Chapter VI: Duel Academy Host Club
Hello again, dear readers and welcome back to Halloween Hysterics! Yes, we are actually in the home stretch for this story after delays and pains in the butt. So thank you all for your patience and keeping up with this tale, even though it is now getting close to Christmas. And so we welcome you to part one of the finale! Read on!
Isclaimer-day: We don't own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. If we did, we'd be rich… RICH I TELLS YA! RICH! We just own this storyline, our version of the Yugi-verse, our OCs… well you get the idea. We also don't own Ouran High School Host Club. We simply thought the GX gang would be fine cosplaying as the Host Club. We own nothing that could earn us money. Everybody got that? Good.
Warning: We recommend being sure you're securely sitting and not drinking anything in this chapter. Peach and Ani are not responsible for any injuries or damage to your computer if you do not take adequate safety precautions before reading this chapter. Thank you!
The gang slept well that night, and in the morning, they dressed. Annie sighed as she put on a garter to hold her thigh-high stockings in place and then pulled on a single ballet flat, then her boot. "This will look clunky..."
Syrus had pulled on his black pants and was busy tying his shiny black dress shoes. "Huh?" he asked at Annie's statement.
"Oh, this big black boot looks clunky with the dress, honey. If I were just sitting in the chair with both shoes on, I'd look okay, but this makes my outfit look clunky," she answered as she got the pretty yellow Ouran High School girls' uniform on. The black boot she wore was a protective boot to help her broken foot heal, but she really didn't like the disharmony it caused with her Halloween cosplay outfit.
"Well, I'm sure it'll be fine, Annie. Maybe no one will notice," he replied, slipping into his white dress shirt.
"I hope not," she said, "and you look absolutely darling..."
His cheeks turned a little pink, the compliment causing him to fumble with his black tie. "Th-Thanks, Annie... you look really pretty in that dress..."
"Thanks, Sy," she answered, blushing in response.
A few minutes later, Bastion, Violet, Sy and Annie met up in the living room of their suite. "Well, Syrus, are you quite ready for this?" Bastion asked, as he was Sy's/Honey's protector, Mori.
Syrus, with pink stuffed bunny in his arms, sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready."
"Hey, this is gonna be fun! I can't wait to see the others in their uniforms," Violet stated excitedly. Unlike Annie, she wore the uniform of a different school from the anime. Cosplaying as Hinako from the Zuka Club of St. Lobelia's Academy rather than Ouran Academy, her uniform was the classic sailor-style. She wore boots, a red skirt that fell to mid-calf, a white shirt with red cuffs, and a red sailor-style collar tied into a big white bow in the front. Her purple hair was pinned up to look much shorter, bunching around her neck in the same fashion as the anime character's.
"Darling, I'm glad you're not in character," Bastion observed, "because I believe you'd be required to hate me..."
Violet seemed to consider this, and then pouted. "You're right! Well, I'll be a very in-character Hinako for everything except that. But, I might act like I don't like you and the other guys. I'll only be kidding, though!" Violet replied in a chipper tone, practically jumping on Bastion's back as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Bastion chuckled and then turned somewhat serious. "Syrus... I believe you'll be getting a ride today from me..." Mori often carried little Honey high on his shoulders like a big brother carried a little brother, despite the fact that the two members of the Host Club were about the same age.
Syrus's eyes widened as he remembered this fact, and his mouth twitched into a sheepish grin. "U-Uh... do I have to? I'm not... all that good with heights," he muttered worriedly.
Bastion blinked and sweat-dropped. "Er... Am I Shaq?"
Violet snorted, which was promptly followed by giggles. "No, Bastion-baby. But you are the tallest one in our group. And one of the tallest people in the school."
Bastion's expression remained very serious. "Syrus... I promise I won't drop you... And it could be worse... Jaden and Jesse could re-enact the fight between Hikaru and Kaoru..." All four of the gang pictured the infamous fight in OHSHC when the twins, Hikaru and Kaoru started throwing things around, including a stunned Honey.
At the image of his surrogate brother and said brother's twin tossing him back and forth like a ball, Syrus blanched significantly. More sweat-drops appeared on the back of his head as he shook slightly. "O-Okay... fine... just don't let them do that..."
Bastion nodded. And then, he picked up his friend as easily as he would a small child. He swung Syrus up onto his broad shoulders and held him there. "There we are..."
"Bastion... he needs Usa-chan," Annie said seriously, holding the fluffy pink rabbit. Violet couldn't hide her snickers; Syrus was clinging to Bastion's unruly black hair like a cat hanging to a tree limb for dear life. He did NOT like being this high off the ground, even with Bastion holding him securely. The two were a perfect match for Mori and Honey, if only Syrus would stop looking terrified and give Honey's adorable smile instead. He shakily reached down, grabbing the bunny by one of its floppy ears and quickly tugging it against his chest.
"Perfect!" Annie smiled and then frowned, concerned. "Honey, Bastion won't drop you..."
