Notes: Psst, huskies4EVER, check the French in chapter five again. I'm using the futur proche correctly, right?

Anyways, I will be closing winter registration by the next update (that's one or two more days, depending on my mood/the muses/any events coming up). So if you've got a fanbrat, go fill out the form! There will be spring registration around Eastertime, too.

We're drawing close to the end of the first semester (at Christmas; I'm being a lazy ass and not making each semester mathematically equal). Hopefully several plot points will be resolved by then. And yes, I am trying to make a very ironic point with the quarantine. Hope you can figure it out.

Part XXI

December fell upon the school like falling snow. Glittering and dancing, the snowflakes coated just about every available surface. Blizzards were starting to become more and more frequent, to the point where Matthew's team nearly mutinied at having to practice in a snowstorm.

Matthew didn't care, of course. Hockey rage was hockey rage. He had barely scraped a victory against Alfred in their match in late November; he was now compensating for the loss of two teammates (Azure and Kiril) by pushing the rest in a manner that would have made any tiger parent proud.

Jennifer had to admit that she missed Megan. She had no idea where the alien went; Workbitch was being very evasive about the whole quarantine thing. He didn't seem to support the idea, though.

"It's like the internment camps," he admitted one afternoon as they sat side by side against a window, watching the snowflakes. "They're completely isolated from the rest of the school and are questioned pretty much every day. It's terrible, but Mr. Allen's not backing down."

"Why not?" Jennifer wondered, rubbing her hands together and breathing on them. Gods, they felt like icicles. "They're innocent! Is Mr. Allen just trying to make it look like he's doing something when he isn't?"

Workbitch's expression was serious. "Mr. Allen's primary concern is the safety of this school," he said gravely.

"Megan would never have helped the Mary Sue escape," Jennifer replied. "Students have rarely entered the Staff Section, so how can Megan –"

"I'm not saying that your friend is guilty, Jennifer," Workbitch replied quietly. "I'm just saying that the school is in a state of emergency and Mr. Allen is concerned about a possible attack that may be facilitated by one of the… more Mary Sue-like students in the school."

"You're saying that those students are spies for the Mary Sues!"

Workbitch flushed red. "I didn't say anything of the sort! I'm just doing the paperwork!"

"That's just as guilty in my book!" Jennifer snapped, crossing her arms. "Megan and Lucia are innocent, and you helped imprison them!"

"Jennifer, you are taking this too personally!" Workbitch snapped, looking just as furious. "What can I do? I'm subordinate to Mr. Allen. The school stands under threat of attack. If one of the students turns out to have been helping the Mary Sues –"

"Well, I don't think that these 'Mary Sue Internment Camps' are necessary –"

"Jennifer, please think of it in the proper context –"

"Workbitch?" The two turned to see a nurse with dark hair and brilliant green eyes. There was something strange about her – something familiar, even. Jennifer frowned a little.

"What is it, Nurse Takara?" Workbitch groaned.

"You're expected at the courtroom."

Jennifer jumped up. "Now you're trying them?" she screamed at Workbitch, horrified.

"Not the students," Workbitch muttered. "Me."

"They're trying you?" Jennifer blinked, feeling dazed and stupid. "What's going on?"

"A tribunal," Nurse Takara replied. There seemed to be an odd glow about her. "Set up by McCarthy Era Alfred and Spanish Inquisition Antonio, the tribunal is designed to root out Mary Sue sympathisers within the IAHF staff." She sent a sidelong look at Workbitch, who blushed slightly. "Anyone found guilty will be placed on probation and possibly… deported." The way she said 'deported' chilled the fangirl to the bones.

There was a scream from far off. "Another student trying to sneak in?" Workbitch sighed.

"Either that, or someone just got deported," Takara replied with a shrug.

"Where do you go when you're deported?" Jennifer wondered, shivering.

"How do we know?" Workbitch mumbled. "Mr. Allen has never deported anyone… yet."

"Well, this isn't a very happy Christmas season," Alexandria Russell complained on a Monday evening at dinnertime. "I failed my Japanese test."

"How?" Anastasia Debby wondered. Alexandria pulled out her test and handed it to the other fangirl.

"Look, I got 'kaerimasen' and 'kaerimasu' mixed up, and then I messed up the entire hiragana chart…"

"Ouch," Anastasia mumbled, looking at the test.

"Ha, you think that's bad," scoffed Shannon Price. "Look at my Italian test! I forgot how to conjugate '-are' verbs and I thought that 'lezione' was masculine! And then –"

"Yeah, sure, that's great," Roksana growled. "Look at my French quiz! I mixed up 'aller' and 'avoir'!"

"What? How? Those conjugations are completely different!" Huskie snapped.

"Can we all shut up about our tests?" Emmanuella demanded, her German essay crumpled in her hands. "Look, our friends are stuck in some internment camp in who-knows-where. That's definitely indicative of an unhappy Christmas season, am I correct?"

