Educational Suicide
Author's Note- Almost done at last! Coming up with good revenge ideas is HARD! How does Mao do it? Oh yeah, because I make him! *evil laughter* Anyways, this should be the second-to-last chapter, followed by the resolution so this is probably the last chapter of Mao's revenge, so enjoy!
Post Author's Note- this chapter is MUCH longer than my other chapters, don't say I didn't warn you!
Chapter 7: Revenge, Part 4- Slight Miscalculation
Homeroom was usual today, at least until the prinny messenger shuffled himself in and handed a letter to Mr. Redshirt (whom everyone was amazed that he had stayed homeroom teacher of Mao's class through this whole ordeal)
Mr. Redshirt was reading the newspaper when the prinny reluctantly tapped his knee; with an annoyed expression on his face, Mr. Redshirt lowered the curtain of newspapers that separated him from his class, who were all sitting quietly at his command 30 minutes ago. The prinny handed him the letter, then tried to leave quietly when Mr. Redshirt decided to pick up the prinny and throw it violently into the hallway, where it promptly exploded as it was expected to, completely shattering what was once a silent atmosphere.
All of the students raised their eyes for a moment, then promplyreturned their focus to whatever had been holding their attention for the past 30 minutes, whether it be a book they brought or simply a piece of dirt on the floor that they decided to look at because it was something to look at- this sort of cruelty to the messenger prinnys was fairly common, almost a daily event, it didn't faze them anymore.
Mr. Redshirt opened the letter, after finishing he then feelt like ruining the silence at his students' very divided attentions, he took a deep, very audible breath and screamed at the top of his lungs:
"AAAAAAAAAAAALMAAAAAAAAZ!"
From the sheer volume of his voice, most of the class became disheveled and some of the weaker students fell right out of their seats, Anna included.
"Yes, teacher?" Almaz said quietly, like a mouse facing a lion.
"Kotter-sensei demands your presence in a manner most... demanding would be the only word for it, so please collect your things and proceed to his room down the hallway." Mr. Redshirt said calmly as he watched the class pick themselves up from his calamity.
Almazquietly collected his sword, being his only possession he brought to class, and proceeded to the door when the room began to rumble. It was a low rumble, then it suddenly got louder and the room shook more, all leading up to the point when a massive figure bursted through the doorway, knocking it in along with half of the wall and poor Almaz was sent straight to the ground several feet away.
"WHAT IS WITH ALL OF THE YELLING?" Kotter-sensei boomed once the dust cleared.
"Oh, I was just waking up my students after a thrilling lesson on the nature of dirt on the ground!" Mr. Redshirt yelled, not angrily as he threw an eraser into the crowd of students still recovering from the 'explosion' that Kotter-sensei caused with his entrance; someone said 'ow', but who was unknown.
"WHERE IS ALMAZ?" Kotter boomed as he frantically searched the room, not noticing Almaz was the damaged husk of a man on the ground in front of him; if Kotter took one step forward, it was all over for Almaz.
Almaz quickly jumped up and into Kotter's field of view, who grabbed him by the legs and began to drag him into the hallway; Almaz, not very willing to be dragged so violently, frantically searched for something to grab onto, but the only things he could grab being a flat floor or an overturned desk he couldn't quite reach, Almaz simply accepted it as he was dragged through the wooden-floored hallway and into Kotter's concrete-floored private office.
Kotter swung Almaz over his head, scraping the tip of his hair across the ceiling then finally slamming him into a very cushy armchair on the other side of a battered wooden desk that was completely covered in various wrappers, boxes, and other miscellaneous trash piled so high Almaz wondered if Kotter could see him past all of it, because Almaz couldn't see Kotter's face past it.
"ALMAZ, do you know why I've brought you here?" Kotter began immediately once he smashed the carefully built pile to let them see each other and then he sat down on his much larger and much more cushy looking chair.
