Leona could barely suppress his smirk as he effortlessly wove through the crowd of Savanaclaw students crowding Mostro Lounge. He could hardly believe this plan of Devon's had gone over as well as it had so far. It hadn't been too difficult to get the rest of his dorm in on the plan; if the promise of free food wasn't enough, the fact that it was a request from their new favorite herbivore would've done the trick. Leona had never seen an outsider find a place in Savanaclaw so quick but all it took was one cooked meal and Devon had managed to win over the entire dorm. He guessed that saying about the way to a (beast)man's heart being through his stomach held some water after all.

He was equal parts surprised and amused that Azul fell for the ruse so easily. Leona was sure Azul would've pieced together that the suspiciously large crowd of customers were all Savanaclaw students within a minute or two at most but he didn't seem to put two and two together, at least not at the time Leona had left the VIP room.

"Judging from that smug look on your face, I'm guessin' you were able to lift the contracts without any trouble?" Ruggie asked as Leona met him just in front of the mirror portal leading to the main campus.

Leona smirked. "Heh. Those sticky fingers of yours never cease to impress."

Ruggie smiled slyly in response. "Hey, if you wanna keep something safe, you need to make sure to lock your pockets down too." His eyes widened as Leona pulled a hefty stack of golden contracts from the inside pocket of his dorm uniform; Devon had had Nyx create a pocket void inside it to avoid looking conspicuous. "I can believe how many of these things there are. There's gotta be five or six hundred, easy."

"Tch. I bet he's been makin' these shady deals since long before he enrolled here," Leona replied with disgust. "Anyway, we've got 'em outside the VIP room, so there's only one more thing to do." He began reciting the incantation for his Unique Magic as magical energy began to gather in the palm of his hand. "[I am hunger. I am thirst. I am that which steals your tomorrow-]"

"Hold it!" called out a voice behind them.

"Hmm? That was quick," Leona commented as he and Ruggie turned to see Azul standing a few feet away, his uniform in even more disarray than before and a harried look on his face. "You caught up to us sooner than I thought you would. Good on ya, octo-punk." His smirk returned. "But I suggest you stay where you are. One step closer and your precious contracts are as good as dusted."

Azul could only clench his jaw as he stared at the contracts in Leona's hand, his fists clenched so hard they were shaking. He was still kicking himself for not catching onto their plan sooner; that the crowd of students were just bait to lure him out of the VIP room and leave an opening for Ruggie to "conveniently" bump into him and pocket the key to the vault. He should've figured Leona would make a move now; he knew Devon was staying at his dorm, meaning he was likely aware of her plans to retrieve the photo from the museum and if she'd shared what had happened during her last attempt with the lion prince, he probably suspected that Jade and Floyd would be sent to deal with her, leaving Azul to handle Octavinelle without his top enforcers.

He took another look at the magical energy swirling around Leona and he knew he'd make good on his threat if Azul made one false move. He couldn't risk making a grab for the contracts so, as much as it made his skin crawl to even consider it, he resorted to the only other feasible plan he could think of: begging. "G-Give those back! Please give them back!"

"Hey, c'mon now. At least try to sound composed," Leona replied mockingly. "What happened to that cool, calm, and collected act, huh? Heh. Judging from the way you're actin' right now, it sounds like Devon was right on the money."

"Wait…what?" Azul asked, stunned. "What does she have to do with any of this?"

"Oh, it's a fun story, really…," Leona began as he recounted the conversation from the previous evening.

"So what you're sayin' is that those contracts of his actually are able to be destroyed, but only when they're in the vault?" Leona asked.

"Wait, what? Sorry, but I'm totally lost," Grim said. "How does that work, exactly?"

"Hmm… Actually, I think Dev's got a point," Ruggie agreed. "When you stop to think about it, it doesn't really add up. If what Azul and his flunkies say is true and the contracts are both unbreakable and jolt anyone who touches them but him, why bother to lock 'em up in the first place?" He smiled and put his hands behind his head. "They could just leave 'em wherever, like Leona does with his wallet."

