The owner of the shop stood behind the counter. He was a lithe young man in his mid-twenties with dark skin and dahlia purple eyes. He had black and purple dreadlocks flipped over the right side of his head and an undercut.
White bone tattoos were painted beneath his eyes, on his neck, on his chest and on his forearms. There were also white rib markings on the bright purple vest he wore beneath his maroon blazer. The skeletal motif of his outfit was complete with a small skull affixed to his top hat.
On the left side of his blazer, Sam wore a pin that appeared to be a bizarre talisman of some sort. He also wore a black apron, tied together with a black-and-white ribbon. He had a single pocket visible near his hip, which held two white bones and a green hamsa hand inside.
"Welcome to Mr. S's Mystery Shop! What can I do for ya'll today? A charm to protect ya in uncharted lands? Mummy of an ancient king? Or how 'bout some cursed tarot cards?" he asked as he brought out the said objects to show them.
Alice stared in disbelief as each item popped into the man's hands and then magically vanished into thin air like a magic trick. "U-Um, sir, those cards... they're not...actually cursed, are they?" Alice asked, nervously pointing at the tarot cards in his hands. Sam chuckled at her, lifting his hat and giving her a bow.
"Ah, so you're one of th' new li'l lady students Crowley tol' me about. Yesiree, little girlie, but that's not all I've got." Sam said as he moved in close to her. "I got voodoo, I got hoodoo, I got things I ain't even tried!"
He then emphasized this point by taking out a very small box and opening it, letting out a massive demon-like creature made of fire screeching in rage, causing the trio to scream in fright again.
Sam laughed wholeheartedly as he quickly shut the box and tossed it away like it was nothing. "Whatever ya'll need, I've got it right 'ere." he said. "Um...We'd like the things written here." Deuce said as he handed Sam the note Trey gave him. "And some cans of tuna!" Grim added.
"No! We don't need any tuna!" Deuce firmly told him. Grim pouted, crossing his arms. "Wha'cha got there? Some cream, eggs... What a tantalizingly sweet line-up~. OK! Comin' right up!" Sam said as he winked at them cheerfully and headed towards the back of the store.
"Wow. He really does have all of it..." Deuce said. "Well, he seems confident enough. Let's look around until he comes back." Alice said. Deuce agreed, seeing that there wasn't anything else they could do.
The two looked through several of the books and tested the piano while Grim, probably due to his feline curiosity, had been playing with anything that appeared to shine under the light, often jumping from shelf to shelf.
Alice was oddly fascinated by each of the trinkets. The small charms, the jewels, the talismans, especially the far off ancient-looking ones, the ones that held a fairy-like image to them. About a few minutes later, Sam came back with the items in hand and set them on his desk. The teens went ahead to collect them.
"Sorry 'bout th' wait. It's a bit heavy, got it? If ya order now, ya can get a 1/100 scale floatin' platter to carry yer purchases for 30% off~!" Sam said, leaning close with a cagey glint in his dahlia purple eyes as he held up his bright smile.
Something about that smile just didn't seem right. "What's that? Hey, it sounds cool~!" Grim said, thinking it was a good deal to buy. "W-We're fine! Time to go, Grim!" Deuce said as he quickly paid for the items and he and Alice gathered them up, leaving Grim to grumble and complain.
"Ffnya~! I wanna hang out more~!" Grim whined. "Ok, ok! Make sure to come by again, my li'l demons! Bye~!" Sam said, smiling happily as he waved them goodbye, and the door closed shut behind them. Sometime later, the two teens walked down Main Street, making their way back to the school.
The sun was setting deep down into the horizon, painting the sky a pale, dreamy pinkish-purple hue. A soft gentle breeze blew through the street, making the scenery so peaceful and quiet.
Alice smiled softly at this scene and the calm winds told her that things were going to very pleasant for the rest of the day. She could just tell. "That store was crazy..." Deuce said. "It is rather unique. I've never seen such a wondrous shop like that." Alice said, shifting and adjusting her arms as she carried the cans of fruit.
"Tch. Stingy Deuce." Grim grumbled at the navy-haired boy. "Who are you calling stingy?!" Deuce yelled at the cat gremlin. He opened his mouth to say more to him when his eyes fell upon the honey blonde-haired girl.