"Ummm, does it have something to do with yesterday?" Almaz guessed, figuring there wouldn't really be any other reasons that made today any different.
"Yes, yesterday..." Kotter drifted off, expecting Almaz to say something- both of them were thinking the same thing, about Almaz's... lack of clothing in the middle of a public area the day before.
"I'm sorry for my... appearance yesterday, it was an accident!" Almaz pleaded, hoping to avoid any more punishments for the day and to just get Mao's out of the way and return everything to the way it once was- at least then he could make progress to leaving Evil Academy and going back to the human world with the princess, never in a million years would Almaz expect what happened next...
"YOU'RE SORRY! FOR WHAT? Oh, that's right- you're still part human... Well since you've been here a while you should know, Almaz, that public nudity is a most impressive act that even the greatest of honor students here at Evil Academy would dare to commit! Most demons are a bit too afraid, it is because of this that I brought you here to offer my heartfelt congratulations on making the high honor roll for this semester, a privilege that only future demon lords, demon senators, and even future overlords have exclusively achieved." Kotter replied, to which Almaz could not.
High Honor roll, really? Does that make me an honor student, like a better honor student than Mao? I wonder...
"Has Mao ever gotten on the high honor roll?" Almaz asked.
"Well... Mao is a special case- he's earned it last year, but since he didn't show up at all last year, we couldn't give it to him; so the answer would be something like 'yes and no'." Kotter explained.
"Who else is on the high honor roll this year?" Almaz asked, feeling odd that he was essentially being given a reward and he had so many questions to ask rather than feeling glad.
"Hmmmm, actually... I CAN'T TELL YOU!" Kotter screamed right in Almaz's face, showering him in golem saliva in the process. Kotter then stood up, grabbed Almaz with his massive hand and rolled him out into the hallway like a bowling ball for some reason, probably because he felt like it and he had nothing more to say, or he just didn't like Almaz asking questions.
Why must demons be so senselessly violent toward me and only me? Even if it's because I'm human, why isn't Sapphire getting any of this? Not that it would matter, I'd stop them if they were! Or at least take the brunt of it for her... Almaz thought as he flew through the air and slammed against a wooden wall, barely going through it and ending up coughing up dust in the same room he had just left not 5 minutes ago.
"Ah, Almaz, so nice of you to rejoin us just as we are leaving- by the looks of it your visit to Kotter must have been... stimulating." Mr. Redshirt said as he carefully stepped over Almaz through the hole in the wall created by his entrance, most of the class following in suit.
"Get up, servant; we have work to do." Mao's familiar voice barked as a pair of shoes stopped themselves in Almaz's face. Almaz quickly stood up and faced Mao.
"Listen, Mao-"
"Whatever you have to say either can wait or I don't want to hear it at all- take your pick."
"Mao I really think that-"
"DON'T CARE! Like I said, we have work to do- I'm working on a lead to open my heart so meet me at the dimensional gate in 10 minutes, ALL OF YOU!" Mao yelled, gaining the attention of the students that were down the hallway that just left homeroom.
I wonder what Mao's so eager for... I guess I'll find out, and since I've really nothing else to do now-
"!" Anna's familiar voice whined from the classroom, the relative volume completely unnecessary since there was only about 12 feet between her and Almaz.
"Yes, what is it?" Almaz asked as he stormed into the room with a worried expression across his face, only to see her still sitting at her desk.
"I don't feel like walking, carry me."
"... could you repeat that..?"
"I SAID CARRY ME!"
"You're joking, right?"
"You wish, slave!"
I soooo hate being her slave, she's so much worse than Mao!
"Fine..." Almaz capitulated, slowly he dragged his feet over to Anna's desk and carefully slid one arm under her legs and the other around her back, and he picked her up just as simple as that, noticing she was much lighter than she looked, or maybe Almaz was just stronger than he thought- or maybe both.
"So... why am I doing this..?" Almaz asked once he stepped carefully over the rubble from the hole in the wall.
