Lock played it off as "Corvin" having found the rat, frightened it, the startled rat running up the scarecrow's pantleg, and being amused by the ensuing chaos. Such a shame Lillith missed it, really.

Lock happily walked with her when she untied his leash.

~~~

Something crashed at the sudden yelling. Agnes cursed, as she almost had that damn monkey's paw back in its case. Some shuffling followed after as she and Aggie chased it down, caught it, and locked it away again.

"I swear, if someone doesn't buy that thing soon, I'm going to burn it," Agnes muttered.

"Nonsense," Aggie countered. "They're quite valuable to the right customer."

They quickly flew upstairs, then set their brooms beside Agatha's door and entered her room.

"What is it, dear?" Aggie asked.

"A hex?" Agnes said, upon getting the reason. A suspicious note crept into her voice. "What kind of hex?"

Agatha sat down on her bed amongst the clutter and took a deep breath. "Barrel 'let slip' that Shock is planning a trick on... somebody, and he wanted me to, uh, interfere with it," she explained. "I know what I want the effect to be, but I don't know how to time it properly, since he didn't tell me when she was going to set it off."

The teen witch held up her hands in case they were about to lecture her on wanton use of magic, or stooping to the tricksters' level. "Nothing too dangerous or damaging, just something subtle to interfere with her concentration and mess up her trick."

Both of the older witches looked at each other, then back to their niece.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Aggie asked. "I know you and Barrel have gotten close recently, but Shock can be...well..."

Agnes was already pondering it.

"...Petty," she said, with a knowing tone and the faintest smile. "So I suppose your Aunt Aggie and I would like to know why you've agreed to it."

"Because she's been interfering in my relationship with Barrel for a long time. She keeps using our feelings for each other against us. Barrel only ever gets into trouble when the other two drag him into it; the fact he's so fed up that he wants some kind of vengeance says something, you know?"

She picked up on of her notes and offered it to them: a basic description of the effect she was trying to achieve, and some scribbled thoughts on how to get it to work. "Besides, if I can find a way to get the timing right, I think I've found a way to keep her from even finding out either of us had anything to do with it."

Aggie frowned, but had to agree.

"I have noticed Barrel rarely interferes when his older sister is up to something..." she said. "And he just as rarely plans a trick."

"And toying with other monsters' feelings, well, that is rather cruel," Agnes said.

She grinned, almost a little too eager to assist.

"Shock doesn't seem to...relate to such matters, so we'll just have to communicate it on her terms. After all, nothing would be more heartbreaking to her than a trick not going quite according to plan, hmm?

"Mm-hmm," Aggie agreed.

"Just a minor inconvenience," Agnes said, "but one that will affect her for a little while."

"We certainly wouldn't know anything about that," Aggie said, with a glance to the doorway where their brooms rested.

She glanced over Agatha's notes.

"You may not know when, but do you know where she intends to strike? Because the simplest solution would be to hex her boots, then place the activation charm at the threshold."

Agatha immediately perked up. "That's brilliant! I know whose residence it will be, but not whether it'll be inside or outside." She quickly shuffled through the pile of papers to find the one she needed. "But if I put the charm a few steps before the gate, then it'll definitely get activated before she's ready. And if she did any of her homework on protection charms and checks the threshold itself, that will be completely clean. I just need to make a false threshold for the charm to take to..."

She took half an hour or so to hammer out the details with her aunts, making sure her plan was flawless, then spent the rest of the night gathering the materials she would need and preparing a diagram for the layout of the runes.

---

Lillith had a grand time finishing Lock's punishment with a reward for maintaining good behavior for the duration. With excellent timing, the replacement for her damaged anniversary gift had arrived that evening. The look on Lock's face when he opened the empty box, only to turn around and see her in nothing but the new set of lingerie -- while he was tied to a tree just out of arm's reach -- was priceless and well worth the wait.

After they had had their fun, the vampiress released her pet to go home and catch up with his siblings.

Agnes and Aggie happily assisted their niece with working out the hex, and making sure their tracks were covered.

They would also know when Shock made her attempt, as the activation charm would make the shop bell ring in a specific pattern.

