Author's Note: Before we get started here, I wanted to let you all know that I've set up a Discord account if y'all wanted to talk to me there. The username's geekinthepink614, the same as my username here. I can't guarantee I'll be super active there since my job keeps me pretty busy, but I'll be as active as I can.

Malleus was in a less-than-stellar mood. It was now the sixth day of Halloween Week and, on the one hand, everyone was breathing a sigh of relief that they only had to endure two more days of being open to the public and exposed to the Magicam Monsters. On the other hand…they still had to endure the Magicam Monsters. Said guests appeared to grow increasingly unruly with each day and everyone, students and teachers alike, was dealing with some seriously frayed nerves. Diasomnia's venue at Ramshackle had seen increasing numbers of people trying to force their way into the dorm to the point that more students needed to be excused from class to help manage the crowds. Devon was doing all she could to allay Regina and the rest of the Wisps (thankfully no more break-ins had occurred, but even the Wisps that were normally shy or even-tempered were losing patience with the guests), but it was only a matter of time before someone ended up getting hurt.

The Halloween Committee was supposed to have a meeting with the headmaster that morning, but Malleus had asked Lilia to inform the others that he would not be present; he needed to at least try to clear his head before the school open its gates to the public for the day. That was the reasoning he gave the older fae before transporting himself to Ramshackle in a sea of green lights.

It wasn't a complete lie; being at Ramshackle truly did make him feel calm…so long as it wasn't swarming with tourists looking to get a picture with the ghosts. However, Malleus couldn't deny that the real draw of Ramshackle these days was that he might get to see Devon. She'd been a constant source of amusement and intrigue for him since the night they met, but ever since their time on the Ramshackle roof just a couple days prior, the fae prince had found himself craving her presence and attention. She and Grim had been hesitant to leave Ramshackle unless it was for something related to their classes and Malleus' own appearances at Diasomnia's stamp rally venue were scarce now that the 'Draconia Challenge' was a thing, resulting in him feeling what could only be described as separation anxiety for someone he'd only known for about two months.

Fortunately, luck seemed to be on his side, because he arrived in the Ramshackle yard just as Devon was leaving the building. She startled when he appeared in front of her but a bright smile quickly broke out over her face. "Hey, Horns!"

"Good morning, child of man," Malleus replied, returning her smile. "I hope you've been well."

Devon shrugged, her smile fading slightly. "I mean…as well as can be expected, I guess. Magicam Monsters pounding on the door day in and day out takes a toll on a person, y'know? Grim and I have already made an official complaint with the headmaster about it and Grim's heading over to the committee meeting since he's insistent on getting the point across, but there's not a whole lot Crowley can do that hasn't already been done. They haven't been able to get into the dorm since that one time the other day and we've only gotta deal with 'em today and tomorrow, so I'm trying to stay positive."

"That resilience of yours is something to be treasured, you know," Malleus replied. "I confess these Magicam Monsters have had me in a rather unpleasant state since the day they broke into your dorm. I can't help but be concerned for you; at the end of the day, everyone else gets to retreat back through the mirror to the safety of their own dorm dimensions, but you and Grim don't have that luxury." He took her hand in his. "Just know that you and Grim are always welcome to stay at Diasomnia if these guests refuse to learn their place."

Devon smiled and quirked a brow. "I appreciate the offer, but shouldn't you run that by your dorm leader first?"

"Trust me, if it's for you I doubt it'll take much to convince him," Malleus assured her as the pair began making their way down the steps. "You've proven yourself an invaluable friend to Diasomnia; this is the least we can do."

Devon turned back to wave goodbye to Regina as she always did when she left for the day. Malleus watched her with a warm expression, only to freeze when the sleeve of her uniform blazer fell back to reveal the bruising around her wrist, his expression darkening as he took it in. He knew she'd been hurt, but he wasn't able to see the extent of the damage when he visited her a couple days prior.

"Horns? Everything okay?" Devon asked when she caught sight of Malleus' expression. She followed his gaze to her wrist before hastily covering it back up. "Hey, it's okay, honestly. It's just a bruise, y'know-"

"It's an injury you should never have incurred," Malleus interjected, his eyes never leaving the bruise. "Not while I- Not while Diasomnia was there." He sighed. "This is my-"

"Don't," Devon ordered. "Don't do that to yourself, Horns. I thought we already established that the Magicam Monsters were the ones to blame for what happened to me." She crossed her arms and looked him directly in the eye. "I refuse to let you take the blame for this."

Malleus studied Devon with a mildly surprised expression, unused to anyone besides his grandmother being so assertive with him, before his lips quirked upward in a small smile. "I see. In that case, would you allow me to take responsibility for healing it, then?"

"I-" Devon was tempted to politely decline his request, not wanting her friend to feel as though this was something he needed to fix for her. It was just a bruise, after all; a gross-looking one, granted, but still something that would heal just fine on its own. No such luck; the pleading look in his green eyes made it impossible for her to turn him down. "Okay."

