It was nearly impossible to sneak out when you lived in a room like Lock, Shock and Barrels. This was because the beds had been positioned to make getting up without someone knowing about as likely as Jack and Oogie becoming best friends. Each was almost across from each other, so that if any of them sat up, they could instantly see who was in the room.

Barrel was gone, but neither Shock, or Lock really cared. He'd taken his Skeleton mask, which he wore whenever he went into town, so at worst they could search for him there, but they rarely needed to. If they were lucky he'd come back before morning, or if they were even more lucky; he wouldn't.

And now Lock was trying to sneak past her which was both funny and exactly like him. Despite the horns, he was one of the least devious people Shock had ever met. He had good ideas, especially when it came to hurting people, but when it came time to actually do it he was hopeless.

She waited for the creaks of protest from the floor and the stream of curses that accompany each to die down before getting up. She didn't have anything in the way of pajamas, at least none she was welling to wear if Oogie decided he was hungry in the middle of the night, so the witch dress had become long ago become a permanent fixture.

It went without saying the hat stayed. Period.

She sprinted across the floor, grabbed the witch mask, and one quick jump later, was trailing across the pumpkin patch after him.

In the woods she found Lock by the loud grumbles coming from the bushes and the bright red tail swinging out.

"So. I take it you have no idea where Barrel's toy is?" she asked. He rolled over and scrambled back to the path. Unlike his sister he had pajamas, probably due to how little Oogie needed him at three in the morning, and he was wearing them. A lose pair of redish jeans practically swallowed his waist and were only held up by a red belt. Even then the edges sagged around his thin hip bones. It matched with the black shirt, and a bright red skull that was nearly the shade of his hair, or probably would, if he ever bothered to wash it.

There were leaves sticking out of one of the skulls eyes and the black made his skin look even paler than usual, in a way normally left to Vampires, or certain paints. She tried unsuccessfully not to giggle as his eyes doubled in size. He looked ridiculous.

"Shock? What the!" he screamed and then cursed as his carefully combed horn hit a branch. "No. I'm just... Sneaking up on him." he glared, daring her to disagree. She laughed.

"I'd try the Barrel shaped hole across the pathway." she pointed, the way you would with a slow four year old. He spun around and his eyes widened again as he noticed the break in the bushes, littered with pumpkin stems, that their brother had clearly rolled through. "Oh. Yeah. Well I was getting there!" He added as he pulled out leaves from his hair and t-shirt.

"Actually that was last weeks project." Barrels whiny voice chirped behind them. They both spun around and Barrel laughed. "Come on, I'm going to try it!" He popped back behind the bushes and Shock shrugged.

"It couldn't be any worse-" she offered.

"Than staying here-" Lock added

"With you peabrains!" Barrel's voice cut in. They nodded and ran after him. Sometimes he had a point.

Shock managed to slip through without stabbing herself on anything, mostly by staying behind Lock who practically impaled himself every time he moved, despite the path Barrel had attempted to make. Luckily it was a short trail, and as the pathway widened and she saw the corners of Lock's grin stretch out from behind his mask to the sides of his face. She shoved him aside and saw Barrel's toy. Her mouth very carefully did not fall open.

It was one of the most evil looking things she had ever seen in her life. An assortment of small edges and wire stuck out already rusting, looking as though they were about to snake out and stab you. A small cage was set open towards them, and she could follow a single line of wood back up into the machine before it was engulfed by masses of sharp objects. On the side in bright orange spray paint was a pumpkin.

"Wow." Lock said awe filling his voice. Shock nodded. It was the most horrifying thing she had ever seen. And her little brother had made it. She couldn't remember being more proud.

Barrel's mask couldn't hide the fire in his eyes as he turned back from his creation.

"I call it a Cat-A-Pult." he pointed to a heap of large rocks and rotting pumpkins beside it, which Shock had immediately assumed was a trash pile, the type of which tended to spring up around Barrel and were usually full of multicolored candy wrappers. As she looked closer she noticed each of the stones was rounded, and not a single one was bigger than the basket sitting open beside it.

