SystemofEleven

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carver had spent most of the next couple of weeks gathering the remaining ingredients, helping quiz Barrel on his potions homework, and slowly whittling down Doctor Finkelstein's stock of glue remover. She left two bottles though, so if the Doctor or Jewel happened to need some, they would be less likely to notice the depletion and make more -- or worse, ask questions. She would get those last bottles the morning of The Thing.

When Sally told her the hat was finished, Carver thanked her profusely and left it somewhere she knew Shock would find it. She didn't want to hand it to her directly, in case the eldest trickster got mad at her for taking it to begin with. Or just needed to vent some remaining aggravation that it had been damaged in the first place. She didn't suggest any sleepovers for more than a week, either, and spent more time than usual in the pumpkin patch helping Behemoth spread fertilizers and pull weeds.

By the time the next practice came around, things were mostly back to normal. Mostly. They were... a lit more peaceful than usual, but no one was really complaining about that. Lillith took the announcement that practice was on as a sign that it was safe for her (and more importantly, her sister) to be on their turf. Carmilla still refused to admit she was intimidated by Shock, but nevertheless didn't push for more time singing as anything other than backup.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carver managed to look a bit relieved, but she was still fairly clearly on edge.

"Thank you," she said to Sally, then turned to Barrel. "Want to grab some food and go hide in the pumpkin patch for a few hours, until she's cooled off a bit?"

Carver didn't think she needed to specify which "she" they would be hiding from.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carver put the bowl on the floor and soaked her lowermost vines as if it were a foot bath. She didn't have a nervous system to naturally cause jitters, but she bounced her leg a little. She'd seen Sally do that when they both still lived at the lab, and had learned through imitation that the motion gave her an outlet for anxious energy. She unraveled a vine from her arm and subtly offered it to Barrel to hold.

"But you can fix it, right?" she asked. "Not just use the pieces as part of something new?"

That was how a lot of the repairs Sally had made for the trio over the years had had to be done, and Carver wasn't sure if doing that to the hat would just make the whole situation worse.

~~~

Lillith was curious about why Carver would change herself to such a degree just to match them -- sure they were her friends, but Lillith pretty much only changed her clothes for Lock, and she was dating him -- but didn't take a lot of time to ponder it as her boyfriend ushered her out of the tree house.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carmilla gasped like a drowning fish as Shock pushed into her stomach, still gripping her neck. When Shock finally shoved her away, it took the vampiress several moments to steady herself and stand back up. She glared, but slowly started walking away, clutching her torso with one hand and rubbing her neck with the other.

Carmilla may have been stubborn, but she wasn't stupid. Whatever had happened, Shock wasn't just out to fight. She hadn't been attacking out of anger or sadistic entertainment. There had been hatred in those eyes. And Carmilla would never admit it, but that scared her in a very unpleasant way.

~~~

Lillith listened quietly. At some point, she shifted back to pull him into her lap and cuddle him, but she wasn't really sure when that had happened. When he finished speaking, she stayed silent. That was a lot to digest. Now that she was thinking about it... Yeah, none of the other denizens really grew or changed, ever. The tricksters grew more in four years than Mummy Boy or Corpse Kid had in nearly fifteen. Jack had only ever worn one outfit that she had seen, and even Lillith herself never really changed her appearance either until she had started dating Lock. She had just... never really thought about it. Aside from all the preparation for each Halloween, the passage of time wasn't... really something she noticed. Every day was just like every other. All the same people, doing all the same things, in all the same ways--

"What about Carver?" she asked. "She changes all the time. And I'm pretty sure she used to be shorter, too. ...Is that why she spends so much time with you?" She tilted her head curiously, which looked rather less cute than when she was in bat form.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carmilla, lacking experience and not knowing any maneuvers to handle this, let go of Shock's hair to try and pry her hands away from her neck. Unfortunately, that didn't really help, and worse, it simply made it even easier for Shock to gain back the advantage.

~~~

Lillith watched Lock, examining his body language. She nuzzled up against his cheek in an effort to comfort him, then stared at the treehouse wall, as if she could look through it at their respective sisters.

"What do you mean, worst nightmare?"

She may be a denizen of Halloween Town, but the use of the word "worst" made it obvious it wasn't an entertaining kind of fear he was talking about.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carmilla snarled. Luckily, her head was being turned so her face was toward Shock, which gave her a certain amount of flexibility. She took both arms and wrapped them around Shock's knees, twisting her body in the same direction until the trickster was lifted off her feet and thrown over Carmilla's back. The vampire followed through with the motion, slamming herself down onto Shock's chest before rolling on top of her. She straddled Shock's waist to prevent a repeat of the last time and gripped her unruly dark hair with both hands to pin her head.

"I'm not half the town," she hissed. "And I won't put up with your bonepile!"

~~~

"Hmph. And she lectured me about not behaving below my station," Lillith muttered. She didn't notice Lock's failed reflex to get paler, but she did notice his change in demeanor and tone of voice. She tilted her head curiously. "...What's wrong?"

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carmilla screeched again and launched herself at Shock. The trickster, of course, was prepared for this, and was ready to accept the hit for an opportunity to get one of her own in. The vampiress didn't try to redirect herself to avoid or block the knee to her stomach, intent on landing her attack at any cost. Two pale fists struck Shock in the chest simultaneously. If she had been a mortal, she would have gone down from crushed ribs; as it was, she was likely just going to have a mirroring set of bruises.

Carmilla dropped to one knee to clutch her stomach, still glaring at her opponent. "Just get a new hat! I'm sure one of the actual witches could make you a better one than that purple piece of crap, anyhow!"

~~~

Lillith looked up curiously. She shrugged and shifted into a bat so she could fly up and watch from his shoulder.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carmilla yelped as the rock hit her and covered the welt with one arm, but didn't stop her attack. She her foot made solid contact with Shock's head, sending them both to the ground. Vampiric grace allowed her to swiftly regain her balance and glide away from the trickster.

"That was my boob, you little tramp!" she screeched, still holding her arm to her chest.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

Carmilla screeched as the rock pelted her in the cheek, despite using her speed to attempt to dodge. When she saw Shock nock the next stone, she sneered. Fine. If the fake witch wasn't going to fight fair, neither would she.

The vampire waited for the rock to fly, then shifted into a bat. The sudden change in target size pretty much guaranteed a miss. Before Shock could let loose another projectile, Carmilla darted above her head and then transformed back to do a falling kick to her head.

Banding Together in Halloween Town

All six of Carver's eyes were wide and pleading as she held up the purple remains of a very distinctive hat. "She's gonna light us all on fire!" she whimpered, staring up at Sally. "Please tell me you can fix it!"

~~~

Carmilla growled as Shock got hold of her wrists, but didn't give way to being pinned. She let her arms be moved downward just long enough for her opponent to get a momentum up that would prevent her from dodging a head butt. Shock surprisingly didn't let go, probably from having been hit like that enough times not to be stunned by it, but it gave the vampire just enough time and leverage to roll over on top of her and press a knee down on her stomach.

She noticed that at some point she had stopped relying on her supernatural abilities, and was just plain fighting now. She'd never admit it, but just straight up punching someone without having to worry about what a person of her station should do was actually kind of stress relieving.

Of course, if Shock happened to notice she'd slowed down at all, she'd just say she was holding back to make it "fair".