LePouvantail

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock, Shock, and Barrel all grinned and started poking items.

"Touch, touch, touch!" they cried.

Barrel hit a button and inadvertantly turned on the Tesla coils.

"Oh, cool!" he cried.

He picked up a small device and tossed it into the electrical charges. The device fried and exploded, much to the trio's delight.

"What else should we throw into it?" Lock asked.

"Maybe a chemical," Shock said with a grin. She reached up to pet Loki, who happily chittered. "After all, I'm too emotional to understand volatile and corrosive substances and how damaging they can be when mixed with electricity. So perhaps I should learn."

That got another round of laughter from the trio.

Jack strode up to Jewel.

"Indeed," he said, regarding the task that needed to be done. "I suggest you get started."

The trio let out another round of wicked laughter at Carver.

"Scoop him out like pumpkin guts!" Barrel cried.

"Perform an autopsy!" Lock added.

All three of them started laughing again. Jack gave Finklestein a wry smile.

"I'm afraid I only have so much influence on them, doctor," he said. "Shock got her fill of trouble yesterday--"

"And failed at it," Barrel said.

He and Lock both snickered as Shock glared at them both. Jack ignored them.

"--but Lock and Barrel haven't," Jack said, "and I believe it's been some time since either of them got their troublesome urges out. And they need trouble like a vampire needs blood."

"Yep," Lock said.

"What he said," Barrel said with a gesture to Jack.

Lock smirked and tapped the wrench in his hand.

"I've been thinking," he said, "since I'm more logical than my dear sister, that this wrench is heavy. Heavy enough to dent...whatever this is."

He vaguely gestured to the machine in question.

"So logically, I should test this theory."

Lock grinned and tossed the wrench up in the air, only to catch it with his tail.

"While I logically do this," Barrel said as he tossed another small device at the Tesla coil. He grinned. "Science is fun!"

Jack shrugged.

"I'm not allowing them, but as they are working on behalf of a fellow monster in need, there simply isn't much I can do."

He narrowed his eyes.

"The quicker you get Carver out, the quicker I can assist."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Jack turned to Jewel and simply nodded.

"That won't be necessary anymore," he said.

Lock snerked at Carver.

"Well, a hollow body with working eyes is about to become available."

Jack gave him a glance.

"No."

Lock shrugged.

"Just a suggestion."

All three of the trio snickered as Jack and Jewel got Finklestein situated. Shock tossed the vial in her hand one more time as Jewel got Finklestein's brain back in. She gave him exactly two seconds after the lid shut to ensure reconnection, before she deliberately missed her next toss and let the vial fall and shatter on the floor to get the doctor's attention.

"Huh. Must be my emotions getting out of control," she said with a smirk.

She locked her glare with the doctor's dark glasses as she reached into the cabinet and grabbed another one. She casually tossed it in her hand.

"I feel that they might just get out of control again."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Jack quickly went into supervision mode. So far, the trio were behaving themselves, but he knew their body language well enough to see the gears turning in their heads and the urges they held back for the moment.

"Damn right I will," Shock muttered.

She looked where Carver pointed and picked up the vial.

"This one?"

A devious grin crawled over her face. Jack did a double-take at Carver.

"He paralyzed you?" He turned his gaze to the doctor's currently lifeless body, then moved a hand to his skull. "Carver, I...I'm sorry. I didn't realize..."

Lock moved away from the Tesla coils and to another one of the doctor's strange devices. He found a wrench that had been too big for Carver to swallow and tapped it in his hand as he calculated how much force he'd need to truly wreck the machine. His tail flicked behind him.

"You see the best in every monster, Jack," Lock said reassuringly. "It's one of the things that makes you the Pumpkin King."

Jack just nodded. He felt a little better, but it still didn't assuage the guilt. Shock went to the cabinet that Jewel pointed to and looked for the similar vials of blue liquid. Oh, she was going to have fun. She was already calculating how to best utilize this opportunity. Loki chittered with glee.

At Jewel's implications of her own personal projects, the trio looked over at the desk in question.

"Noted," Lock said cheerfully.

"We wouldn't want to--" Barrel started.

"--Ruin your hard work," Shock finished.

She casually tossed the vial in her hand and caught it a few times.

"This, on the other hand..."

Barrel grinned as he tapped his fingers with gleeful anticipation over the switch.

"This time, it's gonna be for all of us!"

"Hooligan squad!" the trio cheered. "Hooligan squad! Hooligan squad!"

They all settled down as Jewel finished her preparations. Their fun wouldn't truly begin until Finklestein was aware of it.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock, Shock, and Barrel nodded in agreement.

"Yes--"

"--He--"

"--Has."

The trio happily continued their jaunt up the ramp. Jack had a slight smile as Carver adjusted in his arms, but it disappeared at Carver's explanation.