~~~

Lillith certainly utilized the leash for as long as she could as she attached it to the tree. As soon as his hands were free, Lock flexed his fingers. More than that, his tail rapidly flicked and twitched with pent up energy. Her torment only riled him up more, and the second he was free, Lillith would have a hard time getting back up after he tackled her to the ground.

Sore, aching, tired, but certainly satisfied, Lock headed home in the best mood he'd been in since Halloween. As he got closer to the lair, he picked up the smell of roasted fire peppers, rice, and some sort of dead and rotting carcass. Lock ran his tongue over his teeth, excited, but also remembered Carver's warning.

Swap his plate with Barrel's.

Shock was in an elated mood when he got in. She was up on the slide, sitting near the ceiling as she made some tweaks and tightened some bolts.

"So who'd you trick today?" Lock asked.

"Oh, I haven't done it," Shock said. She forcefully torqued the wrench to keep the bolt in place. "Yet."

Lock flicked his tail as he glanced up at her.

"The thing you're gonna do to Jack?"

Shock finished her tweaks, then carefully slid down over the top of the pipe to get down.

"I'll let you know," she said sweetly.

Lock decided not to question further. He went to the dining room to get the pepper shaker, then carefully slipped it into the kitchen where Barrel wouldn't notice it immediately, but would find it quickly. He then went back to the main lair and picked up his guitar to practice for a bit until Barrel came to let him know dinner was ready. Shock went to put the tools away in the meantime.

Dinner went as it usually did: Barrel brought their plates to the table, though Lock noticed he brought his own out last this time, when he usually brought it with his or Shock's, then got the third sibling's on the trip back. He'd already planned for this. Lock bit into one of the peppers, but made sure not to swallow it. He carefully slid the piece into his cheek, then reached for the pepper shaker.

"Hey! Did you take the pepper again, Barrel?" he asked accusingly.

"No," Barrel said. "I have my own for cooking!"

"Then where's the pepper?"

Shock rolled her eyes and swallowed a bite of her own food.

"Just go look, Barrel," she said.

"But--!"

Both of his older siblings looked at him.

"Do it!" they ordered together.

"Okay, okay, fine," Barrel said.

He threw his fork down and got up. The second the kitchen door shut, Lock picked up his plate, spit out the piece he bit into and arranged it under the rest, then switched it with Barrel's. He even messed with some of the food pieces and placed Barrel's fork exactly as he left it before taking his seat again. Shock nearly choked with laughter when she realized that Lock knew what was up.

That must have been Carver's gift to him.

Both of the older siblings barely managed to retain proper decorum as Barrel came back with the pepper shaker.

"Huh," he said. "I definitely didn't cook with it."

He set the pepper shaker down. Lock immediately snatched it to use. Barrel stuck out his tongue, then sat down to eat.

"Maybe I refilled it and forgot to put it back," he said.

He started to eat quickly. Shock had to turn her head to hide her growing smile. Lock just calmly took a bite of "his" food after seasoning it to his taste.

After finally finding a way out of the pumpkin patch where a part of the wall was crumbling a bit, Carver had spent the rest of his night hanging out with Barrel in the lair and generally staying out of Shock's way while she updated her plans. The oldest trickster was still in a glowing mood, and none of her siblings wanted to be the first to bring her down from that. When Lock got home, Carver made sure never to be alone in the same room with him. As far as Barrel knew, the only interaction between the two that day had been when Carver "slipped" Lock a gift while Lillith wasn't looking, and the pumpkin creature wanted to keep it that way.

Around the time Barrel started on dinner, Carver put a cauldron on to simmer. While Barrel was looking for some reasonably intact dishes to use, Carver took a few minutes to throw in some compacted manure flakes and let them soak up the water. He was just finishing up as the bigger boy came back in to retrieve the pepper.

