Author's Notes: We're getting into the thick of it now! And Devon's bringing her signature sass every step of the way! I'm so happy you guys seem to be liking her personality. I wanted her to be snarky without coming off as too mean. I think I did an okay job balancing that but having you guys confirm it for me in your comments makes me feel a lot better!

Ace tossed and turned as he tried and failed to fall asleep on one of the couches in the Ramshackle lounge. With nowhere else to go, he and Deuce had opted to take Devon up on her offer to stay at her dorm again. Deuce had fallen asleep almost as soon as he'd settled in for the evening, but Ace couldn't seem to get comfortable. He was about to give up on the couch and try his chances on the floor again when a thought struck him. Devon's bed was comfortable enough if he remembered correctly and he'd slept next to her the past two nights, so surely she wouldn't mind doing so again.

He carefully made his way up the stairs, trying his best to remember where they creaked; the last thing he needed was Deuce waking up and lecturing him. 'It's not like I'm doin' anything weird, anyway,' he reasoned to himself as he stood outside her bedroom door. 'It's not my fault Devon's so warm and soft.' He knocked hesitantly on the door, not surprised when he didn't get an answer. He opened the door just enough to peek inside…only for it to close abruptly in his face. He jerked his head back to keep the door from clipping his nose before glaring up at the ceiling.

"Okay…ah...Regina…," he began in a whisper, nearly forgetting the Wisp's name. He had no idea how Devon kept them all straight. "I know how this looks, but I promise my intentions are pure. I just…" His cheeks flushed a light pink as he swallowed his pride. "I…think I sleep better when I sleep next to New York, okay?" He crossed his arms and looked down at the floor. "I'm actually a little nervous about this duel tomorrow and…being near her is comforting, y'know?"

Nothing happened for a moment and Ace was just about to head back downstairs dejectedly before Devon's bedroom door slowly eased open its own. Ace blinked in disbelief before sending a small grateful smile up to the ceiling and walking inside, the door closing behind him. Devon was fast asleep with Grim curled up into a ball at her feet and Zephyr ever-present nearby. The green orb pulsed warningly as Ace stepped closer. "Relax, bud, I'm not here for anything weird." He looked down at his sleeping friend before gently poking her cheek. "New York?" He poked her again. "Hey, Dev…" Devon groaned in her sleep, turning her head away from him, but she didn't wake up. Ace shrugged. "Welp, can't say I didn't try."

With that, he quickly lifted up her blanket and settled in next to her. Devon immediately rolled onto her side and snuggled closer upon sensing the extra body heat, winding her arms around him and throwing one leg over his waist as if he were a body pillow. Ace couldn't help but chuckle to himself. 'It amazes me that someone so fierce can be such a snuggle bug.' Being mindful of the collar around his neck, he gently nuzzled his face into her curly hair and breathed in the scent of her strawberry shampoo. He let out a content sigh as he closed his eyes, taking comfort in his friend's nearness as he finally drifted off to sleep.

Devon opened her eyes to see that she was floating in the empty void yet again. "So is this just gonna be an every night thing or…?" Another scene from Alice in Wonderland opened up before her as if in answer. A comically tall Alice stood before the Queen of Hearts as she presided over the girl's trial for the crime of…getting on her nerves or something. Devon couldn't recall the exact reason; she just knew it was something ridiculous. The queen, clearly afraid of Alice due to her newfound stature, tried weakly to shoo her out of the courtroom, but Alice refused to go without giving the queen a piece of her mind. Unfortunately, while she was in the process of calling the queen a "fat, pompous, bad-tempered old tyrant", she began shrinking back to her original size, only realizing what happened as she got the last few words out.

The queen smugly asked Alice to repeat herself as she smirked down at her from the judge's bench. Alice tried to stammer out an excuse, only for the Cheshire Cat to appear and perch on the queen's head as he 'helpfully' repeated Alice's comments. Predictably, the queen flew into a rage and ordered that Alice be beheaded. A swarm of card soldiers rained down on the girl as the scene faded from view and Devon was pulled back to consciousness.