"Well, the access hatch will no longer be necessary once we get you out."

Lock, Shock, and Barrel all giggled at the mention of the tools.

"Why would we--" Shock started.

"--Do a thing--" Barrel grinned.

"--Like that?" Lock finished, with a flick of his tail.

They snickered again as they reached the lab. The worst of the smoke had cleared. Jack calmly brought Carver into the lab and set him down where Jewel directed him. The tricksters, having only been up in the lab a few times, took advantage to look around. All three of them fought off the temptation to mess with anything - at least until the doctor's brain was back in place, and he could see them lingering near his precious inventions and equipment.

Shock quickly found the chemicals. Loki curiously crawled down onto her shoulder to see what she was looking at. Shock gave a soft click of her tongue to tell him to stay. With Jack there, she didn't do much more than pick up bottles to read the labels, before gently setting them back. Lock's tail rapidly twitched behind him as he examined the Tesla coils. Barrel found the lightning switch.

"Hey - isn't this the one Igor pulls whenever you really make him mad?" he asked Carver.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock, Shock, and Barrel all shrieked with laughter at Carver's massive fail. Jack ignored the trio's rambunctious cackling as he calmly walked over to Carver to pick him up. With some difficulty due to the new body's weight, he picked up Carver and cradled him in his arms. He shifted Carver to more comfortably hold him. Jack then turned to Lock, Shock, and Barrel. He waited a moment for the trickster siblings to calm down again.

"And you three," he said, "come with me."

The trio all stopped laughing and looked at each other, then back at Jack.

"What?" Barrel asked.

"Us?" Lock said.

"Why?" Shock quirked a brow. Loki tilted his head and gave a curious chitter.

Jack gave them a small smirk of his own.

"Insurance," he said.

The trio looked at each other, grinned, and happily skipped up the ramp behind the Pumpkin King.

As he walked, Jack noticed a strange rattling sound. It took him a few steps to realize it was coming from Carver's foot.

"...Did something come loose?" he asked.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

"Multiple times," Jack said dryly, "and you still let her cook for you."

Shock rolled her eyes at the hyena comment.

"Hyenas also take down targets bigger than them," she said. "They use wit as well as strength. Even lions won't fuck with them."

She stepped towards the doctor and stopped over him just as Jack started to help him up.

"They can also sniff out the weak and crippled," she said with a cruel edge to her tone.

"That's enough, Shock," Jack said, as he got Finklestein back in his chair.

"Just making a point, Jack," Shock said, with her sweetest, most pointed smile.

Jack would have rolled his eyes if he had any. He turned to Carver when Jewel asked about his current condition. The pumpkin creature seemed to be holding up well enough, though Jack noticed a little bit of wobbling. Right. Carver did mention that body tired him out just by walking across town.

"Then it sounds like the doctor's the only one who can safely get him out."

Jack glanced to Jewel.

"If you'll assist your husband to the lab?" he asked gently.

The trio all grinned at Carver.

"That--" Lock started.

"--Sounds like--" Shock continued.

"--Fun!" Barrel finished.

"Bet we'd be more delicate," Lock said.

"And actually improve the design," Shock said with a smirk. "What do you say, Carver? Ready for a C-4 beauty treatment?"

"That won't be necessary," Jack said.

He then walked over to Carver as the trio snickered among themselves.

"I think it's best if I carry you," he said, "seeing as it's a long walk from Oogie's lair."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

"Him," the trio said together, to emphasize their point.

Which of course went ignored as Finklestein started to explain his logic. Jack remained forcibly calm as the doctor explained. The trio sensed his growing fury and watched him with wary intrigue. They grinned, but stayed back as Jack barely kept his restraint.

"...What body a monster has, has nothing to do with their intelligence," Jack said, the moment he could get a word in.

He gestured toward the trio to emphasize his point.

"No one in town is going to argue which of the three is the most brilliant."

"Shock," Lock and Barrel said together.

Shock smirked with pride.

"Sally's outsmarted you on several occasions," Jack continued. "And your very wife shares half of, shall we say, your masculine brain. That alone should prove it's not the vessel, it's the monster!"

Jack ignored the doctor's smile. His glare deepened at the insinuation that Finklestein was the smartest person in the room. Lock and Barrel looked at each other, mentally confirmed something, nodded, and let go of their sister. Shock pulled her arms away from her brothers the second she was free and stormed towards Finklestein - only for Jewel to beat her to the punch.

Literally.

Her own anger was forgotten temporarily as she watched Finklestein's favorite creation pick him up and throw him into the ramp. All three of the tricksters nearly doubled over with laughter. Shock got a hold of herself first, then stepped up beside Jewel.

"Bet that felt great."

