Grim hummed himself a tune as he marched down the cobblestone path of Main Street. "Hey! Stop there, you furball!" a sudden voice shouted. Grim turned around and gasped when he saw the six students coming after him. Were they planning to make him go back and wash more windows?! Like heck they will!
"No waaay, yanno! You frizzhead!" Grim yelled as he gave Ace a jeering look. The very thought of working himself to the bone by washing 100 windows made his skin crawl. And so, as one would expect, Grim immediately began to run away from the six teens.
"Tch, looks like we have to run after him after all." Ace said, feeling insulted of being called "frizzhead" by the cat gremlin. He then took his magic pen out from his breast pocket. "Follow me, Juice!" he said as he started to run after Grim.
Deuce glared at him, not impressed by his mispronunciation. "I told you, it's "Deuce"!" he yelled as he and Ace gave chase with the four disguised girls following suit. Before long, their attempts to catch Grim had turned into a wild cat chase. They chased Grim from Main Street to the school courtyard.
All the while, Ace and Deuce were casting their magic spells in an attempt to capture Grim. But Grim, being the slick little cat monster he was, managed to dodge their every move. Grim kept running past the well and headed down the corridor until he suddenly reached a dead end.
Grim immediately stopped in his tracks. "A-A dead end?!" he gasped in horror. He frantically looked to the left and to the right, desperately searching for another escape route. Ace, Deuce and the four girls stopped when they saw that Grim was trapped. Ace chuckled. Now was his chance to catch that little bugger!
"Alright, just a little more!" Ace said as he wielded his magic pen. "If I can just stop him with magic...!" Ace and Deuce both said simultaneously as they pointed their magic pens at Grim. Grim saw what was happening, and he quickly braced himself for the incoming attacks.
However, Ace turned and glared at Deuce in annoyance. He was going to catch Grim first, not that navy-haired loser! "Can't you stop trying to cover me? Just back off!" he yelled, roughly shoving Deuce out of his way.
Deuce glared back at Ace, not appreciating him roughly shoving him. "You need to stay out of my way too!" he shouted as he shoved back at Ace. Grim looked and saw that Ace and Deuce were now bickering loudly over who was going to get Grim first. The four girls all sighed, exasperated. "Ugh, you guys..." Kira groaned, shaking her head.
An impish grin crept over Grim's lips. "Now's my chance!" he said as he quickly made a dash past the six teens, dodging the four disguised girls' attempts to grab him. "Hey! Grim, stop!" Jazmin yelled as Grim slipped past her fingers.
Ace and Deuce both paused when they saw that Grim has made his escape. "Ah, wait!" Ace yelled as he and the others immediately turned around and gave chase. And so, the six teens were running around the courtyard, trying their best to rush in, corner and grab Grim themselves, but he was too quick and agile for them.
He zipped all around the school grounds, running as fast as his four little legs could carry him, all the while dodging their hands and magic spells. But the six students wouldn't let Grim go that easily and they chased him all around the school.
Ace and Deuce waved their magic pens and fired off their magic spells at the cat gremlin while the four girls tried to rush in and grab him themselves, but he was too agile for them. Some passing students quickly steered out of their way.
"You haven't forgotten your promise to clean 100 windows all by yourself if we catch you, right?" Ace yelled as he, Deuce and the four girls chased Grim down the interior hallway. "I didn't say anything like that, yanno?!" Grim yelled as he kept on running.
Ace then pointed his pen at Grim. "Alright, time your magic hit with me, Deuce!" he said. But Deuce waved his magic pen at Grim on impulse. A ball of magic sparkles flew out from the gem and shot towards Grim.
The magic spell landed inches away from Grim's butt, missing him completely. "Eh?!" Deuce exclaimed, feeling dismayed. "Wha, that's too early!" Ace yelled in frustration, turning to glare at Deuce. Grim giggled. "Lucky! I gotta escape while I can, yanno!" he said as he continued running down the corridor.
"Get your tail back here, tuna breath! You're so gonna regret this!" Kira yelled and she and the other girls gave chase. Ace and Deuce both groaned at their failure to catch Grim and the six teens all chased Grim all the way to the cafeteria.
"Crap! He's darting around everywhere!" Ace growled as their efforts to catch Grim became futile. Eventually, the six students ran into the cafeteria, but now, they saw that Grim had somehow managed to climb onto the fancy chandelier hanging from the ceiling above them and rested himself on it.
Both Ace and Kira were absolutely miffed when they saw Grim looking down on them with that infuriatingly stupid, smug little grin on his face. He knew how this was making them feel and just had the nerve to insult them.