Grim blinked before turning to Devon. "Now that you mention it, remember how he freaked out when the vault got dinged up a bit? It still worked perfectly fine, but he acted like Floyd had completely demolished it."

Devon nodded. "Exactly. That was another thing that didn't quite make sense to me."

"It's common sense to keep valuables in a safe, so I never really thought to question it myself," Ruggie added. He cast a teasing sidelong look at Leona. "Who knew Savanaclaw's pampered leader's inability to tie his own shoes in the morning would actually be what helped solve this mystery?"

Leona scoffed and rolled his eyes before sending Ruggie a glare. "Can't go one conversation without gettin' in a dig, can ya?"

Ruggie smirked and shrugged before turning back to Devon and Grim. "I'd also be willing to bet that the whole bit about the contracts electrocuting people is just another bluff too."

"Wha-?!" Grim exclaimed.

"Don't look so surprised," Leona told him. "You said he told you that he knew you guys were in there, right? So he conveniently "forgot" about one of the contracts and left where he knew you would find it. All they had to do at that point was wait until one of you touched it, then use some lightning magic to jolt you. Word to the wise, freshies: if the bait is obvious, don't take it."

"Grrr… Azul's been makin' fools of us at every turn!" Grim groused. "I'm tired of bein' tricked, dang it!"

"Don't you worry, Grim. We're gonna pay Azul back with interest for everything he's done," Devon promised, a deviously dark look on her face. "Cualquiera que se atreva a insultar a la familia Lopez se arrepentira del dia en que nacieron…"

"Umm…sure?" Grim replied. He had no clue what she'd said but judging from the look on her face, he could tell it meant bad things for Azul. Leona noticed that he did pick up that she'd said something about the Lopez family and he saw the little monster brighten slight at the fact that Devon considered him part of it.

Leona tapped Devon's cheek with his tail to pull her attention back to him. "Sounds like the quickest way to test your theory is to get the contracts out of the vault."

"So all of this was Devon's idea?" Azul asked incredulously as Leona finished explaining. Once again, that girl was proving to be a bigger thorn in his side than she had any business being. "Why?! Why does she keep getting in my way?! She gains nothing from freeing the anemones as it is! This is absurd!"

"Yeah, can't really argue with ya there," Leona agreed before smirking again. "So Azul…how about you and me make a deal?"

Azul blinked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose again. "Excuse me…?"

"If I were to give these contracts back to you, what would you be prepared to do for me?" Leona asked.

"Wh-Whatever you want!" Azul replied immediately. "I'll give you all the study guides you want. I can write your graduation thesis or pad your attendance records-anything!"

"Hmm… Well I guess that is a pretty tempting offer," Leona admitted.

"So then-" Azul began hopefully.

"But here's the thing," Leona interjected as he waved the contracts in his hand, somehow looking even more smug than before. "Tempting as that offer is, it's not gonna be enough to make me hands these babies over to you."

Azul could practically feel his stomach drop again. "…What?"

Leona closed his eyes in a look of feigned annoyance. "Y'see, Devon's got me over a barrel right now and she knows it. If I don't help Team Ramshackle get rid of these stupid contracts, she and her little furball are gonna make a huge racket outside my room every night until morning."

"…Huh?" Azul asked with a flat look on his face.

"The long and the short of it is that if you take Ramshackle away from them, they'll take my good night's sleep away from me," Leona elaborated, pressing his fingertips to his forehead and covering just enough of his face that Azul wouldn't be able to make out the proud 'that's my girl' smirk that was threatening to dance across his lips. "Gettin' rid of these contracts will get those two out of Savanaclaw, so I'm afraid they've gotta go."

"That's why you're helping them?! You can't be serious!" Azul exclaimed.

Leona shrugged. "You're just gonna have to accept that Devon's out-villained you, Azul."

"Y-You can't! Don't do it!" Azul pleaded, glancing nervously at the magical energy still gathered in Leona's palm.

Leona ignored him, turning his attention back to the contracts. "Now where was I? Oh right… [Kneel before me! King's Roar!]"

