x, xi, xii

Parts x, xi, xii

wc: 2.3k

Mutual Aggression: 1k

Window Scrubbing: 453

Punishment Ducking: 769

Please cut on this line: ✄ ╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍╍

x: Mutual Aggression

"Pretty cool, huh?" Ace said as his expression changed to smug one. "Not like some piddling weasel."

Grim was surprised by Ace's change in tone. "Myah?!"

"Pfft...Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I can't hold it back anymore! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Ace bursted out laughing, making Grim get angry and made [N] annoyed to their core.

Ace's laughing ceased. "Come on, you're the ones who turned orientation into such a fiasco, right?"

"The one summoned by the Dark Mirror who has no place for them at Night Raven, and the monster no one summoned at all." Ace said, making [N] roll their eyes.

Ace gave an innocent smile. "It took everything I had not to burst into laughter right in the middle of the ceremony!"

"H-hey! You don't gotta be a jerk about it!" Grim said with an angry expression on his face.

Ace spoke again. "So in the end, neither of you got admitted, and now you're janitors? Ah ha ha ha! SO la-"

"Shut your mouth."

Ace was silenced as soon as [N] spoke over him.

"What were you about to call me?" Grim got angrier, his flaming ears started to become more wild.

Ace tried to speak, but it felt as if his mouth was glued shut.

"Apparently he's making fun of you for not knowing the great seven. Saying that you should take another shot at kindergarten before trying to get into the academy." [N] said as they watched as Ace gave them a nasty glare, making them smile.

Grim was looking at the redhead, looking absolutely livid. "Grrrr..."

"If you're so eager to speak, then speak!" [N] teased as Ace finally could open his mouth again.

Ace then started to tease the duo again. "I just thought i'd tease you a bit. And man I am glad I did! It's been a blast!"

"Unlike you, I actually have classes to get to, so i'll let you get back to picking up trash, Bye!" Ace said with a smile, despite [N]'s threatening glare.

Grim yells out to the redhead who started to walk away. "Myuh-uh! You ain't walkin' away from me! It's too late for that!"

"Grim please don't—!" [N] reaches their hand out to the beast, right before he breathes out a huge gust of fire.

Ace narrowly dodges the attack. "Whoa!?"

"No one makes fun of Grim, Master of Fire!" Grim says with a smirk. "I'm gonna make that explodey-head of yours explode all over again!"

Ace frowns, "Explodey-head?!"

"You wanna throw down with me, shorty? You got some guts." Ace said, making [N]'s eyes shift to the side

[N] moved away from the the pair, making themself comfortable next the the Queen of Hearts statue. "Nooo... please don't fight..."

"You wanna talk hair, huh? I'm gonna shave you like a toy poodle!" Ace continued his insults towards Grim.

Grim breathes out more fire. "Myaaaaah!"

"Oh-ho! How do you like that?" Ace said with a smirk.

Ace used wind magic to change the direction of Grim's fireball.

"H-hey! His magic winds are throwing my fireballs off course! No fair!" Grim complains.

[N] decides to block out the noise and cheers so they could set up the phone they neglected for the last few days.

More and more students came to watch Ace and Grim's fight, causing them to get more riled up.

A few students saw the magic battle going on from afar. "What's going on over there? A fight?!"

"Oh, sweet! Get em'!" Another student spoke.

[N] looked from behind the statue, contemplating whether or not they should step in.

Someone from afar watched as [N] set up their phone behind the Queen of Hearts statue, smirking at them.

"Take that!" Grim yells out as he sends out more fire.

Ace chuckled. "Pfft. All it takes is a little gust to - Hah!"

[N] heard Ace as he performed another wind attack.

[N] then felt heat. Not too much, but heat nonetheless.

"Oh no! Now the Queen of Heart's statue looks like it's been flame-broiled." Ace yelled out, making [N]'s eyes widened.

[N] came from their hiding spot to check the damage and surely enough, the statue had been charred.

Grim had a nervous expression on his face. "That's your fault for tryin' to divert it! You shoulda just let it burn you to a crisp!"

"Who would ever let that happen?" [N] questioned.

"Yeah! Who in their right mind would ever do that?!" Ace agreed.

Crowley came from out of nowhere yelling. "What is going on here?! Cease this at once!"

[N] thinks to themself. 'I should've stayed behind the statue."