Syrus was shaking like a leaf none the less. "I-I know, Annie. I... I'm just s-scared of heights..."
Bastion smiled a little bit. "Syrus... I promise you... Just hang onto me... I won't let you drop and you only have to do this for a bit, all right?" he soothed.
Syrus swallowed down some of his fear and nodded, still clinging to the tall Ra. "O-Okay..."
And so began the movement downstairs. Since Bastion held Syrus aloft, Violet had the duty of pushing Annie's wheelchair. "I can't wait to see the rest of the gang!" the dark-haired girl squealed eagerly.
"Yeah! It'll almost be like we attend that school instead of this one. Well, at least for you guys. Rosa, Mindy, and I technically would be going to St. Lobelia's Academy. But anyway, you get my point," Violet rambled with a grin.
"Well, darling, I love the sailor suit on you," Bastion stated. "You'd look absolutely lovely in the yellow dress, but this looks good as well."
The purple-haired girl blushed a little. "Well, I like red better than yellow, anyway."
"And it suits you," her fiancé stated easily.
And as the group of four entered the Obelisk common area and dining room, a funny sight greeted their eyes. "THIS ISN'T REMOTELY FUNNY, JESSE!" Jaden shouted, as a waffle was stuck to the side of his face. He was glaring at his pink-haired doppelganger, clearly frustrated.
And against the blue-haired teen's statement, said Southern pink-haired boy had just fallen out of his chair from laughing so hard. He clutched his side with one hand, pointing at Jaden with the other. "OH YES IT IS, JAY!" Jesse countered when he managed to catch a breath between laughs.
And Jaden glared at his Southern counterpart even harder. He still had a waffle dripping with maple syrup on his plate. "Hey, Jesse? Do you like waffles?" he asked, with a manic gleam in his eyes.
Jesse, not catching the gleam as he pulled himself off the ground with a hand on the table, seemed to finally be calming down. "Y-Yeah, I like waffles," he answered breathlessly, wiping a tear from his eye.
"Well, here's a waffle!" Jaden shouted, throwing the remaining waffle. With a squishy thump, it hit its target. "There, now we're twins!" he shouted again.
Jesse's teal eyes were wide in shock, the syrup causing the waffle to stick to his cheek as his own waffle was now sticking to Jaden's. Then, his brows furrowed, and he grabbed a nearby orange from the fruit bowl. "We were already twins, Jay! THIS MEANS WAR!" With that said, the first "cannonball" was fired at the temporary bluenette.
Jaden grabbed the nearest thing... which was oddly his homework. "TAKE THAT!" he shouted as his Algebra notebook flew through the air.
Jesse yelped and ducked, said notebook crashing into the wall behind him. "Oh, so THAT'S how ya wanna play, huh? Well, TAKE THIS!" he shouted back, throwing his Algebra textbook.
And then it was hard to tell what exactly was being thrown as soon the air was thick with flying objects. "They're throwing... Chairs?" Bastion yelped.
"This looks very, very familiar. I just can't put my finger on it..." Violet muttered, tapping her chin as the four watched the scene with various expressions. "It's on the tip of my tongue... I know I've seen this before..."
"Hey, wait," Syrus stammered, realization hitting him a bit too late. "This is just like-AAAAAAHHHHH!" He was interrupted when he suddenly found himself flying through the air, courtesy of one of the fighting twins.
Violet snapped her fingers with a grin as the bespectacled cosplayer flew. "That's it! This is just like that scene from the anime! GO SY! AWESOME RE-ENACTMENT! WOO!" she cheered, oblivious to his screaming.
Bastion, however, wasn't. He leapt into the air and managed to catch Sy before he fell. Unfortunately, someone or something got Bastion and he and Sy flew through the air before the big boy gracefully landed on his feet. "I told you I'd protect you, Syrus," the genius stated as they moved to the sidelines again.
Syrus, however, looked utterly horrified; he was twitching and his face was frozen in a look of pure terror. It looked suspiciously close to the expression of one Bakura Ryou after said teen was run over by a fake boulder in the caves of Duelist Kingdom. Violet was stifling her laughter, when suddenly another shout was heard. The small group looked up in time to see Professor Stein flying across the room, crashing into one of the many tables in the dining hall.
"Now I remember this scene... Hikaru and Kaoru fighting in the dining room... and the classroom," Annie groaned, face-palming.
"Yup! That's the one! But... I thought it was Tamaki they threw, not the teacher," Violet replied, frowning a little as she looked around. "Atticus isn't down here yet... dang! That would have made it perfect!" A few Obelisks were busy helping Professor Stein as the twins continued their battle, no one stepping in anymore for fear of having a fate similar to the Duel Monsters History teacher's.