Malleus' smile widened slightly as he gently took Devon's injured wrist in his hand, holding it as if the slightest bit of pressure might shatter it. He carefully raised it closer to his face before lightly pressing his lips to the inside of her wrist. Devon felt her cheeks get warm as a tingling sensation began to spread over her bruise, the injury fading away in seconds. Malleus kept his lips pressed to Devon's wrist for a moment after the bruise had faded away to nothing. In truth, he hadn't even needed to touch her skin directly to heal her; a simple spell would have sufficed but he couldn't shake the possessive urge to have some sort of physical contact with her. He couldn't deny that he adored the utterly flustered expression on her face, either.

Devon was grateful that she wasn't able to blush, but she was certain Malleus could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks from where he stood. She cleared her throat as he released his hold on her wrist, glancing off bashfully to the side. "Uh… Th-Thank you. I, um, I feel much better now."

Malleus was grateful that Devon kept her head turned to the side; he was fairly certain she wouldn't appreciate the smug, gratified smirk on his lips. "It pleases me greatly to hear that, child of man." He straightened up and offered her his arm. "Now then, shall we be off?"

Devon finally looked up at him and smiled as rested her hand in the crook of his arm, more than a little flattered by the gentlemanly gesture. "We shall."

The pair made their way toward Main Street in comfortable silence, Devon still mildly flustered by Malleus' unusual forwardness toward her and Malleus practically crooning at Devon's closeness and lack of fear when it came to physical contact with him. As they got closer to Main Street, however, both of them got the feeling that something was…off. Seeing the Ramshackle ghosts hovering motionlessly in the air with distraught expressions as they got closer did nothing to assuage their concerns.

"Something wrong, tios?" Devon asked the ghosts.

The short ghost pointed wordlessly out in front of them. Devon's eyes widened when she looked in the direction he'd pointed and saw that all of the statues of the Great Seven had somehow been knocked from their pedestals onto the ground. She felt Malleus' arm go rigid as he took it in as well.

"Forgive me, child of man," he said, his every syllable trembling with rage as he gently released her hand from his arm. "I need to get away from here. It's all I can do to keep my temper in check at the moment."

Devon nodded, unable to tear her eyes away from the sight in front of her. She turned to the ghosts as Malleus disappeared, leaving his signature green lights in his wake. "What happened here, guys? Did you see who did this?"

"No. We were just making our morning rounds when we came across…," the skinny ghost trailed off, gesturing toward the statues.

'This has Magicam Monsters written all over it,' Devon thought. 'I'm pretty sure everyone at this school revers at least one of the Great Seven; I can't see them doing something like this.' She shook her head, her eyes narrowing into a glare as her anger grew. 'I can't believe they would go this far. Even as Halloween pranks go, this is seriously crossing a line.'

"Wh-What do we do?" the short ghost asked.

"Go get the headmaster. Now," Devon replied. "Once the rest of the students see this, I imagine it's gonna get real ugly, real quick."

"Good morning, everyone…," Crowley sighed as he trudged his way to the front of the lecture hall to address the gathered Halloween Committee members. All the energy he'd had just a few days prior was nowhere to be seen. "I hereby…call this meeting…of the Halloween Week Management Committee…to order…"

"The headmaster appears to be in much lower spirits than he was the other day," Jade commented. "This is quite the 180."

"He's not the only one," Vil replied, gesturing to the similarly worn out members of the committee. "Dealing with the Magicam Monsters at all hours of the day have left all of us feeling run rather ragged. I think it's fair to say we're all a bit burnt out."

"Speaking of which, has anyone seen Malleus?" Kalim asked.

"Apologies, but he will not be attending today's meeting," Lilia answered. "If the Magicam Monsters cause him to lose even a little more patience, I'm not sure it would end so well for them. I'm sure he knows that too, considering he requested some time alone to cool off."

"Whaaat? It's Halloween and he's off by himself? That must be really lonely," Kalim commented as Cater and Vil listened in with unreadable expressions.

"As I'm sure all of you are aware by now, there has been a string of incidents all over campus," Crowley continued. "This morning I received a formal grievance from a certain pair of students."

"A formal grievance? About what?" Deuce asked.

The doors to the lecture hall were thrown open at that very moment and Grim strode into the room, his blue eyes fixed in a glare. Everyone in the room turned to face the little monster on a mission. "I think it's about time I had some words with y'all!"

"Grim? What're you doing here?" Jack asked. He glanced around. "Is Devon not with you today?"

"Is everything alright? You look a little…worn out," Epel observed.

"You'd be worn out too if you were gettin' chased around day in and day, both in and out of your dorm!" Grim exclaimed. "Dev's barely slept the past two nights because she's worried those Magicam Monsters are gonna get into our dorm again! This Halloween mess has gone too far!" He sighed, his glare softening until his expression looked more sad than angry. "I was really lookin' forward to Halloween, y'know? Everyone was goin' on and on about how fun it's supposed to be… But it's all just a big lie, ain't it?!"