"Because you're my slave and because I said so. Now, bring me to the Nurse's Office!" Anna said as she made a sort of 'giddy up' motion with her hands.
"Do we have time for that?" Almaz asked as he hastened his pace while simultaneously ignoring all of the giggling freshmen around him.
"We have 10 minutes, that's plenty of time if you HURRY UP!" Anna said, slapping Almaz's cheek as if to say he was still to slow.
So I have to carry her while she talks to the nurse? This is so unfair...
Despite how obviously loud and conspicuous the laughing freshmen were, Anna either didn't notice or pretended not to- not that it mattered, they were laughing at Almaz, anyways. Even as Almaz finally entered the private sanctum of the nurse's office, the laughing didn't leave him- even the nurse couldn't help but giggle.
"Hello Anna and Almaz, what can I help you with?"
"Almaz, put me on that bed and go away- this is girl's time now." Anna commanded casually, Almaz followed her command.
After setting Anna down, Almaz slipped out of the nurse's office without another word, mostly to avoid another one of Anna's commands. Curiously, though, Almaz couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation- it had to involve Almaz or otherwise he wouldn't have been shooed.
"My foot's broken, can you fix it in the next... 7 minutes?" Anna asked the nurse once she thought Almaz was out of earshot.
"Certainly, since you're in the nursing club and you're such a good assistant, I'll do it for free."
Her foot's broken? How did that happen? It was fine earlier! And why didn't she tell me? Wait... her desk is in the top corner next to the wall so... a piece of rubble probably broke it from my entrance... So it's my fault... But still why did she keep that from me? Did she not want me to feel guilty? Usually demons look for any chance to hurt my feelings, and the one time it's something I caused, she keeps that from me? I don't think I'll ever figure demons out...
Almaz decided that nothing more would be gained if he continued to listen, so he left with a good feeling- not to hear the conspiracy that followed that probably would've ruined his good mood.
"So, is the potion ready?" Anna asked
"It was a rush job, but I guarantee the success; who are you going to give it to?" The nurse replied, removing a vial filled with what looked like clear water from a hot plate and carefully setting it down to cool.
"Hmmmm... I'm not so sure anymore..."
"Well whomever you give it to, they are very lucky that it was you that gave it to them."
Both of them cackled evilly, then the nurse proceeded to wrap Anna's foot in bandages as Anna whimpered in pain.
"Glad you all could make it... I think..." Mao said as he glanced over the few volunteers that actually showed up at the gate- just himself, Almaz, Anna, Sapphire, Kyoko and Jethro- the warrior that transferred into Mao's class last-minute.
"So, why are we here?" Jethro asked bluntly, not like he really cared.
"I've found another lead to open my heart!" Mao announced.
"And why should I care?" Jethro asked, still not caring.
He's got a good point, why does he care? This is all essentially for my benefit to get my title back, no one else is really getting anything out of it.
"You should care because my report on your behavior depends on it!" Mao barked back, giving Jethro a moment to let it sink in what that meant.
What it meant was that as Freshmen Class Leader, Mao could write a report about how a student in his class behaved- good or bad, and in the case of a good report a student could be seen as a delinquent, and such reports often end up in the hands of the PTA, which leads to many weeks of brainwashing and hard labor to get them back on the path to being an Honor Student- all by a single piece of paper, it doesn't even matter if it ws the truth.
"Alright, alright I'll go with you on your... adventures." Jethro finally said after he processed what Mao was talking about.
"Excellent, now for where we are going: After much research I finally found the link between love and the heart! Allowing oneself to love means their heart is open to that person, item or whatever else people love; so if I could get something that people... love, then it could give me a clue on how to open my heart! Simple right?" Mao explained while carefully keeping himself from drooling at his own genius in the process.
"So... what does that mean for us?" Jethro asked, still not really caring.