Jack quickly stepped in to keep the situation from escalating further. He allowed the doctor a chance to recover before he moved to assist the old man back in his wheelchair.

"I think it's high time we get Carver out of that body," he said.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock snerked.

"Sure. Lies. As if he's ever--"

"--Referred to Carver properly," Barrel finished. He crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

Jack stared befuddled at Dr. Finklestein for a moment.

"You needed to change him to refer to him properly? Did I hear that right?"

"Yeah, Jack," Shock said, with a glare to Finklestein. "You did."

Jack reached up with two fingers between his eye sockets to rub the smooth bone there.

"Of all the asinine--"

He didn't get to finish as Jewel started her own outburst. Shock smirked at Finklestein's clear surprise that yet another one of his creations began to outright defy him. Lock clapped a hand over his mouth to keep his laughter down, though his tail gave him away. Barrel watched with keen interest. He wished he had popcorn. But as Finklestein tried to smooth things over, all three of them tensed: Shock out of growing fury at his mention of the "fairer sex," Lock and Barrel because they sensed her fury and oncoming wrath.

"LOGICAL?!"

Jack joined the outburst in further exasperation. Shock cried out in fury, while Lock and Barrel cried out in amusement. Loki held tightly to Shock's ear as her brothers quickly held their sister back. Jack was handling it; better not let her get too carried away.

"I'll show you logical!" Shock screamed.

Each of her brothers held one of her arms and dug their feet into the floor to keep her back. Jack ignored the trio as his own patience drained. He stepped towards Finklestein with an air of menace.

"I've heard enough!" he cried, with a chill in his words that got even the trio to settle down.

Shock froze, having heard that tone not too long ago. Loki ducked his head behind her ear and softly trembled, before he dared to peek out again. Lock and Barrel gently pulled her back with them and out of Jack's way. All three of them warily watched the Pumpkin King and feared a similar show of power when he got them to fess up to their Halloween prank. Jack lowered his eye sockets to match the doctor's dark goggles.

"I told you before that Carver's unlife is your responsibility," Jack said, "and that he is to be treated as his own monster. I also told you that if this happens again, another arrangement will be made. You've failed Carver for the last time, doctor. Effectively immediately, he is no longer under your care."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

"I had planned to check in yesterday after my meeting, but I had an unexpected incident--" Jack glanced over to Shock "--to deal with."

Shock just shrugged.

"...Yeah, that's fair," she said.

The trio all glanced up the ramp.

"You'll--" Barrel started.

"--Do--" Lock continued.

"--What?" Shock finished.

All of them snickered at his rage. Jack crossed his arms, and the trio settled down. Shock glared at Chad as he left, and enjoyed the soft hiss from Loki as he shared her offense. She made a mental note to make him pay for that comment later.

Oh, if he wanted hot stuff, she'd give him hot stuff.

She smirked as she watched Carmilla handle Chad. Lock and Barrel both glanced behind Jack to see. Lock's tail flicked in amusement. Barrel giggled. All of them mentally agreed that they wished to see this more than her diva antics.

Sobki helped Chad up, muttered an apology to the vampire twins, then shoved Chad along.

"We've gotta have a talk, bro," he said, "before one of the ghouls actually kills you."

He dragged Chad away from the growing crowd of monsters before any of them could ask more questions.

Back at the Finklestein home, Jack started to say something, before the doctor went on a tirade. Lock, Shock, and Barrel, no longer with an amusing distraction, turned their ire to the evil scientist.

"Oh, can it, Finkle-stink," Lock said. "You couldn't handle--"

"--One of us--" Barrel continued.

"--Let alone all three!" Shock finished.

"That's enough!" Jack cried.

He stepped between Carver and Finklestein and pulled Finklestein's hand off his creation.

"I already warned you to treat him as his own monster," Jack said, "and not a thing to be possessed."

He gestured to Carver's new body.

"This is what you got from our talk? To turn him into something he's not?"

Lock, Shock, and Barrel all quieted and even stepped back. They knew Jack's wrath from experience, and were only too happy to let someone else be on the end of it.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Lock and Barrel both snerked at Chad's comment, but otherwise retained their fury.

"So we're gonna make him---" Lock said to quickly cover up his lapse in decorum.

"--Change him back!" Barrel finished.

By that time, Carver caught up. Jack turned to him and quickly went into damage control mode.

"That is not what I said, Carver," he said. "I specifically told him to treat you as your own monster, not--" Jack gestured to the new body, "--like this."

As Carver continued his rant, the sound of an engine hum and a set of heels quickly vacating the lab echoed down the ramp, accompanied by several hacks and coughs as the Finklesteins cleared their lungs. Normally, the trio would have enjoyed their misery. Right now, they were focused on Carver.

Jack got down on one knee to be at Carver's level.

"I'm going to fix this," he promised. "Right now."