Carver took a few moments to perfectly line up her last little pumpkin, then backed up and did an impression of examining it like an artist judging their work. Finally, she nodded in satisfaction and headed back to Shock.

"I don't think his hat is the right cut for you anyway, Shock," she said cheerfully. "It's so long and skinny, it makes it look like the wearer is compensating for something. At least the Mayor can say he's only compensating for his tiny legs!"

The pumpkin creature offered her arm to Shock so they could skip away in a delightful manner that would leave the Mayor very uneasy and hopefully leave Jack assuming that their presence and cheery behavior was purely for that purpose, such that neither would think the check the fountain again.

Shock cackled at Carver's remark and the Mayor's resulting embarrassment, then hooked her arm with the pumpkin creature's and cheerfully joined her best friend in heading for the pumpkin patch.

Jack just shook his head as he watched them go. Sometimes, he wished the tricksters were still children. Other times, he wasn't sure he saw much difference aside from the four of them getting taller.

"And-and stay out of trouble!" the Mayor called after them.

Jack gave a glance to the new pumpkin pile by the fountain, then headed for Town Hall.

"I don't think we have much to worry about, Mayor," he said reassuringly. "They've never caused too much trouble this close to Halloween, and after yesterday's stunt at the witches' shop, they've probably gotten out enough of that sort of restlessness to tide them over for two more weeks."

The Mayor skittered after Jack. His head swiveled again to show his smiling face, though he was still a bit nervous.

"I think you're right, Jack," he said.

From the path to the pumpkin patch, Shock ducked into a small nook just out of sight to eavesdrop. She smirked as she listened to their footsteps fade away.

