Chapter 5: Bone-Chilling Misunderstandings

"Instructions? Er… Such as?" Deuce asks.

"What do you have in mind?" Briar asks.

Silver realizes, "Ah! Like the sign you posted in the Mirror Chamber?"

"Yes. Lay out a set of rules to follow, like our dorm of Diasomnia…" Vil says.

Then Jack says, "... and whoever breaks them will out themselves as Magicam Monsters."

Epel understands, "Ah, I get it now. Then we just expel those people."

Then Deuce and Jack say in determination, "YEAH! We'll blow 'em off campus!"

"Okay, but this whole 'security system' gimmick can only carry us so far. These guys aren't stupid. If they figure out we're using magic on the DL, we're gonna be the ones in hot water," Idia says.

"True. It doesn't really matter how much of a nuisance they're being. We're still not magic marshals. We're not supposed to use magic against lay people at all. Halloween Week would be the least of our problems if we got caught. Our whole school would be ratio'd," Cater says.

"So… what does that leave? Settling things with our fists?" Deuce asks.

"Dude, they'd still call the cops for that," Ace says.

"So we need a way to eject Magicam Monsters without attacking 'em. Is that even possible?" Grim replies. "Hmm…"

"I'm sure there's a way to get them to back off without hurting them," Tanzanite says.

"But how?" Jasper wonders.

Suddenly, Floyd begins laughing, "Aha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Ahem. Floyd," Riddle calmly replies.

Then sternly says, "We're trying to ponder a very pressing issue here. Would you care to explain what's so funny?"

"I mean, look at you! It's Doomerville, population: You guys up in here," Floyd says. "'What do we dooo?' 'We must find a solution!' What, like it's hard? Buncha goofballs."

Jade begins giggling, "Heh heh heh. Floyd, it's not polite to laugh at others."

"You're laughing too, Jade," Azul says.

"Ah. Forgive my impertinence," Jade says.

"What are you talking about, and must you be so smarmy about it?" Vil questions with a frown on his face.

"Goodness gracious. Everyone, I'd like you to consider what you've done when getting prior unwanted guests to leave," Azul says.

"Hey, most of us don't run into that on a regular basis…" Idia says.

Azulthen says, "Oh, is that right?"

"Maybe an example would help. Take a rental property," Jade says, "Most lease contracts do not allow a lessor to force a lessee out without a proper reason. In which case, you have to get them to leave voluntarily."

"You mean by enticing them with a better offer?" Riddle questions.

Then Kalim syas, "Ooh, I know! You sit down together and talk things over a nice meal, right?"

"Tch. Spoken like a true silver spooner," Ruggie replies.

Then says, "Shouldn't their sinister smirks be your first clue? I'm not sure it could be any more obvious.

He then grins, "If you want folks to leave, you make things so unpleasant for them that they don't WANT to stay."

"Brilliant deduction, Ruggie," Azul replies.

"Fear. Danger. Displeasure. Revulsion. Most people tend to stay away from things that elicit such feelings. The Magicam Monsters are no exception to this. Allow me a hypothetical. Purely hypothetical, of course," Jade says.

Then says, "What if instead of our cute little Grim and our friendly resident ghosts…" Then gives them a sinister smirk, "Night Raven College had genuinely frightening specters haunting it's halls? Would the Magiam Monsters be so eager to chase online popularity then?"

"If, hypothetically speaking, we were beleaguered with such spirits, I imagine they would be quite eager to exit the campus as fast as they could," Vil says.

"I imagine it will send them running away screaming. If it were me, I get the heck out of there," Briar says.

"Of course, there ARE no such personages haunting our safe and pleasant school environment. But some people might not be sure of that face," Jade says, and give them a malicious smile, "After all, this is Halloween Week - the time of year when ghosts roam freely in the corporeal world. And as you might notice…"

Soon, everyone begins to understand and some even smirk in reply.

Then Jade says, "... we're all wearing ghost costumes. We should be very careful to not give anyone cause for any bone-chilling… misunderstandings."

Jamil calmly smiles, "My goodness. How could I have overlooked such a terrible possibility?"

"Heh. Sure, keep playing coy," Leona replies.

Idia smirks, "Whee hee. Sounds like we'd better buff ourselves with some EXTRA precautions."

Then Grim says, "Hmmm… Okay, I get it."

"So basically…" Deuce says.

Then Deuce and Grim asks, "... what does any of that mean?"

"Oh, for - don't nod along if you don't get it!" Ace cries out.

Then Cater says, "Here's the deal: we go all hashtag #GhostSwag."

"What does that mean?" Grim asks.

Briar sighs and says, "What they mean is that the only way to get rid of the Magicam Monsters is to scare them right out of the campus! We just need to be so scary, so frightening, that they want to leave!"

"Now I get it, we're going to scare them away," Sereia says.

"Yeah. I say it's a great idea," Briar says.

"I agree. And with all of us in costumes, and some can use special signature moves, I think we can pull it off," Taznantie says.

"We'll have to be even more frightening than ever before," Jasper says.

Trinket nods her head in reply.

"Exactly, but we have to work fast if we want this to work," Briar says.

Vil nods and says, "The party will be held tomorrow night, October 31st. If we are to carry out this plan, it has to be tonight."

"Heh heh heh… Ahhh, the thrill of a hunt after dark," Rook says with a giggle.

Then Vil says, "All right, everyone. Listen up. We are practicing acting like ghosts so that we can liven things up more on Halloween. That is all we are doing."

Lilia snickers, "Khee hee hee. If we get a bit overeager in our practice, well, that's just the ardor of youth. Riiight?"

"Exactly. And this practice stays strictly between all of us here," Vil says. "Is that clear?"

"Yeah!" The students cheer, and ready to set the plan to motion.

Suddenly, they hear footsteps and turn to see Crowley and the teaching staff approach.

"Gracious. I see our students are having just as a heated debate about this," Crowley says.

Then says, "In the interest of allowing at least some possibility of holding the party tomorrow… we will hold off on any final decisions until we see how things play out in the morning."

"Yes, sir!" Epel, Deuce, and Jack say.

Kalim and Azul say, "Understood, sir!"

"That's absolutely fine by us, sir!" Lilia and Idia reply.

Vargas grows suspicious, "Huh. you guys accepted that pretty eagerly."

"I don't like the sound of this one bit," Crewel says, bringing out his pointer, "What are you up to?"

"Why, Professor! You wound me. You know that we're all good little puppers!" Cater says.

"We've all come to understand the gravity of the situation," Jade says.

"We'll simply have to pray that the Halloween Party plan works out," Vil says.

The professors simply stare at the students.

Then Trein says, "Once again, just to be entirely clear: You are to wait for instructions from us. I had better not see any funny business from any of you."

"Come now, Professor Trein. I know you're worried about our students… but there's no call to glower like that," Crewel says. "These pups might be a bit rowdy at times, but they're more excited than anyone for Halloween." And then brings out his pointer, "Surely, they wouldn't dream of causing any trouble on the eve of the holiday. I say we professors all spend today focusing on handling our visitors." and lowers it down, "The benefits are myriad, you see. I suspect that will give our pops considerable relief in terms of stress… and time."

Then turns to the students, "Isn't that right, bad boys and bad girls?"

Jade snickers, "Heh heh heh… Yes, sir. We thank you for your bid of confidence."

"Ah, whoop, it's just about 10 o' clock!" Cater says, "We'd better get to our stations before the visitors do."

Then Vil turns to everyone, "You all know what to do. Show our esteemed visitors the Halloween experience of a lifetime!"

"Yeah!" The students cheer.