"Don't use that tone of voice with me! Don't forget several weeks worth of hard labor and brainwashing for you is just a simple stroke of the pen away!" Mao shot back, producing immediate results as Jethro perked himself up and produced a most ridiculous fake smile.
"What is means is that I need another piece of data to finally conclude my research, something that people who love each other give; a flower- but not any ordinary flower! I need a special flower, the alpha-flower! And since flowers are an eyesore to most demons, the only flower that can be found anywhere in Evil Academy that isn't fake is in the Academy's desert!" Mao continued, again giving everyone a minute to let it sink in what that meant- a trip to the desert.
Everyone inevitably whined and Mao inevitably ignored their whining and commanded them to be glad they were serving someone as great as he- business as usual, in other words.
"Young master, I must advise that you take extra travelling provisions with you on your journey, the desert is a dangerous place and even with my vast network of portals, I can only open up one in the desert, which is quite far away from the oasis of the desert where the desert flowers grow; travel will take some time." Geoffery said, appearing out of thin air in front of the portal gate.
"Right you are, Geoffery. Since the desert is, well, a desert, we'll need to stock up on provisions- namely, food and water- which I already gathered in the last 10 minutes, during which the rest of you were probably goofing off- my 1.8 million E.Q. already foresaw this problem and was well prepared. For this trip, these provisions will be carried exclusively by Anna, comments?"
"WHAT? I can't carry all that!" Anna cried, Mao ignored her.
Well, I suppose it doesn't matter, I'll just order Almaz to carry it! Anna thought deviously, a slight smile giving away her intentions.
"Oh, and before you think of ordering Almaz to carry it- don't bother, as his official master I overrule any such order, you will carry it all, Anna."
"THIS IS SO UNFAIR! I can't carry all this in the desert heat! Damn damn DAMN that MAO!" Anna cursed, barely keeping it above a whisper.
It's difficult to take a side here... while Mao is kinda being a jerk about it, he's right that Anna should carry the food and water, since whomever carries it will have to be protected in the chance of an attack and since we have to protect Anna anyways, so why not kill two birds with one stone? Almaz thought, but his good conscience prevailed in the end he willingly took just over half of the food for the trip, totalling about an eighth of the load.
Once all of the travel provisions were gathered up, Geoffrey opened the portal and stepped aside, giving his last wishes for a most... eventful trip as he bowed and everyone stepped through the portal.
"DAMN IT'S HOT!" Jethro felt the need to call out, it was totally unnecessary- not only did everyone else fully realize it was hot, but it's been hot for the past 3 hours of the travel from the portal.
"OF COURSE IT'S HOT YOU IDIOT! ANYONE NOT IN A COMA COULD'VE FIGURED THAT OUT!" Mao yelled back just after wiping the sweat off of his forehead, also unnecessary, more replaced it within seconds.
"Just tryin' to make conversation..." Jethro said as he took an extra-large leap forward and sunk about a foot into the soft sand, everyone watched as he wrestled himself free after a minute or so.
Everyone is cranky from all this heat... let's hope we find that flower before we all decide to kill each other- If we do kill each other, I think Jethro's gonna die first... WHAT? I shouldn't think such thoughts... think positive! We'll certainly make it before long!
"Whoever's doing it, stop the damn positive thinking! It makes me sick" Mao yelled.
I hate it when he does that... Almaz thought as his mind returned to the thought of Mao's revenge for the day.
There's no way that he's going to be able to engineer another clever revenge in this desert heat, maybe he'll skip today's revenge... At least I hope so...
"I need some water!" Sapphire announced suddenly, ruining Almaz's train of thought.
"You don't need to announce it just get some from ANNA!" Mao yelled, more as a call to attention since Anna was only half-conscious while she was walking, immediately she propped herself up to attention, removed the excessively large pack that was used to keep the water cold, and she began to search inside it for water.
