SystemofEleven

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carver hissed at him -- she had just made a new head, and she was not going to endanger it by being his meat wall -- and moved back behind him. After several moments of sideways leap-frog, they ended up far enough away from the ensuing fight that they realized, perhaps simultaneously (if Carver was being generous) that if they just ran for it, Shock might not even notice. Or if she did, she'd probably be too focused on Carmilla to chase after them.

They both turned and booked it for town.

Once they got through the main gate, Carver yanked the fabric scraps from Barrel's grip and made a bee-line for Jack and Sally's house.

~~~

Meanwhile, Carmilla was learning that her extra speed and strength did not completely make up for Shock's surplus of experience. The vampire managed to knock the trickster's hands to the side before they reached her throat and slip behind Shock, but wasn't able to dodge an elbow to the ribs as soon as she got there. The bitch knew what she was doing, curse it all! Carmilla got in two more shots of her own before being knocked to the ground, and had only a moment to notice that Shock's skirt had gotten flipped upwards, before she had to roll out of the way of another kick.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carver swung around to duck behind Barrel, intending to use his extra height and girth as a shield.

Carmilla yelped quietly as Shock yanked her down. She was not prepared for that strong of a reaction. Nothing she'd ever said or done had gotten Shock to straight up attack her. Still, if that was how the trickster bitch wanted to play with it, Carmilla had an advantage.

The vampire used a burst of her supernatural speed and grace to roll to her feet and come up behind Shock to kick her in the back.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carmilla squeaked in surprise and thrashed around for a moment before suddenly going completely still. Thick mist came pouring through the seams, and a second later, the hat burst with a loud RRRRRRRRIP as the cloud expanded and solidified into Carmilla's regular form. She hovered where she was, about a foot off the ground, to loom menacingly over Shock.

"Did you really think you were capable of trapping me in a hat?"

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carmilla didn't even wait for Shock to invite her to escape with them; as soon as she was sure the "stoop to their level" comment hadn't pissed the tricksters off, she dove straight for the group and into Shock's hat.

Carver cackled wickedly along with her friends. She didn't join in the shared-sentence-speaking, though she often could if she wanted to. She'd be hanging out with them long enough. Generally she let them have it stay "their thing".

Lillith glared daggers at them all, but like Lock, recognized she couldn't take them on all at once in any kind of fight. And besides, Carmilla -- damn her -- was right; it would be beneath her to start a physical confrontation. She huffed ever so quietly, raised her head to ensure her posture was even more straight than usual, then turned and glided away from them to begin her own search.

As the rest of the tricksters started to leave, Carver paused about halfway up the ladder. Two of her vines unraveled from her arm frames and pulled a slingshot from her chest cage. She silently debated with herself for a moment, but quickly decided against it and put them away. It wouldn't be entertaining enough.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carmilla blinked prettily down at the short boy, who for the moment had his feet above his head up against the wall. "Why would I do such a thing?" She waited as he stood up and allowed him a moment to clean himself off. She raised her eyebrows ever so slightly. "As I understand, you received your punishment last week. Whatever happened to your things afterward is your business, not ours."

Carver snickered. "Kinda sad you managed to convince Agatha to help you get the lipstick off so soon. You're gonna have to tell me what you did for it, later."

Lillith pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Enough. What happened last week is over with. Lock, I'll help you find your guitar strings, and then we can get started. You three," she looked pointedly at Shock, Barrel, and Carver, "can get started on warm ups if you don't want to help. Carmilla..."

The older twin stared at her sister silently for a moment. Something niggled at the back of her mind, but she couldn't quite grasp it... She sighed again. "Carmilla, you can do whatever you want. Just please... Save it for after practice."

She shook her head and headed for the back of the room, reflexively stepping over her audio equipment. If she did a strategic sweep pattern, it might be slower, but it would also be less chaotic than checking every possible spot in random order and hoping they didn't miss any-- She stopped.

Lillith spun and stared at the spot she had stepped over. There wasn't anything there. An immediate examination of her theremin also revealed one of the antennae and the power supply were also missing. She screeched and swiped her fingernails at Carmilla. "You! All this week I've been waiting for you to get your revenge, and you had already done this!"

Carmilla dodged the scratch, but only just barely. She quickly glided backward in a zigzag pattern in case any more attacks were forthcoming. "Now, now, dear sister," she chided. "That's not very lady like. Aren't vampires supposed to be above such behavior? You wouldn't want to stoop to their level--" she motioned toward the tricksters "--now, would you?"

Before Lillith could respond, the younger sister transformed into a bat. Lillith reached out to grab her with her vampiric speed, but Carmilla matched it, and it was rather like a blurrier version of a regular mortal trying to snatch a regular bat out of midair.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carver waved to Barrel. "The usual. Speaking of, do you have any popcorn? Mine's gone stale."

Lillith quickly stepped between Lock and Shock. "That's enough, you two. What are you fighting about this time, anyway?"

Carmilla leaned back in the air as if she were resting against an invisible wall; her vampiric grace kept her from falling backward. "I think he mentioned something about guitar strings," she piped up casually. She still had that aggravatingly sweet smile on her face.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carver made her way up to the tree house to retrieve something, then came down to the lair via the slide. She payed the siblings no mind as she stepped over them and headed over to her xylophone to do her usual pre-practice ready work.

A pair of bats flew in shortly thereafter. The younger twin likewise calmly and silently went to take her place by the instruments after transforming. Carmilla leaned over to have a short, quiet conversation with Carver, but otherwise did nothing to bring attention away from the brawl to herself.