Most of the committee members could only look away from the little monster in shame, doubly so for those who knew about Devon's emotional breakdown just a few days prior. They were all thinking the same thing: Devon and Grim had no means to retreat from the Magicam Monsters. The pair had held it together fairly well up until this point, but the committee members were beginning to see just how trapped and stressed the two of them had to be.

Lilia was the first to speak up. "You're absolutely right, Grim. We've done both you and Devon a horrible disservice. I know it doesn't make up for what you've been through, but I hope you'll accept my sincerest apologies."

"There's no reason for you to apologize, Lilia," Vil said. "The Halloween committee has done nothing except work to run this event to the best of our abilities, doing our best to keep our guests and students happy."

"Indeed," Jade agreed. "As I recall, we were all delighted by the visitor headcount at first. That increase was due to our hard work paying off. For better or for worse."

"Grrr…," Grim growled, unconvinced.

"The headlines are speaking for themselves," Cater said as he pulled out his phone. "Check this out: "Night Raven College: Biggest Halloween Hotspot of the Year!" "Don't Miss Out On Night Raven College's Halloween Week!" We're still trending on Magicam even on top of all the blog posts. People are even saying stuff like: "You can't even call it Halloween if you don't visit Night Raven College!" Counting today, we've got two days of this left and the crowds are only going to get bigger on the holiday itself."

Azul sighed. "Meaning we should prepare for a steady stream of Magicam Monsters, correct?"

"Hang on! It's been tough enough wrangling them throughout the week, but now you're telling me it's going to get worse?!" Epel cried, recoiling.

Idia sighed. "Excuse me while I pray for death…"

"The 31st just got scary for a whole different reason," Jack mumbled as he rubbed the back of his head.

"We don't have time to sit around whining about it," Vil said firmly. "We need to work out a plan to deal with the Magicam Monsters if we want tomorrow's party to proceed as planned. Otherwise-"

"EVERYONE!" the Ramshackle ghosts shouted as they charged through the door and into the lecture hall.

Both the headmaster and the committee members were silent for a moment, too afraid of where this interruption might be headed to respond. Finally, Crowley spoke up. "I have the most foreboding sense of déjà vu… I'm not so certain I want to know but…" He cleared his throat. "What seems to be the matter, Ramshackle ghosts?"

"It's…It's the statues!" the short ghost reported. "Something terrible has happened to the statues of the Great Seven!"

"WHAT?!" everyone exclaimed.

"What in the world…? I'm putting a pin in this meeting for now. Everyone-to Main Street, on the double!" Crowley ordered.

Devon was rooted to the spot, still unable to believe what she was seeing. The Ramshackle ghosts had left to get the headmaster just barely five minutes ago and she couldn't think of anything productive she could do in the meantime; it wasn't as if she could keep the area blocked off from other students and she didn't trust herself to try to right the statues.

"Deeeeeev!" The sound of Grim's voice pulled her from her thoughts and she turned to face the cat-like monster running toward her on all fours, Crowley and the committee members following just a few steps behind him. "What's going on?" Grim asked as he hopped up onto Devon's shoulder. "What's the trou…ble…?" He trailed off as he caught sight of the statues.

The committee members appeared to be in similar states of shock as they saw the damage for themselves: "This…This can't be real…" "Are we sure this isn't some kind of bad dream?" "It's quite difficult to believe what I'm seeing here…"

"M-My word… The Great Seven statues… THEY'VE ALL BEEN TOPPLED!" Crowley shouted in a mix of anger and disbelief. "Who would so brazenly disrespect the most esteemed historical figures in all of Twisted Wonderland?!"

"They were like this when we were making our rounds this morning," the short ghost explained.

"So we don't even know who did this?" Jack asked. "Then how are we supposed to-"

"Just a sec," Cater interjected. He pulled out his phone and scrolled for a few second before a dangerous smile spread over his lips. "Got 'em."

"How in the world did you do that so quickly?" Crowley demanded.

"Take a look at this Magicam post," Cater said, showing Crowley his phone and reading the caption aloud for everyone to hear. ""We're the Great Seven! #That'sAVibe #NailedIt #WhaddupNRC #BestHalloweenEver"."

"Wha- Buh… How in…?" Crowley sputtered. "Those people are standing on the bases where the statues should be!"

"Looks like they shoved 'em outta the way so they could do it for the 'Cam," Cater explained. "They got the poses down and everything, Talk about committing to the bit!"

"That's impressive, Cater. You found the culprits in no time at all," Deuce commented.

"It's no big deal. I just looked up "Halloween" and "Great Seven" on Magicam," Cater replied. "This was, like, the first result." He took another look at the photo. "Judging by the background and the timestamp on the pic, I'd say these guys snuck in late last night."