The water inside the pack was carefully rationed, with each person getting 6 bottles of water a day for a week. A week's worth of water for one person would total to 42 bottles, times 6 people, Anna had to carry a total of 252 bottles of water, which very rapidly got lighter by the hour. At it's peak point (the beginning) the water weighed a total of about 176 pounds at half a pound each, coupled with a nearly equally heavy weight of half of the total food, Anna was dragging along much more than twice her weight in travel provisions, not carrying, dragging.
Anna searched the pack for Sapphire's bundle of water, which was apparantly lost in the mounds of everyone else's water bundles, so she searched for a minute before Mao got angry at her keeping the group from moving due to her poor searching skills.
"What's taking so long? I'll find it myself if your too stupid!" Mao barked as he approached her, everyone else took a seat, all expecting this to take a while.
"I don't appreciate you calling your pack mule stupid..." Anna said, softly but with enough volume for everyone to hear.
"Did you lose it or something?" Mao whispered once he was right next to her, careful not to let anyone hear him and her speak of their conspiracy.
"I have it here, but I also figured you wanted some water too, so I got you over here without calling you over, which you probably would've thought I was ordering you and you would've yelled at me." Anna whispered as she tossed Sapphire her water and simultaneously offered Mao a water, who at first was too stubborn to take it, being tricked by her in such a way; but in the end he swiped it out of her hand.
"You've got some nerve talking to me like that, but you're probably right. You seem to know me better than I expected... Perhaps you arent as much of a pest as I thought you were" Mao said, afterward he raised the water to his lips, but stopped and watched with a satisfied smirk as Sapphire took a single drink from her water and it was all drained within seconds; Anna, meanwhile, was virtually comatose at what Mao had said.
He complimented me... He doesn't hate me! Is this what love feels like? Why do demons hate love so much if it feels this good? *gasp* I gave him the potion!
"Mao, wait!" Anna cried, too late.
Mao took a healthy drink from his water, half of which he spit out.
"You gave me-... the wrong... damn..." Mao began to yell, but something overcame him before he could finish. Mao suddenly dropped his half-empty water in the sand and clutched his head with one hand and his chest with the other.
"Damn you Anna..." Mao said weakly as he collapsed. Everyone rushed over to see if he was ok, with the exception of Jethro who rushed over to see if there was anyhting valuable to take before he split, there wasn't, so he just returned to sitting down in the hot sand.
"What did you give him?" Sapphire inquired a bit angrily.
"You don't want to know; but I assure you he'll wake up... I just pray he'll have forgotten by then..."
What's going on..?
I think I drank the potion...
Did she mix them up..? Or did she do this on purpose?
I think I'm feeling better, way better! Things don't seem as... cloudy as before... I don't think I've ever felt this good!
"Hey everyone, he's waking up!" A female voice cried, it could only be Anna's, followed by a small stampede of footsteps in the sand, but they didn't seem to come too close.
Mao sat up in the makeshift bed he was in (a blanket knitted last-minute by Kyoko on top of the sand), opened his eyes and glanced at his surroundings in his blurred vision.
The first thing Mao noted was that it was night, and in his tired mind he pulled forth the thought that desert nights are very cold, but it didn't seem so cold now, not while she was here.
"Anna..? Is that you?" Mao asked in a raspy voice, his throat was burning and dry, and he tasted sand in the back corners of his mouth.
"Mao... how... how are you feeling?" Anna asked, more than a little nervously.
"Better, now that I know you're here." Mao said as he pulled Anna into a very, very close embrace, Anna did nothing to stop him, her hands limply hanging at her sides and a surprised expression on her face.
"What? Is that still the same Mao as before?" Almaz asked, voicing everyone else's thoughts.
"Not... not really, you see, it's a funny story really, but that water was laced... with a love potion..." Anna said, still in Mao's arms.
"You're kidding, right?" Almaz asked, Anna shook her head no.
Mao pulled Anna closer, Anna was very visibly shaking and looked quite scared at this new Mao, who noticed her tension and again pulled her closer.