Well, at least those who had seen the professor go flying were staying out of it. However, more students entered the cafeteria, oblivious to the fight currently going on between the two cosplayers. One of these students was none other than Atticus, who made the unfortunate mistake of getting too close to the fray. "Hey guys. What's going OOOOOON! AAAAAHHHH!" He was pulled into the throwing battle mid-sentence, but unlike the others ended up remaining aloft. In other words, instead of crashing, he just kept getting tossed back and forth. Atticus flailed, shouting for the pair to stop because he was quickly getting airsick.
Violet, however, was positively thrilled. "YEAH! There it is! Perfect!" she cheered, jumping up and down.
"How is this even possible?" Adrian Gecko commented from the sidelines, eyebrow cocked curiously.
"It does seem a violation of what we know Jaden and Jesse are capable of strength-wise," Bastion agreed, also stunned.
Finally, Atticus crashed to the floor. And headfirst, no less. He fell onto his back after that, thoroughly KO'ed and twitching much as Syrus had been earlier. If this were an anime, he'd have the classic swirls for eyes. Jim sweat-dropped. "I don't know, mate. But however they're doin' it doesn't matter. What does matter is stoppin 'em before they hurt anyone else."
"Okay, I'm going in," Axel stated calmly, jumping into the fray.
"So am I," Tyson added quickly, charging forward. And within seconds, the two combatants had stopped fighting.
The strangest thing about the whole affair was that aside from the thrown waffles, neither teen had a scratch or bit of food on him. The other members of their group of friends sweat-dropped. "Thank goodness it's over," Syrus muttered, relieved.
"How does that even work?" Annie wondered, blinking and sweat-dropping from her chair.
"Uh... Jesse? What were we fighting about?" Jaden asked, straightening his blue wig.
Jesse blinked, scratching his own pink wig out of habit with a hand. "Gee, Jay... I can't remember. Why WERE we fighting?"
Jaden's response caused everyone to fall over. "I... don't know... Lex, any idea?"
Alexis shoved down her rising anger at the two boys, face covered with a hand as her blonde brow twitched. "Just... just forget it, Jay."
Jaden, wisely, didn't press the point. But then he noticed everyone else trying valiantly not to crack up. "Uh... guys?" And then, they all fell over laughing.
Jesse frowned, looking over at his twin. "Uh, Jay? What just happened?" he asked, confused.
When Aster had sufficiently recovered, he explained. "You guys... did what Kaoru and Hikaru did when they were trying to be different from each other! Did you plan that?"
"Uh... did we?" the blue-haired Slifer asked his pink-haired twin.
"Uh... I don't think so," the pink-haired boy stated, scratching the back of his head.
"Whoa... we aren't going to start acting like them in other ways, are we?" Jaden asked, a little freaked out.
Jesse stiffened at the thought, remembering what "other things" Hikaru and Kaoru did in the anime. "NO WAY!"
"Good!" And then everyone cracked up again.
GXGXGXGXGXGX
The students in Jaden's group headed off to class and made a real sensation. "Oh, man! It's the Host Club!" one first year girl squealed as they walked by her and her friends.
Violet, hearing this, smirked and nudged her two fellow Zuka Club members in the ribs. Rosa, Mindy, and Violet did a quick huddle and some whispering, before they all bore grins as they separated. As numerous girls were going crazy over the Host Club look-alikes, the three girls suddenly leapt in front of the boys to get center attention as they struck the poses of their cosplayed anime character. Rosa, cosplaying as Benio and the president of the club, stood front and center in a pose that she'd practiced with Violet and Mindy. The girls, having placed petals from their respective flowers in their pockets, now tossed them as they made a flashy entrance like their anime counterparts had in the show. "Forget the Host Club! We're the Zuka Club, a place where women are truly respected and loved for their worth as a female! I, Benio, The Lady of the Red Rose, am president of this lovely club. Ignore those boys and have real girl fun with us!" Rosa stated dramatically, red rose petals floating around her.
"And I, Chizuru, am the Lady of the Lily," Mindy smiled, trying her best to look mysterious. "Come to Zuka Club and become knowledgeable about what femininity can be!"
Lily petals swirled around Mindy as she spoke, and then Violet did a little spin to make her own daisy petals twirl. She held her usual enthusiastic grin and gave a bubbly giggle that anyone would find cute. "And I'm Hinako, The Lady of the Daisy! No matter how old you are, if you're a girl, you'll enjoy our club much more than some silly Host Club! Remember; girls always have way more fun than boys," she stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
The girls' plan worked perfectly; the guys were totally owned and forgotten as the girls stared at the "Zuka Club" with sparkles in their eyes. "Oh, wow! It's as if they're the real thing! How cool!" one brunette squealed.
And then Aster decided, in his role as Kyouya to turn on the charm along with the other boys. "Ladies, ladies... we don't need to be at war... Boys and girls can have wonderful fun together," he smiled warmly at the three Zuka Club girls.
The three glanced at him, each noting that what he'd said was exactly what his character would say.