Devon yawned, awake but refusing to open her eyes just yet. Sunlight was pouring into the room through the large windows, so she knew it was time to wake up, but the warmth next to her was too enticing to leave. She heaved a contented sigh as she buried her face into the pillow she was resting on, a sleepy smile spreading over her face and something around her waist tightened its grip just slightly. It took a moment for her to register that whatever she was resting her head on was moving up and down steadily and that there shouldn't have been anything in her room that could wrap around her waist. Her eyes flew open to reveal a still-sleeping Ace. 'Hmm. That's interesting. I don't recall inviting him into my bed last night, so the only way he could've gotten in here is if Regina let him in.' She smiled in amusement. 'Wonder how he managed that.' She giggled to herself. 'Then again, I bet Ace could charm the pants off pretty much anyone if he really wanted to. Too bad he's so obnoxious most of the time.' She reached up to gently flick his forehead. "Wake up, bud." Ace cracked open one eye to glare at her blearily. "Don't look at me like that, we've gotta get ready for classes." She smirked at him before nudging Grim awake too. "I mean, unless you feel like hangin' out here and telling me why you're in my bed right now."

Ace practically jumped out of bed at her words, keeping his face turned away from her so she couldn't see the flush in his cheeks. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Mmhmm. Sure you don't," Devon replied. She climbed out of bed herself and walked over to him. He tried his best to keep his face turned away from her, but there was no mistaking those pink cheeks. "Hey," she tried again, her tone gentler this time. "there's nothing to be embarrassed about. I think everyone needs intimacy sometimes and I'm honestly a little flattered that you feel comfortable enough with me to seek me out when you need it."

"I mean, yeah," Ace mumbled as he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm not about to go to Deuce or the furball."

Devon laughed. "Hey now, Deuce gives some pretty awesome hugs and Grim's a decent snuggle buddy too when he feels like it." She wrapped her arms around Ace's torso and pulled him against her, nuzzling her head into his chest. "But you're welcome to come snuggle with me whenever you want."

Ace cleared his throat awkwardly but returned Devon's hug, trying his best not to hit her in the face with the collar. He looked down at her and realized for the first time how tiny she looked his arms, an unexpected and overwhelming urge to protect her bubbling up inside him. He tightened his grip on her and closed his eyes, soaking up her presence…when someone cleared their throat nearby, causing them both to jump.

"So are you guys done with," Grim gestured between Ace and Devon, looking thoroughly unamused. "whatever this is? Because we've got classes to get to."

"Yep, yep, mmhmm!" Ace agreed quickly as he removed himself from Devon's hug. "Gotta get to those classes and then challenge my dorm leader for his title." He walked toward the doorway, only to smack face-first into it. He shook it off quickly enough, calling back over his shoulder as he left the room. "Let's get a move on, guys! Lots to do today!"

"What's with him?" Grim asked as Devon walked toward her private bathroom to change into her uniform.

"Sounds like someone's sweeter than he wants people to think," Devon replied, amusement clear in her tone.

"Hey, did you hear? A couple freshmen are challenging the dorm leader to a duel!" a Heartslabyul student announced to his friends as they stood near the fountain at the dorm entrance.

"Are they nuts?!" exclaimed a second student. "They'll lose their heads in five seconds flat!"

"Yeah, but…this is the first challenge issued since Riddle became the dorm leader," mused a third as he eyed a crowd of students heading toward the rose maze, the designated dueling ground. "Maybe we oughta go check it out!"

Cater and Trey stood nearby, having overheard the entire conversation. "They can't be serious!" Cater exclaimed. "Ace and Deuce are seriously going to challenge Riddle for the dorm head seat?!"

"I tried to stop them…," Trey sighed, shaking his head.

"There's no way they thought this through! Sorry not sorry, but there's no way their magic can beat Riddle's," Cater pointed out. He lowered his voice so only Trey could hear him. "Let's just hope this doesn't end up making everything worse."

"That's all we really can do at this point," Trey agreed.

