Author's Note: Here we have chapter 2… three months after I was supposed to finish this thing. What? I changed the creature at the end of the last chapter? Uh, no, I don't know what you're talking about. :/
Chapter 2
"It's the end of the world as we know it/ and I feel fine" – R. E. M.
Timmy, Jimmy, and Danny arrived in the nurse's office to check up on their friend. They could hear before they even opened the door that Manny's parents were already there: gasping hyperventilation from his mother Maria and a stern reprimand from his father Rudolpho.
"Mom, I'm fine, it's just a few cuts and bruises where it bit me!" Manny assured his mother.
"Manny, I'm glad that you were able to protect Frida from that beast," His father said patiently, "but the two of you shouldn't have been out of bed that late in the first place!"
The three friends peered into the room. Manny was sitting on the bed with his left arm covered in bandages. His parents were standing on either side of him. A girl with blue hair and red goggles, Manny's best friend Frida, was sitting on a stool in the corner.
"We're lucky that thing ran into this kid first and not some helpless first year." The school nurse said as she finished fastening the bandages. "Erklings eat kids. I doubt someone without super powers would've been able to subdue it. Alright, you're done. Those bandages should kill the saliva from the bite so it won't get infected. Go play with your friends." She pointed her thumb over her shoulder to where the three friends were peeking in the door. They smiled sheepishly.
"What happened?" Timmy asked excitedly as the two teens exited the nurse's office.
Manny rolled his eyes. "I keep telling people, it's not a big deal! It's just some little elf-type thing with a long nose and sharp teeth."
"I'd say it's big deal." Jimmy insisted. "Erklings are native to Germany. How did one get to North America, much less past the wards and shields protecting the school?"
"What, so you're saying that someone smuggled it onto campus?" Frida asked. "Oh, dude! I bet it was the Flock of Fury! Black Cuervo's family arrived last night, and you know she's always hated my guts!"
"I dunno Frida, they usually stick to bird-themed stuff." Manny said. "This doesn't seem like their style."
"Hang on… how late last night did this happen?" Timmy asked.
"Uh, I don't exactly remember. It was way past midnight." Frida replied.
"Oh my gosh! That's around the same time I ran into this really suspicious teenager!"
The others rolled their eyes. "Timmy, it's probably just another student you've never met before." Danny said. "But someone else suspicious showed up last night. Vlad Masters."
"What the heck is he doing here?" The buck-toothed boy asked.
"He made some huge donation to the school, so he's Principal Oldsdotter's special guest." The ghost teen explained "But I bet that's not the only reason he's here.
"Eh, an Erkling doesn't seem like Vlad's style either." Manny pointed out.
"There's only one way to know for sure."
It didn't take long for the news of the Erkling attack to spread through the school. The teachers and administration didn't seem interested in investigating how the beast had gotten into the school. After all, it'd been caught by that Rivera boy, and school would be out in two days anyway.
Some of the students were more interested in the mystery. One of them was Dipper Pines, who was discussing the matter with his sister and his friend Wendy as they wandered around campus
"The attack happened the night after the first group of families arrived for the end of year celebration, which suggests that one of them smuggled the Erkling on to campus." He rambled on, "But who, and more importantly, why?"
The two girls shrugged.
"Maybe you should ask Stan if he saw anything weird when he drove down here." Wendy suggested.
"Yeah, maybe. I haven't had the chance to talk to him since left in the middle of dinner last… night…" Dipper trailed off; a shocking thought had crossed his mind.
Mabel immediately guessed what it was. "Come on Dipper, I know Grunkle Stan is a lying, cheating, mysterious old man, but do you seriously think he'd let dangerous creatures loose in the school?"
"Weeeeeeeeeeelllll…"
"He would if he thought he could make a profit off it." Wendy said flatly.
"Exactly." Mable replied, "What could Stan possible stand to gain from letting weird exotic monsters run around?"
As luck would have it, they were passing in front of the nurses' building when the door opened. Stan Pines and the head nurse stepped out, chatting.
"You're lucky I carry this stuff. Runespoor antivenom ain't easy to come by." The old man said.
The nurse nodded. "I'll say. It would've taken much too long to order from our supplier." She handed him a wad of bills. "Even if it would have been a lot cheaper." She added under her breath. "I can't believe this kind of thing happened again though. First the Erkling and now a Runespoor attack? This is unlike anything I've ever heard of."
Stan turned to see the three youngsters staring at him. "Oh, hey kids! I gotta go make a deposit." He said, holding up the cash, "I'll see ya at lunch."
"…It's him." Dipper said flatly once his great uncle had walked out of ear-shot.