"Barrel," Carver said sweetly, "Would you be a dear and put my head on the shelf? I'd like to get a bit more comfortable as I rock Baby Legs here to sleep. He's had such a tiring day, trying to keep up with the Big Kids..."

Lock growled as Barrel let him go to assist Carver. The second Barrel pulled off her head, Lock rolled forward onto his feet. He then slammed Carver's cage into a nearby wall to try to shock her into letting him go. He caught a nearby vine in his teeth and bit down.

Shock simply stretched and settled herself back into place. Lock had the favorite pillow. She grabbed the favorite blanket. Barrel had to step carefully as Lock tussled with Carver to avoid dropping her head. As soon as he got out of dodge, he placed Carver's head on a shelf where it wouldn't get broken.

With her head detached and deactivated, Carver couldn't taunt Lock anymore. On the other hand, the lack of eyes to use immediately snapped her spacial awareness into focus. She didn't need to see Lock to know where he was, how he was positioned, or what he was doing. Of course, that only really helped when she wasn't already holding on to him.

When he slammed her against the wall, she lost control of his arms. But she quickly wrapped her legs around his torso to make it harder for him to get the upper hand. She responded to the bite by pulling on his tail.

Lock pulled his arms free and immediately grabbed for some of her newly-loose vines to tie together. Unlike Shock a few weeks ago, he didn't even bother trying to tie them with knots upon knots, only to hinder her long enough to get to the vines on his waist. Lock tried to pull his tail free when Carver snagged it. One of the curses of having an extra limb: it was another grabbable appendage if he didn't use it to get the upper hand first.

He stepped away from the wall and shifted his hips to try to slam Carver into it from the side. On the other side of the room, Barrel took his usual spot near the slide and rested against the wall with his arms behind his head. Shock smirked and found one of the spare pillows. She tossed it at Lock. He barely moved an arm to deflect it and growled at his sister.

Carver yanked his tail again just as Shock threw the pillow, then quickly took advantage of the momentary distraction. She unraveled the mass of vines that generally formed the "muscles" of her legs, used a few to tie the now-useless metal "bones" into place around him, then threw her weight to one side. His intention to slam her into the wall gave him just enough uncontrolled momentum to allow her to pull him to the ground. All of her available vines immediately went to work pinning his arms to his body. One vine was left just enough freedom at the tip to cheerfully tap out a quick message:

Say "uncle"!

Lock again tried to pull his tail from Carver's grasp. Thanks to Shock, he didn't see Carver wrap her metal limbs around his legs. He tumbled to the ground with her just as the metal limbs tightened around his legs, preventing him from kicking her. Lock managed to grab a handful of vines, but it did him no good as the rest quickly immobilized him.

He squeezed tightly on the vines in his grasp in a vain attempt to get Carver to let him go. Lock growled and tried once more to break free. Across the room, Barrel grabbed another blanket and pulled it around him. Shock simply smirked as her little brother tussled with her best friend. She settled down, one arm against the floor to prop her head in her hand, her other hand rested in the crook of her elbow as she curled her legs in.

"Guess he's comfortable," she said sweetly.

Barrel giggled. Lock glared at them both, then focused on using all of his strength to try to break out of Carver's vines. After a few more moments of struggle with nothing to show for it, he gave in.

"Fine!" he cried. "Uncle!"

Carver patted Lock on the head as she released him. She had to pull the pajama bottoms back up, as they had slipped down the metal frames when she released the vines out the waistband to envelop her prey. Once her legs were properly reassembled, she walked over to flop down on Shock's other side from the boys. She decided to leave her head on the shelf for the time being; Shock was in a rather good mood, which meant there was a higher chance of taking an elbow to the face in the middle of the night.

Lock snapped his teeth at the vine nearest him in retaliation to Carver patting his head, but the pumpkin creature was already pulling herself back together, so to speak. He grumbled as he got the lights, being the last one standing. Lock then trudged to the empty space between Shock and Barrel. At least he got the favored pillow tonight.

Well...for the first hour or so, anyway.

After a few more lovingly exchanged insults among the group as their form of bidding each other good night, Lock, Shock, and Barrel all settled down. They often started with a little bit of space between them, but as they each drifted off to the land of nightmares, they began to shift and move. Every citizen in Halloween Town knew that in waking hours, the trio often found trouble, whether it was a prank, an argument, or just messing around. Few knew the same held true in their sleep.