Lillith was slightly unkempt in her appearance, with a few stray hairs sticking out in odd directions and a wrinkle in her dress that one would expect to have been better ironed out before she left the mansion. Carmilla had remained completely and utterly pleasant the entire week. More so than usual. She had shown absolutely no signs of being angry, which only left Lillith more paranoid about whatever her sister was planning to do to her. She couldn't afford to let her guard down, and as such... She may not have been sleeping very well for the last couple of days.

The older vampiress debated breaking up the tricksters. Fighting was a form of affection for them, and she didn't want to attract either of their ire again. But, she had abandoned Lock last week, to no avail; he'd probably be more angry if she didn't at least try to defend him now.

"Excuse me, Shock, but could you please let your brother go, so we can start?"

Banding Together in Halloween Town

"I mean I could probably hold him for several hours, unless his girlfriend decides to sacrifice herself to come save him..." Carver tilted her head to the side and closed her eyes, taking a moment to sense where everybody was. When she felt Lillith fly out after Carmilla, the pumpkin's eyes opened just long enough to squint back down to slivers as the corners of her mouth slid upward. "And there she goes. We can do whatever we want, now."

She cackled as she pulled out the lipstick tube and passed it to Shock.

After she let Lock go, she simply nodded appreciatively while the others laughed. "Nice line work, Shock. Accentuates and exaggerates the curves of his lips, without going noticeably out of bounds. Very tasteful. I like it."

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Once Lock was properly incapacitated, Carmilla stepped back and turned away to let the tricksters finish their... ahem, internal affairs. She waved ever so blithely to Lillith. "I'll see you at home, my dear sister. I have some... chores to finish."

Carver gave Carmilla a salute with her one free vine. "Have fun! Be sure to let me know how it went, next week!"

With that, she focused back on the task at hand, and poked her captive's hair. "Anybody know how much pink dye we have left? I think I have some of my mother's lipstick in me, too..." The lower lids of her two bottom pairs of eyes lifted upwards to squint in a sly grin, while her topmost eyes widened in glee. "It's the kind that won't wash off without those special make up remover pads. Soap doesn't do shit for it."

Lillith seemed to vibrate as she struggled to decide what to do. On the one hand, Carmilla had used the word, "finish," which meant if she hurried, she might be able to haggle her way into avoiding whatever her sister had planned. On the other hand... With Carmilla gone, Lillith might have the strength and speed to overpower the tricksters and save her boyfriend from--

...Actually, if she was completely honest with herself, she did think he would look kinda hot with lipstick that on any level went with his black pleather pants, and if they did manage to hold him down long enough to dye his hair... Well, she could use that as leverage to make him give her a proper struggle on their next date morning...

She nodded to herself quietly, gave Lock one last apologetic(ish) glance, then flew out the window after her sister.

Worlds of Disney

Phoebus marched over to Pierre, mostly ignoring the various hullaballoo going on around him since the Madame was clearly in control of the situation. "Excuse me, old friend, but Esmeralda and I need that goat to help find our other kids."

Pierre stopped babbling for just a split second as his eyes glazed over in momentary confusion. Before he could bring himself to some sort of conclusion, a concentrated blunt pain erupted in his leg, drawing forth a startled yelp from his lips. His moment of distraction was just long enough for Djahli to break loose from his hold and run off. The poet immediately roused himself with an upset wail and reached for the goat, only to have his shoulder taken hold of by Phoebus.

"Gringoire, listen to me." The soldier turned Pierre to face him. "My kids have run off, and this establishment is no place for children. If you see any of them, let one of us know. And, leave Djahli alone so he can help."

Without waiting for a response, Phoebus let him go and proceeded to push his way through the crowd toward the kitchens. Neither man noticed the red tail slip back underneath the tables.

Pierre fell into a silent stupor for a moment as he tried to process this information. Why was he confused that Phoebus and Esmeralda had other children? Why did he feel as if he didn't even know they had gotten married yet? A man of his intellect should easily be able to recall such important things as... Ah, yes, there it was. In his drunken state, it was a struggle, but he did manage to pull up an image in his memory of the blond man about to be hanged for finding the Court of Miracles, and a blurry bit where women were given the option to marry a condemned man to save his life... And the wedding! Yes, of course! Such convivitiousness! The colors, the music, the broken jar! How could he have ever forgotten that?

Pierre gave a long, sorrowful look at his empty flagon. Ah, he did enjoy his drink, but, alas, he could not afford to dull his perspicacity so severely. It would not do for a man of his mind to go about his days drowning his capacity for thought. But, he suddenly realized, he hadn't responded to his friend.

"Ah, of course! Yes, I understand." He nodded sagely, completely unaware that Phoebus had already walked away. "Why, I remember their christenings as if it were yesterday. Little-- Ehmm... Ssss.... Shhhh... Cynthia, yes! Little Cynthia was only five years old when she first started performing in the festivals with her mother. She must be approaching eleven, now, isn't she? Oh, how the time passes when one is distracted with revelry and insights! Such it is, that men must learn to appreciate was lies before them, before Thanatos comes to carry us away on blackened wings to a land ever-unchanging, mortals we all are..."

Meanwhile, Phoebus had made his way into the kitchen. He looked around for a moment, then caught a glimpse of movement out of his eye. He turned his head, waited, annnnnd... Ha! There! A chubby little arm in a black sleep darted out from a cupboard just long enough to snatch a tart pastry off a plate. He calmly walked across the kitchen, dodging two scullery maids as he went. The cook squared off to shoo him out of the kitchen, but she stopped and watched blankly when he held up a finger to his lips. He suddenly yanked open the cupboard and pulled a little boy out.

Barrel's skeleton pajamas bunched up around his chest as Phoebus apologized to the cook and carried him out of the kitchen. The soldier set the boy down on the ground and put on a stern expression, crossing his arms in front of his chest to complete the look.

"Young man, you are in a significant amount of trouble."