"You wanna help me test it?" he asked, confidence filling his squeaky voice.

"Yes!" Lock and Shock both yelled it out at the same time, and turned to each other.

"I said it first!" they echoed.

"No you didn't!" Shock screeched

"I did!" Lock snarled and they both made a break for the pile.

Barrel stood by laughing as they both grabbed the closest pumpkin and tugged against each other.

"I'll roll you for it." Lock offered. Shock nodded.

"Alright. Highest goes first." Shock agreed. "We'll both let go in; three-"

"Two-" Lock counted. Their eyes met through the masks.

"One." she finished. Barrel snickered.

Neither of them dropped it. Instead their eyes met and they both yanked it away splitting it in half. Both of them immediately released the half and threw it at each other.

"You moron!" Lock howled.

"My dress!" Shock scooped the goop off her skirt and lobed it at his head. He dodged and they turned to Barrel.

"Dice." Shock said.

"Now." Lock finished. It wasn't a request. Barrel sighed and produced a pair of dice from his pocket. He was getting better with them, probably because he snagged a pair out of habit every time the chance presented itself. They both snatched one from his hand.

The cubes rolled out onto the dirt and landed beside each other, as always happened with Oogie's dice. Lock rolled a three. Shock rolled a four.

Her brother snarled quietly and snatched the dice off the ground. He slammed them back into Barrel's hands and stormed to the back of the clearing to sit against a tree. They didn't make Barrel roll, he always got a six.

He hefted a rock into the basket and pulled out his old telescope to angle it. A quick squeak or two later and the device was angled perfectly towards the town square.

"Ready?" He turned back to his Siblings and they nodded. He yanked back on a lever hidden within the mess of wire and the basket yanked forward and the rock went soaring through the aim and slammed into the fountain. The CRACK! Of it echoed through the town and back to where the clearing. They all turned to each other.

"Awesome." Lock said. They nodded. Shock ran up and shoved Barrel aside.

"My turn!" She grabbed a pumpkin off the pile and rammed it into the crate before snatching the telescope from him. She carefully positioned it against the masks eye hole and angled it so that she could clearly see the town center. A smile curled her lips as a small black cart drove around the bend in her sight, clearly decorated with a megaphone. The mayor stepped out and she mentally added the click off his head switching sides to display his surprise at seeing the fountain blocked by a boulder. He stepped out to investigate and she carefully turned the machine to him and stood back.

"Hey guys, watch this." she whispered and her brothers slid over beside her fighting over the small telescope. She waited for him to come back into her line of sight, snatched the telescope from Barrel's hands, and yanked the lever. The small orange sphere launched through the air and landed across the wall and splatted into the mayors signature hat. And kept going. The brims of his hat popped back out as it settled around his necktie. And then Shock, Lock and Barrel burst out laughing.

Fun was getting harder to come by and opportunities that good were once in a lifetime. Or three, if you were Lock, Shock, and Barrel. Shock snuggled Barrel's head and grinned as Lock's snickers echoed to the main court causing the pumpkin headed mayor to spin around. And then a clear voice sliced through their laughter like a knife.

"Mayor? What happened?" The light voice of Jack washed over them and they froze, Shock still perched on Barrel's shoulders. They watched mouth open as the the skeleton reached over and pulled the pumpkin free of the Mayor's pointed head with one hand.

"Now who could have done this?" He queered, and Lock chose that moment to move. Even thought they were out of the Jack's line of sight the other two still twitched as their brother leaped forwards and crammed a pumpkin into the basket, radiating determination. The other two jumped up as they realized what he was doing and tried to shove him away but Lock dodged and shoved the machine to the side with one heave.

"NO!" Shock screamed. But Lock had already yanked the lever and the pumpkin flew threw the air. It landed soundly on Jack's head.

The skeleton didn't move for a single second and then ripped the thing off his head and spun around.