Barrel started it tonight, with a gentle shove against Lock, who in turn smacked him with his tail in retaliation. Shock remained peaceful the longest, gently curled up near Carver while her brothers shoved each other around. She joined in when Lock shifted too close to her, and got a knee to his calves for it. Her foot found Carver's cage not long after.

Over the course of the night, limbs kicked and punched, blankets and pillows were tossed around and stolen, and bodies piled on top of each other. Only Carver - and Lillith, when she spent days curled up with Lock - had witnessed this nightly cacophony enough to know that the more the sinister siblings squirmed and retaliated in their sleep, the better their moods. Barrel didn't shift as much as his siblings did tonight, as he was still down from screwing up earlier, but that he still shoved his siblings around said enough that he was bouncing back from it. Only in the last part of the night, when the sleep cycle came close to its conclusion did the trio settle down again.

By morning, none of the three were where they started the night before. Barrel was now resting against the wall, his body replacing all the pillows. One of the blankets tangled in his legs. Over the course of the night, Shock found her way to the middle of the group. She used Barrel's stomach as a pillow, had one of the blankets draped around her shoulders like a cape, and held the favored pillow under one arm in nightly victory. Lock was partially draped over her back, with one leg haphazardly draped over Carver's cage. The rest of the pillows were shoved in a pile under him, and the last blanket had been kicked completely away from the group.

Barrel woke first with a deep yawn. He lied back for a moment, then sat up, feeling a bit better than he did last night, but still uneasy at yesterday's flub. Well, today was the big day, so maybe after a good breakfast, things would be better. He immediately felt better at the thought of a hearty meal. Barrel shoved Shock off of him so he could untangle himself from the blanket and get up and get started. Shock simply muttered something in her sleep and shifted for comfort against the floorboards. She then pulled the blanket up over her head to block out the sun shining in from the windows.

Lock got up next. He crawled onto all fours, then arched like a frightened black cat. His tail straightened, and several loud, audible cracks and pops sounded as he worked the kinks from his spine and limbs. He grinned as he saw his sister, then yanked the blanket away.

"Time to claw out of the grave!" he said cheerfully.

Shock barely managed to grab the other end before he took it completely away. She tried to pull it back.

"Inamoment," she muttered.

Lock tugged on the blanket and shoved her spine with his foot.

"This was your plan," he reminded her.

Shock kept her grip on the blanket. She moved the favored pillow under her head and yanked the blanket back.

"'N th' plan can wait five more minutes."

Lock glanced to Carver.

"I think she needs more incentive," he said.

Despite a brief interruption in the night, wherein the pumpkin creature had drawn the short stick and been sent to investigate a disturbance in the lair, rest had been pretty full for everyone in the group.

Carver was hugging one of Shock's arms like a teddy toy despite having her head and feet turned round opposite her friend. Barrel's head had been resting on one of the chunkiest parts of her leg. She limply reached up as if to smack Shock, then suddenly lashed out and snatched the blanket out of Lock's grip. She didn't give it back to Shock properly, though; a part of it fell over the oldest trickster's head and shoulders, but mostly she haphazardly covered herself with it. One vine flopped about lazily, taking a couple attempts before tapping out,

Food.

Lock kept his grip on the blanket as Carver and Shock pulled it back. He let it go before they could potentially let go of their end and send him tumbling backwards. It wouldn't be the first time.

"You suck."

He listened to the tapping and frowned.

"Yeah, yeah," Lock said. "Barrel's working on it."

He gave Shock another kick, then got out of range before she could retaliate. Deciding to leave them to it, Lock went to gather his day clothes and get dressed.

Down in the lair, Barrel casually passed through the casino as he thought of what to make for breakfast. Paincakes? Rotten fruit bowl? Scrambled lizard eggs? Maybe some fresh spider eye muffins. They did have that jar now; might as well put it to use. He was trying to decide on scorpion legs or fried snake as a potential side when he noticed the spice cabinet slightly ajar. Without a second thought, he wandered over it to it when he noticed something strange. Barrel pulled the cabinet open to investigate...only to be met with the most horrific sight he had ever seen.