"The duel for the title of dorm leader of Heartslabyul will begin shortly," Crowley announced once everyone had assembled in the rose maze after classes were dismissed. He gestured toward Ace and Deuce on one side of dueling area. "The challengers are Ace Trappola and Deuce Spade." He then gestured to Riddle on the other side. "The current dorm leader defending his title is Riddle Rosehearts." He turned to address Riddle. "Mr. Rosehearts, in accordance with magic dueling rules, I ask that you please remove the magic-sealing collars as they would provide you with an unfair advantage."

Riddle nodded and the collars around Ace and Deuce's necks vanished instantly.

Ace sighed in relief as he rubbed at his neck. "Aahhh! Damn, it's good to have that stupid thing off!"

"Oh, don't worry. You'll have it back soon enough. You should savor the taste of freedom while you can," Riddle called out, that insufferable smirk back on his face. "I thought surely I must have been hearing things when I was informed you wanted to challenge me. This is your last chance to back out. Are you certain you want to go through with this?"

"Most definitely," Ace replied, his eyes narrowed into a determined glare.

"I wouldn't challenge you as a joke," Deuce said with an equally fierce expression.

"Hmph, whatever," Riddle sniffed. "Let's get this over with."

Cater sidled up to Riddle nervously. "Umm… Riddle, what shall we do about afternoon tea?"

"What a ridiculous question," Riddle scoffed. "The rules clearly state that my teatime is always at 4pm on the dot."

"But it's already past 3:30," Cater pointed out, pulling out his phone to make sure.

"Are you implying that I would be late?" Riddle asked in a warning tone. "This farce will be behind us quickly enough, you'll see." He turned back to Ace and Deuce. "As you can see, I happen to be short on time. I see no reason to waste time fighting you both individually, so I'd ask that you both come at me at once."

"Fight on, dorm leader!" called out some of the students who had gathered to watch the duel.

"Put them in their place!" came a second round of shouts.

"Hmm… Decent harmonizing, I have to admit," Devon commented from her spot next to Crowley, holding Grim in her arms so he didn't get jostled or stepped on by accident. She glanced to Trey on her other side and noticed a grimly apprehensive look on his face. 'Wonder what that look's all about. I mean, I know he wasn't thrilled about the guys' challenging Riddle but somebody had to do it. Does he know something we don't about this…?'

"Pah! Now I'm really pissed off!" Grim shouted, pulling Devon from her thoughts. She looked down at the creature in her arms to see him glaring at the students who had called out to Riddle.

"Let's even the odds a bit then, hmm?" Devon replied. She met Ace and Deuce's gaze before calling out to them. "You totally got this, boys! Prove Riddle wrong!"

Red and blue eyes flicked over toward Devon's voice, shooting her a brief look of gratitude before refocusing on Riddle. "She's right! It's not like we're runnin' in like chickens with our heads cut off!"

Riddle just rolled his eyes in response before addressing Crowley. "Whenever you're ready, headmaster."

Crowley pulled a small mirror from somewhere in his coat. "The duel will begin when this hand mirror shatters on the ground. Ready yourselves!" He held up the mirror as Ace and Deuce braced themselves to begin and Riddle merely crossed his arms nonchalantly. "Ready…" He threw the mirror down and it shattered instantly. "Fight!"

"[OFF WITH YOUR HEAD]!" Riddle shouted as soon as the mirror shattered. Ace and Deuce were collared again before they could even reach for their magical pens, groaning in pain as the collars locked back onto their necks.

"Damn… I thought we'd at least have a chance to get our magic materialized," Ace growled through gritted teeth.

"I knew this was a long shot, but I didn't think we stood so little a chance," Deuce agreed with a grimace.

Devon and Grim could only stare wide-eyed for a moment. "I-It was so fast… I didn't even see what happened!"

"Powerful magic like that only works if the user has a powerful imagination to go with it," Crowley explained. Devon and Grim looked up at the masked man, waiting for him to go on, but he didn't. They exchanged a look between them.

"Yeah, I think we're gonna need more than that, sir," Devon deadpanned.

"The stronger a mage's ability to accurately visualize the outcome of their magic, the more effective their casting will be," Crowley elaborated. He smiled as he looked over at Riddle. "As you can see, Mr. Rosehearts has polished his to a fabulous shine."