"What, not waiting for me?" he asked his face-stuffed friend as he put his bowl on the table. "Sheesh, no manners at all!"

Carver went to dip his finger-like vines in the bowl by reflex, but stopped himself just before dunking his metal hands into the nutrient muck. Right. New body. Bones. He took a moment to think about it, then decided let his limbs go limp and feed his vines out through the mouth hole.

...Only two fit. He was going to have to soak his vines two at a time.

"Thuckink ngoo ekthothkegetong! Thith thucks!" he complained, looking for all the world like a chameleon with a paralyzed tongue dangling onto the table in front of him.

Barrel ignored Carver as he settled back in. Shock took a sudden interest in Carver. She sensed misery - and a cover in case her laughter slipped before Barrel caught on.

"Having a little trouble there, Carver?"

She and Lock both got a few laughs in at his expense. Barrel joined in once Carver started his garbled swearing. It also gave him time to realize that his mouth felt warmer than he expected, even with eating the fire peppers. He ignored it for the moment, and happily took another two bites. Lock composed himself and watched his younger brother. His tail gently swayed from side to side, like a cat gearing up to pounce. Shock allowed herself some more laughter at Carver's expense before she went back to her own plate.

After a minute, Barrel started to realize that the heat wasn't just in his mouth - it spread to his chest, stomach, and even part of his intestines. He quickly looked across the table at Lock, who was calmly eating his own food with a knowing smirk. Lock stared him down as he took another bite.

In that moment, Barrel realized.

Lock knew.

And had switched their plates.

He started to say something, but his tongue was ablaze with pain. He reached for his glass and downed it, but the sewer water only made it worse. Shock, now free to shift her target of misery to Barrel, started laughing again. Lock joined in as Barrel practically dove from the table to run down the hall to the bathroom. Shock laughed even harder at Barrel's attempts to flee, to the point the young witch tumbled to the floor in throes of wicked cackles. Barrel heard his older siblings' hysterical laughter ring down through the hall, and even when he slammed the bathroom door. He cursed Lock the entire time he was in there.

By the time Barrel got back to the table, Shock barely managed to regain control of herself enough to stand, though she was still gripping the edge of the table to support herself as her residual laughter ran its course. Lock managed to stay in his chair, with one arm clutched around his stomach, and the other wiping away tears of laughter.

Barrel stormed over to Shock. She'd been alone with Lock not long before dinner, and it was just like her to manipulate a situation for maximum trouble. His sister didn't notice he'd returned until he grabbed the back of her shirt and yanked her away from the table.

"Hey!" Shock cried.

"You r-ruined it!" Barrel said.

He punched Shock straight through the stomach and let go of her shirt so she'd tumble away from him. Shock hadn't been expecting the hit, and went down quickly. She tried to get back up, only to find Barrel tackling her down like an incoming train.

"I didn't--!" she managed.

But Barrel's weight pummeled her down, and kept her down. He so rarely started a fight that she almost forgot his true strength. Shock quickly switched to defense, and focused on getting Barrel to at least shift so she could better position herself to use his strength against him.

"Oh, come on," Lock said, with a flick of his tail. "I got your message loud and clear."

"Like--" Shock said, as she blocked a punch, "--Hell you di--!"

That only infuriated Barrel more. Shock barely managed to deflect a few more incoming blows, before she punched her youngest brother right in the jaw. Barrel growled, and the two of them tumbled on the floor, Barrel too enraged to speak, Shock too focused on keeping him back enough to get in a better position to comment. Lock calmly watched his siblings go at it as he bit onto a fire pepper with a grin. It wasn't often he got dinner and a show.

He let his siblings wear each other down as he ate, until he was almost done. The power shifted a few times, with Shock's pragmatism and the after-effects of the adderpepper juice countering Barrel's rage and raw power. Lock waited until a clear winner started to emerge - Shock - and decided that was the moment he'd join in the brawl. Shock was too focused on keeping Barrel back to pay him any mind, and Barrel tunnel-visioned like an enraged beast to keep his sights on Shock. Lock tripped his older sister with his tail to make Barrel think he was on his side, and as Shock started to regain her bearings, Lock slid under Barrel's legs to get behind him and tackled his little brother. The little devil ended up on Barrel's back, with his arms under Barrel's armpits and pulling the largest trickster's arms back to keep him from swinging, and his tail at his throat.

