LePouvantail

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Behemoth gave "Corvin" a small frown when he mentioned Shock.

"She plays tricks," he said thoughtfully. "So do her brothers. Most around here are careful when crossing paths with them."

He patted "Corvin's" shoulder.

"But can be good friend to pumpkinheads. Good friends with other pumpkinhead. Her name is Carver."

Behemoth glanced around the pumpkin patch to look for her. Carver had only come by once since her punishment for the Halloween prank.

"Carver sometimes visits pumpkin patch. Should introduce you sometime. Tricky too, but good heart."

He smiled again.

"No one here truly mean," he said. "Just scare in different ways."

Upon noticing "Corvin's" observation about the spiral hill, he nodded in agreement.

"Can see lots of things from there," Behemoth said, "but harder to come down here to scare."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Behemoth happily gave "Corvin" a tour of the pumpkin patch, including a look inside the Big Pumpkinhead.

"Watch for youngins'," he said. "Sometimes like to hide in there."

A soft, lazy smile crossed his face.

"Lots of youngins' in town. Some your size. Some smaller. All like the Big Pumpkinhead."

Behemoth continued his tour and showed "Corvin" some of the highlights, such as the twisted, maze-like vines that shifted and moved, hidey holes he knew of, where the river gently flowed through the patch, and finally, where the pumpkin patch bordered the graveyard.

"Good view of Spiral Hill from here," Behemoth told him. "Can see some tombstones, too."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

"Found very big, good seed. Planted it. It grow just as big," Behemoth explained. "And mulch. Lots of mulch. Big Pumpkinhead very hungry."

He set his shovel down.

"Come. I show Corvin."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Behemoth slowly offered his hand.

"I am Behemoth," he said slowly. "I grow pumpkins. Tend to them. Make them big."

He beamed with pride and pointed to the enormous pumpkin in the middle of the field.

"That Big Pumpkinhead."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Behemoth turned at the roar and looked up in time to see the crowd fly over his head. He then headed for the source of the noise. It didn't take long for him to see the new monster in the pumpkin patch. He'd never seen it before. More than that, he knew a walking scarecrow when he saw one.

"You scare good," he said. "Crows won't peck pumpkins."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Shock stuck out her tongue at Carver, but quickly realized this meant she or Barrel - maybe both - might be a future target. Barrel groaned, though it took him a moment longer to realize it too. The hot sauce had potential to be fun. If Carver gave Lock something to retaliate with, then he'd have to be careful.

Unless...

Barrel grinned. Lock didn't know what he had, or that he got his gift first. He could always wait for Lock to make the first move, then retaliate. It gave him a small thrill just thinking about it.

Shock turned to head back to the scorpion room.

"Have fun," she said simply.

Despite knowing there was the potential for Lock to pull something against her, nothing was going to bring down her good mood now that she could all but guarantee her trick would go smoothly. She sniffed the air a bit.

"...Is something burning?"

Barrel quickly noticed too. He'd been so interested in trouble that he forgot about dinner.

"My crackers!"

He quickly rushed into the kitchen to pull them out. He let out a long sigh of relief that they were salvageable. Shock cackled, but otherwise didn't antagonize him. Rotten fish stew by itself was still pretty good, but she had to admit having oyster shell crackers with it made it better. It went even better with a smidge of her little brother's misery that he'd almost ruined them.

~~~

Behemoth was at the mulch pile in the pumpkin patch with a shovel. He carefully turned it to ensure an even breakdown, and to make sure every part got good and rotten. He prided himself on his pumpkins, and good mulch was the secret.

The rhythmic motion of the shovel scraping and turning soothed him. Bugs hissed and chirped in the late afternoon air, broken up by the occasional caw of a crow.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Shock took the bottle, and once it was in her possession, her devious joy radiated from every fiber of her being. Jack would never know what hit him. She grinned as she watched the swirls in the potion.

Barrel hardly came out of his thoughts long enough to catch what was thrown to him. He looked at what he held, and his grin widened when Carver explained what it was. Lock liked spicy foods. He would never know what hit him.

"Speaking of Lock," Shock said, "what'd you get him?"

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Shock internally grimaced. She could only imagine the sorts of nondescript favors he might ask for. But she also knew that Carver knew exactly what he held in his hands: all the bargaining power. This was her one chance to make it worth his while before he changed his mind, and who knew when one of them would ever get their hands (or vines) on an invisibility potion ever again?

"...Fine," Shock said. "I owe you. No tricks."

She showed her hands, then held one out expectantly.

Barrel watched them carefully, though when Carver mentioned he could "think of something," something in his mind clicked. That's why Agatha refused the scarab! She probably needed him for trouble in the future! Getting any of the trio to owe such a favor, without a backstab, was even rarer.

He started to ponder about what Agatha could possibly want when she called it in, with a bit of amazement at her bargaining abilities.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Shock crossed her arms as she waited for Carver's explanation. Her posture loosened with each word, and even the hint of a smile started to form as she picked up where he was going with this.

"Interesting," she said, in a gleeful tone that said she had already reconsidered kicking him around the lair.

And then he pulled out the bottle. Shock tried to keep her poise, but that her eyes widened even slightly gave away the gears turning in her head as she realized what Carver held.

That would make her trick work far better than she'd planned.

Barrel tilted his head in confusion.

"Sparkly water?" he asked.

Shock turned and slugged him.

"For all the times the witches let you in the back, you'd think you'd know an invisibility potion when you see one!"

Barrel shoved her back.

"I don't know everything they have in stock!"

"Because you only ever focus on what you can eat!"

Shock pushed him again, then turned to Carver. There was no way the pumpkin creature was going to just give her such a valuable item.

"And what does my favorite monster want for it?"

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Shock finished with her current scorpion and set it in the new sanitized tank with the others she'd carefully nursed to keep track. She then headed out to the casino to find out what Carver wanted.

Barrel, in the meantime, grinned at Carver.

"Something go down?" he asked.

He stepped aside when he heard his older sister coming up behind him to let her pass. He wished he had some popcorn, because it sounded like Carver pissed her off.

Shock, however, knew "favorite" tended to be thrown around when any of the other three had something she wanted.

"Such as?" she asked.

This had better be good.