Rosa, remembering her character's personality, turned to face him in a huff. "I would expect nothing less from a loathsome member of the Host Club. The only fun a woman can have with a BOY is too degrading to even consider! Right, ladies?" she asked, smirking.
Violet skipped forward a few steps. "Benibara-sama is right! You can't have any good fun at all with boys. Especially boys like you!" she quipped, sticking out her tongue at them.
"Now, Hinako, manners. No need to stoop to their barbaric level," Rosa said patiently. It was clear who was winning the argument to the girls eagerly watching the display.
Jaden looked at Jesse, hoping they actually could pull this off. "Hmmm... you mean you can't drink tea with us and tell us about yourselves? Or enjoy the smell of a lovely rare rose?" he asked, the twinkles of fairy dust seemingly surrounding him and his twin.
Jesse, catching on, quickly mirrored Jaden's current stance with a sly smile. "Or maybe you'd prefer cake? Or walking through a field of wildflowers in bloom?" he asked, hiding his accent very well. At this, several of the girls present squealed and blushed, a few even needing the support of their friends to remain standing. Rosa and Violet, stunned by this, glanced at Mindy for help on how to react. Who knew Jaden and Jesse could be so... so... charming?
"Or eat a delightful slice of cake from the best bakery in the world?" Atticus added with even more charm than he usually possessed, causing most of his usual fan girls to nearly collapse. "It tastes wonderful, like the gods themselves made them for goddesses like yourselves," he continued, moving forward to take Rosa's hand like a gentleman and place a kiss on it. That did it. The three girls exchanged one more glance before cracking up, the spell broken as they tried to get a handle on their giggling fit. It was just too much.
And then Annie, in the role of the shy Reiko, a manga-version character who had fallen head over heels for Honey, looked shyly at her beloved from behind a fan and blushed. "Th-the Host Club... can be very fun that way," she said softly and sweetly.
Syrus, thankfully no longer on Bastion's shoulders, blushed lightly at Annie's act and tried to remember Honey's personality. He sweat-dropped when he DID remember it, realizing how different it was from his own. Nevertheless, he took a deep breath and put on an adorable smile. "It's a lot of fun, Reiko! We can eat cake together!" Several girls in the hallway squealed at the little Obelisk's cuteness.
"Y-yeah," Annie/Reiko agreed, managing to blush further still. "And there's this wonderful tea I read about... It's chocolate-flavored..."
Syrus acted extremely interested, like he thought the sweet-loving Honey might. "Oh? Chocolate-flavored? Really? That sounds like it would go great with chocolate cake! Right, Takashi?" he asked, looking cutely up at his "protector".
Bastion, ordinarily having a lot to say, sighed. 'Must restrain myself,' he thought. And then he said, "Ah..." Syrus sweat-dropped, feeling bad for his taller friend. Though, he envied him a little, wishing he could pretend to be aloof and not talk instead of extremely cheerful and outgoing. With most of the action having died down with the gang that were cosplaying specific characters, much of the girls' attention turned to one boy in particular who was cosplaying as a normal male student of Ouran.
Jim twitched slightly, pulling his hat lower over his face. He'd left Shirley in his dorm for just this once to fit better, and right now he wished he'd had her with him. "Bloody hell... I don't like the looks they're givin' me," he muttered, getting nervous.
"OH MY GOSH!" an Asian girl, Rachel Tan, clad in a Dark Witch costume, shrieked. "JIM LOOKS SO CUTE!"
And that was the spark that lit the fiery inferno. Whichever girls hadn't been ogling Jim now had their full attention on him. Jim stiffened, suddenly getting an awful feeling. "I think... I now understand what a kangaroo feels like when it's surrounded by a pack of dingoes," he murmured. As if on cue, the girls rushed forward, and like the frightened kangaroo Jim was off. He surprised the rest of the group as he ran through their ranks, having been in the back trying to hide from the girls. Obviously, that plan epically failed as said girls practically ran the group over as they chased him.
Within seconds, most of the group was flat on the ground. "We've... got to get to him," Jaden groaned, footprints all over him and his eyes in the characteristic anime-style swirls.
Jesse twitched in a similar position beside his twin. "Y-Yeah.. ow... Jim ain't used to this sorta thing... ow..."
Violet, one of the few not run over, was squinting to see further down the hallway. "Well then, we'd better hurry, 'cause I think they caught him."
And then... "AAAGGGHHH! FOR PETE'S SAKE, SOMEONE HELP!" Said cry for help was promptly followed by more squealing.
Some of the guys cringed, especially Atticus. "Dude... been there, done that. Know how he feels."
"How did you get out of it?" Bastion asked, breaking character and calculating exactly how to get through to Jim.
Atticus blinked in surprise, considering the question. "Hmmm... how DID I get out of it...? Um... well, aside from the times you guys saved me, I did try one thing. It didn't work too often, though. I just did the classic, 'Hey look! It's', and insert someone they might go after instead of me," he explained with a sheepish grin. As he spoke, the group could just barely see a roughed-up Jim trying to crawl out of the mob. However, he was promptly dragged back in, nail screeching across the tile as he gave another plea for help and mercy.