"F-Fgnya… The difference between them is too wide…," Grim realized, shrinking back into Devon's arms.

"Hmph. That didn't even take five seconds," Riddle gloated as he smirked at the two challengers. "And to think you had the gall to challenge me knowing your abilities were so pitiful. Aren't you embarrassed?" His voice lowered slightly, but he could still clearly be heard. "It's just as mother said: rule violators are useless in everything they do."

"Like I said before, I agree with you that rules should be followed," Deuce conceded, standing tall despite the pain he was in. "But enforcing nonsensical rules the way you have just makes you a tyrant!"

"Excuse me?!" Riddle snapped. "It's common sense that if someone breaks the rules, they are punished. And in this dorm, I am the rules! That's why those who refuse to obey don't deserve the heads they use to complain!"

"Doesn't change the fact that the rules are still being broken," Devon pointed out. "I'd think someone at the top of their class like you are would've realized a long time ago that ruling through fear isn't the way to go about things."

"All ways here are my ways!" Riddle shouted, his face turning red for a moment before he recomposed himself, crossing his arms and smirking at her. "Besides, if you can't even comprehend so simple a concept, I shudder to think what your education must have been like. You were probably born from parents without a single spark of magic between them and received only the bare minimum of an education before coming here. How pitiful." He narrowed his eyes at her, mimicking the glare she had sent him the day before. "You are utterly inadequate."

Riddle was a little thrown that Devon didn't react to his scathing comments; he actually could've sworn he saw her shrug in response. The truth of it was, Devon didn't really see a need to respond. For one thing, she didn't place a lot of stock in Riddle's opinion of her so his comments weren't much of a blow to begin with. Second, nothing he said was actually incorrect. Her parents couldn't use magic and given that magic schools didn't exist in her world, it shouldn't have been a surprise that her education thus far hadn't prepared her to attend one.

The same could not be said for her friends, however. They were glaring down their dorm leader, images of Devon's tearful not-quite reunion with her family fresh in their minds. Her parents may not have made an appearance then, but judging from what her brothers and cousins said, it was obvious they were missing their daughter terribly. It was no secret that Devon was missing her family as well, so to hear Riddle casually insult them when he knew nothing about the situation rubbed both boys the wrong way. Deuce had that feral 'bad boy' look in his eyes again, slamming his fist into his palm as a guttural "You asshole…" left his lips.

Meanwhile, Ace was charging across the dueling area with more genuine anger on his face than anyone had seen up to that point. He slammed his fist straight into Riddle's face before anyone could stop him, knocking the redhead to the ground.

"YOU SHUT YOUR STUPID, SPOILED MOUTH!" Ace yelled. "You don't know anything!"

Riddle remained on the ground, too stunned to do more than let out a surprised grunt.

"Riddle?!/Mr. Rosehearts?!" Cater, Trey, and Crowley shouted in concern.

"H-He just punched the dorm leader…," one of the Heartslabyul students in the crowd commented quietly.

"Heck yeah he did!" Grim cheered, impressed. "Got him right in the face with a beautiful right hook!"

"A-Ace?!" Deuce exclaimed. "What are you doing?!"

Ace heaved a frustrated sigh. "Ya know what? Screw it! I don't care anymore! I don't care about this duel. I don't care about becoming dorm leader. I couldn't give less of a shit if I tried!"

"Did you just…hit me…?" Riddle asked dazedly as he began to come to his senses.

"A kid isn't their parents' trophy and a kids' achievements don't determine their parents' worth," Ace said. "I finally understand now. The reason you're such a bastard isn't your parents' fault, or Trey's, or anyone else's." His red eyes narrowed into a harsh glare. "You've been here a whole year already. If you haven't made a single friend with the balls to call you out when you're in the wrong, that's on you!" He sent a quick glance in Devon's direction, remembering how she'd ripped into him at Dwarf's Mine. "I've only been here a couple days, but even I've managed that much!"

"What are you saying?" Riddle asked, his grey eyes wide with shock and disbelief.