All of the spices were gone, with only a folded piece of paper on the middle rack, propped up like a tent with its note in full view.

The horrified scream carried all the way up to the tree house. Lock had barely changed into his pants and was about to pull on his shoes when he heard Barrel's cry carry up the pipe. Shock pulled the pillow over her head to block it out.

"Th' hell's he screaming about this early?" she asked, irritated.

"Sounds like something's wrong," Lock said, as he headed for the slide.

Shock perked then, and gave Lock an expectant look. Lock rolled his eyes at her, as he knew he'd be the one to go investigate. Foregoing his boots for the moment, he dove down the slide. A moment later, his and Barrel's excited, indecipherable voices carried up the slide, with Barrel's frantic tone punctuated by Lock's laughter. That got Shock to curiously crawl over to listen for a moment while her brain finished waking up.

"Sounds like something interesting happened last night."

Carver perked slightly when Shock and Lock both reacted to something beyond her range of awareness. When Shock moved over to listen at the slide, the pumpkin creature proceeded to get up and go put her head on. As soon as she heard Barrel's frantic tone of voice, she fell over laughing.

---

Several hours earlier...

Carmilla's echolocation came in handy for sensing most of the trickster's trip wires, alarm sensors, and booby traps. Most. Her vampiric speed and small size helped with the rest. "Helped" in that when she set them off, she was able to avoid getting impaled, beheaded, or -- wait, was that a bear tazer?? Carmilla squeaked loudly as she folded her wings in and dodged.

An alarm bell and a few crashes into the disturbance, Lock slapped Carver's arm then rattled her cage with his tail to make sure she woke up. "Yurr turn. Go chick it..." He then flopped over and went back to sleep. There was one alarm loud enough to instantly wake them all up and get them immediately into Dealing With It mode, but that one hadn't gone off, so for the most part the group trusted their traps to take care of whoever or whatever had been stupid enough to wander into the lair. Still, someone had to go double check.

Carver gave Shock a light kick as she got up, retrieved her head, and went down the slide. She made sure to keep her descent slow and quiet. When she reached the bottom, she peaked her head out and looked around for a moment before closing her eyes. The ruckus had died down, so it was likely one of the traps had gotten the invader. Buuut... Nope. There they were. In the kitchen.

Carver made her way across the lair. When she got to the kitchen and saw who was there, she leaned casually against the doorway and waited to be noticed.

Carmilla was poking around, opening cabinets and closing them again, looking for something. She had a sack hanging from one arm, and a white rectangle poking out from the space between her breasts. After a moment, she found the cabinet she was looking for, and began scooping its contents into her sack.

"Interesting choice for a thief," Carver said casually. "Particularly since Your Highness is plenty capable of affording such luxuries on your own."

The vampiress spun around. "Carver!" She looked around nervously, before quickly regaining her composure and steeling herself. "The others send you down here to do their dirty work?"

The pumpkin head smirked. "Oh, I'll wake them up if I decide to do something particularly entertaining to you... But right now, I'm more curious what you're even doing down here."

Carmilla narrowed her eyes and tried to stare down the person across from her, but Carver just continued to smirk and wait. Finally, she sighed. "Agatha wanted me to give Barrel a taste of his own medicine." She pulled the card out from her chest and handed it over.

Carver looked at the curly handwriting, the simple words, the i's that were carefully dotted with hearts.

You can buy them back when the glue is dissolved.

Carver slowly formed a grin. She passed the card back, barely managing to hold down a gleeful cackle. "Well, then, carry on. Try not to let the guillotine catch you on the way out!"

She waved and left Carmilla to finish her mission, climbing up the slide back to the tree house. Head back on the shelf, she crawled back into the sleeping pile.

"Bat flew in the window. I dealt with it. Now move over." She shoved Lock out of the way and yanked the favored pillow away from Barrel.

Whatever was going on downstairs, Shock was now more interested in that than trying to go back to sleep. She grabbed the edge of the slide and swung her legs up into it so she could quickly join her brothers. Carver was free to join her. A moment later, she was in the kitchen, where Barrel looked worried and annoyed, and Lock was trying to hold back more laughter.

"It's not funny!" Barrel cried. "I can't cook without them! Nothing will taste as good!"