"NOOOOOO!" Azul yelled as the magic in Leona's palm made contact with the contracts in his other hand. The golden scrolls were instantly reduced to sand that fell into a pile at his feet. Azul immediately knelt down to the pile and grabbed a fistful of the sand, hoping he'd be able to find some way to magically restore them, but it was no use. The color drained from his face as he saw his life's work, the collection of magic he'd been building since he first manifested his Unique Magic, begin to scatter to the winds. He was unable to form a sort of coherent thought and his hands began to shake once again. "Ah…Aaahhh…AAAHHHH! M-My…My golden contracts… Reduced to dust… Every single one…"

"Azul's Unique Magic, It's A Deal… Once the golden contract scroll is signed, it can't be destroyed no matter how many people try," Ruggie recited, likely from having heard Azul's pitch before.

"You made a big show of how indestructible they supposedly were, tryin' to hammer that impression home," Leona said to Azul. "But you should know that there's no such thing as a spell with no weaknesses. Based on what Devon told me and what I saw with my own eyes, those contracts were only impervious to damage under specific circumstances: either being in your hand or in the vault in the VIP room." He brushed some leftover sand off his hand. "And given how easy it was to turn them all to sand, I was right. Those contracts are no stronger than sheets of paper on their own."

"I don't believe this…," Azul muttered as the handful of sand he'd grabbed began to slip through his fingers.

Ruggie side-eyed Leona again with an amused look. "Shishishishi… Ya know, you could've easily knocked Devon into next week for blackmailing you. I was wondering why you'd agree to go to all this trouble and I think I've figured it out."

"Oh yeah?" Leona replied, his expression fixed into a neutral, guarded look.

"You made a deal with Azul before, right? Devon's plan gave you a convenient opportunity to get rid of your own contract scroll," Ruggie reasoned.

"Heh. Nobody likes a snoop, y'know." A lazy smirk slid back onto Leona's face as he realized what Ruggie was doing and why he was making a point to say all this in front of Azul: Devon had already painted a pretty big target on her back by coming up with this plan, but Leona had been the one to actually destroy the contracts. It wasn't unthinkable that Azul might end up trying to use Devon to get his revenge on Leona if he caught on to the prince's budding (blergh) feelings for her. He knew Devon was made of some tough meat but the thought of her getting hurt somehow, especially if it was because of him, caused an uncomfortable feeling to sink into his stomach. Best to play along with Ruggie to make sure Azul was convinced he was acting purely out of self-interest (admittedly, getting rid of his own contract scroll was one of the reasons he agreed to help) than potentially make the target on Devon's back any bigger. "I'm just a nice guy who can't ignore a friend in need, is all…pffft."

Ruggie snorted, glad Leona had caught on. "Oh please, you couldn't even get through that sentence with a straight face. I wish I'd thought to take a peek at what kinda deal you made before you destroyed all the contracts."

"Ah… Ahh…"

Another whimper from Azul pulled Leona and Ruggie's attention back to where he was still kneeling on the ground.

"Aaahhh, aaahhhh…" The whimpers kept getting louder until the dam finally broke, shocking both Leona and Ruggie into taking a step back. "NNGAAHHH! I HATE THIIIS!" Gone was the calm, collected businessman who was always in control; Azul's voice was now far whinier and higher-pitched than they'd ever heard it before, almost like a child about to throw a tantrum. "It's gone… My entire collection… My power…"

Leona blinked. "What's goin' on? Did he flip a switch or something?"

"Yeah, talk about changin' your tune," Ruggie agreed.

"Everything I've worked for, all up in smoke! How could you do this to me?!" Azul shouted as he glared up at the two beastmen. His breathing became more erratic as he hid his face in his hands. "Without those scrolls, I'm… I'm back to being that stupid, clumsy octopus again!" Black ink began to pour out of Azul's body, an indication of his spiraling mental state, though it was unclear if it was regular ink or blot. "No, no, no! This can't happen again…" Tears began to form in the corners of his eyes but he made no move to wipe them away. "I don't wanna go back to the way I was before!"