Just then, Ryan Billingsley, a Ra from Sydney, Australia, walked by. He was a handsome young man and also a bit of a Duel Academy celebrity. "What's goin' on here?" he asked, flashing his shiny white teeth, which offset his tan, brown eyes and blonde hair perfectly. Today, he was dressed as Link from The Legend of Zelda.
Something clicked in the girls' brains just then, and a few got devious smiles on their faces. "Girls! Huddle!" Violet shouted. The girls gathered together, leaving the boys in the dark about whatever they were planning. "Now, I KNOW all of you are thinking exactly what I am. The question is: Would it be too mean to do it to the guy?" Violet whispered.
"Hmmm... well, we do have to save Jim," Jasmine observed.
"And we know Ryan's used to running," Mindy agreed.
"I think we should do it," Annie stated quietly.
"Do what?" Blair asked softly.
The older girls looked at her, remembering that she was younger and may not have thought up what they had. Rosa grinned sheepishly. "We get the fan girls to go after him instead of Jim," she answered.
"Don't we have another way out of this?" Blair asked, worried now.
"Not unless Seto Kaiba suddenly walks by," Annie countered. "It'll be okay, Blair. Let's do this... Rosa, be ready to grab Jim..."
Rosa nodded. "Any stragglers who try to hang on to him will have no chance against me."
Violet grinned. "We can make it up to Ryan later. Besides, he'll be glad that he was able to help a fellow Aussie," she reminded simply.
"Okay..." Annie took a deep breath, knowing this would shock the heck out of most people at the Academy and in their circle of friends. But one of her hidden talents, rarely utilized, was that she could scream like a stupid-in-lust fan girl. And so... "OH MY GOSH! IT'S RYAN BILLINGSLEY!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs.
The girls had expected this, but the guys were shocked. Several eyes bugged and even more jaws dropped, especially the ones belonging to Syrus. Ryan's own eyes widened as almost all of the girls ravaging Jim abruptly turned their attention to him instead. And then... "IT IS RYAN! OH MY GOD! HE'S EVEN HOTTER AS LINK!" shrieked one of the girls. Like before, that set them off, and it was déjà vu as the blonde Australian turned tail and dashed back down the hallway. This time, the gang wisely hugged the wall so as not to get run over by the horde of fan girls. As soon as they'd passed, Rosa ran to Jim's side in a way so fierce that the three or four girls remaining screamed and ran away in the opposite direction.
"Wow! How did you guys do that?" Jaden asked, stunned.
"Practice," Annie stated simply, smoothing her yellow dress.
Syrus blinked a few times, still stunned. "Practice?" Jim, meanwhile, was face down on the tiled hallway floor. He twitched every few seconds, hat lying a few feet away and costume thoroughly crumpled. His blue jacket had been torn half off of him, leaving one arm in and one out. His tie was undone and his dress shirt had been pulled out of its tucked position in his pants. Even one of his shoes was off and lying upside-down a few feet down the hallway.
Axel ran over to Jim quickly and flipped him over. "You okay, man?" he asked, checking for damage.
Aster straightened his faux glasses. "Those fan girls were worse than mine..." And Annie beckoned her fiancé to her. Jim wasn't injured... physically, at least. Mentally, he seemed to be a bit bruised and scarred from the traumatizing experience of a fan girl mob. His one good eye was twitching uncontrollably. Syrus went to Annie, taking her hand and curious to hear what she had to tell him. "I learned how to do that to distract as necessary," she smiled. "But there's only one guy that is the object of my affections... And that's you..."
He flushed a little. "I know that, Annie... and I'm glad. You're the only girl I like that way... and you always will be," he replied happily.
Meanwhile, the other guys had crowded around Jim, helping him to sit up. But he still wasn't talking. And so Jaden and Jesse had run quickly to get Shirley the crocodile. She now waddled into the hallway and straight to her best human friend, nudging his hand with her snout.
Somehow, feeling the presence of his closest friend brought Jim out of his stupor. He blinked a few times and shook his head, looking down at Shirley with a smile. "I-I'm all right, girl. Just... a little overwhelmed, that's all," he finally managed.
Alexis frowned. "Jim, how did they catch you, anyway? You had a good lead, and you're used to running... not from girls, but still..." She had a good point; surely the Australian teen could have outrun those fan girls.
Jim frowned as well, though it was a near-scowl, as if he'd remembered something foul. "I would've made it out of here just fine, all right. If it wasn't for that blighter tripping me!"
"Who..?" Jaden began, looking meaningfully at Jesse, deciding to play into the twin persona at this second.
Jesse, luckily, caught on quickly enough that it appeared the two shared a mind. "..tripped you?" he finished.