"Heheheh! Catch me if you can, suckers!" Grim taunted while shaking his tail. "Grim! You'd better get down here, right now!" Kira shouted in a manner akin to a mother scolding her child. But Grim just smiled smugly at her. "Make me!" he called before he made an ugly face and blew a raspberry at them.
"Grim, please listen to me! If you don't stop this, we'll all get into trouble again!" Alice cried out to him, begging him to stop this nonsensical madness. But of course, Grim wasn't in the mood to listen.
He just nonchalantly yawned and stretched his paws before he lounged back on the branch of the chandelier. Seeing that make Kira all the more infuriated. "Ooh, that does it!" she yelled. "Just you wait till I get up there, tuna breath! If you don't get down here this instant, I'm gonna turn you into minced meat!"
Deuce growled as he glared up at Grim, who was now humming a tune to himself. "Kuh, getting on the chandelier is an underhanded move!" he shouted. "We haven't learned the magic to fly yet... Is there any magic we can use to trap or capture him...?"
He began to mutter to himself on how to catch him while Ace and the four girls tried to brainstorm an idea. Then, an idea struck Deuce. "Ah, I've got it!" he exclaimed, looking over at Ace.
"Maybe we should go and find a teacher? We don't want to take unnecessary risks in getting him down." Aria suggested. "We'll just get into more trouble if we do that." Ace said. "I've gotta think of an idea—!" He suddenly yelped in surprise when he saw Deuce giving him a weird stare and pointing his pen at him.
"Whoa, whoa, wait a sec! Why are you pointing your magical pen at me?!" Ace shouted. "I'll just throw you!" Deuce declared. The four girls and Ace all gaped at him in disbelief. "Eeeeeeeehhh?!" they all cried out simultaneously.
"You're joking, right?!" Ace shouted, but it was already too late. Deuce had already cast his spell, and Ace was floating a foot off the ground, much to his and the girls' dismay. The four girls immediately protested. "No, no, no! Stop that, Deuce-kun!" Jazmin said.
"Don't do this, please! We'll get into more trouble, I know it!" Alice added, attempting to dissuade Deuce from going through with his terrible idea. But Deuce stood strong, his peacock green eyes never losing their shine of resolve as he started to line up the shot. All the while, Ace flailed around, trying to get back down.
"Wooaaaahaa! Don't make me float! You're really going to throw me?! Knock it off!" he shouted as he thrashed around. "Catch him, ya hear. Take aim... Fire!" Deuce shouted as he flung Ace across the cafeteria.
"Gyeeuuuhhhhhaaaaaa!!" Ace screamed as he was sent hurtling towards Grim. When Grim took notice the speeding projectile coming his way, his cobalt-colored eyes widened like saucers. "Ffnnghaaaaaaa???!" he yowled as Ace suddenly collided into him, making the chandelier swing from the collision.
However, with the added extra weight, the suspension links holding the chandelier up broke off before it fell towards the floor along with Ace and Grim, creating a huge crash, sending shards of glass and metal all over the place.
CRASH!!!
Everyone shrieked in surprise and shock. The four girls, including Deuce, all fell to the floor. A cloud of dust erupted from where the chandelier fell. At that point, Alice's whole body was shaking uncontrollably as she and her friends stared wide-eyed in utter disbelief at the mess they've made.
Ace coughed and sputtered violently, trying to expel the dust from his lungs as he climbed out of the wrecked chandelier with a dizzy, semi-unconscious Grim in his arms. "I can't believe you!" he said between coughs.
Grim's cobalt eyes were spinning comically from the fall. "Ffnyaaaaa..." he groaned groggily. While the girls were thankful that neither Ace nor Grim were terribly injured, the same couldn't be said for the chandelier, unfortunately. The chandelier was completely wrecked, and it looked incredibly expensive, too.
The four girls had no idea on what to do about it. Why and how did things turn out like this?! "Oh, no...!" Jazmin groaned as Kira facepalmed and groaned. "You dumb idiots...!" she moaned. "The cha-chandelier....!!!" Alice exclaimed as she was beginning to feel light-headed.
She then turned her attention towards Ace and Grim, worried about their condition. "Ace-kun, are you alright?! You're not terribly injured, are you?!" she anxiously asked Ace. Ace let out another cough. "Yeah, I'm...okay..." he replied.
Deuce had the same reaction as the girls as he anxiously stared at the broken chandelier, wide-eyed and sweating bullets. Seeing the damage before him, he suddenly became aware of how bad of an idea this was. "I-I screwed up! I didn't think about the landing!" he said in a panicked voice.