"What is this? What this black aura?" Leona asked, his eyes wide with surprise at Azul's outburst.

"It's your fault for gettin' his hopes up, Leona!" Ruggie replied. He turned to Azul and put on what he hoped was an easygoing smile despite how badly he was panicking inwardly, his voice soft and his movements slow as if trying to coax an animal out of hiding. "Okay Azul, it's alright. I know emotions are running high right now, but let's just take a deep breath and step back for a sec, okay?"

Unfortunately, Azul wasn't having any of it. "SHUT UP! You don't know me! You don't know anything!" The black aura continued to grow. "All those years I spent being mocked… All the abuse I had to endure… How could you possibly understand how I feel?!" He pulled in a few shaky breaths before slowly rising back to his feet. An unsettlingly serene smile began to spread over his face as he began chuckling to himself. "Heh… heheheh… Of course… The answer's so obvious… If you lose something, you simply take it back." He turned slowly around to face the gathering crowd of students who had come to see what all the commotion was about. "Give them to me… Come on, now… Give me the powers you hold most dear!"

Meanwhile, back at the museum, Devon's group was bracing for another attack from Jade and Floyd when a bright flash of light stopped everyone in their tracks.

"What was that light just now?" Jack asked.

"Hm?" Ace looked over at Deuce, only to shout in surprise when he saw that the anemone on his friend's head was no longer there. "Deuce! Your anemone's gone!"

Deuce quickly reached up to the top of his head, only for his eyes to widen when he realized he could no longer feel the anemone. "Ah! You're right!"

"Mine's gone, too!" Grim exclaimed as he felt the top of his own head. "And so is yours, Ace!" He turned to look at Devon excitedly. "You were right, Dev! Leona and Ruggie came through for us!"

Jade blinked, an uncharacteristically shocked expression on his face. "Come again?"

"Someone better explain what's goin' on here," Floyd demanded.

"We made a deal of our own with Leona and Ruggie to get them in on our plan," Grim explained with a smirk.

"No way," Floyd protested. "All that guy does is sleep his days away like the sea lion he is. Why would he agree to help you?"

"As a fellow dorm leader, he should have wanted to avoid making an enemy out of Azul," Jade pointed out. "How did you get him to agree to assist you?"

"Clearly you're underestimating Devon's ability to charm the pants off just about anyone on campus if she really wants to," Deuce replied.

"That's sweet of you to say, Deuce, but that wasn't exactly what happened this time," Devon corrected.

"See, Devon told Leona that if he helped us get Ramshackle back, we'd leave his room without a fuss," Grim elaborated. "But if he didn't, we'd raise all kinds of racket outside his room all night, every night. We even gave him a little demonstration to show him how annoying we could be." He rubbed at his throat. "We basically screeched our lungs out until almost daybreak and now we're mad sleep-deprived."

Jade and Floyd could only stare at the Ramshackle duo with looks of both disbelief and resignation. "Wow…"

"Guess that explains why you were so hoarse this morning, Grim," Deuce commented.

"Hang on, that sounds less like a deal and more like a threat to me," Floyd pointed out.

"Well, you know how the saying goes: an eye for an eye and all that," Jack replied.

"Devon also offered to something for Leona as part of the deal but I passed out and went to sleep before I could hear what it was," Grim added.

Ace eyed Devon with a mix of apprehension and jealousy. "What'd you promise to give Leona, New York?"

Devon shook her head with a teasing smirk. "That's not important right now. Besides, I've been sworn to secrecy." Her smirk dropped when she got a good look at Ace's expression. "The only thing I'll say is that it's probably not whatever you're imagining."

"There'll be time for you to be jealous and possessive later, Ace," Jack said. "Let's handle this crisis first, okay?"

Ace nodded. "Yeah, you're right." He smirked at the Leech brothers as he cast a quick wind spell. "Now that I've got my wind magic back, I say it's time we turn these tables."