Jim blinked in surprise at that, but quickly shook it off and his one good eye flashed. "It was that Harrington Rosewood bloke! He put out his foot and tripped me so that those girls could catch me!" Shirley growled, obviously just as mad at anyone who would hurt her human friend.
Judging by the expressions that suddenly came over the gang, this did not bode well for Harrington. "That varmint?" Tyson growled, knowledgeable about said classmate.
Jaden's face was the tightest of them all, though and it was just a bit frightening. "Oh, he's gonna pay for that," he muttered dangerously.
Jesse nodded, not as scary-looking as Jaden, but certainly angered. "Yeah! But how? We've gotta get him good for this, but nothin' that'll get us in a lotta trouble."
Annie looked at Violet with a very naughty expression on her face. "I have an idea... And Harrington won't even know what hit him..."
Violet caught the expression and smirked. "Oh? And just what do you have in mind, Annie?" she asked eagerly.
"This would be much easier if I could walk... but I think this will still be fun. We have to get Harrington to change his Halloween costume," she grinned wickedly. "Specifically, we're going to give him a makeover..."
Bastion blinked, and oddly did not break Mori Takashi's character. "Ah..."
Violet was grinning maniacally. "I see... this is gonna be fun! What were you thinking, Annie?"
"Either we dress him in a girl's tennis uniform and give him a bad make up job, or dress him up... as a clown," the dark-haired girl smirked wickedly.
"A girl's..." Jaden began.
"...tennis uniform?" Jesse finished. The same image came to everyone's mind, causing massive twitching and/or grimacing.
Alexis shook her head, as if trying to rid it of the bad image. "No way! I say we go with the clown idea. Less nightmares for everybody."
"Okay!" Annie grinned.
"Hmmm... now how in Sam Hill do we lure him?" Tyson wondered. "I mean... oh, wait… we need a girl..."
Everyone looked at Alexis, and said temporary brunette blinked. "Oh no! Don't even think about it. You are NOT using me to lure him. No way. I'm not doing it!" she said quickly.
"Lex... look, I know you don't like this, but if he tries anything, Yubel can kick him in his tennis balls!" Jaden stated eagerly. In thought, Jaden said, 'I might let her do that, in any event, after what he pulled...'
Alexis sighed, hanging her head. "...Fine, I'll do it... But only because of what I'm luring him into," she grumbled.
GXGXGXGXGXGXGX
The group quickly set their trap, taking their positions. Harrington Rosewood was walking down the hall congratulating himself on getting Jim. "I am so awesome," he smiled to himself. And then, he saw her. Alexis was tying one of the black shoes she was wearing. "Alexis!" he called out.
Alexis suppressed her outward cringe, making herself only perform the action inwardly. She grimaced, wondering how she'd gotten herself talked into this again. With a silent groan she straightened, composing herself so as not to give away the trap. Alexis turned and managed the smallest of smiles, and even THAT was difficult. "Harrington?"
"Hello, gorgeous... What are you doing in that uniform?" he asked her.
She nearly let her disgust at the name be shown, but quickly suppressed it as well and tried to keep the smile she'd dragged up stable. "It's my costume," she answered, as if it were obvious, which it was.
"Well, I can't believe Jaden allowed you or even suggested that you wear that. It doesn't showcase your best features," he responded, attempting to be suave. And he was looking at her bust as he said it.
It took every ounce of Alexis's patience NOT to slap him then and there. She swallowed down as much of her anger as humanly possible, smile only twitching slightly at the corners. "Well, I like it just fine, Harrington. But if you want, I can change into something better," she replied through clenched teeth.
"Oh, I would love that, my stunning Obelisk angel," he stated, wondering if possibly her affections for a certain Slifer were waning.
Again, she twitched, and had to grasp her punching hand with her other one so that she wouldn't give in and beat the stuffing out of the tennis player. "W-Well, then. If you'll wait outside the girls' bathroom over there, I'll go and change," she growled out.
"Okay," he said, following her. Now Harrington, to use Bastion's expression was "a lecherous idiot." And he actually thought that Alexis might just swoon if he smiled the right way. He'd obviously not learned from Alexis punching him through a tree. And as he heard the bathroom stall close in the girls' bathroom and no other sound, he decided to step into the bathroom. Just as he did, he felt a strong pressure on his neck and everything went black.
"Got him," Annie grinned wickedly as Harrington slumped to the floor. She has used a sleeper hold on him that Axel had taught her how to use. "Ladies... give me the clown suit..."
"Ugh, to think the pervert would actually follow me in," Alexis muttered as she exited the stall. She had expected they'd have to drag him inside, and really wasn't comforted by this easier method. Surprisingly, Violet wasn't with the group of girls. She had said something about hating clowns because they creeped her out. Rosa handed Annie the clown suit; it was a baggy yellow jumpsuit covered in red polka dots, with fuzzy pom-pom buttons and white ruffles at the collar, cuffs, and ankles.