"Not more lashings of love! We gotta get outta here!" Grim says, preparing to escape the angry Headmage.

But alas, they were too slow. "OW!"

"Myaaaaah! And i'm still sore from yesterday, too!" Grim cried out.

Crowley crossed his arms. "As if the likes of you could ever flee from me!"

"Haah..." Crowley exhaled. "Did I not just warn you "No more incidents"?"

"And now you've charred one of my statues?!" Crowley looked at the two in anger.

[N] spoke up. "In my defense, I tried to stop them."

"It's almost as though you want to be expelled!" Crowley said , ignoring [N]'s comment.

Ace's eyes widened at the words spoken. "No! Forgive me!"

"And you, [N]. You specifically told me you would keep Grim in check!" Crowley said, directing his attention to [N].

[N]'s face shifted to a shocked expression. "I just told you I tried! Ace was making fun of Grim so there was nothing I could do."

"This will not do." Crowley said. "And you! State your name and grade."

"Ace Trappola... Freshman." Ace said dejectedly.

Crowley nods. "Then listen well, Trappola. You too, Grim."

"As punishment for today's infractions, you are hereby ordered to wash a hundred windows!" Crowley's voice boomed.

Both Grim and Ace's faces showed shock.

Grim's face quickly shifted to anger. "That's what you get for makin' fun of me! This is all your fault!"

"Whaaat? I have to do it too?!" Ace's eyes widened even more.

Crowley spoke again. "Of course you do. You will meet in the cafeteria after class. Are we clear?"

"Yes sir." Ace sighed.

Grim frowned. "Ugh, I just can't catch a break!"

"You have a lot of nerve saying that, you problematic weasel!" [N] said as they stared Grim down with anger.

Grim jumped at [N]'s expression. "Eeeep!"

xi: Window Scrubbing

Grim sighed. "I'm already exhausted from a full day of classes. I can't believe we still gotta wash a hundred windows."

"Who's we? The only people I remember having to wash anything was you and Ace." [N] said as they sipped on a lemonade.

Grim just put his paws on his waist. "But what's really buggin' me is, Ace ain't even here yet! To make us wait, after what he did... grrr!"

"........" [N] was stuck in their train of thought for a moment.

"........" Grim showed to be stuck as well.

A few minutes go by, and Ace still has yet to show up.

"........" [N] was still stuck in thought.

"........" Grim continued to wash windows as he stay stuck in thought.

More minutes go by and Ace still hasn't shown up.

Grim growls. "...And now he's super late!"

"I bet he up and bailed on us!" Grim said as he shook [N] out of their train of thought.

[N] nodded, still a bit out of it. "I think I saw him walk past the cafeteria when you were away..."

"Ain't no way am I doin' his punishment for him!" Grim said with anger.

"C'mon, [N]," Grim said, "I don't care if we gotta drag him kickin' and screamin', he's washin' those windows!"

The duo searched around to see if they could find the redhead.

"Hey! Ace! Get over here! Try to hide from me, will ya!" Grim screams in the classroom.

Grim then realized the classroom was empty.

A painting on the wall spoke up. "Oh I wouldn't say that. I'm here."

"Bwaaaahhh!!! That painting just talked!!" Grim screamed out.

"Yes, and...? Is a talking painting really such an oddity at this school?" The painting said. "The lady in the portrait on that wall talks too. As does the gentleman in the portrait on this one.

"As long as a painting has a mouth, why wouldn't it be able to talk? Is that really so strange?" The painting questioned.

[N] nodded. "I'm not used to a painting talking, but his reasoning makes sense."

"You get it. Now, you seem to be searching for someone." The painting spoke again.

Grim nods. "We're lookin' for this guy called Ace. He's got messy hair and a heart drawn on his face."

"Ah, I know the one. A new student, I believe? Today was his first day at school. I think he went back to his dorm a while ago." The portrait said, making [N] sigh.

Grim got angry again. "Myaaaahhh!! So it's true! He's tryin' to ditch us! Do you know which way he went?"

"Let's chase after him, [N]!" Grim said to [N].

[N] groaned. "What's the point though? This wild goose chase is getting annoying!"

xii: Punishment Ducking

Ace was making his way to the Heartslabyul mirror. "Yeah right, like i'm gonna wash a hundred windows. I'm just gonna go back and -"

"AHA! GOTCHA, PUNK!!" Grim yelled out as soon as he spotted Ace.

