Twisted-Wonderland: Our Precious Treasure (Part 1)

(10) WttVW: Escape from a Hundred Broken Windows

"Yeah, right. There is no way I'm cleaning a hundred windows," Ace grumbled, "I'm going back."

After class, Ace made sure to take the long way trip back to the Hall of Mirrors, purposely avoiding the cafeteria and missing the headmaster and the other two. Like, really? A hundred windows for burning an old statue? Well, the Queen of Heart is the symbol of his dorm, but still! That's too much and unfair! It was the cat's fault after all, for attacking him first and took his joke seriously. He was defending himself on his part, so he was supposed to be innocent!

"HEYYYYY!"

Ace jumped in his step. When he glanced back, he saw the cat flying toward him, followed by the twerp with an eye patch. "Shit, they had found me!" Ace muttered as he took off in running down the hall. There is no way he would let himself get caught! It wasn't his fault!

-----

Deuce was walking down the pathway to the Hall of Mirrors, his bag slung over his shoulder. So far, the first day was filled with an introduction for their homeroom, followed by the club requirement open house until school ended. He had made a checklist for the sports clubs, even though he was slightly disappointed they didn't have a magical wheel club. Plus, he didn't have the urge to punch anybody in the face. Overall, it was a good first day.

"Jerk! Hold up! I won't let you be the only one getting out of this!"

"Leave me alone! I have no time for this!"

"Running off by yourself isn't fair! I wanna skip too!"

"Hmm?" Deuce looked behind him and saw someone running straight down the hall with no intention of stopping. The kid, a fellow Heartslabyul was shouting at him.

"Get out of the way!"

"Huh!? Uh, uhhh!?" Deuce nearly tripped his foot when he pressed his back to the wall, giving the kid a path and avoided being trampled.

"Someone stop that boy!" A demon-cat flew past him. Hey, wait a minute! That was the cat from the entrance ceremony! It's still here?!

"What's going on?" He tried to shout to the cat. He didn't answer, but a boy with an eye patch managed to skid to a stop and turned toward him.

"That kid tried to escape his punishment!" he shouted, pointing to the kid being chased by the demon-cat.

Escape from punishment?! Is he a delinquent too?! Oh, heck no! He won't let him get away like that. Maybe he could use magic to stop him- That's it!

"Let me help!" he said to the eye patch kid, grabbing his upper arm before he could take off again. "I know magic."

"Well, hurry up then!" the kid snapped at him.

That was the only boost that he needs. He took out his magical pen, pointing straight to the running kid. Underneath him and the kid, a red magic circle appeared. He pulled his pen up, moving the magic circle to above the kid's head and he shouted. "[COME OUT! SOMETHING HEAVY!]"

Something heavy did come out. A giant cauldron suddenly slid out from the magic circle above the kid, and fell on top of him, the sound of *bang!* echoed down the hallway. Deuce and the eye patch kid visibly winched. He didn't think he would summon a cauldron. Was that the heaviest thing he could think of?

"The hell is this!?" shouted the kid, trying to get out from underneath the cauldron, like a cockroach under a spoon. "A pot!?"

The demon-cat was laughing out loud. "Gyahahaha! Look at that, Jonah!" he said as he landed on the boy's butt. "Ace got squashed under a giant pot! How lame!"

"Ow, ow, ow..." The Ace kid groaned. He turned behind him, glaring at the demon-cat. The eye-patch boy, Jonah, walked toward the cauldron. Deuce was hesitant to make it disappeared. He couldn't let a runaway go before knowing the situation before.

"Can't you just quickly clean those hundred windows yourselves?" Ace grumbled as Jonah stepped in front of him.

"It's your fault too you know," Jonah said, crouching in front of Ace's face, "and it's the headmaster's order, so no escaping this."

"What did you guys do?" Deuce asked, standing next to Jonah.

Ace pouted. "When I was messing around with that furball over there this morning, the statue of the Queen of Hearts got a tiny bit burnt."

Jonah raised an eyebrow at him. "Tiny? More like burnt to the crisp."

"So you're the one everyone is talking about!" Deuce shouted, taking a step back, pointing at Ace and Jonah accusingly. "That punishment is fitting for you." He sighed as he massaged his temple. "You just got enrolled in this prestigious school...what are you going around doing on the first day?"

Ace didn't respond right away, still pouting, probably rethink his action. Good. Troublemakers like him should get what he deserves. He clicked his tongue. "Yeah, whatever. Anyway, who're you?"

Deuce crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I'm Deuce. Deuce Spade," he said with a raised eyebrow. "Why don't you try to remember the faces of your classmates, Mister..."

...

...

He started to tap his finger on his arms, brow furrowed, thinking hard. "Um..."

The two other kids were watching him, exchanging questioning glances at each other, waiting for his response.

...

...

What was his last name again?

"You don't remember mine either!" Ace shouted, pointing at him accusingly. Dammit, he didn't have state the obvious!

Deuce cleared his throat. "A-anyway! Since this is an order from the headmaster, you're going to have to do it seriously."

Ace rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know..."

Deuce nodded, satisfied. He waved his magical pen and the cauldron disappeared in a puff of white smoke. "Alright, let's get on with it then." Jonah sighed in relief. He pulled his hand out, offering Ace help to get up, but the kid just slapped it away. Rude.

Ace finally got up, a bit wobbly, but stood his ground. "Let's just get this over it."

Jonah sighed. "Finally. The headmaster is probably waiting for us at the cafeteria. So, let's go, Grim- Eh?"

Jonah stopped his tracks, looking around the hallway. Deuce and Ace looked around too. They were alone there.

Deuce watched Jonah's hands curled up into a fist. "That raccoon ditched us!" he shouted, making Ace and Deuce jumped back slightly. Without really explaining anything, the kid took off, running down the hallway away from the Hall of Mirrors.

Ace was the first one to catch up to Jonah, looking around with widened eyes. "Damn it! He took my place!" He turned to Deuce. "Oi! Er, what's-your-face, Juice?"

"Wha-It's not Juice. It's Deuce! Deuce!"

"It's your fault for distracting us and let that furball getaway!"

"Why do I have to do it!?"

"Because that Jonah kid can't use magic! Now c'mon!"

Ace suddenly grabbed Deuce's arm and pulled himinto the chase. Damn it! Why does trouble seem to always find a way to enterhis life?!