Ace then looked up at the navy-haired boy and glared directly at him. He quickly stood on his feet and stomped his way over towards Deuce, shoving Grim into Alice's arms as he came face-to face with him.
"Are you... AN IDIOOOOOOTTT?!" he yelled in Deuce's face. "We caught Grim, but if the Headmaster finds out we busted the chandelier...!"
"If I...find out?" a familiar strict voice suddenly questioned. Everyone froze. No one said a word. No one dared to breathe. Slowly, ever so slowly, everyone turned around and saw Dire Crowley standing right behind them, his arms crossed and a furious, searing scowl on his masked face.
"Ah...Headmaster..." Ace whispered. "Just...what...exactly...ARE YOU ALL DOING???!" Crowley hollered at the top of his lungs crossly, making everyone wince. "Ffnyaa~! The room is spinning..." a dazed Grim muttered.
"You weren't satisfied with just damaging the statue so you decided to destroy the chandelier?!" Crowley howled. Oh, fantastic. It wasn't enough to get punished for the statue. Now they had to get reprimanded for the damaged chandelier, too? Crowley exhaled a sharp breath, no doubt fed up with their antics.
"This is the last straw. I will have all of you expelled!" Crowley exclaimed sternly. "Eeeeeeehhhh?!!" Ace and Deuce both shouted, gaping at the headmaster in disbelief. They—They were getting expelled?! This just can't be happening!
Alice, Aria and Jazmin began to feel fear and guilt overwhelm them as they watched the scene play out before them. This was their fault. They are to blame for all of this. If only they had watched Grim more closely... But Kira just scoffed with disdain. "That's fine by me." she muttered.
The other girls all gaped at her in shock as they turned their attention towards her. "Huh?! Kira-chan?!" Alice exclaimed. Kira's eyebrow arched. "What? What's with those looks?" she asked, confused by their reactions.
"Honestly, Kira-chan! How could you say that?!" Jazmin snapped in a hushed tone. "Huh?!" Kira asked, gawking at her. "We can't be fine with this!" Jazmin said. "We are students here! We have to find a way to compensate for the damage done." Kira's mouth hung open as she gave her an incredulous look.
"Huh?! Excuse me?!" she exclaimed. "Shh!" Jazmin then shushed her. "We'll talk about this later." They all turned towards Ace and Deuce who were kneeling before Headmaster Crowley, pleading and begging him to reconsider their expulsion.
Facing expulsion from a prestigious school like Night Raven is any student's worst nightmare. Since none of the girls were official students of Night Raven, despite them wearing the school's uniforms, they had no idea what Crowley might do to them. As of now, they were faced with an uncertain situation.
"Please! Anything but that! I have things I have to do at this school!" Deuce begged as he clasped his hands together in an imploring manner. But Crowley was unmoved. "You have nothing to blame but your own idiocy..." he said sternly.
"I will pay for all damages if I have to!" Deuce pleaded, sounding more desperate by the second. Crowley narrowed his eyes at the young student and shook his head. "There is no normal chandelier. This is a magical chandelier that runs on magic and lights candles that will burn for eternity." Crowley explained.
"It is a masterpiece we commissioned the legendary Meister of Magical Tools to make. It's a treasured legacy that has been around the school's very foundation... Taking into consideration its historical value, it would cost no less than a billion Madol. Can you pay for those damages?" he asked.
Deuce's peacock green eyes widened when he heard that amount. "A b-billion Madol?!" he gasped, almost falling back from shock. The girls' eyes also widened. "A b-billion...?!" Alice asked. How much does that exactly equal to Japanese yen?
"But, Teacher, can't you just fix it up with magic...?" Ace asked, hoping for a way out of this. But once again, Crowley shook his head. "Magic is not all-powerful. Moreover, the magic crystal, what we call the heart of any magical tool, was shattered." he said.
"No two magic crystals are the same. The chandelier will never be lit again." And with that, the boys became dejected and disheartened as they slumped down with their shoulders sagging.
"How can that...?" Ace said anxiously. "Crap...What am I doing...What am I going to tell Mom...?" Deuce quietly asked himself. Finally, the girls couldn't take it anymore. Alice just couldn't stand the sight of them being helpless and anxious.
Her poor heart just broke for them and without thinking, she immediately walked up towards Crowley. Aria, Kira and Jazmin followed after her. "W-Wait! Please wait, sir!" she shouted. Crowley, Ace and Deuce all turned their attention towards them.