"They haven't seen anything yet," she said quietly. "Come on. Let's make sure Barrel didn't break anything."

~~~

The day passed by slowly for the tricksters' tastes. Lock hung around the graveyard, with his bucket carefully hidden just inside one of the tombs. He'd brought some of his music notes to look through in the meantime. Barrel had his hidden in the pumpkin patch. At the very least, he could find a good pumpkin to munch on. Both of them watched the comings and goings of various citizens. Carver was free to assist whichever of them she pleased.

With Jack situated and still a while to go before the busiest time of the day, Shock met Barrel in the pumpkin patch and retrieved a walkie-talkie from him. He'd give one to Carver as well, now that Jack had checked the contents of her cage. With hers acquired, Shock headed back to the square. While it was still fairly empty, she climbed up to the roof of Town Hall and situated herself carefully to watch for both the square and the main residential area.

She had forbidden the use of the walkie-talkies until she gave the signal in order to maintain her position. Among the citizens' regular day-to-day activities, no one would notice her hiding in plain sight unless something - such as the crackle of a radio - got their attention.

The gloomy day spurned activity sooner than she expected. By noon, Shock was sure she'd seen everyone in the whole town pass by at least once - and now the square was bustling with unlife. She took care when climbing down, knowing to not bring attention to herself. Even so, one of the vampires spotted her.

"What were you doing up there?"

"Haven't you gotten your fill of trouble yesterday?" another one piped in.

Shock just smiled sweetly.

"Nothing."

That got a round of glares. She didn't care. Shock shoved past them with her usual unpleasantness.

"Check if you want," she said. "I didn't do anything."

Yet.

The vampires grumbled and went back to their Halloween preparations. Shock made her way to the nook by the gate. She leaned against the wall near it and lit up a cigarette, partially so a passing citizen would leave her alone, and partially to keep her free hand hidden under her halfway-crossed arms.

This was it, the final stretch. Citizens bustled around the square, carrying decorations, heading up the path to the pumpkin patch, and going in and out of the adjoining area where the witches' shop was undoubtedly getting a lot of business. Shock carefully focused on the pumpkin sitting on the edge of the fountain and concentrated on it. She brought the cigarette to her lips and subtly shifted her fingers on her free hand. The pumpkin rocked back and forth, until finally - sploosh!

A few monsters turned their heads at the sound, but the fog was already dispersing. Shock ran for the nook and grabbed Agnes' broom. She'd practiced a bit at home to make sure she could handle it, and sure enough, just as she planned, she was out of the gate within seconds, and high above the forget-me-lot fog just as quickly. Shock grinned as she watched the fog quickly encase the square, and with it, a good portion of the town.

Many monsters looked about in confusion at first. There wasn't supposed to a fog like this until Halloween! Their confusion at the fog quickly became confusion of whatever tasks they were doing as the forget-me-lots worked their charm. Shock pulled the walkie-talkie from her pocket.

"Halloween Town just got a severe case of amnesia," she said with a wicked cackle.

There was one final thing to do. While she was still airborne and a safe distance from the fog, Shock focused her power on Town Hall.

Slowly, the numbers reading, "017 Days to Halloween" turned until they read "000". Her part done, Shock headed for the pumpkin patch, while keeping an eye on the fog's spread. She'd be ready to warn Barrel (and Carver, if she was with him) if it spread faster than they were expecting. She'd also be able to see any stragglers.

Carver went with Shock to the pumpkin patch, retrieved her walkie talkie, then split off to head for the graveyard. After she confirmed that the graveyard was empty of corporeal denizens, she directed Lock to take a post near the entrance. She went deeper into the graveyard herself, ad waited. At the signal, the pumpkin creature immediately started making an utter ruckus around the mausoleum, banging on the great echoing doors as if they were drums, knocking over tombstones, and so on. It didn't take long for the ghosts, creeps, and shadows to come out to see who was causing the noise.

"What's all that racket?" one of the ghosts grouched.

"Jack's called a town meeting," Carver told them, knocking over another tombstone.

"Why didn't the Mayor alert us with his hearse, then?" a creep asked suspiciously.

Carver snickered. "Horn's clogged up, and the cat's missing its crank."

"By your doing, I expect," a second ghost grumbled.

"Wasn't that show at the Witches' Shop enough for you?" the wolf shadow growled.

Carver shrugged, still grinning. "To be fair, we clogged the horn two weeks ago. Not our fault it took so long for anyone to notice." She used her slingshot to bounce a rock off a headstone the two-headed shadow was resting against.

"Oh, how rude!" one of the heads exclaimed.

"Don't you have anything better to do than harass us?" the other head asked.

She put another rock into her slingshot. "Hey, I'm only on message duty 'cause Jack told us we had to fill in for the hearse until it gets fixed. You guys are the ones sitting around like open targets." She loosed her ammo through one of the ghosts.

The incorporeals chattered indignantly, but headed off into town. Carver casually shot at them a few more times before making her way back to Lock. She cackled to herself, but was inwardly rather relieved that they'd fallen for that; a water balloon wouldn't be able to hit them, and if the tricksters had to aim for the ground near them, there was a chance they'd be able to get away before the smaller clouds of fog could envelop them. But this way, they were flying directly into the thickest fog entirely willingly.