And so Annie set to work. The girls put the suit over his existing costume and Annie got the make-up on. "Y'know, I just remembered something... Violet's afraid of clowns..."
"Are you serious?" Mindy, Jasmine and Blair asked together.
"Yup... Think Wakko Warner and the guy who sounded like Jerry Lewis in that episode of 'Animaniacs,'" the dark-haired girl smirked as she did Harrington's make-up.
"Is there a reason she's scared of clowns? It's pretty hard to believe," Rosa asked curiously, just as surprised as the other girls.
"Well, she mentioned that she had this scary clown doll and her dad built her a freaky looking clown bed. She actually stayed up one night saying, 'Can't sleep... Clown'll eat me... Can't sleep... Clown'll eat me,'" Annie shivered. "I saw pictures of that bed... It was freaky..." 1
The other girls sweat-dropped and Rosa suddenly regretted asking. "Um... then is this really a good idea?" Alexis asked.
"Well, she might run away... But then she might go psychotic like Wakko Warner..." Suddenly Annie had an image of Violet running through the wall, leaving a Violet-sized hole. And then she had another image of Violet dropping anvils on Harrington. "Alexis... he might just regret bugging you and thinking that he can take you away from Jaden," the dark-haired girl smirked.
Alexis blinked in surprise, not getting the same images as Annie and curious by her statement. "He will?"
"Yup... In fact... I'm counting on Violet's reaction," the girl in the wheelchair grinned devilishly.
GXGXGXGXGXGX
About 10 minutes later, Harrington awoke in a quiet hallway. "Hey what happened?" he asked himself, getting up. He looked down and realized he was dressed differently. "I'm... in a clown suit... Some lady must've had fun with me..." His shoes squeaked like some dog's chew toy as he walked, heading toward Dorothy's cafe. Perhaps this was an error. Unfortunately for Harrington— and perhaps Violet as well— the gang was all in said cafe. They were having some snacks and drinks, waiting for Harrington to either arrive or walk by. Annie had specifically told everyone not to tell Violet that Harrington would be coming around. "Hello, ladies," he grinned as he walked through the door. Jaden and Jesse calmly picked up their digital cameras.
Several other members of the gang pulled out cameras or cell phones or PDAs, ready to snap whatever happened next. Violet glanced up from her chocolate milkshake in a bored way, only to spit out what was left in her mouth and splutter in terror. She nearly fell out of her chair, staring at Harrington with wide eyes. Then, raising a pale finger, she pointed directly at his red rubber clown nose and shrieked, "CLOWN!"
Harrington smirked. "Hello, gorgeous. You don't need to be afraid of this clown..."
That probably hadn't been the best thing to say. Violet twitched for a moment, and then without warning chucked her milkshake at Harrington. The clown Obelisk ducked and barely missed the wet missile, straightening in time to see Violet coming at him with a chair. "YOU GET AWAY FROM ME! I WON'T HESITATE TO USE THIS! YOU HEAR ME YOU CREEPER CLOWN? BACK! BACK I SAY!"
"I'm not a creeper! I'm the sexiest clown alive!" he shouted back.
"That was..." Jaden began.
"...really, really lame," Jesse finished.
Harrington's statement didn't seem to help the situation at all. Violet, still shaking out of fear, gave a battle cry and swung her chair. "I SAID BACK OFF, YOU CREEPY CLOWN! OR I'LL GET SOMETHING BIGGER!" Harrington, under his makeup, was already pale. And this... well, it scared him. He screamed and passed out.
"Ta-da!" Annie smiled wickedly.
Violet, still severely unnerved, shook as she prodded the unconscious Harrington with a leg of her chair. He groaned and moved slightly in response, causing his shoes to squeak. Violet was still scared out of her wits and, with a shriek, dropped her chair and tore out of the cafe. "WHY IS IT ALWAYS CLOWNS?"
"Perhaps I should go after her," Bastion said quickly, seeing the trail of dust Violet had left.
"Good idea, soldier," Tyson answered, and Bastion ran out of the cafe.
"So... WHY did you girls dress him as a clown again?" Jim asked in confusion.
"We couldn't decide at first if we should dress him in a girls' tennis uniform or put him in the clown suit. Then all of us thought we should put him in the clown suit rather than scar the school for life," Annie said.
"And Annie kinda thought it'd be more... interesting if we put him in the clown suit, since he doesn't seem to know that no means NO!" Mindy stated, a little bit angrily.
Syrus sweat-dropped. "He made that pretty obvious just now... I just hope Violet isn't scarred herself."
Meanwhile, Bastion ran through the school, calling for his fiancée. "Violet! Darling, where are you?"
Suddenly, as he was about to pass by an adjoining hallway, something large and soft swung out and slammed into his face. "TAKE THAT, YOU CREEPER CLOWN! YOU WON'T GET ME!" Violet shouted triumphantly, thinking she'd hit the clown with a rolled up yoga mat.