"Wait, someone stole from us?" Shock asked as she caught up to her brothers. "Who would fucking dare?"

Barrel looked slightly relieved to see Shock, at least for now, was taking this seriously. Lock barely composed himself to explain.

"Yeah, but wait until you see what and why!"

He clutched his sides as his tail pointed to the spice cabinet. Shock quirked a brow, but pulled the cabinet open to see. Once she saw the note - and especially the little hearts dotting the "i"s - she lost it even harder than Lock. One, she never expected Agatha to stoop to their level, which in and of itself impressed her. Two, the hearts were a completely different level of passive-aggressive, given the teen witch's crush on Barrel. While Lock found the whole thing funny too, Shock doubted he understood the depths of just how badly Barrel screwed up in Agatha's eyes - and how clueless the youngest trickster really was about how badly he screwed up. She used the cabinet to brace herself so she didn't fall over.

"If this-if this doesn't teach you to-to stick to a script," Shock said through her cackles, "then I don't know wh-what-what will!"

"Guuuuuys!" Barrel whined. "I can't cook!"

Neither Lock nor Shock seemed to care. In fact, they both laughed even harder. Shock composed herself first.

"Make some ghost toast," she said.

Barrel gave up getting his siblings to take this seriously and grumbled as he went rummaging through the cabinets for simpler ingredients that required almost no effort. So much for that hearty breakfast. Shock just pulled open the pantry to get some cereal, then to the fridge for bat milk. This whole thing just put her in an even better mood, and settling for the easiest meal on the planet was hardly going to ruin it.

As she got to the dining room table, the thought crossed her mind that she might have lost the bet with Carver. They'd have to see how Lillith reacted to today's prank, but even Shock had to admit Agatha had already gotten a good start in that department.

Oh well. If she lost, then at least the other witch made it worth it.

Carver's laughter could faintly be heard echoing down through the slide as she pulled herself to a standing position, periodically doubling over again whenever Barrel's complaints got loud enough to be heard up the pipe. Eventually, she managed to make her way down to the lair. See didn't bother changing; her pants needed repaired, Lock had more than one pair of pajama bottoms, and even though he was welcome to fight her for them, the odds of that were pretty low given their plans for the day.

She waited patiently for Shock to finish eating, then subtly motioned for the two of them to step out of earshot from the others. Once they were alone, Carver looked her friend in the eye and made her confession. "The traps and alarms detected an intruder last night. I went down to deal with them, and when I found out what the purpose of the visit was, I allowed her to finish. I know it's your turf here, but I figured you'd find it more amusing than bothersome."

She shrugged. "If you want to tie me up again and leave me on the lab doorstep for my dad to deal with, that's fair, but you should probably wait until we get the important stuff done, first."

She put the slightest stress on the word "important". Defying or ignoring Shock's authority was a big no-no, but the worse thing would be if it cost them the biggest prank of the century.

Barrel heard Carver's laughter up the slide, and let out a frustrated cry, which of course only made everyone else laugh even harder. Lock took Shock's suggestion to make some ghost toast, and allowed Barrel to wallow in his frustration. The two of them then left Barrel alone to cool off, as they needed him to focus today.

When Carver eventually joined them, Lock only made one demand for the pajama pants, but didn't push it further, at least, not right now. He'd have time to either steal them back or fight her for them once they got some more important stuff out of the way.

As Shock made her way to the kitchen to dump the bowl in the sink and put the milk away, she caught Carver's signal and gestured for them to go into Oogie's old bedroom to talk. As Lock was still eating and Barrel was assuring himself that at least the salt and pepper shakers on the table were still there, and he could still make something partway decent in the meantime, neither of her brothers paid them any mind.

The second the door closed, Shock crossed her arms expectantly.

"What is it?" she asked.

She'd picked up a bit on the pumpkin creature's demeanor, and the subtlety to not get the boys' attention. Shock listened. Her face darkened for a moment.

"That's all she did?" she asked.

Carver was right that she found the whole thing hilarious. But only if Agatha was just out to give Barrel some payback. The witch wasn't stupid, and knew her herbs and plants. If Agatha found this room, and the remainders of the forget-me-lots - and more than that, the sheer amount of them - there were only so many possible conclusions the teen witch could draw.