Shock got back to her feet and tackled Barrel straight in the stomach. Lock, having expected it, let go of Barrel, grabbed his hoodie, quickly climbed onto his little brother's shoulders, then jumped to pull the hood up and over Barrel's head. He bodyslammed Shock straight in her back on the way down. Barrel, in an attempt to keep his balance, ended up kneeing Shock in the stomach almost simultaneously. The witch went down from the double assault and collapsed to the floor. Barrel's initial punch to her stomach already took its toll.

Lock kept his hold on the hood as he shifted to his feet, then tripped Barrel. He sent the big oaf stumbling forward into their older sister. Barrel tried to get up. Lock jumped onto his back, ignored Shock's muffled cry of pain from under the both of them, and moved his tail around Barrel's neck again to keep the hood encased over his head. He then grabbed one of Barrel's legs and pulled it back until he nearly pulled it from its socket.

"Ow, ow, owwww!" Barrel whined.

But he didn't have much fight left in him. With his focus on Shock disrupted, he didn't have the adrenaline rage to counter the residual effects of the adderpepper juice. It only took another moment for him to give. Lock released his leg, then shifted to give his little brother a noogie.

"Thanks for dinner," he said cheerfully.

Barrel grumbled under his breath, then got up, his only consolation that at least Shock didn't win this one. He pushed himself up, kicked his older sister, then went to the kitchen. At least he always made extra, so he could have an unruined plate. Shock pushed herself up once freed. Her good mood from earlier was completely gone. Her legs shook from pain this time as she made her way back to the table. She took one glance at her plate, felt her stomach turn from pain, and decided she didn't want anymore right now. She glared at Lock as she took her seat anyway and shoved the plate away from her.

Carver tried to growl at the trio in response to their teasing. Unfortunately, the position of those two vines made it more of a strangling gurgle than anything. He continued soaking his vines for a few more minutes, then quickly retracted them so he could join in snickering at Barrel's predicament. He reached to pull his popcorn bucket out of his chest as the best part of the show started, but was again stopped by the differences in his new body.

Barrel came back and charged at Shock. Right on cue, Lock confirmed who had (supposedly) let slip the trick. Then the smallest trickster opportunistically joined the fight, which wasn't a part of the plan but was still a great bonus. And Carver had to watch without his popcorn, because his new chest couldn't open up to be used as a storage container.

Once everything calmed down, the pumpkin creature leaned back in his seat to sulk while he soaked the next pair of vines. It was unlikely he'd get all of them soaked before dinner officially ended, but if he just gave up and left now, the others would get suspicious and quickly figure out who was actually responsible for the food situation.

Barrel came back with a new plate and took his seat. He glared at Shock, then started to eat his untainted dinner. Lock finished up what little was left of his, then took his dishes to dump in the sink. Maybe he'd make it up to Barrel and do them once his siblings finished.

Maybe.

Shock glared right back at Barrel, but didn't say another word. As neither of them won that fight, the issue was considered resolved. She glanced across the table to Carver and glowered. She then noticed Barrel's tainted plate and got a wicked idea.

"My message, hmm?" she asked.

She grabbed the two vines sticking out of Carver's mouth, grabbed one of the bigger firepeppers still on Barrel's tainted plate, then tied the vines around it.

"Hope you got this one loud and clear!"

Carver yelped as his vine got jerked forward and struggled against her grip as she tied it in a knot around a very spicy pepper. The vine didn't function as a tongue so much as its appearance implied, but the spice levels were still high enough to irritate his sensitive fleshy bits. He yanked it back inside his mouth and began desperately trying to free himself from the bite.

