone cleaning, but subtly watched Agatha from above. Her smirk lifted even more slightly now that someone else was in trouble.
Barrel followed Agatha's gaze up to his sister, then back to Aggie. As he listened to Agatha explain, a grin slowly formed on his face, before a few giggles made their way up into full-on laughter.
"Oh!" he exclaimed. "That's why Carver was laughing!"
His laughter was cut short when he realized the witches were staring at him. Even Shock gave him a side-eye.
"...Oh. Um. She said she needed to borrow my hoodie," Barrel said, awkwardly. "I just didn't know why until now."
The detergent was clearly an excuse to leave Shock alone in the shop for some kind of mischief. A thoughtful expression crossed his face as he looked at the stained hoodie in Agatha's hands.
"That also explains why she was so eager to buy me lunch."
Shock smirked as she shot a knowing glance to Agatha. Her smirk widened when she shifted her gaze to Barrel, who was now in on her game. Her lovestruck pawn had moved just how she wanted her to.
It got him out of work for just a little longer, and he wasn't about to turn that down. He walked with Agatha back to the shop. The bell rang. Shock had taken a break from chipping glue off the ceiling, and was calmly sitting on top of the shelf with the wedding broom and rubbing the handle down with acetone to clean it off. She glanced over to see who had entered, rolled her eyes, then went back to work.
Aggie was at the counter, where she could both keep an eye on Shock and wait for her niece. She gave Agatha a knowing smile, but there was an edge to it that showed her niece was in more than a bit of trouble.
"I take it that it was quite an emergency to leave the shop unattended," she asked calmly, "while there are...guests here?"
Her eyes glanced up at Shock, who simply stuck out her tongue at the old bat, then went back to her task. Barrel stopped in his tracks. He looked at Aggie, then Agatha, then back to Aggie. He tried to think of something, since Agatha was doing him a favor.
"She was...um...helping me?" he asked as he reached behind his neck in a nervous scratch.
Barrel looked at Carver too, just as confused for a moment, until he recognized Carver's spasms as laughter.
"Either she got a sudden case of squash bugs, or something's hilarious."
He shrugged his shoulders, as he couldn't see anything particularly funny when he and Agatha were just talking. Barrel turned back to Agatha, then glanced back down to his hoodie. He awkwardly hung back a bit, as he wasn't used to being this exposed in public.
Barrel took note of Agatha staring at him, and looked a bit discomforted. The blank look in her eyes almost reminded him of his siblings when he said or did something too stupid for words. He followed her gaze, then quickly brushed off the pumpkin juice and wiped it on his pants.
"Erm, sorry about that," he said. "Guess I didn't get all of it."
Barrel stared at Carver gor a moment. Upon watching the pumpkin creature examine her head and find some rot, he wondered if it was to keep herself from laughing, or if maybe she actually did need to examine her head.
Maybe both.
He turned back to Agatha.
"I guess you could do both," he said, after pondering a moment, "but if you've only got time for one, then clothes. I've got more hauling to do in the pumpkin patch, and I needed a bath tonight anyway."