Lock and Barrel both laughed when they heard Shock's voice on the radio. Barrel had more within the pumpkin patch. There was Behemoth, of course, but Wolfman and a few of the bigger monsters had come to help gather more pumpkins for the preparations. Several rapidly-fired water balloons later, and they'd join the others in confusion. Barrel helped himself to a particularly large pumpkin now that Behemoth was occupied and forgetful.

Over in the graveyard, Lock had less to do. He'd only seen Hanging Tree and Sally enter, and of the two, Sally had already gone back into town. Lock listened for the gate, and watched Hanging Tree further down the path. He might have to get closer, but at least he had plenty of ammunition.

Behind him, the gate creaked open. Lock quickly grabbed a water balloon and loaded it into his slingshot. Just as he was about to let go, he completely took in who had entered: Carmilla and Lillith.

Lock hesitated for a second, as he expected them to be in town. He briefly realized he should have warned Lillith, or at least, invited her to the tree house and out of the way of the prank.

Too late now. Thrills before girls, after all. Lock shifted his aim so the balloon would hit Carmilla.

Carmilla and Lillith were chatting about girls as they took a stroll before dress rehearsals when a water balloon suddenly crashed into the younger twin.

"MY DRESS!" Carmilla shrieked. "Do you have any idea how long it's going take to clean this?!" She was about to continue when she noticed the fog spreading from the still-dripping stain. It quickly enveloped her, leaving neither route nor time for escape.

Lillith, being less concerned with the stain, reflexively shot away from her sister the moment the fog started to form. When the fog dissipated enough to see Carmilla through the haze, she was looking around and blinking slowly, as if she had been unexpectedly awakened before sundown. It seemed she was too confused to even think to hide her confusion, something her pride would normally never allow her to forgo.

Her sister dodged a second ballon, then whipped her head around to find the source. Lock was small, but not enough to completely hide himself in the shadows when someone was actively looking for him. She used her vampiric speed to launch herself at him before he could loose another balloon, knocked the slingshot out of his hand, and loomed over him menacingly.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

Lock barely bit back laughter at Carmilla's reaction. He aimed another to land near Lillith's feet, but she'd already dodged it.

Damn.

Before he knew it, the slingshot clattered to the ground, and Lillith's angry glare aligned with his own gaze. Lock racked his mind for a response.

"Just having a little fun," he said.

"Fun with what?" She leaned forward until her face was a few inches above his.

Meanwhile, Carver had heard Carmilla's shriek, and was running over to "investigate". Which was to say, she wanted to see what she could pull on the vampiress while she was still dazed from the initial memory wipe.

Lock used his tail to scoop up another balloon. He reached behind his back to retrieve it. Lillith's gaze bore into his as he slowly realized there wasn't really a way to explain this...so he didn't.

"Water balloons. Isn't it obvious?"

Lock smirked, but only to hide his dawning horror that there was only one way to worm out of this with Lillith being none the wiser as to what he was really up to. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"You'll forgive me later."

He took a breath and smashed the water balloon on her head, before he dove from the crypt. Lock mitigated the easiest way for the fog to influence him, but the resulting splash and mist still seeped into his bare skin. Worse, he felt his thoughts fade as he tried to retain the most important parts of the prank. He saw an orange blob on top of a metal cage heading this way, and only briefly registered Carver coming for him before that thought too faded away. In the seconds it took to take effect, he'd only managed to run a few feet before his mind completely went into a haze.

When it cleared again, Lock saw he was standing in the cemetery. How did he get here? When did he get here? Much like walking into a room and forgetting why you entered to begin with, Lock quickly looked around to retrace his steps. He turned and saw Lillith. A date, then? That couldn't be right, Carmilla was here too. Also, why were they both wet? Lock's tail flicked in confusion, before he shook his head. No matter. He was happy enough to see his girlfriend, and went to her.

"Forgive you for wh--" Lillith didn't get to finish her question. She stood there with her hair sopping wet, trying to see through the fog and... More importantly, trying to figure out where she was, and why she had water running down her face. The fog cleared a little bit, and she looked around in confusion. The graveyard? Why was she here? She managed to catch sight of Carmilla coming toward her, and headed to meet her.

The younger vampiress had woken from a dreamy haze, saw her sister a few yards away, and drew the natural conclusion that they had been together, going... somewhere? When she'd zoned out, and Lillith had walked on ahead of her.

"Sorry, I got distracted," she said. "What were we talking about?" Carmilla motioned for Lillith to lead on, refusing to admit she couldn't even remember where they were heading.

Carver held in a giggle, and sneaked over to pounce on Lock. She hadn't caught most of the show, but she had seen the middle trickster's confused expression and tail flick as he came out of his stupor. Obviously, he'd gotten caught in his own backsplash.