"Growing up with a helicopter mom like yours was probably a special kind of awful, I'll give you that," Ace conceded. "But all I've heard you say today is "Mama this" and "Mama that"; are you that incapable of thinking for yourself?!" He scoffed. ""Crimson Ruler", my ass! You're just a baby who happens to be good at magic! You're not fit to rule anything!"

"A baby…," Riddle repeated, his voice trembling with rage. "You have the nerve to call me a baby?! You don't know anything about me! You don't know anything about anything!"

"Yeah, you're right. I know nothing about you," Ace agreed. "And with you acting like such a self-important jackass, I don't want to know anything about you! Seems to me that everyone around here just tolerates you out of fear. I'd be surprised if you had any genuine friends at all!"

"Enough, enough, enough! Shut up!" Riddle shouted as he began to turn as red as his hair from the neck up, his irises shrinking in rage as he struggled to keep his anger at least somewhat under control. "My mother was correct when she enforced the rules, so that means I'm correct too!"

'Yeah, no,' Devon thought, trying to ignore the nauseous feeling that was beginning to build in her stomach. 'That's called the cycle of abuse, sweetie, and there's nothin' "right" about it.'

"Riddle, please calm down," Trey spoke up next to her. "This duel is already over."

"It's as Mr. Clover says," Crowley agreed. "The challengers are disqualified since they attacked without using magic! If you continue to escalate this, I'll have to write you up for going against school regulations!"

"The freshman has a point, though! I can't take this anymore!" yelled a voice from the crowd. Something flew over the heads of the spectators before landing with a 'splat' on Riddle's shoulder. Everyone, including Riddle, was stunned into silence as the egg yolk began running down his arm, the broken shell falling to his feet.

"Is that…an egg?!" Trey whispered, clearly still stunned. "Did…Did one of the residents throw it?

"Who did it?" Riddle asked, his voice lowered to a dangerous whisper. "Who threw that egg?!" None of the residents spoke up. Whoever had thrown the egg was bold enough to speak out on all of their behalf and they weren't about to give him up to be punished. As one could imagine, this did not sit well with Riddle. He smirked. "Heh. Haha… AHAHAHAHA!" His laugh became more unhinged the longer it went on. When he finally stopped his eyes were full of nothing but contempt. "You can't it?! I'm the one who can't take it anymore! No matter how strict I become, no matter how many times I take your heads, you miscreants keep breaking the rules! You're all a bunch of selfish idiots!" Magical energy began forming around him. "Very well, then. If the culprit won't come forward willingly, I'll just have to punish all of you! [OFF WITH YOUR HEADS]!"

The students erupted into a panic, trying to get out of range of Riddle's Unique Magic.

"Quick, we've gotta get out-" one student yelled, only to cut himself off with a groan of pain as a collar appeared around his neck. Several students collapsed on the ground, collars around their necks as well. In the end, only Trey, Cater, and Devon remained uncollared.

"Hahahaha! How's that?! Now none of you can touch me!" Riddle gloated with a self-satisfied smile. "Strictly enforcing the rules is the only path forward, after all."

"Stop this at once, Mr. Rosehearts!" Crowley shouted. "This isn't like you at all!"

"This is lookin' bad, Trey," Cater commented. "If Riddle keeps casting like that…"

"What?" Devon asked, fighting back another wave of nausea. "What'll happen if he keeps casting?"

"It's…kind of hard to explain," Cater said. "For now, let's just say that Riddle's about to hit his limit."

"Riddle!" Trey called out, trying to keep his voice at least somewhat steady. "That's enough!"

"Wow, way to prove my point there, bud," Ace drawled, his glare never letting up as Riddle continued to fume. "Something doesn't go the way you want it to and you immediately throw a temper tantrum. But tell me again how you're not a baby."

"Take that back this instant!" Riddle yelled. "Or I'll skewer you were you stand!"

"I'm not takin' anything back!" Ace fired back. "I'm right and you know it!"

"UGIIIIIII!" Riddle shrieked, his face turning red again as the magic he'd stored up began crackling around him.

"Okay, this is going south fast!" Cater called out to the students who remained in the area. "Everybody, get out of here now!"