"Come forth, cauldron!" Deuce cried, an overjoyed look on his face when a cauldron materialized out of thin air. "…Alright! It worked!"

"Mrahh! I can't check to see if I got my fire magic back or not since we're underwater! That ain't fair!" Grim complained.

"Somehow I think we'll manage without your little sparks, Grim," Ace snarked with a playful grin.

"I think it's best we get back to campus, Floyd," Jade said. "If their anemones are gone…"

Floyd nodded grimly, all traces of sadistic playfulness gone. "Yeah. I've got a real bad feelin' about this."

"Not so fast!" Deuce interject, moving to block their path. "Don't tell me you're planning on leaving now that we're back in fighting shape."

Ace smirked. "Seriously, that's no fun at all. Stick around and play with us for a bit!"

"You runts are really gettin' on my nerves," Floyd growled as his expression morphed into his 'don't eff with me' face. "I'll have all of you cryin' for mommy before you can blink!"

Jade shook his head. "Just ignore them, Floyd. We don't have time for-"

Devon's eyes suddenly began to glow a bright blue, stopping the conversation in its tracks as everyone's heads snapped toward her. Unbeknownst to them all, the Sending Stone on her bracelet began glowing underneath her uniform blazer as well. She could barely register her friends calling out to her as the world around her began growing fuzzy, their voices fading into nothing as a series of images flashed before her eyes: Azul having a breakdown back at Octavinelle as an ink-like substance surrounded him; Leona and Ruggie looking on, clearly nervous but having no idea how to stop what was happening; students running away in a panic as Azul grabbed one of them and sapped his powers away; and then, finally, a key. The same ornate key that she'd felt compelled to draw for the past couple months was now floating right in front of her, urging her to take it. She reached out toward the key and was just about to grab it when-

"Devon!"

Grim's voice snapped Devon back to reality. She blinked her eyes as the glow receded, her arm still outstretched to grab the key, much to the clear confusion of both her friends and the Leech twins.

"Are you okay, Dev? What happened?" Deuce asked.

"Uhh… Somebody wanna tell us what that was all about? Since when have you been able to do glow-y eye tricks, Shrimpy?" Floyd demanded before gesturing to her wrist.

"Yes, my understanding was that you had no magical ability whatsoever," Jade added. "An attractive enough human female, but otherwise as bland and ordinary as they come."

"It's a long story and I don't have time to explain right now," Devon replied, completely ignoring Jade's dig as the concerned look on her face keeping either eel from pressing her for more information. She turned toward her friends. "We need to get back to school. Now." She looked back over her shoulder at the twins. "You would be smart to do the same. It'd take too long for me to explain, but I think something bad's about to happen to Azul."

Jade studied Devon's face for a moment, trying to discern whether or not she meant to deceive them. As curious as he was about whatever she'd seen-and it must have been pretty upsetting if it made her concerned for Azul of all people-the worried look in her eyes was enough to waylay his suspicions…for now, at least. "Let's go, Floyd. We don't have the luxury of toying with them any longer."

"Tch, fine," Floyd grumbled before pointing a finger at Devon. "But you're spillin' the beans about that power you've been sittin' on once we take care of this, Shrimpy."

The twins swam off before Devon could respond, headed in the direction of the Dark Mirror's drop-off location.

"Alright! They're swimmin' away!" Grim cheered.

"We'd better get back to campus too," Jack said. "It's nearly sunset and we still need to rub this photo in Azul's face."

"Something tells me we're gonna have bigger problems waiting for us once we get back," Devon muttered as an unsettled feeling took root in her gut.

"Damn it!"

DJ's shout caused Dominic to snap back to reality, shaking his head to clear it as he registered the fading glow of his Sending Stone. Judging by the outburst, he assumed DJ had been hit with the same barrage of images that he was. He also realized that there was now water all over his bedroom floor since he'd been in the middle of watering some of his plants when the visions had started. He sighed to himself and set about wiping up the spill when he heard DJ charging up the stairs. He barely glanced up when his bedroom door was thrown open a moment later. "You saw it too, I'm guessing?"