"Uh, Mao, can you ease up a bit, I can't breathe..." Anna coughed, Mao evidently ignored her as he pulled her in closer and tightened his grip.
"I won't let go of you, Anna; never again." Mao said in a especially seductive voice no one had heard before as he again pulled her closer, making her cough a little- she couldn't breathe at all now. Mao closed his eyes and smiled, he seemed to be enjoying how close he was to Anna, who was far from enjoying this awkward and painful situation.
"Mao, maybe you should let up a bit..." Almaz said, concern evident, but he wasn't sure for whom.
Anna coughed again, and suddenly Mao's facial expression changed from lover's happy to his usual angry-happy as he once more tightened his grip and stood up, lifting Anna into the air as well.
"Try to poison me with that love-potion will you? You'll regret that! Revenge for you is as simple as 1, 2, 3!" Mao sneered, letting go with his right hand and grasping his sheathed sword with it, still maintaining a tight grip on Anna with the other, who was too shocked and weak to break free.
"1..."
"Mao, don't! Please!" Anna screamed, no one seemed in a big hurry to stop Mao- if he was this mad now, if anyone tried to stop him, there'd be hell to pay.
"2..." Mao said, letting go of Anna with his left hand. Anticipating she would try to run, Mao grabbed her left arm with his free hand, again pulling her in close but this time she was facing away from him; Mao then placed his sword at her neck level, not 3 inches in front of her, poised to deliver the killing slice.
"STOP, I'M SORRY!" Anna screamed, her cries fell on deaf ears.
"and... 3!" Mao called, his words dripping with sadistic excitement at her panic.
Mao let go of Anna, who carefully ducked under his sword as she quickly ran in terror away from him; Mao again anticipated her movements and as she moved away, Mao sliced downward- perfectly hitting his target.
Mao didn't cut Anna with the sword, and after she ran far enough so she was sure she was out of his grasp or sword range, she turned and saw him, noticing his clothes were liberally covered in golden-blonde hair and a deadly smirk played across his face.
"You didn't..." Anna said, tears welling up in her eyes as she frantically ran her hands through her hair, which was now not much longer than Almaz's hair, her hair now suddenly ending just above her neck, looking like someone cut it with a dull butter knife.
"It's no secret that girls love their hair, so for trying to make me love you forcefully, you lose your hair- if only Almaz's revenge were that simple, we probably wouldn't be here." Mao said, directing his view to Almaz, who was still shaking at the events that just unfolded in front of him. Mao's smile disappeared, and he looked around at everyone else, all of them were either surprised or scared.
"Since this trip was essentially for nothing but revenge, I think I've got that; so let's just go back." Mao commanded, as he started to walk away, everyone but Anna followed, Almaz picked up the large pack of water and food.
"Come with us or stay here, I don't care anymore- either way you're out of our class when we get back." Mao called back to Anna. Tears flowing like a waterfall, Anna didn't move a muscle.
Now he hates me more than ever! WHY did I think giving him the potion was a good idea? Stupid! Stupid! STUPID!
Again caving in to his sympathy, Almaz quickly walked back to Anna.
"Are you alright?" Almaz asked.
Anna didn't immediately answer, she had to wipe away her tears and quiet her sobbing first.
"Carry me..." Anna said, more of as a request than an order to her servant. Almaz rolled his eyes, shifted the pack on his back so his arms were comfortable, and picked her up without a word of complaint.
No one spoke another word the whole trip back.
A.N.- wow, this was MUCH longer than I thought it would be! I expected it to be long, but not quite THIS long! I congratulate anyone who has read this whole chapter, and I give another congratulations to those who did it in one sitting! I assure you, I couldn't do the same.
Anyways, a tragic ending to Mao and Anna's final revenge plan, but the resolution will wrap it all up quite nicely and with minimal hair injury, I assure you all.