CHAPTER 20

"It's Show Time!"

Alone in the dark, the silhouettes of three young children converse; cloaked in the shadow of city hall. They stood huddled together, whispering their next plot, and making sure not to be noticed. Their leader had earlier warned them that if they were to be caught tonight, of all nights, making a nuisance of things, the consequences would be dire, but they never heeded warnings before.

"These costumes are stupid!" whined Lock about his red jumper and rose colored porcelain mask. He assumed he was a demon of some sort, but people were thinking that well before he got his new costume.

"Yeah, Oogieous Boogie didn't exactly spare any expense, but at least mine is roomy," Shock remarked. She started shaking her hips in a hula motion to emphasize the freedom of her plum, witch dress. She also had a porcelain mask that was lime green.

"They're not so bad. Mine's 100 cotton!" Barrel added. His two-piece of long sleeves and pants were baggy and gray with white bones printed on them. He had a porcelain mask that was off white.

Lock, Shock, and Barrel were three…um…unique children. They liked to play with knifes, hooks, guns, blades, fire, matches, poison, and anything else that had a warning label. They were very different from the other, more sophisticated and well-behaved children of Sleepy Hallow. This made half the town's population of kids little troublemakers.

"Hey guys," Barrel said to Lock and Shock. He turned around and stuck his butt out a little too close to his 'friends', "Does this outfit make me look fat?"

Big mistake. Seeing as Barrel's the one that is picked on the most out of the three, you'd think the little idiot would know better.

"No," Shock sneered, "I think it's your fat that makes you look fat!"

Right at that second, with a devious smirk, Lock drew back his left leg and released it with a powerful force against Barrel's ass. Barrel went screaming forward three feet in the air before his face slid in the dirt. He turned back to his friends baffled by such an act, only to see them doubled over with laughter. It was routine; Lock and Shock would trick Barrel, he'd get hurt/embarrassed, they'd laugh at him, he'd get pissed, and finally, he'd attack them.

"Barrel…let…go…can't…breathe!" Lock managed to wheeze while Barrel was chocking him. Lock was struggling to free his windpipe from Barrel's tight grip. Shock was still doubled over with laughter. Agony always entertained her; someone else's agony that is.

"You three KNOCK IT OFF!" yelled a strong, booming voice. Barrel, Lock, and Shock's attention was immediately drawn to the large, looming figure that just approached them, Ooigeous Boogie. At first, fear was on the children's faces, but when the figure's features started to come into focus in the night's darkness, the children became terrified. Oogieous Boogie was a large man. Better to say, a tall, obese man. He wore clothes that were ratty, old, smelly, and complements of the insane asylum he broke out of four days ago.

"What did I tell you about-!"

But the large man didn't finish. He was interrupted when one of the double doors on the town hall creaked open. With the door slightly ajar, a young man and a woman slipped through holding hands.

"It's people!" Barrel said hushed, "Duck in cover!"

The group of four rushed back behind the town hall building. In their haste to escape, each one of them made a loud racket on disregarded party objects. Once the four made it behind the building, Lock, Shock, and Barrel stuck their heads out from around the corner to spy on the strangers.

"Who are they?" whispered Oogieous to the trio. He was so large and had a better chance of being seen by people, that he just stayed behind the wall.

"The woman," replied Shock, "is Lady Sarandon, and she's with a man. I can't tell who he is from over here."

Barrel squinted his eyes, "It's one of the Skellington's. Quick, Gracie's looking at us!"

Oogieous grabbed the three by the back of their costumes and yanked them behind the wall with him.

"That was close," said Oogieous, "If we blow our cover, we won't be able to do the hit."

"This assassination thing, is that all we're here to do?" asked Lock.

Oogieous found this offensive and glared threateningly at him. He spoke in an angry tone, "If we get caught, not only will my self-concocted mission be a failure, but the mayor will have us swinging on nooses by morning! Even if you three only are-what, 10? 11?"

"Shhhh!" Shock unwittingly said to Oogieous. Oogieous didn't like taking orders, especially from one of his "henchmen". He turned his deadly glare to her.

"S-s-sorry, boss," Shock stuttered, "I didn't mean to-but the people are speaking and pointing at us."

The four leaned out their curious ears just past the wall to pick up on the conversation.

"Come now, Gracie," Tim was saying to Gracie, "It was just a cat…or…perhaps it was that low-life, Oogieous Boogie, snooping around where his fat ass isn't invited-."