All three of Carver's eye pairs blinked in turn. Shit, she hadn't thought past the amusement to consider if there were another motive to Carmilla to break in. She thought hard for a moment, then slowly shook her head.

"There was a lot of trap noise while I was coming down, so I don't think she had time to do anything besides a bunch of dodging before I caught her. I watched her for a bit while she didn't know I was there, too, and she was poking around in the kitchen like she was looking for something. As soon as she found the spice cabinet, she immediately started dumping everything into a sack. She had the sort of demeanor of someone who wanted to get in, get a thing done, and get out as fast as possible."

Shock watched her carefully, looking for any tells that Carver might be hiding anything. Her face returned to its usual smirk when she was satisfied.

"Hope she had fun with all our toys, then," she said. "That's a lot of dedication for such simple vengeance. I'm actually impressed."

Shock headed back to the main lair.

"We'll see if Lillith tops it."

~~~

Once everyone was settled and dressed, it was time to get started. In order to maximize citizens being hit with the fog, they'd have to strike when most of the town was up and busy. The weather almost perfectly aligned, being overcast with a hint of natural fog. It wouldn't obscure them, but it would make the tainted fog juice less noticeable at first. The biggest challenge would be getting the bottle to the rim of the fountain without a curious citizen moving it.

Shock already figured out a way.

In the preparations, a few pumpkins had been arranged around the fountain. All she had to do was plant the open container in a pumpkin, and knock the pumpkin into the fountain. Placing the container had to be done early, when the square was still empty. It was also going to take a bit more concentration to knock it over, but Shock could manage.

It was Carver's job to plant Agnes's broom in a crook near the main gate, as well as hide the fog juice bottle before heading to the pumpkin patch. They were going to milk yesterday's "accident" so no one would see anyone actively carrying the broom in, or see one of the trickster siblings carrying anything.

Lock and Barrel prepped the water balloons carefully, filling them just full enough to be weaponized with water, then using an eyedropper to insert a bit of the forget-me-lot serum. The rubber end of the balloon created a seal while the eyedropper was in, long enough to tie a string around the end to keep it sealed, remove the dropper, then tie the rubber end properly. They wore protective gloves while doing this. The buckets would have to be carried by hand to the pumpkin patch and the graveyard watch for stragglers.

With the boys taking their task, Shock walked with Carver to the square.

"If there's any early risers, I'll distract them," she said.

Carver looked visibly relieved when Shock brightened again. She did feel rather guilty for not thinking of the possible consequences of letting Carmilla continue, especially since she didn't stay to monitor the vampiress until she left. But she did trust her observations about the in-and-out attitude and nervousness when caught. She didn't think Carmilla was being extra devious and using the spice cabinet as an excuse.

Carver nodded. "Speaking of which, I'll get those reset while you guys finish getting ready for the day."

---

Carver and Shock made their way through the gate, arms lightly loaded with small pumpkins and jack o'lanterns. Carver had the broom tucked up her leg and woven into the vines again, and a long, thin bottle of fog juice tucked up the other leg. She had a light limp, but didn't milk it the way she had done when leaving the witches' shop the day before. It was just enough to keep up the ruse of a minor injury, but not enough to draw extra attention and garner inspection.

The square was mostly empty, save for the Pumpkin King and the Mayor, who were heading toward the Town Hall. The two tricksters gave no indication of paying them any mind, and headed for the fountain.

The Mayor was mid-sentence in a happy discussion with Jack about how well this year's plans were going thus far, when he noticed Shock and Carver. His smiling face quickly swiveled around to show the frown.

"J-Jack!" he said. "They're back!"

Jack turned, noticing the duo himself. He also noticed Lock and Barrel were nowhere in sight.

"Just out for a morning stroll, ladies?" he asked, with an air of suspicion.

"And helping," Shock said, sweetly.

"Helping or 'helping'?" Jack asked.

Shock held up one of the pumpkins for him to personally examine.

"Helping," she said.

Carver rolled her eyes, annoyed at the eternal suspicion aimed their way. "We're not always causing trouble. I do actually like carving up decorations, you know."

