𝒞ℋℰℛℛ𝒴 𝒦ℐ𝒮𝒮ℰ𝒮, 𝒞𝒪ℒℬ𝒴 ℳ𝒜𝒟𝒟ℰ𝒩

|14| 𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

☡

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 spilled weakly through the curtains, hitting Aveline right in the eyes the moment she stepped into the kitchen. She groaned softly and rubbed her forehead, still half-asleep. Colby was right beside her, his hand warm at the small of her back as he guided her in. Her hair was messy, her eyes heavy, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I swear," she muttered, dropping into a chair at the table, "if I don't get coffee in the next sixty seconds, I'm quitting life entirely."

Colby laughed and brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. "You held pizza night hostage last night and made eighty-seven dollars in tip money. You can handle a morning."

"No," she said flatly, laying her head on the table, "I can't."

Vic strutted through the kitchen in a crisp button-up shirt and particularly shiny shoes, adjusting his collar with too much enthusiasm for the hour.

"Well, today is the big day," he announced proudly.

Jake looked up from the cereal box he was struggling to open. "Oh, a little nip and tuck?"

Colby smirked. "Finally getting in shape?"

Aveline lifted her head just enough to mumble, "Getting even with your barber?"

Vic clutched his chest like he'd been stabbed. "If you're trying to hurt my feelings, it's working. This is a major viewing of the new principal." He pointed at himself with both hands. "Me. Finally upgrading from substitute science teacher to full‑time."

Eva rolled her eyes as she rummaged through the fridge. "Do we get a say in this? Because I speak for the entire school when I say two days a month was plenty."

"Well, too bad," Vic said, grabbing his custom gas canisters off the counter. "Because I want this. Since I can't be Kraniac anymore, I can't use my superior intelligence for its intended purpose."

Jake didn't miss a beat. "Or failing students and rubbing it in their faces."

Vic flashed a dramatic grin. "No. Inspiring the youth of tomorrow. By showing them how smart a human can be."

Colby whispered to Aveline, "He says that like he's not one lab coat away from blowing up the school."

Vic pulled out a small metal device and held it up proudly. "Also, new invention. Memory erase gas. If anyone ever discovers our villain secret, this will come in handy."

Aveline didn't even look up. "I'd like to erase my memory every time you talk about gas."

Jake shivered. "Still recovering from that time he made me shapeshift into a couch cushion."

Vic ignored them. "When inhaled, this temporarily erases every memory in a person's head. I also made dizzy gas, sleeping gas, and truth gas. All part of the clever gas collection by Vic."