"So they're blatantly admitting to having committed a crime," Lilia said. "I have to wonder if they even realize that what they're doing is wrong…"

"It's… It's deplorable! Completely reprehensible!" Crowley shouted. "I've never seen such a travesty in all my years as headmaster!" He walked over to the statue of the Fairest Queen, now lying prone in the dirt. "To think the day would come when the Fairest Queen would face the ground like some sort of common pauper! Is nothing sacred?!"

Vil walked over to the downed statue as well, crossing his arms with a troubled look on his face. "I've heard tales of the Fairest Queen since before I was old enough to read. My father read me picture books about her feats and accomplishments. Her spirit of tenacity has been a guiding light for me even before I enrolled here." His eyes narrowed into a fierce glare. "For someone to make a mockery of that… I don't have the words to express the ire burning within me!"

"I've always tried to be as dependable as the Sorcerer of the Sands and advise people with the same wisdom he did," Kalim chimed in. "I've done my best each day, especially after becoming a dorm leader!"

"I don't think there's even one student on this campus who doesn't look up to the Great Seven," Idia added. "Whoever pulled this stunt shouldn't be surprised when it comes back to bite them!"

"Agreed. This is beyond the pale," Azul lamented. "I'm not feeling even a drop of the Sea Witch's benevolence."

"Geez. Everyone's pretty riled up, huh?" Grim whispered to Devon. "Guess everyone here really does revere the Great Seven…"

"Yeah…," Devon mumbled, taking in how downtrodden everyone looked. "It's easy for me to forget just how important they are since I'm not from Twisted Wonderland, but seeing everyone so upset really hammers it home… This would be like someone effin' up the Statue of Liberty back home."

The sound of approaching footsteps caused the group to turn, only to immediately be faced with a large number of other students coming from the Hall of Mirrors as well as several faculty members. Their expressions ranged from shocked to enraged as they caught sight of the toppled statues.

"How can this be?!" Trein exclaimed.

"Dude, is this real life?!" Ace shouted. "It was bad enough when the Queen of Hearts' statue was burned, but now all of them have been pushed to the ground?!"

"Dang, just look at this crowd," Grim said.

"To deface these statues is to drag our school's name through the mud!" Trein thundered.

"What sort of rabid mongrel would do something like this?!" Crewel demanded, readying his pointer-slash-whip.

"Moving solid stone is no simple task. Whoever did this must have some seriously musculature! We'd better catch 'em quick before someone gets hurt!" Vargas exclaimed.

"Yeah! Let's nail 'em!" Ace agreed.

"We'll teach them a lesson they won't soon forget!" Sebek shouted, the students around him quickly voicing their agreement.

"Man… I don't think I've ever seen an entire school get this angry before," Devon muttered. "I mean, I can't really blame them but still…"

"Oi, herbivore," Leona said, gently batting Devon's hand with his tail and keeping his voice low so only she could hear him. "Jack says you and the ghosts were out here before anyone else. You positive you didn't see anything?"

Devon shook her head. "The ghosts said the statues were already on the ground when Horns and I walked up to them earlier."

Leona quirked a brow. "Horns?"

Devon shrugged. "A friend of mine in Diasomnia. Guy won't tell me his real name and he said I could call him whatever I wanted. He's got a pair of pretty immaculate horns on his head soooo…"

Leona was about to ask Devon to elaborate, but she was quickly pulled into a conversation with her Heartslabyul friends. 'There's no way. No way that stuck-up lizard would ever go by a nickname, especially not one as dumb as 'Horns'. When would they have even met, anyway? Guy never goes anywhere without his sycophants and there's no way they'd let any of us pions get near him. She's gotta be talkin' about someone else.'

The Ramshackle ghosts had been strangely silent, watching everything play out. Now, the short one floated forward. "We can tell you who the culprits are…"

All the chatter immediately ceased and everyone turned their attention toward the three ghosts.

"You wanna know who's responsible for this whole mess?" the short ghost asked. He was joined by the other two when he continued, "The answer…is us."

Nobody spoke for a moment until, finally, Trein asked, "And what, exactly, do you mean by that?"

"We're the ones who posted that picture on Magicam," the short ghost explained, his tone remorseful. "Our picture going viral is what brought these nuisances here and what ultimately led to the statues being toppled."

"The truth of it is that we were even more excited than usual for Halloween this year since we have Devon and Grim living with us now," the chubby ghost elaborated.

"And that's why you and the Wisps went to all that trouble to make sure Dev and Grim had costumes?" Deuce asked.

"So everyone at Ramshackle could enjoy the holiday together?" Ace continued.

"Yeah. That was the idea, at least," the skinny ghost replied.

"You guys/Tios…," Grim and Devon muttered, touched.

The skinny ghost turned to face them. "We know how badly you've been missing your family, Devon. We'd never dream of trying to replace them, but we'd hoped we could help you see Ramshackle as your home away from home, ghost uncles and all." He shook his head. "But then we went and made a mess of everything! We're fools! FOOLS!"

"We never should've gone on Magicam!" the chubby ghost lamented.