"LOCK! SHOCK! BARREL!" He howled. Jack had an excellent howl. They spun around to the cringing Lock.

"YOU MORON!" Shock shrieked, barely audible over Barrels wail.

"My machine!" He sobbed and Lock backed away hands raised. It shouldn't have been possible for anyone to move as quickly as the skeleton had but there was Jack right behind him. Lock yelped and tried to run but the skeletons iron grip closed around his arm.

Shock felt the old fear fill her and she pointed at her brother, who on instinct pointed back.

"It wasn't me!" They all shrieked. Jack glared at them and Barrel pouted as he saw Jack's eyes fall on his machine.

"This is the fifth time this month you three." He snarled. They all shrugged and he crossed the small clearing in a single step. Leaning over until he was eye to eye with Shock's mask, he hissed "I ought to turn you into Oogie." Shock shook her head frantically. He would probably be fine for a few days now that he'd gotten it out of his system but seeing the skeleton would start him up again. But Jack continued.

"But first you are going to explain yourselves." He snaked out and his bony hand crushed her fingers as he dragged her out of the clearing towards town. Barrel, never one to miss out on excitement trailed along after, not seeming very concerned. Jack thrust them towards the horrified Mayor.

"You three?" The poor official sounded surprised, despite the normality of the situation. It wasn't as though there were many troublemakers with a pumpkin launcher. Until today there hadn't been any.

"Hi mayor." Barrel waved behind them.

"Hi ninny." Lock offered. The mayor grimaced and looked pleadingly at Jack.

"What am I supposed to do with them?" He muttered. Jack smiled, or widened the ever present grin, kindly.

"Why don't you let me take care of them?" he offered. It was probably safer to be yelled at by Jack than dragged home. Shock snickered loudly and murmured "i-di-ot" Jack tugged her arm lightly. That sealed it.

"You three are coming, with me." he said. Jack rarely made requests, people usually just did as he said. They trotted along after him as he dragged them through town to city hall. He stormed past the mayors desk and pulled open a door. The small back room was full of cells. They grinned. It was their home away from home. Sure they'd probably get a stern yelling at later, but as long as they were out of Jack's metaphorical hair what they did didn't really matter. He released the steel grip and pulled open the door to the nearest cell. They wandered in with little protest, but still some because if Oogie had taught them anything it was how to whine, and settled in. Jack reached out his skeletal fingers and glared at them.

"Yes Jack?" Shock managed to sound interested.

"Your masks. All of you." He demanded. "I don't want to turn around to find I've gotten the wrong kids." They shrugged. What he meant was he didn't want a repeat of last time, when Barrel had managed to snag the keys out of Jack's pocket and had tucked it behind his yellowed skeleton mask.

"Sure Jack." Barrel reached of and pried it off with a slightly disturbing pop. Lock handed his over without comment, reveling the prize winning scowl beneath. Shock's hand hesitated for a moment as she remembered the blow from earlier.

Everyone in Halloween Town had supernatural healing, but her's was a little slower than average and she hadn't had time to check if there was still a mark. She slid the green mask over the brim of her hat and handed it over trying to keep her head tilted down.

"Shock, what happened to your eye?" Jack's voice sounded strange, it was a tone he'd never used with her before. Concern. She met his eyes and shrugged.

"I tripped in the woods." There was no way she was going to snitch on her father, and especially not to Jack. She had developed a special hatred for the skeleton over the years, probably aided by their constant interactions. She shoved Lock gently.

"My idiot brothers need to learn how to make a path!" Lock snarled and his tail jabbed her in the back.

"Do not!" He grumbled. Jack seemed to accept it, and stepped out.

They listened as he tucked the multicolored masks into a something out of their line of sight and then to the clack on the marble floor as he wandered away.

"I'll deal with you three, later!" He bellowed. There was an emphasis on the later.