"Mr. Liddell..." Crowley murmured. "Please don't expel them! This was all our fault, we're the ones responsible for all of this!" Alice said as she bowed down to him. Kira gawked at her. "What?!" she hissed. Aria and Jazmin followed Alice's example as they also bowed down. "Are you crazy?!" Kira hissed quietly.
Jazmin then turned her gaze towards Kira, motioning her to follow their example. Kira, although a bit reluctant, bowed down as well. Ace and Deuce both stared at the four girls in total shock as Alice continued to speak.
"All of this has happened because we failed to keep an eye on Grim. We broke our promise, and we unintentionally dragged those boys into our problem." she said firmly. "This was our fault. So, please don't take it out on them. Reconsider and punish us however you wish. We'll gladly accept it without any protest."
Ace and Deuce gaped at the girls. "Oi...!" Ace said. "Wh-What are you...?" Deuce questioned. Crowley just stood there as he looked down at the young girls, taking in their words for a moment.
He couldn't help but think it was most admirable of them to take the blame for these students and want them to be forgiven while they receive the penalty for their own misconduct. Once again, he was questioning who those girls were and why they would be brought here.
Hmm...maybe he should form some sort of test. After processing Alice's words carefully, Crowley nodded. "...I know. There's one way. There might be one way to fix the chandelier." he said. Ace, Deuce and the four girls immediately snapped their attention to him.
"What?! There is?!" the six teens all shouted. "The magic crystal for this chandelier was mined in the Dwarf's Mine. If we have a magic crystal of the same kind as the original, repairs might be possible." Crowley said.
Deuce immediately stood on his feet. "I will go find a magic crystal! Please, allow me to go!" he said, his determination shining through. He cannot, under any circumstances, get expelled from this school. "M-Me too, please!" Alice said as she raised her hand. "Alice! Shh!" Kira hissed, grabbing her wrist.
"However, I have no guarantee that there are any left in the mine. The mine has been closed for a while and it's very possible it is exhausted of crystals." Crowley explained. "I'll do anything to get the expulsion rescinded!" Deuce said eagerly.
"And we'll do what we can to ensure it." Alice said. She turned to the other girls. "Right, girls-I mean, guys?" she asked. Both Aria and Jazmin smiled confidently and nodded. "Of course!" Aria chirped. "You bet." Jazmin replied. Kira, however, just rolled her eyes and let out a "tch". "This is ridiculous." she thought.
Crowley looked the six students and let out a sigh. "...Very well. I shall give you one night. Come to me with a magic crystal by tomorrow morning, or face expulsion." he said firmly. "Yes! Thank you very much!" Deuce said gratefully.
"We won't disappoint you this time, Headmaster." Aria said. Ace let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his head. "Oh boy, fine. Let's go get that magic crystal and be done with it." he said, shrugging. "Use the Gate in the Mirror Chamber to go directly to Dwarfs' Mine." Crowley said.
"Yes, sir!" Deuce, Alice, Aria and Jazmin said in unison as the six teens ran out of the cafeteria and headed straight into the direction of the Mirror Chamber. At this point, Grim had chosen this time to wake up.
"Ha! What now...? What exactly did I...?" he asked in bewilderment. Kira just sighed as she rolled her eyes. "You might've been happier staying unconscious, tuna breath." she groaned. After quickly explaining the situation to him, the six students and Grim reached the Gate.
"Oh man... Why did it turn into something like this? Today is really not my day..." Ace complained. Alice walked over and patted his back for reassurance while Deuce moved towards the Dark Mirror. "Now isn't the time for mumbling! Let's go!" he said firmly.
"So... how exactly does this work?" Aria asked. "Yeah, how are we gonna get to this Dwarfs' Mine place?" Grim asked. Deuce turned his attention towards the mirror. "O Dark Mirror! Light our way to Dwarfs' Mine!" he said.
The four girls watched in silent awe as ripples suddenly appeared on the mirror and a blinding white light broke through the darkness, causing the girls to shield their eyes. "Well, what are we waiting for?" Deuce asked. "Let's go!"
With that, he stepped into the mirror, phasing right through the glass, which rippled like a puddle of water, much to the girls' astonishment. Soon, Ace stepped into the mirror, as well, leaving them and Grim behind.
"I, uh... I guess we're doin' this, huh?" Grim asked. "Yeah... I guess we are." Aria answered before she picked the cat monster up and, after taking a breath to steel their nerves, the four girls and Grim were engulfed by the bright light as they walked into the mirror.