"We're the reason Halloween is ruined. This is all our fault!" the short ghost finished.

"We're so sorry, everyone," the ghosts apologized in unison.

Those gathered gave the ghosts sympathetic looks, unsure of what to say to make them feel better…all but one.

"Mmkay, I'm loving the energy, but let's back up a sec," Cater spoke up. "You ghosts are waaaay off the mark here."

"Huh?" everyone chorused.

"What's the deal, Cater?" Trey asked in a whisper. "It's not like you to go against the flow like this…"

"Yeah, I try not to," Cater whispered back. "I don't really like being the guy who tells other people to read the room, but I don't really have a choice when everyone's this depressed." He turned back to the ghosts with his usual easygoing smile. "All you three did was take a picture and post it to Magicam. There's nothing wrong with that, is there? I upload selfies to Magicam every day; tons of people do!"

"True," Trey agreed.

"Yeah, I guess I do post stuff often enough," Ace added.

"See? And about what you ghosties said about how you never should've gone on Magicam… You should know that you've actually made a ton of people really happy!" Cater continued. He held his phone out for them to see. "Check it out."

"Hmm? Your timeline?" the short ghost asked as the trio looked at the screen.

""Had a blast at Night Raven College's Halloween!"" Cater read aloud. ""Seeing all those ghosts was so cool! I bet we've got plenty back home too, even if we can't see them." "Sage's Isle is a bit out of the way but, DANG, we had a blast! Thinking of making this a yearly trip!" And just look at the smiles on everyone's faces! That wouldn't have happened without you guys!"

The ghosts gasped as they looked at all the photos.

"There are tons of people coming to visit that just wanna have a good time. So what if there are some that are just here for the photo op?" Cater continued. "Everyone has their own way of seeing the world. That's just a fact, plain and simple. The bigger the crowd, the more opinions and perspectives you'll find, regardless of what brought everyone together. TL; DR, I don't think we should be blaming the ghosts or Magicam for what's been going on this week."

The ghosts sniffled. "Thank you!"

"I'd really like to hug you, but I'd just pass right through you," the short ghost told Cater. "That's the afterlife for you, I suppose."

"H-Heh… Well, the sentiment's appreciated," Cater replied uncertainly.

"I agree with Cater," Vil spoke up. "This is no time to be pointing fingers."

"Besides, all we have are photos of people posing where the statues are meant to stand," Jade pointed out. "We don't have any hard evidence that the people in the photos were the ones who knocked the statues over. I don't think we're in a position to pin this on the Magicam Monsters."

"So we're just expected to hold our party with this sour taste in our mouths?" Riddle asked.

"Yeah, this doesn't sit right with me, either," Leona agreed.

"I'm as upset as the rest of you, but it seems we've no choice but to swallow our ire for the sake of the party," Jamil reasoned.

"It's hard to feel the party vibe with everyone so upset…," Grim commented. He glanced over toward Crowley and the teachers and saw that they all bore similarly grim expressions. "Especially you guys. What's with that collective scowl, huh?"

"The Halloween party was scheduled to take place tomorrow, October 31st," Crowley said. "However, in light of the current circumstances…I'm afraid we might have to cancel it."

A collective "WHAAAAAT?!" echoed from all of the gathered students, dismay clear in their tone.

"B-But why?!" Grim asked. "That's the thing everyone was lookin' forward to the most! You can't just call it off!"

"We've all done everything in our power to reason with the troublemakers and resolve things peacefully," Vargas replied. "If they won't listen to reason, there's not much more we can do."

"They're getting bolder by the day," Crewel added. "What happens if one of you ends up injured instead of a piece of property getting damaged?" He eyed Devon as he spoke and she instinctively hid her wrist, despite the bruise already being healed.

"An elaborate party would be prime bait for Magicam Monsters, wouldn't you agree?" Sam asked.

"It's unfortunate that things have come to this, but we have a responsibility to place our students' safety ahead of everything else," Trein reminded them. "Holding a party under these circumstances is simply out of the question. We adults have been entrusted with the wellbeing of our students and we must make decisions with all of you in mind…no matter how unpopular it might make us."

The students were silent as they took in the professors' words.

"You're quite right, Professor Trein," Crowley agreed. "Fortunately, the statues can be repaired with magic easily enough. However, if a person was to get injured, we'd have no choice but report the incident to the police. And if that came to pass…" He shook his head frantically, his voice near hysterics. "Ooh, I don't even want to think about it!" He cleared his throat and recomposed himself. "In any event, we cannot allow things to escalate any further than they already have."

"The professors are convincing enough," Vil commented. "The headmaster, on the other hand, is just raising more questions than answers."

"I have to wonder if there's some reason he doesn't want the police sniffing around the school," Jade mused with a smile. "A dark secret he doesn't want coming to light, perhaps?"

"We've all been working so hard to prepare for this!" Deuce said earnestly.

"Yeah! Everyone's been looking forward to the party on the 31st!" Epel agreed.