Shock sighed and pulled a small mirror out of the folds of her dress; she'd blinded the mayor with it seven different times, and on one amazingly odd occasion, three times in the same day. Now she tilted it towards herself and saw her light blue eyes rimmed by two different colors.

The normal bright green eyeshadow was swallowed up by black where Oogie's hand had hit. She reached up carefully and traced the mark with a pale finger. A jolt of pain caused her to wince as her nail slid against the edge. Fortunately it had taken on the shape of a circle rather than the sharp point of the hand that had formed it. At least it was shrinking as she watched.

She sighed and tucked the mirror back into her pocket. It wasn't as though anyone looked farther than her wiry green hair that determinedly stuck out in ten different directions, at least five of which involved the word up, or the sickly blue that permanently tinted her skin anyway.


As soon as Jack's skeletal footsteps died down, Barrel pulled two thin wires out of his perfect green hair and jabbed Lock with one. He yelled and snatched the pointed barbs from his hands. Barrel looked up at him knowingly. His brother loved breaking his name-sake.

"Fine." the devil boy squeezed against the side of cell and started to toy with the lock. Barrel sat back and tried to find something to occupy himself. His sister was busy being mopey, probably about Lock, or Jack yelling at them, or something stupid. He vaguely wondered why she'd lied about her eye. They knew the outskirts of town better than anyone, and after many years of terrorizing the town could get anywhere without tripping.

It probably had to do with Oogie, most things with her did, and he'd learned long ago not to pay anything he did too much attention. Probably why he'd managed to dodge most of the new anger in him.

He started fidgeting with his feet and it occurred to him how odd it was Jack would wear a suit, ironed neatly, but never shoes. It was sort of funny, he considered, how effective it was as a warning. You could hear the skeleton blocks away from the clicks.

He produced a large handful of candy and started fishing out the best ones with an expert eye.

Finally, after all of two minutes, the handful was gone and he curled up into a ball to sleep.

Barrel's superpower was, in his opinion, not mischief or even building things, but the ability to sleep anywhere. He'd sleep in a pit of spikes if he could find one.

The sharp click of bone against floor jerked him awake. Lock shoved the picks back into his pockets and Shock nudged Barrel with her foot to make sure he was awake. He stood up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

It didn't feel like he'd been napping that long, sadly.

A young skeleton tried to sneak in front of them, wincing pitifully every time his feet touched the ground. Lock snickered loudly and the young boy nearly jumped out of his metaphorical skin.

"Hi Jack's dweeb. Come to pick on us? Or just to flirt with my sister?" Lock grinned, displaying his full set of fangs. They'd grown over the years, to rival the vampires, and terrify victims. The miniature Jack shook his head desperately and glanced at Shock.

"No. I just... I heard you were in here again and..." he fumbled with something in his hands and looked nervously up at Shock again. Barrel perked up; THAT might be interesting. Shock was the only really female teen left, but she was guarded by Lock, who despite everything was fiercely protective of his sister.

But Jason was Jack's son, or as much of a son as you could have in a town where reanimation was the only way to meet new people; and Barrel wasn't sure whether Lock would risk turning his life into a waking nightmare (in a bad way) to chase him away.

Shock sighed. "And?" she rolled her eyes dramatically and if a skull could look bashful, Jason was doing it now.

"Um..." he stammered.

"Not much of a talker huh?" Lock teased and clearly mouthed the word L-O-S-E-R at the him. Jayson thrust out a handful of small metal keys like they would somehow block him from the older boys disdain.

"I brought the keys." he offered. Barrel grinned. That wasn't boring. Shock smiled at the boy and Barrel saw his brother's face turn red with rage.

"We didn't need them." he muttered. Shock elbowed him and managed to make a passable grin.

"Thanks." she watched as his eyes widened.

"What happened to your eye?" he gasped. Shock's smile didn't falter, and she smoothly countered.

"I tripped, thanks to my moron of a brother." Barrel really did wonder about that. He shrugged it off though as the boy flicked through the set of keys.