"Yes, well, after yesterday's little 'accident', I hope you understand why I have to double check," Jack replied diplomatically. "For the confidence of the citizens, of course."

The Mayor nodded, trying not to be too obvious that he was putting the Head Skellington between himself and the two tricksters.

Carver scowled, but dutifully allowed him to inspect all of their pumpkins. Having foreseen the suspicion and planned around it, of course there was absolutely nothing undue about any of them. Shock was cleared first, and went to deposit them at the base of the fountain wall. The pumpkin creature impatiently tapped her foot vines in a repetitious rhythm until hers were likewise deemed acceptable.

"I noticed you limping on your way over here," Jack commented. "What happened?"

She grunted. "Accidentally dropped a bottle of daphnius potion when the swamp smoke fell. Tried to catch it with my leg by reflex. Parts of my pants and vines got turned to hardwood." Carver shrugged. "I'll apply the antidote to it when I get a chance to buy some. Can I go now?"

Shock took note of the Mayor hiding behind Jack. She gave him a wicked, pointed grin and she enjoyed the small yelp he made as he pitifully tried to hide behind Jack. As small children, they frightened him. Now that the trio had grown, he was outright terrified of them, and her especially. It sent her wicked heart all a-flutter.

She giggled when Jack mentioned the "accident".

"Of course, Jack," Shock said sweetly. "Wouldn't want anything else getting stuck, would we?"

Jack gave her the distinct look that he wanted to laugh, but also didn't want to encourage this behavior. Shock grinned, knowing well the Pumpkin King found some humor in their trick, but had to keep face.

"Especially since both the witches and Dr. Finklestein seem to have run out of glue remover," Jack said, coolly.

"What a coincidence."

"I'm sure it was."

Jack finished his examination of the pumpkins, then turned to Carver.

"Just one more thing," he said gently. "Would you mind showing me the contents of your cage?"

Carver pouted.

"It's almost like--" she started.

"You don't trust us--" Shock continued.

"Jack," they both finished.

The pumpkin creature moved her armful of pumpkins out of the way and partially unwove her chest vines so that the Pumpkin King could get a relatively clear view of the cage's contents. While he wasn't foolish enough to assume there were no possible way anything in there could be used for mischief, the various assortment at least looked innocuous enough that he couldn't think of any major problems likely to be caused.

"...Okay." He straightened up. "I'll ask Sally to pick up some daphnius antidote when she has a free moment. You can come over to our house this evening, and we'll apply it then."

Jack had no reason to disbelieve Carver's injury, given the witches' report mentioned a daphnius stain on the floor and nearby glass shards, but he also didn't trust the tricksters to use any kind of potion just for its intended purpose.

...Bones. Carver wasn't expecting that. How was she going to get another daphnius potion to actually apply to-- Wait. Duh. The Prank. Jack wasn't going to remember this conversation by the evening.

She nodded with a smile. "Thank you, Jack."

With that, she headed over to the fountain to set up her pumpkins and slip the bottle into one of the larger jack o'lanterns sitting atop the fountain wall, trusting Shock to distract the twin-headed monster and skellington as she did so.

Jack just gave the girls the distinct, "I don't, but I'm too polite to say it" look.

"You're welcome, Carver."

Shock quickly got Jack's attention again.

"Say, Jack..." she said. "Do you think this one looks better--"

She tapped the brim of her hat, then quickly reached over to snatch the Mayor's hat, before she mockingly traded it with her own.

"--Or this one?"

The Mayor let out a pitiful cry, then tried to swipe his hat back. He could only jump a few inches off the ground.

"Hey! Give it back!"

Shock grinned, clearly enjoying her superior height to the Mayor.

"What do you think, Jack?" she asked. "I know how to plan. Think I got a chance?"

Jack snatched the Mayor's hat from her and handed it back. If he had them, he would have rolled his eyes. Rarely did any of the three cross paths with the Mayor without antagonizing him in some way.

"You're good at planning trouble, Shock," he said, with a twinkle in the back of his eye socket, "and the Mayor's job is work, not fun. Sorry. I don't think you're quite cut out for it."

Shock pulled her own hat back on, now that her fun with the Mayor ended. She shrugged.

"Couldn't hurt to ask," she said, then turned to her friend, trusting that she planted the container. "Come on, Carver. Let's go get some more pumpkins."

She'd have to wait until later to knock the pumpkin over, and she could pretend to join Carver in the meantime.