"And we'd be lettin' down the Sage's Island locals who come to the party every year," Jack reminded everyone.

"Exactly! I ain't about to miss out on all that fancy party food either!" Grim declared.

"I understand where all of you are coming from," Crewel assured them in a placating tone. "I truly do. But even so…"

"What's the call, headmaster?" Sam asked.

"I think we adults should have a little meeting to discuss the situation," Crowley suggested. "This is a delicate situation, after all. We must take all factors into account and make sure our students' safety is at the forefront."

"So if the 'problems' go away…does that mean we can still have the party?" Devon asked, petting Grim absentmindedly.

Crowley blinked and looked down at her. "Hmm? Well, yes, but…"

"Headmaster, we should reconvene to the faculty office for the time being. We need to bring the rest of the faculty up to speed on the situation," Trein cut in.

"Yes, yes, of course," Crowley agreed as he and the rest of the teachers walked off toward the office.

"There they go…" Grim said. He waited until the headmaster and the rest were out of earshot before continuing, "So what do we do now? If we just leave things as they are, this party's never gonna happen!"

"Heh heh heh," Azul chuckled ominously. Everyone turned to face him and the similarly-smirking Leech twins. "You know something, Devon? I like the way you think."

Devon quirked a brow. "Thanks. Your approval fills me with shame," she snarked, earning a snort of laughter from Leona and a satisfied smirk from Jamil.

"Hmm? What'd she say?" Grim asked, puzzled.

"You were listening to the conversation just now, correct?" Jade asked with a smirk. "As long as the 'problem' concerning campus safety is dealt with, the party will stay on the table. It's as Cater said earlier: the fault does not lie with Magicam or the ghosts."

Cater nodded. "Mmhmm. The real cause of all this trouble is-"

"-the Magicam Monsters!" Cater and Vil finished in unison.

Jade's smirk widened. "Precisely. Hence, the solution is to expel every last one of those clout-chasers, without delay or exception. If we can manage that, peace will be restored to the campus and the party will continue as planned."

"Ah! Easily done!" Sebek exclaimed. "I say we close the campus off immediately and eject every off-campus visitor!"

Leona rolled his eyes. "So is everyone from Briar Valley just a gloomy shut-in? I thought it was just that anti-social king of yours, but it sounds like he rubbed off on all of ya."

Sebek immediately bristled. "How DARE you-"

"Calm down, Sebek. That's enough," Lilia chided. "I can't say Leona's comment was entirely undeserved, you know. "The visitors from off-campus are the guests of honor during Halloween Week. We are merely the hosts honoring them with the party. What's the point of throwing the party if we have no guests to entertain, hmm?"

"Besides, I don't really like the idea of shooing away guests who are following the rules," Deuce added.

"Yeah, but how are we supposed to know which guest is which?" Epel asked. "It's impossible to tell just by looking at them. I'm not so sure there's a way to mass-expel the Magicam Monsters alone."

"Essentially, the Magicam Monsters are those who refuse to do what we tell them," Vil replied. "It should be a simple task to determine where each guest falls. All we really need to do is lay out some guidelines."

"What do you mean?" Deuce asked.

Silver's eyes widened in realization. "Ah! Do you mean like the signs Pomefiore posted in the Mirror Chamber?"

Vil nodded. "The very same. I propose that each dorm lay out a set of rules to follow, such as the ones Pomefiore and Diasomnia have set up. Anyone who breaks those pre-established rules will out themselves as Magicam Monsters."

"Oh! I get it now! In that case, all we have to do is expel anyone who ignores the signs!" Epel concluded.

"We'll blow 'em clear off the campus!" Epel, Deuce, and Jack exclaimed.

"'Kay, but this whole "security system" thing isn't gonna carry us much further," Idia pointed out. "These people aren't stupid. We'll end up in serious hot water if it comes out that we've been using magic on the DL."

"Yeah, true… Even if we try to justify it with how much of a nuisance these people are being, I doubt we'll get away with just a warning," Cater agreed. "Only people with special licenses are allowed to use magic against laypeople at all. Halloween Week would be the least of our problems if we got caught!"

"So where does that leave us?" Deuce asked. "Should we just," He slammed a fist into his palm, "settle this with fists?"

Ace shook his head exasperatedly. "That's just a regular fight and the police would probably still be called."

"So we need to think of a way to kick the Magicam Monsters out without actually attackin' 'em," Grim reasoned. "Is that even possible?"

Everyone was silent as they tried to think of a solution…

…at least, it was silent until Floyd's laughter cut through the tension. "Ahahahahaha!"

"Floyd, we're trying to think of a solution to a serious problem here. Would you care to explain what you find so amusing?" Riddle demanded with an irritated glare.

"Pft, just look at you guys!" Floyd snorted. "It's all doom and gloom up in here! Y'all are thinkin' so hard when the solution's lookin' ya right in the face!"