"OWWWW! What did I do??" he demanded once he could speak properly. "Barrel's the one who assumed you told him! It's not my fault Lock decided to play along with that assumption!"

"Shock's the only one who could have told!" Barrel cried.

"Nuh-uh," Shock said as she pulled off her gloves before the adderpepper juice could seep onto her skin. "Carver had a chance when he gave Lock his present."

Lock came back from the kitchen just as the argument was getting heated.

"Present?" he asked.

"The heads up about dinner," Shock said.

She carefully set her gloves on the table.

"Yeah," Lock said. "Carver said you said to tell me--"

"Ha!" Shock interrupted.

She grinned at Carver.

"I knew it!"

"Wait, you told?" Barrel asked.

He glared at Carver, then shoved him off his chair, before he went back to his dinner while grumbling under his breath. Lock and Shock both started laughing.

"Guess that solves that," Lock said. He grinned. "That was fun!"

Shock winced in pain from her stomach, then settled down. She got up to wash her hands to be certain any adderpepper juice hadn't touched her skin.

"Sure was. Wasn't it, Carver?"

"Oh, come on!" Carver grouched as he picked himself off the floor. "Like you guys have never messed with each other's tricks for the lulz, before. And besides, sometimes the best trick is letting someone else think they're the one playing the trick."

He finally managed to get the knot untied, but that entire vine was now burned practically numb. The second he got it loose, he lost his grip on the pepper and it tumbled down into one of his legs. He tried pulling it up to throw back at Shock, but felt the burn creeping into the vine he was using and he had to drop it before he could get it to his mouth. Perhaps if he used a leg vine and passed it to an arm vine at hip level...

He fumbled at the pass, and it fell back down again. Screw it. The pepper was just gonna have to live in his foot for a while.

Barrel swallowed another bite of his food and grumbled again. Lock sniggered.

"And it worked a bit too well this time, eh, Carver?"

He gave Carver a playful shove as he headed into the lair. Shock came back to retrieve her gloves, taking care to handle them by the sleeves so she could soak them in milk and be certain none of the adderpepper juice was left.

~~~

By the time the trio were ready to settle down for the night, dinner had pretty much been forgotten. Lock managed to get Barrel to practice for a little while, and even got a good drum set out of him. Shock got her gloves clean and hung them up to dry, then went to check in on the scorpions she quarantined. They all let Carver do what he wanted.

As Carver couldn't always stay with them, they said their goodbyes when the pumpkin creature needed to head back to the Finklesteins, with the requisite slugs and punches.

Carver didn't get to interact much with the trio after dinner, as he was still soaking his vines long after they had finished eating. He gave a half-ass kick to the tricksters' shins whenever they wandered through the dining room to tease him but otherwise didn't expand the grave. The pumpkin creature begrudgingly accepted his fate as he finally left the lair for the lab tower. It took him quite a bit of a detour to get to the climbable parts of the pumpkin patch wall, but he still refused to take the 'proper' pathway through.

"You're late," was the first thing he heard upon walking in the door. Doctor Finkelstein leered over the bannister from a couple floors up.

"Out with those hooligans again, no doubt," Dr. Finklestein said. "And what sort of trouble kept you away this time?"

He shifted his wheelchair as he spoke to meet Carver partway down the ramp.

Carver rolled hia eyes. "I was dealing with the many inconveniences that came with this new body you put me in, Dad. Sorry it's taking me longer to adjust than you would like."

Finklestein sneered at bring called, "Dad," but otherwise made no comment in it.

"What sort of inconveniences?" he asked, as he gestured for Carver to follow him up to the lab. "I see it's still in one piece after you've undoubtedly gotten into what you so generously refer to as 'tussles' with Boogie's boys. It seems the framework and reinforced rubber are doing their job."

Carver trudged along behind the Doctor. "It's heavy and short and doesn't bend enough. It takes more energy out of me to keep up with other people, and it takes forever to put that energy back into my vines, because I can't soak them all at once anymore."