Oogieous' lip curled, causing saliva to trail from the corners of his mouth. Oogieous' short temper was rising. His gross, chapped lips parted to reveal crusted, yellowed teeth, connected by several threads of glistening slobber. With his gapping mouth unlocked, Oogieous unleashed a gruesome growl. Gracie and Tim could hear it clearly, and Gracie flung herself into Tim's protecting arms. They started speaking again, but none of the four behind the building could hear them this time.

"Hey, look!" Lock said to the other three that were leaning against the wall again, "You're scaring the little twit!"

"Oh," Oogieous became pleased at this, "I'll give that Skellington and his tramp something to be scared of," Oogieous reached his meaty hand behind his back for the large knife holstered in his back pocket. He jerked it out, making a metallic swoosh noise, and held it above is head, "I'll give them something real scary!"

"Mr. Boogie, no!" Shock cried.

She and Lock jumped on Oogieous. They clung to him, one dangling from each arm. They were trying to hold him back, but a man of that size could brush off the children like dirt. Instead he just pretended they weren't even there.

"Mr. Boogie," Shock began to plead, "if you show yourself now, your plan will be ruined! We'll have to go back to the asylum! And-BARREL WOULD YOU GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE?-And, I don't know-HELP!"

"It doesn't matter," Barrel said still peeking around the wall, "It's not Timothy. Obviously it's Jack, because he's courting Lady Gracie. Anyone who's anyone knows what goes on with the Skellingtons."

"Fag," Lock called Barrel under his breath.

"The two are leaving as it is," Barrel finished, "Guess we scared them off."

Oogieous sighed, "You're right. We can't screw up," Oogieous lowered his arms and replaced his knife in his back pocket. Knowing that Oogieous wasn't going to strike, Lock and Shock simultaneously dropped from his arms.

"What now, boss?" Barrel asked, leaving his spy-spot.

Oogieous smirked, "What do you guys say to crashing a party?"

Enthusiastic cheers came from the three kids.

"Good, then gather your stuff. We must prepare."

Oogieous dismissed the children to get their "party supplies" hidden in a large shrub some feet away. Lock, Shock, and Barrel started grabbing as many potentially "fun" things as they could carry; from rubber bands and slingshots, to maces and bear traps.

"What's wrong with your face?" Barrel said to Shock.

"Yeah, I can't see it under all that ugly," Lock cracked.

Shock growled in her throat. Her eyes became slits as she glared at the boys she hated most. With one clean sweep, she swung her mask by the cord across Barrel and Lock's smart mouths.

"Ow!" Barrel rubbed his cheek, "That's not what I meant! I meant that you looked like…like, I guess you were thinking too hard."

"Oh," Shock said a little surprised that Barrel was concerned for her. The three may have hated each other, but they were all each other had, "Well…its just that Gracie girl. I mean, what's so great about her? She's not even all that pretty! Hell, I think she's ugly."

"Is that all you were thinking of?" Barrel replied, "I think she's hot."

Lock sneered, "You know who else is hot? Barrel's mom."

Barrel furiously threw down his bear trap he was holding, "Lock, that is it! That is the last fucking comment you will ever make about my mother, ever again! Do you hear me, asshole? EVER AGAIN!

There was a moment of reflective silence from Lock, "Well…last night, your mom said she liked my fucking comments. She's a very open minded perso-agggghhhhh!"

Barrel had thrown down all his weapons and was on top of Lock, strangling him once again. Shock began to merrily skip circles around the two, chanting, "Death is fun! Death is great! Who's next to die? I can not wait!"

"Cease!" commanded the fearful voice of Oogieous. Immediately the three kids stopped what they were doing. They wouldn't dare disobey Oogieous. Lock, Shock, and Barrel scrambled to their feet. They lined up in a horizontal formation, like soldiers, and stood with their chest high at attention, "Are you little devils ready for some action?"

"Sir, yes sir!" the three replied all together.

"Let's see how many causalities there will be," Oogieous reached deep into his front pocket and retrieved a small pair of old, red dice, "Any number under six means we leave no survivors. Any number over, we'll kill the only one we came for, and torture the rest! There's no losing."

Oogieous pulled back his arm, and with a curled hand, he released the dice into the air. They seemed to turn slowly, defying gravity, before the dice landed gently on the healthy, springy, green grass. Oogieous leaned over the dice to examine the results. His only light was emitted from the nearly eclipsed moon. It was snake eyes.

Oogieous stood and threw his head back, unleashing a victorious laugh, "Grab your play thing, kiddies. It's show time!"