She let out a small huff as she pushed the bag up and readjusted her arms, trying to get a good hold on it. Deuce blinked in realization and quickly went over to her. He cleared his throat, getting her attention. "Ahem. Alice-chan, that bag of cans looks pretty heavy. Let me take it." he offered.
But Alice shook her head and took a step back. "Oh, no. It's fine, Deuce-kun. It's not that heavy. I can carry it." she said. Truthfully, the cans of fruit were a bit heavy, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. She could carry it just fine.
At least, that's what Alice hoped she appeared to be. Though it was a small and insignificant thing, the last thing Alice wanted was to trouble Deuce, or Ace if he was here, with anything. But Deuce merely shook his head with a smile and took the bag in his hand.
"It's okay, don't worry about it. I'm used to carrying heavy stuff." he said gently. "Do you usually buy a lot when you go shopping?" Alice asked. Deuce nodded as he gave her a faint smile and shrugged his shoulders.
"Yeah. My mom always buys more than we need during time sales, and I get stuck carrying all the heavy stuff." he replied. "Since I'm the only boy, it was my job to take care of anything requiring strength..." Alice listened intently, smiling up at him.
She thought it was cute that he would do anything to help his mother. What a thoughtful, loving son he is. It gave her a sweet memory in her mind and a soft feeling in her heart. The times when she and her own mother would go out and do shopping together.
Whether for groceries or for new clothes, they would spend the afternoons together. Those were happy days. But... for her to just abandon her family like that... Deuce stopped talking when he noticed Alice looking up at him and smiling.
He gave a soft blush and cleared his throatagain. "Oh, my bad. I've just been talking about myself." he said a bitbashfully. "It's all right, I don't mind. I think it's very sweet that youreally care for your mother. I'm sure she's happy knowing that you're alwaysthere for her." Alice said with a kind smile.
Deuce tried to smile back at Alice but found himself unable to. He somehow just couldn't match her smile and turned away. "Is it my fault...? Have I done something to hurt my boy...?" Deuce then slowly shook his head.
"No... That's not true at all. I always made Mom... Ooof!" Deuce was suddenly cut off when he crashed into something heavy. Several moist cracks were heard, and Deuce stumbled back a bit. He looked down and let out a yell along with Grim. "Aaah~! The eggs!" he shouted.
The two teens looked down and saw that one of the cartons of eggs had been broken as egg yolk was now staining the bag and leaking out from it. "Darn, half of the eggs are destroyed! There's egg all over the bag!" Deuce cursed.
"Hey, you! Watch where you're...Wait... You're the fools that wrecked the egg in my carbonara earlier." a rough voice said. Alice turned towards the person they bumped into, and when she saw who it was, her sky-blue eyes immediately went wide and all the color drained from her face.
Poor Alice froze as her body started to tremble. Right in front of her was the very same silver-haired delinquent shouted, glaring daggers at the trio. "Oi, oi, it's you guys again. You can't catch a break~!" his red-haired friend said behind him.
"..." Deuce looked and saw the feared expression on Alice's face. He quickly stood in between her and the two delinquents. His face became stern and in controlled anger. "You were the ones who jumped out from behind the corner." he said, trying as sound as calm as he could.
"At lunch, it wasn't like you couldn't eat the egg anymore, but youstill came to pick a fight... We've just lost one pack of eggs, right?" Grim stepped up and glared atthem. "Yeah, yeah!" he shouted in agreement.
"Please... Let's not start this..." Alice said nervously. "And? You sayin' it's our fault?" the silver-haired delinquent roughly questioned, getting close to the two teens and sneering down at them.
But Deuce didn't back down and stared at him squarely in the eyes. "Yes. Please pay for the eggs. And please apologize to the chickens, too." he said rather coolly. "Hmmm~? You're getting worked up over eggs." the red-headed delinquent mockingly asked, throwing his words right back at him.
Deuce narrowed his eyes at him. "...Huh?" he asked. Alice didn't like this at all. She didn't like the tension going on between them. "Please, all of you...stop." she begged softly. "They didn't hit the ground, right? Don't sweat the small stuff." the silver-haired delinquent said with a smug grin.