"Oh." the door's lock clicked and then slid back into the wall. The three wandered out, trying to look as though this happened everyday. The bony hand pointed to the mayor's desk. "Your masks are in there. I think. There was this snake..."

They all looked at each other. Lock shrugged and Shock shook her head. They turned to their beaming brother.

Barrel smiled and clicked his pudgy fingers together. A small greenish black snake slid out of the desk and coiled itself around his leg before vanishing into one of his infinite pockets.

He'd known he'd gotten it past Jack but getting it past his siblings was an entirely different type of skill.

Lock ran over as soon as it was gone and grabbed the three masks, cramming the red devil one over his head before returning.

He shoved the other two in their direction and choked out a "Thanks." to Jason before running out. Barrel giggled as he noticed the young skeletons eyes hadn't left Shock's hurt eye. She hurriedly slid on the mask past and rushed out after Lock mumbling about something about a moron brother.

"Bye Jay." Barrel hazarded.

Even though Jason was closer to Lock in age, he would sometimes help the young boy with ideas.

Besides his siblings, Jason was the only one Barrel would consider a 'friend' and even then barely.

Unlike the others, Barrel's hatred of the boy's father hadn't immediately extended to him. Probably because the everyone else's hatred off Oogie had rubbed off on Barrel.

Jayson nodded slightly and looked out at his siblings retreating figures. Shock appeared to be attacking Lock, but it was had to tell from the distance.

"Will she be okay?" he asked. Barrel twisted up his face as he tried to imagine why the skeleton would even care. He shrugged.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't she be? It's not like we haven't gotten worse." he beamed. To him anytime they got in trouble was a testament to a job well done.

"Oh..." The look on his face said he still didn't understand. "Okay. Well bye I guess."

Barrel shrugged and ran off after his siblings. It wasn't much good getting out if you didn't leave before Jack decided to check on you.


As soon as they were out of range Lock turned to his sister and snarled.

"And I'm the suck up?!" he'd never admit it, but more than anything being helped by Jack's son had bruised his ego. Since he was oldest, he always wanted to be the best, or if that failed, be able to steal credit from one of his siblings. Shock sighed and smacked him on the back of his head.

"Think idiot! I know you brains hollow but, or at least pretend!" she hissed.

"I'm not an idiot!" he growled. "And what am I supposed to think? Were you flirting?" he gagged. They slowed and ducked into an ally for their brother to catch up. Shock shrugged.

"Sure. Whatever." Lock tilted up his mask to stare.

"What?" he gaped. "You like HIM?" he felt sick just thinking of it. She laughed loudly causing him to blush with embarrassment.

"Of course not numbskull." she giggled. "Listen, Jack hates us right? But he loves Jason." Lock nodded slowly. He didn't actually see yet, but pride demanded he pretend to. Barrel had caught up by now and was listening intently.

"So?" the younger boy chirped.

"So genius. If he helps us, Jack can't punish us without punishing him to!" she finished. Lock nodded slowly. That actually seemed... Right.
Lock stared at his sister in surprise. He'd never really thought of her as that smart before. Barrel nodded grinning.

"Duh. You're just now realizing that?" he asked. Shock shook her head.

"Just enlightening our stupid brother." she sighed. "Now come on before someone realizes I left a bear trap under the mayors desk." they all suddenly looked away guiltily.

"You two..." she sighed.

"It was only one nail in his chair." Barrel whined. They looked to Lock. He pulled the mask back down and laughed.

"You'll hear it." He promised. The other two shrugged. Suddenly a loud bang came from the mayor's office, shortly followed by a clang and a yelp. The three laughed and ran for home. It was turning into an excellent night, and if they made it back in time it'd be even better.


Hey just letting you guys know, I'm having some computer problems right now, but I'm going to try to post at least on chapter a week. I'm reasonably sure about where this is going, and it shouldn't end up a SXL unless something goes weird. If you have any recommendations please let me know and I'll try to work them in.