Sues swarmed OPA for the next couple of days because the Headmaster, the first line of defense against Sues, was busy with Leroux!Christine (who was recovering with great speed according to Mlle. Alaina). Due to the massive number of Sues, the Eriks ensconced themselves within the fifth cellar and refused to leave, even when the Persian and Mlle. Mirielle begged.
Regarding Mlle. Mirielle, all the students, true to their wagering habit, placed bets on the time she would collapse from exhaustion. She and Mlle. Alaina were constantly running around with Punjab lassos, trying to bring all the Sues down. At one point a Sue was so close to Leroux!Raoul—a target unexpected by the staff—that Mlle. Mirielle couldn't Punjab her and had to tackle her. It was interesting to watch, considering that the Sue started to scream. However, since she was mute (many Sues were either missing one of their five senses or had a sixth one), it seemed like the students were watching a silent movie.
The worst Sue attack came when Countess Ibtesam Quenby Datherine Murray snuck her way into the kitchen. It was bad enough that a Sue managed to get into the kitchen, but she used her silky red and blonde hair to bind the regular cooks and cooked for the students. She made a soup that combined foods and spices from Persia, Scandinavia, America, and Ireland. All who ate it wound up with food poisoning and had to stay in the hospital wing. Poor La Sorelli ate some and afterwards believed that she was, in fact, an umbrella.
What made matters worse was that the Countess Ibtesam Quenby Datherine Murray managed to escape being Punjabbed. When Mlle. Alaina sent out her lasso, Countess Ibtesam Quenby Datherine Murray managed to put her hand at the level of her eye! Apparently, she was Raoul's bastard sister, whom the Persian desperately loved. Because of his love, he taught her how to defend herself against Erik.
Apparently, the creator of this Sue never thoroughly read the book, because the Sue had no idea how to escape the torture chamber when the true Persian lured her in. Fortunately, the creator of the Sue was promptly enrolled in OPA.
Thankfully, slowly, ever so slowly, OPA once again was restored to its usual state of mayhem. The Eriks, however, still did not show up to teach their classes. Considering the Eriks, this wasn't too out of the ordinary. However, with the lack of Eriks, the students grew bored and complacent.
This meant the administration had to take to matters into their own hands. It began when Miranda Ellanore Sondran (who demanded to be called by her full name) turned in a paper to M. Andre with a sentence that read, "teh reson that you trusted the Vicotme was he was the financial baker." After reviving poor Andre, Mlle. Alaina took Miranda Ellanore Sondran and threw her into the Salon of Spelling. When she reappeared, she had words including 'the,' 'to,' and 'their' tattooed on her body. She was also seen cuddling a dictionary to her chest.
All students discovered the wonderful world of the beta. Mlle. Mirielle gave a speech on it.
A four hour-long speech.
"All right, you brats," Mlle. Mirielle started. "It is fairly obvious that you do not know about this not-so-kept secret of writing fanfiction. It is called a beta. Love your beta! A beta is the one thing that stands between you and absolute humiliation. They make sure your characters are in character. They make sure your grammar is at least readable. Love your beta! Pick a beta who knows your fandom. Love your beta!"
She continued in this vein for the next three hours and fifty-six minutes. She repeated the line "love your beta" at least three hundred times. (Megan claimed it was three hundred and two times. She kept count.) The speech actually would have been longer if it hadn't been interrupted. Mlle. Mirielle was saying "love your beta" for the three hundred and first time when a laugh tore through the auditorium.
"IT WORKS! IT LIVES!" came the cry of one of the Eriks, followed by a laugh from the other. The students stampeded to find the long lost Eriks.
"Love your beta!" Mlle. Mirielle yelled after them.
Eve was hurting. She was hunting for an Erik, walking down a hall she had never seen before, minding her own business, when a large ellipsis hit her from behind. When she turned around, she stood face to face with a group of three not-so-minis. Christiene, Corlotta, and Madame Gurly looked at Eve for a minute, then unleashed a veritable volley of punctuation in her direction. She ran down the hall as quickly as possible, but no less than four commas and three periods hit her and she collapsed to the ground. The volley ended and the not-so-minis hopped (or, in the case of Madame Gurly, scurried) past her. The not-so-mini Punctuation Posse (PP for short) was on the hunt for more victims.
Eve lay on the ground for a while, trying to regroup her strength, when she noticed Mlle. Alaina walking down the hall. Not knowing if she was allowed to be there, Eve quickly hid behind a statue of a nymph. Mlle. Alaina was muttering to herself, not an uncommon occurrence, when she suddenly looked down the hall.
"Ah, Erik, I have been looking for you!" Mlle. Alaina said, quickening her pace.
Eve jumped out from her hiding spot. An Erik! Webber!Erik!
Webber!Erik didn't turn around to look at Mlle. Alaina when she spoke to him.
"Erik? Are you all right?" Mlle. Alaina asked.
Slowly, the Erik turned and spoke two words: "Help me."
Mlle. Alaina screamed. Upon seeing what she saw, Eve screamed, too:
"GERIK!"
The sound of rabid fan girls' footsteps echoed throughout OPA.
A.N: As always, please review. A note, though: the authoresses are well aware that there is a piece of work out there called "Whose Lair is it Anyway?", which may be similar to the next two chapters of this story. Before we are rabidly attacked, please take this into account. First, this was planned before WLIIA appeared. Second, when WLIIA first appeared, one of the authoresses started to read it. She stopped once she realized the similarity in context. She stopped reading in order to protect OPA from being called plagiarized. So, any similarity to WLIIA is an honest coincidence. Thank you.