"Heheh," Jade chuckled. "Come now, Floyd. It's not polite to laugh at others."

"You're laughing too, though, Jade," Azul pointed out with a smugly amused smirk.

"Ah. My apologies," Jade replied with absolutely no trace of sincerity.

"Cease with the theatrics," Vil demanded. "What are you talking about?"

Azul shook his head. "My goodness. Everyone, I'd ask you to think about what you've done to get prior unwanted guests to leave."

"Uh…you know most of us don't run into that issue on a regular basis, right?" Idia asked, unamused.

"Then perhaps an example might help. Think of a rental property, for instance," Jade began. "Most leasing contracts do not allow a lessor to force out a lessee without just cause. In which case, the only other option is to get them to leave voluntarily."

"Such as enticing them with a better offer?" Riddle offered.

"Or sitting down and talking things out over a nice meal?" Kalim suggested.

"Tch. Spoken like a coupla silver spooners," Ruggie scoffed. He nodded toward the Octatrio. "Those evil grins on their faces should be the first clue that whatever they've got in mind ain't gonna be so civil." He smirked as well and rested his hands behind his head. "If you want an unwanted guest to leave on their own, you gotta make things so miserable that they don't wanna stay."

"Precisely, Ruggie," Azul confirmed with a nod.

"Fear, danger, displeasure, revulsion… People tend to stay clear of things that elicit such feelings," Jade elaborated. "I doubt the Magicam Monsters are any different in that regard. What if-and this is purely hypothetical, of course-instead of a cute little Grim and our friendly Ramshackle ghosts…," Jade's smirk grew shaper and more predatory, "Night Raven College sported some genuinely frightening specters roaming its halls? I'd have to wonder if the Magicam Monsters would be so eager to chase their fleeting online fame then."

"If, hypothetically speaking, the school was beset with such spirits, I can only imagine they would flee the campus as quickly as they could," Vil replied with a smirk of his own.

"Of course, our school is a safe and pleasant place with absolutely no such beings haunting it…but there's no guarantee that everyone is aware of that," Jade said. "It's Halloween, after all-the time of year when the barrier between our world and the world of ghosts is weakest. And if I might remind you all," He gestured around to the committee members, "we're all wearing ghost costumes. We must take due care not to cause any…terrifying misunderstandings."

All around them, the gathered students began exchanging smirks of their own as the implications of Jade's words sunk in.

"My goodness. How could we have overlooked such a terrible possibility?" Jamil mused.

"Heh, sure. Keep playin' like you're some mild-mannered saint," Leona retorted.

"Sounds like we'll need to buff ourselves with extra precautions," Idia added with a sharp-toothed smile.

"Yeah, I get ya!/So basically…," Grim and Deuce began, "What're we doin' here?"

Devon facepalmed. "Oh, for the love of Mike…"

"Don't nod along if you don't get it!" Ace exclaimed.

"Basically, we're all gonna masquerade as spooky, scary ghosts so we can scare the Magicam Monsters right outta campus!" Cater explained.

Devon beamed, bouncing excitedly on her heels. "Okay, I am all for this plan!"

Cater winked at her. "Figured you would be, Dev-Dev."

"The party is scheduled for tomorrow night," Vil reminded them. "If we want to carry out this plan, we're going to have to do so tonight."

"Heheheh," Rook chuckled. "Ah, the thrill of a night hunt! I can hardly contain myself!"

"Listen up, all of you," Vil began. "We are practicing acting like ghosts to liven up the final days of Halloween Week." He smirked conspiratorially. "That's all we're doing."

"Keh heh heh. And if we get a bit…overeager during practice… Well, that's just the ardor of youth, is it not?" Lilia asked with a wink.

"Exactly," Vil confirmed. "And naturally it goes without saying that our practice stays strictly between all of us here. Am I clear?"

"You got it!" everyone chorused.

The sound of footsteps signaled the return of the teachers and staff.

"My goodness. It would appear our students are having a rather heated discussion as well," Crowley observed, calling everyone to attention. "Everyone! After much deliberation concerning the party, we have decided to hold off on any final decisions until we see how things play out in the morning."

It was a better answer than the students could have hoped for and all of them voiced their assent eagerly: "Yessir!" "Understood, sir!" "No problems here!"

"Huh. You all accepted that pretty quickly. I thought for sure someone would raise a fuss," Vargas commented.

"Sounds quite a bit fishy to me. What are you all planning?" Crewel demanded.

"You wound us, sirs! We are nothing if not good lil puppers!" Cater replied with a salute.

"I assure you, we all understand the gravity of the situation," Jade added.

"All we can do now is give the rest of Halloween Week our all and hope for the best," Vil said.