"Way to go, loser!" She punched him in the arm. "You're never gonna win at hide-and-shriek if you come out of hiding every time you see your girlfriend walk past!"

Lock crumpled under Carver as she pounced on him.

"H-hey!" he cried.

Hide-and-shriek? Well, the graveyard was the best place to play. Lock didn't think too much harder as he shoved her away, then slugged her back.

"I wasn't coming out of hiding!" he exclaimed. "I was--!"

What was he doing?

It didn't matter. Lock stuck his tongue at her, then glanced over at Lillith and Carmilla. Deciding to shift the subject to them, he laughed as he took in their drenched clothes and, in Lillith's case, hair.

"What happened to you two?" he asked, more playfully than malicious. "Apple bobbing in the fountain?"

Carmilla scowled at him. "What are you talking ab-- MY DRESS!" Her attention drawn back to the stain, she started frantically trying to wipe it clean. "What did you do?!" She glared at Lock accusingly.

Carver cackled. "I guess your mind is as pale and cloudy as your skin! Can't remember what Your Highness spilled on yourself?"

Lillith ignored the tricksters' teasing and her sister's panic-wrath, slicking her hair back and finger combing it. She wasn't really sure what had happened, but it wasn't sticky and didn't smell particularly bad, so she was more focused on making sure she still looked presentable. It would probably dry by the time they got to... wherever they were going, and she could wash it later if it was a problem.

Lock shrugged. He still wasn't sure what was going on, but at least now there was trouble, so it didn't really matter anymore.

"What did you mean, what did I do?" he asked.

He held up his hands and shifted his stance to show he wasn't carrying anything.

"How could I have done anything that got you wet?"

Lock grinned, then sidled over to Lillith. He put an arm around her waist and nuzzled against her.

"Now, Lillith, on the other hand..."

Carmilla was torn between arguing and going home to change her clothes before anyone else saw. After a moment, she growled at them both, and flew off as a bat. Lillith sighed and petted Lock's head.

"You probably shouldn't antagonize her so much. Especially when she's already upset about something." She ignored the innuendo for the moment. It felt like there was something... important she was supposed to be doing, but she couldn't put a claw on it. And as much fun as flirting was, she should probably follow her sister and show some support. Carmilla was less stringent about her posture and manners, but she did put a lot of time into her appearance.

Carver ever-so-helpfully grabbed the back of Lock's collar and pulled. "Come on, loverboy. We still need to go find Shock and Barrel."

Lock gently wrapped his tail behind her legs as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Well, I didn't do anything."

Probably. He still wasn't entirely sure, but if he had anything to do with it, he couldn't remember, so as far as he was concerned, he was innocent.

This time, anyway.

He felt his collar pulled, and ended up stumbling back. Lock tried to pull his collar free, but upon mention of his siblings, something seemed to click in his mind. Maybe that's why he was here. Weren't they planning a trick? Still, Lillith was here, and Carver was dragging him away from her.

"Let go!" he cried, before he freed himself from her vines. Lock fixed his shirt, then turned to Lillith. "Uh...catch you later?"

Lillith bent down to kiss him. "Sure, you didn't," she said with a small smile. She ran a hand through her hair again, then quickly wiped it off on his face. She chuckled when Carver pulled him free. "Not if I catch you first."

The vampire waved to them both, then shifted into a bat and went to catch up with her sister.

Carver watched her disappear into the fog that was rolling out from the town center, then suddenly wrapped a couple vines around Lock's throat and tried to wrestle him to the ground.

"You idiot! You nearly cost us the whole thing!"

He kissed her back with a smirk. Lock then reached up to wipe whatever that was on his shoulder, then stuck his tongue out at Lillith. He smiled as he watched her go...then felt Carver's vines around his throat.

Lock tumbled to the ground, then immediately kicked into defense mode. His tail wrapped around several of her vines before they could ensnare it first, before he focused the rest of his priorities into keeping Carver from choking him.

"The hell are you even talking about?" he cried. "What thing?"

The both of their walkie-talkies crackled. With their close proximity as the two wrestled, a bit of interference shrieked over the sound of Shock's voice, but enough of the message came through.

"Pum...atch secured. How are...graveyard?"

Carver fought to keep him down, but used one vine to grab her walkie talkie and push the button. "Mostly clear here, but Lock was an idiot. Need to confirm we got everybody. Vampires might be an issue."

There were a few seconds of silence as the oldest trickster undoubtedly mentally calculated these new factors.

"I'm heading your way. What did he do?"

She got her answer a moment later as Lock used the few seconds Carver spent giving Shock her update to pull free.

"Carver, what thing? The hell is going on?"

Another pause. Another factor.

"...Tell me he didn't..."

Carver ignored Lock's question and moved to slap him upside the back of his head with a couple of vines.

"He did. He hit both the twins, but decided to kiss Lillith while it was still going off." She wasn't exactly sure what had happened to result in Lock getting effected, but this was believable and since he couldn't remember, he couldn't contradict her. "Then he proceeded to draw their attention to it because he couldn't remember who caused it."

"Ow! Hey!"

Lock grabbed her vines and tried to wriggle free. He started to protest, but had to fend off another vine. Shock's voice crackled on their walkie-talkies again.

"I'm almost...anyone else?"