Ace watched as [N] and Grim got closer. "Oh no! They saw me!"

"Stop right there, pal! No fair gettin' a head start! Wait!" Grim said as Ace started to run away.

Ace grinned. "Who in their right mind would ever wait?! Seeya!"

Grim got visibly angrier. "No way are you gettin' out of this! You think I wanna wash windows?"

"He's gonna get stopped anyway. Look, there's a student up ahead." [N] pointed at a boy with a Spade on his face who was oblivious to the situation at hand.

"...Hm?" The boy watched as Ace passed by him.

Ace yelled as he ran past. "Outta my way!"

"Hey! What gives?!" The boy shouts.

[N] yells out. "He's avoiding punishment from the Headmage!"

"What? That's not okay! But how do I stop him?" The boy questioned.

"Like, freeze his legs? Or bind them with a rope?" The boy thought for a moment. "Or maybe I could... Hmmm... no...."

Grim started to get inpatient. "I don't care how! Just do something! Anything!"

[N] scratched the back of their head. 'I could've stopped him by now...but no one asked me so it's fine staying quiet.'

"Anything?! Anything, huh..." The boy trailed off. "All right!"

"Here goes anything!" The boy shouts.

The boy waves his magical pen. "I summon thee... something heavy!"

A cauldron then fell on Ace's head.

"Bwaaah?! Wha?! A pot?!"

Grim laughed. "Ah ha ha ha ha ha! Look, [N], Look!"

"I'm lookin'." [N] said has they folded their arms.

Grim smiled. "That Ace guy got crushed beneath a giant cauldron! It squashed him flat! Aha ha ha!"

"That's what you get!" Grim's smile molded into a smirk.

The boy look at Ace's predicament curiously. "A cauldron?! I wasn't expecting that. I may have overdone it this time..."

"Owww!" Ace had pushed the cauldron to the side and got up from the floor. "What are you bothering me for? You guys coulda just banged out the work yourself!"

[N] snickered. "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes."

"What was that?!" Ace got in [N]'s face.

The boy folded his arms. "You have to wash a hundred windows as punishment? What the heck did you do?!"

"They charred the Queen of Hearts statue." [N] said as they pointed at the two.

"You damaged a statue of the Great Seven?! No wonder he flew off the handle at you!" The boy said, not noticing a certain someone trying to leave the room.

Reader subtly reached behind themself, as if they were grabbing something while muttering under their breath.

The boy shook his head. "After you managed to get into this school, how could you get in trouble on the very first day?!"

"Oh, shut up!. Who are you, anyway?" Ace questioned boy.

The boy introduced himself. "My name is Deuce. Deuce Spade. Don't you remember your own classmate?"

"Uh..." Deuce tried to remember Ace's name, but he couldn't recall it.

Ace sighed. "You don't remember my name either, do you?"

"That's not the point! You shouldn't try and shirk an order from the Headmage!" Deuce swiftly changed topics.

Ace just frowned. "Yeah, yeah, message received...fine, let's bang out the windows already."

"Huh...?" Ace noticed that something was wrong.

[N] looked at the redhead. "What's wrong?"

"The furball! He's gone!" Ace shouts"

[N] sighed. "He's right there. I was able to catch him befo—!"

The chains that was supposed to keep Grim restrained and quiet had been melted by a blue flame.

"HUH?!?!" [N] had yelled out.

On Main Street, Grim was laughing to himself as he ran away. "Ah ah aha ha ha! I'll let you two handle the rest!"

"See ya, suckers!" Grim kept on running.

"You caught me so YOU could run away yourself?!" Ace watched with slight anger as Grim ran away.

Ace turned his attention to Deuce. "Hey! You there! Uh... Juice?"

"My name isn't 'Juice'. It's Deuce! With a D!" Deuce had corrected Ace.

Ace folded his arms. "This is partially your responsibility, you know! So help me catch that little furball!"

"How is this my responsibility?!" Deuce asked with a look of disbelief.

[N] groaned as they took out their magical pen. "I don't care whose responsibility it is, just help me catch him!"

[N] ran out, not waiting for either boy to follow.

"Ah- wait for us!" Deuce said as he and Ace followed [N].