"Unhappy holidays to you, too," Roksana mumbled.

"Oh, right, I don't think you're Christian…" Emmanuella looked sheepish. "Sorry."

"Haha, 'unhappy holidays' sounds funny," Alexandria snickered. "Unhappy holidays, unhappy holidays… While the mournful bells keep ringing, may your every thought be blue…"

Some people giggled. "Making fun of holiday carols?" Andrew Ho cackled. "That's so retarded."

"But it's fun," Rachael Wilkison pointed out. "We should have a contest!"

Jennifer sighed and ate her fondue with a completely straight face. As an Edelweiss versus SwissLiecht food fight broke out, she groaned and took her platter out of the room. Sometimes she could really be a depressed loner, it seemed.

"These food fights happen often?" Workbitch was standing around outside, snowflakes resting in his hair and scarf.

"How was the tribunal?" Jennifer asked, completely averting the question. "I didn't see you for a week."

Workbitch sighed. "I'm not guilty, but McCarthy Alfred is more paranoid than a bird and has put me on probation anyways. At this rate, there'll be cameras set up in everyone's rooms."

"That'd be inconvenient," Jennifer blurted out, before blushing bright red. "I meant…"

"I know what you mean," Workbitch said, pink around the cheeks as well.

"Oh, well…" Jennifer sighed. "I'm sorry about losing my temper with you last time," she admitted.

"It's okay," he replied, sighing. "Holiday decorations will be going up soon, I think, and Sealand's nearly done with customs."

"New students? When are they coming?" Jennifer wondered aloud.

"At the end of the first semester," Workbitch answered. Jennifer nodded as she ate her fondue.

"I… see…" she sighed after a moment. "No news on Megan?"

"There's news, but I can't tell you." He bit his lower lip. "McCarthy Alfred would have my head."

Jennifer sighed. "Way to comfort me," she complained.

"Would a hug be better?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow. She giggled, blushing, but hugged him all the same.

"See you tomorrow?" she asked when they broke away. He nodded, eyes twinkling as she walked back into the cafeteria.

The holiday decorations went up, but no one seemed cheerful. An air of paranoia seeped through staff and students alike, to the point where Arthur nearly strangled Alfred in Platonic Love class, temporarily mistaking him for his McCarthy counterpart.

"Ow, Artie! Ow! That fucking hurt!" Alfred complained when Arthur's psychotic moment passed. "What was that for?"

Arthur blinked. "Oh, bloody hell, you're not him are you?"

"I'm not my McCarthy counterpart!" Alfred whined. "I don't know what's wrong with that bugger! He even had me investigated! Me! Me, a Mary Sue-sympathising Commie bastard? As if!"

"I know, I was there in the courtroom," Arthur groaned. "He tried me next, accusing me of liking the attention from the Mary Sues. Liking!"

"I never thought I'd say this, but man, I hate that guy," Alfred grumbled.

The USUK shippers were all starry-eyed at their ship grousing about a common enemy together. Alfred and Arthur were standing side-by-side with the air of two friends who had been seriously wronged by a third party. After a moment, Arthur looked up and glared at the USUK shippers.

"What are you lot staring at? Do your worksheets! Your final exam's in two weeks, I'll have you know!"

"Yeah, you need to pass that to take International Relations," Alfred chipped in.

"Can't you just pass all of us and save yourselves the work?" Hotaru wondered aloud.

"Absolutely not!" Arthur snapped. "You're passing this test because you don't want to disappoint us, now do you?" The two immediately adopted pleading expressions. "Can't resist the puppy dog face, right?"

"Fuck, you're right," Karin grumbled, scribbling away at her worksheet.

"Well, then work!" Arthur exclaimed, still managing to pull off the kicked puppy expression while yelling at them.

The students immediately bent over their desks and started working again. Arthur dropped the expression and rolled his eyes. "Back to the original topic," he complained loudly. "Did you hear who he and Spanish Inquisition Antonio are going to investigate next?"

"Who?" Alfred wondered.

"The Chibi Nations."

The American gasped. "No!" he exclaimed. "That's unjust! I'm a hero, and the hero disapproves of investigating cute little Chibis!"

"Yeah, your McCarthy clone thinks that Chibitalia might have helped the Mary Sue by making her pasta or something," Arthur said sarcastically. "If Feliciano was found innocent of that charge, then shouldn't Chibitalia be innocent, too?"

"I know!" Alfred sighed, with all the air of a high school gossip girl. Jennifer half expected him to examine his nails and say 'totally uncool!' any moment.

Arthur sighed as well. "Makes me wonder who the real culprit is, though. I mean, I don't think they should've imprisoned those students; it's obvious that they never set foot in the Staff Section, much less helped a Mary Sue escape it. But no, Mr. Allen insisted…"

"That guy needs to get laid," Alfred remarked.