The teachers stared at the gathered students for a long moment, looking for any sign that mischief might be afoot. Evidently they didn't find any, because Trein spoke up, "Just to be 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 understand that you're worried about our students, but there's no need to glare at them like that," Crewel said. "These pups can be more than a handful at times, but don't forget just how excited all of them are for Halloween." He readied his pointer-slash-whip. "Surely they wouldn't do anything to cause trouble when we're right on the eve of the holiday." He glanced around at all of the gathered students again. "I think we professors should spend the day seeing to the visitors. It's for everyone's benefit, really. I imagine it'll give our pups considerable relief in terms of stress…," He smiled conspiratorially, "and time."

'Hang on… Crewel totally knows what's about to go down, doesn't he? And it sounds like he's giving us the go-ahead,' Devon thought. 'Man, this guy is cool!'

"Isn't that right, pups?" Crewel finished.

Jade nodded. "Quite. We appreciate the vote of confidence, sir."

"Oop, and would ya look at the time! It's almost ten o'clock. Gotta get to our stations before the guests do~!" Cater chirped.

"Everyone's clear on what to do, yes? We must show our esteemed guests the Halloween of their lives!" Vil reiterated.

"Yeah!" everyone shouted in agreement before starting to disperse.

Devon exchanged a quick look with Grim and the Ramshackle ghosts before heading after Cater and gently poking his shoulder. "Cater? Would you mind if those of us at Ramshackle made a request?"

Cater smiled. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Vil and Jade hang back to listen in on the conversation too. "Sure thing, sweet girl~! Request away!"

"Well, someone's gotta make sure the Magicam Monsters don't mess with the statues again," Devon began. "Diasomnia has Ramshackle covered and all the other dorms have their own venues to look after, so we were wondering if you'd let us handle Main Street."

Cater nodded. "Fine by me." He looked over at Vil. "What do you think, committee chairman?"

"I agree that we cannot allow the Great Seven statues to be defaced again, so I have no problem leaving Main Street to the Ramshackle group," Vil agreed before turning his amethyst eyes toward Devon. "I trust you have at least some semblance of a plan?"

"Nyahaha! Of course we do!" Grim declared confidently before looking over at Devon as well. "…What's the plan, henchman?"

Devon rolled her eyes playfully. "I'll explain in more detail later, but do you remember how I told you that my brothers and I throw a Halloween party at our place every year back home?"

Grim, Cater, and the ghosts nodded.

"Well, there's a prank I've been wanting to pull off at one of our parties for a few years now but DJ shoots me down every single time I bring it up," Devon explained. She shook her head and grumbled, "He says it's "too intense", but I say you can't call it a successful Halloween unless someone ends up traumatized. I kinda get what he's saying; maybe it would be a bit much for a party with our friends." She smirked. "But the Magicam Monsters aren't our friends, DJ's not here to shoot me down, and I'm excited to see just how much I can amp this prank up now that I had a fire-breathing cat monster, some ghosts, and some sentient magic that's pretty eager for a little payback."

Vil glanced between Devon, Grim, the ghosts, and Zephyr. "And can you assure me that nobody will be harmed?"

"Physically? Absolutely no harm done. Mentally and maybe emotionally? Oh no, these assholes are gonna be scarred for life," Devon replied. "I'll do everything in my power to get them to back off from messing with the statues again first, but all bets are off if they don't listen."

"Well, I suppose that's good enough for me," Vil said with a smirk. "It burns me up that we don't know who actually pushed over the statues last night. At least this way, we'll get some measure of payback for it. Very well. We'll entrust Main Street to you, Devon. Don't let us down."

"Don't you worry! We'll make sure nobody messes with the statues again!" Devon promised with a quick salute. She turned and gestured toward Zephyr and the ghosts. "C'mon, guys. We've got some work to do."

Jade turned to address Cater and Vil once Devon and co were out of earshot. "I must admit, I'm rather excited to see what our friends at Ramshackle have planned."

"Same~!" Cater agreed. "There's a small part of me that hopes they don't have to put Dev-Dev's plan into motion, though."

"Why is that?" Vil asked.

"You two don't know Dev-Dev very well, so she may or may not have mentioned her brothers to you, but of the two of them, DJ sounds like he's usually Devon's partner in crime when it comes to pranks and general chaos," Cater explained. "If either of her brothers were to put the kibosh on one of her ideas, it'd typically be Dominic. If whatever idea she has is so intense that even DJ thought it was too much… I almost feel sorry for any Magicam Monster that falls victim to it."

Ending Notes: I have to say, these little moments with Devon and Malleus make me so happy! All the other LIs have their wholesome moments, but MalMal is in a league of his own. I mentioned this in a comment before, but he's the only love interest who doesn't downplay how important Devon is to him. I can only imagine how he'd be if/when they get married and have kids. Something tells me he'd be a Maes Hughes-type husband/father.

And now it's time for the Magicam Monsters to get what's coming to them! Much like last time, I'm just going to spotlight Diasomnia's prank and then cover Devon and Grim's. I'm probably going to need to include a warning at the start of that chapter because Devon has an Illusion Wisp and she isn't afraid to use them!

Thank you all so much for reading! As always, feedback and constructive criticism are welcome. Geekinthepink, out!