Key of Souls: Twisted Wonderland

Chapter 56: Chasing Down the Culprit

3rd's POV

The group quickly made their way to the classroom where Ruggie Bucchi was; hoping he was still there so they could interrogate him about his involvement with the "accidents" of the Magical Shift players. Once they reached the classroom, Grim rushed inside first and yelled, "Tell me~~~~! Where is Ruggie Bucchi!?"

They soon found him sitting at his desk with his hands behind his back. The moment he heard Grim, his ears twitched and he opened his eyes and noticed us in the classroom. "Ye~s. ...Ugh, it's you guys again.", he groaned as he lowered himself to Grim's eye level and gave a mischievous smile. "No matter how many times you ask, I can't give you the deluxe minced cutlet sandwich back.", he said.

Riddle and Cater soon approached Ruggie once he straightened himself up; Riddle gave the hyena-eared boy a narrow look that would send a chill down anyone's spine. "Ruggie Bucchi. We would like to ask you a few things about the string of accidents involving players that have been occurring around campus.", Riddle said.

"Uh-oh... That doesn't sound like a pleasant convo.", said Ruggie.

"Could you come outside with us?", asked Cater, smiling. However, the look in his eyes spoke a different story. Sensing the pressure, Ruggie started feeling uncomfortable from the intense looks given to him. "I got it. So please knock it off with the threatening aura.", he said. The three teens soon started walking out of the classroom, with Ruggie walking past Riddle and Cater; Ruggie quickly looked behind Dawn, spread a smirk and gave her a wink as he walked out. This made her feel uneasy as she and Grim joined the others. 'What could he be up to?', she thought as she followed the others.

As the group took Ruggie down the hallway, Riddle didn't break contact with him for a second; the last he wanted was to be controlled by this boy again. "While I don't know all the details, we can't allow Ruggie to use his Unique Magic.", Riddle quietly said to himself. With this in mind, he decided to use his own Unique Magic to counter Ruggie's by sealing it. "I'll use "Off With Your Head" to...", as Riddle spoke, he reached for his magical pen to get ready to use his spell when...

"What's this now? Riddle. Are you alright to use that kind of strong spell without your magical pen?", Ruggie suddenly asked with a sly grin.

Riddle's fingers grazed his breast pocket and suddenly realized the void space where his pen was. "Eh? ...Wh-what!? My magical pen is gone!", Riddle exclaimed in shock. Dawn was also shocked; she recalled seeing his pen where it's always been, and now it vanished briefly. Grim turned towards Cater and noticed something as well and shouted, "Hey, Cater! Your pen's gone too!"

"Crap! Seriously!?", Cater shouted. He frantically patted his breast pocket, only to discover that his magical pen was also missing.

"Shishishi! You were all raised with a cushy life, huh?", Ruggie suddenly said. Everyone turned towards him and, to their shock, saw him holding both Riddle and Ruggie's magical pens; he waved them tauntingly in front of the group. "Your pockets are ripe for the picking. It wasn't a challenge."

"How were you able to do that in just a brief second?", Dawn exclaimed in shock.

"Ffgna!? When did he use the spell to take your magical pens?", Grim shouted.

"Oh no. It was easy enough without magic! I don't have any more time to kill with y'all, so I'm just gonna make my exit! Bye-bye♪.", Ruggie said, waving at the group as he made a quick dash out of the hallway. "Hey! Stop right there~~!", Grim shouted as he and Dawn quickly chased the hyena-eared boy. "Get back here!", Dawn shouted as she ran.

"Gr... Freeze! If you don't stop, I'll have your head! OFF WITH...", Riddle shouted, attempting to use his Unique Magic even without his magical pen. But Cater managed to stop him before he could unleash his magic. "Hold up, Riddle! You finally got rid of all the blot from your body recently!", he told him. Riddle was furious as he and Cater joined Dawn and Grim in the chase.