"ALFRED!"

"Telling it like it is, man! I mean, he acts like you the morning after –"

"SHUT UP, WE'RE IN A ROOM FULL OF FANGIRLS!"

"Oh, right." The USUK shippers had perked up. "I was just going to say 'the morning after someone shoves a stick up your ass' but sure."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, YOU BLEEDING WANKER?"

"Oh, you heard me. Don't be a deaf old fart," Alfred said innocently, whistling cheerily.

"FUCK YOU!"

"What if we're next?" Merka wondered fearfully at lunch. "Next to the tribunals and then internment?"

"Why are you asking me?" Jennifer moaned, crossing her arms and looking at Merka across the table.

"You know, I bet they'd get you next," Kitty pointed out as she walked past with a bowl of Pho. "Since you're Mrs. Bartholomew, after all."

"He's a friend!" Jennifer screeched, throwing a spring roll at Kitty's head. "F-R-I-E-N-D!"

"F is for friends who do stuff together, U is for you and me," Alexandra Reynolds sang innocently.

"Oh, shut up," Jennifer sighed.

"Just ask him out already; I'm about to lose my bet," Alexandra replied. Jennifer skulked.

"But in all seriousness," Merka mumbled. "I'm scared to be next. It could happen, you know."

"You're not a Mary Sue," Jennifer pointed out. "They picked on the non-human students."

"That means I could be next!" Lydia screamed suddenly. "I'm part-carrot!"

"And I've got this horn," Emmanuella chipped in, stroking her horn gingerly. "We could be next! That's awful!"

"No, I bet the League of Extraordinary Anglophiles is next!" Nastashia Fernandez declared dramatically, standing up and pointing right to Kriss and Merka.

"Why, was the Mary Sue an England fangirl?" Kriss demanded.

"Actually, she was," Carolina noted. "Sakura said so."

"I bet the Nerds are next!" Sara exclaimed suddenly. "I mean, they know too much!"

"Then I suppose you're next," Franklin Livingston pointed out. "Since you're such a Canada fangirl!"

"That has nothing to do with the Mary Sue!" Sara exclaimed. "On the other hand, you know too much about the Mary Sue!"

"You'd know the Staff Section better, since you're always trying to sneak into Matthew's room!" Tori exclaimed.

"Can we stop pointing fingers?" Merka complained. "It's not helping me get rid of the paranoia!"

"It's a conspiracy!" Emmanuella declared. "I bet that the Staff knows who helped the Sue and they're just creating this atmosphere to scare the fuck out of us! Well, that's cruel!"

"You know what's even more cruel?" Kriss exclaimed. "The fact that our classmates are being detained in some other part of the school!"

"The problem is that they signed the contract, like the rest of us," Rachael pointed out. "So the Staff's not going to be held accountable for that."

Kriss slumped. "That's right…" she muttered after a while. "I hope they find the culprit soon."

Takara looked across the courtroom at Mr. Allen – Mr. Hugh today – from her position in front of the tribunal.

"Miss Takara, you are certain that you did not provide assistance to the Mary Sue?" Spanish Inquisition Antonio asked again. She nodded.

"Of course, I didn't," she lied, her expression confident. The Aura of Smooth had worked beautifully. McCarthy Alfred was looking rather slack-jawed, and Mr. Hugh had been intently watching her during the interrogation.

"Well then, you are not guilty," Antonio replied, slamming the gavel down. "You may leave."

Takara swept out of the courtroom, attracting the attention of the other male observers as she left. She had to hand it to them – they played beautifully into her hands.

Her conscience screamed at her. It's not right! Why did you agree to this? Do you see the effect you have on them? Their brainwashed stares? Takara, what's wrong with you?

Shut up! The side of her desperate for Mr. Hugh's attention screamed back. I won't listen to you! This is my only chance to get him to notice me!

"Miss Takara?" It was that Workbitch fellow. Takara could tell that he suspected her by that look in his eyes. She regarded him coolly – he was only one against the rest of the staff, and he told that student that he had no say in things, anyways.

If he tried anything… Takara's dark side smirked, wondering what Workbitch would say if she convinced Mr. Hugh to write a warrant of arrest for that student. That student might know too much, anyways.

Workbitch continued to glare at her. "Congratulations on not being found guilty," he said sarcastically. She raised an eyebrow.

"And to you, too." She paused. "Be careful, Work."

"I tread on thin ice all the time," he replied enigmatically, brushing past her. "You don't need to threaten me."

Takara watched him leave. For a moment, her conscience guilt tripped her. She shook her head, blinking away tears.

No guilt! No guilt! I won't stand for any guilt! she thought furiously. You have no power over me!

Quoting Labyrinth was always appropriate, after all.