"We saved you the trouble of breaking them!" the red-headed boy gloated as he gave Deuce a rough shove. Then they both laughed. Deuce glared at the two and was about to say something when Alice then spoke up, albeit very shakily and very hesitant. She was holding her head up high, trying to put on an act of bravery.
"E-Excuse me, gentlemen. W-We're terribly sorry for bumping into you and I-I-I'm really sorry for doing the same thing earlier. We'll... We'll buy you another one tomorrow...so...." she said, trying not to stutter over her words.
"Shut it, magicless weakling!" the red-haired boy snapped. "I don't know how you and your buddies got into this school, but your kind is certainly not welcome here." Alice was greatly taken aback by his rudeness before she placed her hands on her hips and glared at him, feeling insulted.
"Now don't be so rude! You could at least apologize for breaking our eggs for the tarts!" Alice said crossly. She turned to leave, but then the silver-haired boy suddenly grabbed her wrist, lifted her up in the air and smirked at her.
Without her magic bracelet, they could now see that Alice was actually a girl. "Hey, now that I look at ya, you're a cute little babe. Like a little doll." he said, grabbing her face. Alice struggled to free herself, but his grip was too strong. "Please! Let me go!" she begged.
"Whatsa matter, wittle girlie? Gonna go cry to your momma?" the red-haired delinquent taunted. Then he and his friend both laughed. Alice desperately fought to free herself but kept failing. Tears were threatening to stream down her rosy cheeks as the two boys kept harassing her.
"Please...let me go...! You're hurting me!" Alice begged, her voice nearly breaking while the two boys smirked and laughed at her. "Man! She really is cute like a doll!" the red-haired boy said, grabbing her arm.
"A poor, little magicless girl in an all-boys' school. This oughta be fun." the silver-haired boy cackled as he reached down to touch her backside. Alice's cheeks were red, and the tears streamed down her cheeks when she realized what that boy was about to do to her. "No!... Please, don't...! Don't touch me...!" she begged.
Meanwhile, Deuce was watching the whole thing happening before him and boy, was he furious! His blood was starting to boil, and he clenched his jaw so hard his teeth felt like they would shatter. "...to laugh about..." he let out a low snarl.
"Huh?" the silver-haired delinquent asked, staring at Deuce. Through Alice's blurry, teary-eyed vision, she stared at Deuce glaring daggers at them. To her utter shock, his face was twisted into an expression filled with pure rage and he practically stomped his way towards the two boys.
"This ain't something to laugh about!! Huh?! You don't get to make decisions for us!" Deuce roared angrily. The two boys both stopped and stared at him in both shock and fear. Even Alice's teary eyes went wide as she stared at her friend.
Wh-What just happened? What happened to him? He was acting like a totally different person now. Wait a minute... didn't he act like this before? "Those eggs, instead of becoming a chick, they were gonna make us a delicious tart. You get it, huh?!" Deuce continued to shout as he glared at the two boys.
"Eek! W-What's this guy's problem all of a sudden?!" the red-haired boy questioned as he and his friend fearfully released Alice and took a step back away from Deuce. Though they were intimidating in their own right, seeing Deuce's violent expression was far scarier. "D-Deu-Deuce-kun?" Alice whispered weakly.
"If you don't wanna pay for those six eggs that you broke, if you ain't gonna apologize to that poor girl... I'll punch you six times instead!" Deuce shouted as he cracked his knuckles.
"Whaaaa?!" the silver-haired boy exclaimed in shock. "Grit your teeth, morons!" Deuce roared as he charged at them. He didn't even take out his magic pen. He just ran straight up to the silver-haired boy and slammed his fist right into his face, knocking him down to the ground with all the strength he had.
The two boys could barely even defend themselves as Deuce continued to pummel them both. Alice, with the pain on her tear-stained face subsided, just stood there and stared at Deuce in complete shock.
It was as if a switch was flipped, and Deuce had turned from a well-mannered, kind and polite boy into someone acting as if he was raised by rough, tough street ruffians. What just happened?! Despite her shock, Alice knew that he must stop fighting, otherwise he'll get into trouble. "Stop! Deuce-kun! Please, stop!" she yelled.