Riddle's magic was still crackling freely through the rose garden, warping the very air around them as the smell of ozone overcame them. The once-blue sky was now an angry red and the hedges that made up the walls of the maze were beginning to turn a ghostly white. The rose trees in the immediate area began to uproot themselves and floated to Riddle's side, moving as he commanded them.

Devon wanted to run. Every instinct she had was screaming at her to take Grim, grab her boys, and book it out of Heartslabyul, but something stronger was keeping her rooted to her spot. No matter how much she tried to will her feet to start moving, something inside her told her that she couldn't leave yet. Before she could dwell on it too much, Grim tapped her arm to pull her back to reality.

"Waahh… Those rose trees are all movin' on their own, Dev," he observed. "Shouldn't we be getting' outta here?"

"So much magical power… Is he really planning to come after us with all that?!" Deuce asked incredulously.

"Rose trees, heed my call!" Riddle ordered, causing the trees to turn so that their pointed tops were pointing directly toward Ace. "To pieces with them all!"

That snapped Devon into action. Her feet began moving before she was consciously aware of it…straight towards Ace. Cater and Trey reached out to try and pull her back but she was already just out of their reach by the time they realized what she was doing. Zephyr followed after her, ready to protect Devon and Grim if they needed to. Devon wasn't exactly sure what exactly she was planning to do; she just knew she had to get to her friend. She felt her stomach drop as the trees began hurtling toward Ace and she realized she was too far away to reach him in time.

"What are you doing?!" Crowley shouted after her as she continued running. "You're supposed to be running away from the trees, not toward them!"

'Damn it…,' Devon lamented inwardly as Ace locked eyes with her, his desperately fearful expression matching her own. 'I won't be able to reach either of them…'

Ace closed his eyes and braced for the trees to tear through him…but it never happened. He slowly opened his eyes to see that the trees about to impale them had vanished; the only things left in their place were playing card suits. He looked over at Riddle, wondering if maybe this was some kind of weird power move, but his dorm leader looked just as shocked by the whole thing as he did.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Riddle exclaimed.

Ace looked over at Deuce as Devon skidded to a stop next to him. "We're alive…?" He looked around at the card suits floating around them. "What are these things, anyway?" He poked one of the hearts, causing it to float away. "Playing cards?"

"The rose trees were all turned into cards!" Deuce realized.

Grim looked at Ace and Deuce before pawing at his neck. His eyes widened in surprise. "Myah! The magic sealing collars are gone too!"

"Riddle!" Trey called out again, lowering his magical pen. "Please, just stop this."

"Was that your [Paint The Roses], Trey?" Cater asked as the others turned to him in shock and/or relief. "But…how…?"

"I told you before, didn't I? My Unique Magic can overwrite any component for a short period of time," Trey reminded them. "I rewrote "Riddle's magic" into "my magic"."

"You can do that?! That has to be some kinda cheat move!" Cater commented.

Devon heaved a relieved sigh. "Cheat move or not, it totally saved our asses! Trey's the real MVP of this duel!"

Riddle's scoff drew their attention back to him. "[Off With Your Head]!" He waved his arm and everyone braced for the collars to reappear, but another colorful array of card suits materialized instead. Riddle growled in frustration. "I said [Off With Your Head]!" More card suits. "Why won't anything but card suits appear?!"

"Riddle, you have to stop!" Trey warned. "If you keep going like this, you're just going to isolate yourself even further!" He gestured around at their dormmates. "Just look at everyone's faces!"

Riddle looked around at the students that were still gathered in the area. Every single one of them had an expression of horror, revulsion, or anger on their faces.

"H-He was being serious…? Was he actually going to kill them?" one student asked in disbelief.

"He went way too far…," a second student commented.

"He's a monster!" added a third.

"What?!" Riddle's head whipped around as he shot the vice dorm leader a frenzied, almost fearful expression. "You… You overwrote my magic, Trey…?" He shook his head in disbelief. "But…does that mean your magic is stronger than mine?"