Though the mat didn't leave a bruise, it did knock Bastion over and to the floor. "What the devil?" he groaned from the ground.
Violet, recognizing the British voice, blinked in surprise and looked around the corner. She gasped when she realized she'd actually hit her fiancé, and dropped to the floor beside him. "Bastion! Are you okay?"
Bastion managed to sit up. "Yes, darling... just momentarily stunned. I admit this is better to be hit with than the potato gun." He couldn't help having a smile, remembering when they'd officially become a couple and the night he and she had tried yoga together.
Violet blushed, also remembering. "Well, you're just lucky it was the only thing I could find lying around. I thought you were that creepy clown from Dorothy's cafe."
"Well, Harrington certainly deserved that," Bastion stated.
Violet's eyes widened. "Wait, that was Harrington?" In her terror, the fact that the girls had dressed said teen as a clown had entirely slipped her mind.
"Yup... and you got him good. He passed out," the Ra genius explained.
"Oh. I thought I'd killed him... and that he was coming back to life as a zombie clown... That's why I ran," she admitted, grinning sheepishly.
"Oh, you didn't kill him... but hopefully you killed his libido, love... He needs to be a gentleman..."
"Yeah... he would have been creeping me out even without the clown suit..."
Bastion chuckled. "If he'd kept coming onto you, I'd have made him regret it... Perhaps with another milkshake... down his pants..."
Violet pouted. "Aw, dang. I wasted my milkshake... and it didn't even hit him... I hope Dorothy's not mad."
"I'll get you a new one, love," he promised. "Shall we head back?"
"Good idea. I just hope Harrington's gone," she answered.
And when they returned, he had. "He left about five minutes ago," Jaden and Jesse said together. "He was terrified you would return and finish him off."
"And he needed to change. He's got a tennis practice session today," Jasmine groaned.
Violet smirked. "He was scared. Ha! He won't try flirting with ME anymore."
"He'd better not flirt with any of us again," Annie smirked. "That was so much fun..."
"Well, there's still more fun to look forward to. We have the party later, remember?" Rosa stated, grinning.
"YEAH! PARTY!" the "twins" squealed.
"Oh, no," Axel muttered, straightening his high school jacket.
"Sarge, you and Private Jesse are goin' easy on the sweets!" Tyson commanded, remembering last year's party.
"Hey, I wasn't included in that-" Violet began, about to celebrate.
"Violet, that goes for you too. Only a little sugar!" Alexis interrupted before the purple-haired girl could do so.
"Uh... what?" Blair asked, having only attended the school for a short time and not gotten to know Violet, Jesse and Jaden's tendency toward hyperactivity.
"Trust me, Blair... if they have too much sugar, we're pulling them off the ceiling," Mindy stated, sweat-dropping.
Jesse scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Oh, come on! We're not..." he began, glancing at Jaden.
"... That nuts," Jaden finished.
"They're right. The worst thing that's ever happened were a few streaking times," Violet agreed.
"Streaking?" Blair yelped, turning beet red. "Seriously?"
The three sweat-dropped, along with Atticus. "Uh, I was a part of that, not Jesse," he admitted.
"Well... don't take this the wrong way, but I'm glad I didn't see that," Blair groaned softly. "I don't think I'd want to see a naked man again..."
Suddenly Annie was looking around, a nervous expression on her face. Violet, seemingly reading her best friend's mind, sweat-dropped. "Annie... are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" she asked.
"Yeah... the Mulan scene..." As if on cue, they saw a young man running past them wearing nothing but his boots and a smile. The girls all turned white and sweat-dropped.
"Ewww," Blair groaned.
Alexis covered a face with her hand. "Annie... you jinxed it," she muttered, eyebrow twitching.
"I know," Annie groaned softly, covering her very red face too.
"How many times has that happened to us?" Rosa asked curiously, rubbing her olive-tanned temple with her fingers.
Tyson and the guys had bemused expressions on their faces. "Danged if I know," he groaned.
"I think it's about..." Jaden began, looking at Jesse and grinning sheepishly.
"...50," Jesse finished with a broad grin, causing most of the others in the cafe to face-plant.
"I think that's overshooting the mark," Aster said, "but then again, I wasn't here your first year..."
"That is overestimating," Bastion sighed, "but probably close."
"Hooray for overestimation!" Violet cheered randomly, pumping a fist into the air. When everyone stared at her in puzzlement, she blinked. "What? I'm bored!" Everyone looked at each other and doubled over laughing.
Direct quote from The Simpsons episode, "Lisa's First Word," airdate December 3, 1992. Our apologies for not citing this sooner; this was an accidental oversight.
Halloween has come and Harrington Rosewood has gotten a comeuppance. For those of you who are wondering, the episode of Animaniacs where Wakko went medieval on a clown was "Clown and Out." It's worth watching. So next time, please join us for the finale of Halloween Hysterics, "Zombie Movie Madness!" See you all next time!