Poe came to fetch them. He was grumbling a little, "You're worse than your father was... blowing your cover and losing your job after only one day of work."
"It was self-defense!" Violet protested. "They were trying to take over Dash's mind and kill us."
"In the good old days, heroes fended off death every day without ever losing their secret identities. But never mind, you're just kids. I've found a nice place for you."
"Where? A coal mine?" asked Dash sarcastically.
"Guugh!" said Jack-Jack.
"It's a new private school with on-campus accommodations for charity cases," said Poe.
"We get to go back to school?" said Violet.
"Whew!" said Dash, "I never thought I'd be happy to be going to school, but I am."
"Some of your friends from your old school have transferred there," said Poe.
"Ummm.. was one of them named Rydinger?" asked Violet shyly.
"Yes, I seem to remember that name on the list," said Poe.
Violet gave a happy little sigh, and Dash snickered.
"Dash, you'll be glad to hear that your old teacher has become the new Vice-Principal there. His name's Bernie Nero. They don't have a Principal yet."
Dash stopped snickering and looked upset. Jack-Jack chuckled.
"Nero has it in for me," Dash said.
"Because you put thumbtacks on his chair at super-speed, that's why!" said Violet.
"Well, here we are," said Poe. "Go ahead to the Vice-Principal's office. He's expecting you."
The sign under the grim gates to the cheerless place read "Prudence Preparatory," and the motto below was "Abandon all hope." The children made their way across the deserted grounds and into the biggest building in the center of the campus, the Administration Building.
Nero was in his office. He gave Dash a wild-eyed look.
"Ummm, Mr. Nero," said Dash. "I hope you're not still mad at me."
"I hope you're not still mad at me," Nero repeated back in a sneering voice.
"It's not nice to mock people," said Violet reproachfully.
"It's not nice to mock people," repeated Nero. "Dash openly mocked me in front of my whole class. He put thumbtacks on my stool somehow and smirked when I couldn't prove it. He's guilty, guilty, guilty! But now I've got you where I want you, young hooligans!"
"Where's that?" asked Dash. He might have been mocking back, but Nero didn't catch it.
"Under my discipline, that's where!" said Vice-Principal Nero. "I set the rules, and I set the punishments around here! For example, for coming into my office, you all have to eat your next meal in the cafeteria without silverware!"
"But you wanted us to come into your office," Violet protested.
"That doesn't matter. A rule's a rule. I also play the violin every night to reinforce appreciation of classical music. If you miss my concerts, you have to buy me a bag of candy."
"What about classes?" asked Violet.
"Mr. Remora and Mrs. Bass will teach you storytelling and the metric system."
"What about Jack-Jack?" asked Violet. "He's too young for classes."
"He will stay here in my office during the day and help me by making office supplies. I need lots of staples. I never put up notices in the halls with thumbtacks. There will be no thumbtacks in this school! Heee heee heee."
He children stared at him.
"Now, get out of here. If you're late for lunch you have to drink your water without a glass, in a puddle."
"But where are we going to live?" asked Dash.
"Where are we going to live?" mocked Nero. "Hee hee hee. There's an old gardening shed on the grounds I've had fixed up for you. I call it the Orphan's Shack."
The children shuddered at being called orphans. Syndrome had called them that, and he might have made it come true.
"But don't know for sure we're orphans!" Violet said.
"Yaagh!" agreed Jack-Jack.
"You're staying in the Orphan's Shack, so you're orphans. That's final. Now go!"
As they walked out of the building, Dash whispered to Violet, "He's really gone around the bend."
"I think you drove him there," said Violet.
They hurried straight to the cafeteria, where they were served pork and beans without silverware. Violet saw a girl she recognized and went to sit by her.
"You think you're sitting here after what you did to me?" said the girl angrily.
"What do you mean, Kari? What did I do?" asked Violet.
"You left a message on my cell phone that you had a babysitting job for me, so I went over there. You weren't there."
"It was too late for what we wanted to do, so we gave up and went to the beach," Dash said.
"The beach!" Kari snapped. "And while I was looking in the window your whole house went up in a fireball! I could have been killed."
"Kari,..." said Violet. She was trying to apologize, but Kari cut her off.
"Don't Kari me! You're not my friend any more," said Kari. "Call me by my full name -- Kari Melita Spats! I've got a new name for you, too. Cakesniffer!"
As Violet and her siblings walked sadly away to a different table, Kari got her clique of friends to chant after them.
"Cakesniffing orphans in the Orphan's Shack! Cakesniffing orphans in the Orphan's Shack!"
"Leave them alone, Kari Melita!" called a boy with red hair. He looked a lot like a boy Violet had a crush on all semester, but it wasn't him. "Come over here, there's room at our table."
The children sat down at the table next to the boy and a girl who looked almost identical to him.
"I'm Duncan Rydinger, and this is my sister Isadora," said the boy.
"Are you related to Quigley Rydinger?" Violet asked hopefully.
"He was our brother," Isadora said sadly. "We're triplets. He died a few days ago when our house caught on fire."
Violet gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh no! Noooh."