Trey shook his head, his tone a mixture of placating and pleading. "You know that's not true. Just try to calm down, Riddle. We can talk this out. Please…"

"What is there to talk about?!" Riddle shouted. "Are you going to tell me that I'm wrong too now, Trey?! Even though you've been helping me uphold these rules all this time?!"

Devon was hit with another wave of nausea, this one almost enough to make her gag. She looked over at Riddle again, only to see that some sort of black liquid dripping from his arms onto the ground. 'What the… Is that…ink?!'

"Everything I've gone through… Everything I've had to endure! What was it all for, then?!" Riddle continued in anguish, still trying in vain to produce his sealing collars. The ink began dripping faster with each wave of his hand, eventually forming a circle around him.

"Stop this at once, Mr. Rosehearts!" Crowley shouted. "If you keep casting like that, your magic crystal will end up covered in blot!"

"No! I am absolutely, definitely in the right!" Riddle screamed. The ink around him began to move, streams of it shooting upwards like a fountain. "I refuse to accept any other alternative!" The ink started moving erratically before it erupted around him, forming a dome as it covered him completely.

"RIDDLE!" Trey shouted as his friend was hidden behind the wall of inky darkness. No answer came from the dome and nobody could see inside to figure out what was happening. Trey started to move toward it but he felt someone tug him back.

"Are you crazy?!" Cater asked. "You know what's about to happen, Trey. We need to put as much distance as we can between us and whatever's about to come out of the ink!" He turn toward the group of freshmen. "You'd all be smart to get out of here while you-what's wrong with Devon?!"

The boys shot Cater a confused look. "What are you talking about? She's-" Deuce cut himself off when he took a look at his friend. Devon was frozen in place, her stance rigid. Her once brown eyes were now glowing blue. Deuce's eyes widened in realization: it was the same glow he noticed the other day as they were walking back from the school store. 'Looks like it wasn't just a trick of the light, after all…' He tapped Devon's arm. "Dev, we gotta go! It's not safe here!" No response. Grim tapped her cheek with his paw and Ace waved a hand in front of her face, but nothing happened.

"What the fresh heck is this?!" Grim exclaimed. "Who broke my henchman?!"

A magical pen with Heartslabyul's signature bright red magic crystal was all she could see. Droplets of ink began dripping onto the pen as the crystal's red color began to darken. The ink began flooding her vision, blocking out all view of the pen. When it finally receded, the crystal was completely black.

"Well shit, that ain't good," Devon commented.

Ending Notes: Y'all know what's about to happen next. I said it before, but I'm not that great at writing fight scenes so I'm hoping it turns out okay. I'm am really pumped to write my take on Devon performing her duties as Night Raven College's unofficial therapist. My inner psych major's been foaming at the mouth for this. Having said that, the actual therapy bit won't happen in the next chapter; it'll be in the one following it, though.

And it's official, guys! Ace is starting to catch feelings! We aren't quite at crush level just yet but it's gettin' there. Even once it does start veering into crush territory, he's gonna be in denial for a long time. I feel like Ace is the type to insist that he can't possibly have feelings for Devon because they're besties and he gets really defensive whenever anyone (usually Cater, but Trey gets in on it too sometimes) brings it up. "Of course I'm gonna sit next to her all the time. We're besties!" "Listen, the only reason my heart does that weird fluttery thing whenever she laughs is because I have a condition, okay?! We're besties!" "Look, I'm not jealous that she thinks Jamil's hot. I'm just protective because I'm not sure he's good enough for her, alright? We're besties!" Meanwhile, Cater's just looking at him like "Guuurl~"

Fun fact: I actually made a playlist for this story as I was planning it out and I've been adding to as I go. I actually do this with all my stories since I feel like it helps me keep the characters consistent and it really helps me when I'm trying to write the different relationships between the canon characters and my OCs. I'll have certain songs on repeat when I'm writing interactions between certain characters too, depending on what's going on. I primarily use Marianas Trench's "Stutter" for Devon and Ace (all of her love interests have at least four songs), but Devon and Madison actually have three songs: Regina Spektor's "Two Birds", Autoheart's "The Sailor Song", and Imagine Dragon's "Shots".

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