"Yep. And I am not happy about it," DJ fumed.

"So I gathered," Dominic snarked as he stood back up to throw the paper towels he'd used away.

"I mean, seriously! Can't that school go an entire month without someone having some sort of cosmic temper tantrum?!" DJ exclaimed, his protective older brother protocols activating at the thought of his sister being placed in possibly mortal danger. Again. For the third time in as many months. "And why is Devon the only one with the ability to stop this? Is the headmaster too cheap to pay for an actual counselor? How did that school even survive before she got there?"

Dominic shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. We knew Devon was putting her big plan to bring Azul down into motion today and, knowing our sister and everything Azul's done, she's not going to be content with just shoving the photo in his face. I think this is the one time we should expect the shit to hit the fan."

DJ quirked a brow. "You're being much calmer about this than I expected. You saw the ink or blot or whatever that was too, didn't you?"

Dominic nodded. "I did. And don't get me wrong, I am worried about Dev and I have been ever since she was taken. But y'see, I have this older brother who can actually be pretty wise when he's not irritating the crap outta me. He said something to me when I was freaking out after Devon first disappeared. Lemme see…" He pretended to think for a moment. "Oh right! "I know this is scary and I know how serious it is, but working ourselves into a frenzy isn't going to help her or us. Besides, we know our sister. She's a fighter and she'll claw and bite and scratch her way out before she lets whoever or whatever get the better of her." Sound familiar? Because that helped me more than you know, DJ." It didn't hurt that Dominic also had Idia's reassurances that Devon was doing alright to help ease his anxiety too, but DJ didn't have to know about that yet.

DJ could only stare at his younger brother, completely touched and speechless.

"Don't look so surprised. Believe it or not, I do pay attention to what you say," Dominic said. "And you were right. Instead of freaking out and questioning how the headmaster manages to keep his job despite everything Devon's told us-and believe me, I do wonder about that too-, right now we need to keep our heads and do what we can to help Devon, should she need it. With any luck, I'll be able to see what's going on like I did last time so I'll be able to keep us up to speed."

"Yeah, that's true. And we more or less know what to expect if what's about to happen is the same as what happened with Leona," DJ reasoned. "I'm not really sure how we'll be able to help from here, but at this point it really wouldn't surprise me if there actually was a way."

"Exactly. We both know Devon's got friends she can call on if she ends up over her head, but we can still be her character supports too," Dominic agreed.

"I'm…not entirely sure what that means, but okay," DJ said before pausing for a moment to think, his eyes beginning to glow pink as he did so. He couldn't explain why, but he got the feeling that something big was about to happen concerning his and his siblings' magic and he and Dom were going to need all the legroom they could get. "What do you say we head to Dev's room for this?"

Dominic tilted his head, confused. "Why?"

"Because Dev's got the biggest bedroom of the three of us. Literally the entire attic," DJ explained. He gestured around Dominic's room, spacious enough but crowded with plants and various terrariums. "There's more space to move in Devon's room and I have a feeling I'm gonna need it."

Back at the Coral Sea, Devon froze as she and her friends reached the spot where the Dark Mirror had dropped them off along with the Leech twins. Her eyes emitted that familiar blue glow as the image of her brothers smiling at her, their own eyes glowing in their signature colors, quickly followed by the key she'd seen earlier flashed before her eyes. The images were gone almost as soon as they appeared, leaving her staggering slightly as the Mirror opened a gateway to bring them all back. Grim and Ace looked at her worriedly, prompting her to smile and shake her head, but it didn't appear that anyone else had noticed.

'I wonder if my brothers are seeing these images too,' Devon mused. 'Is this what Crowley meant by our blessings getting stronger over time? I think I know why I saw that image of Azul's breakdown, so if there was ever a time for a power-up, I'd say this is a pretty good one.'

Ending Notes: You all know what's coming up next! We've got Overblot part three on our hands! And what's going on with the triplets' magic? Will we finally get to see what the deal with that key is? Stay tuned!

I'm glad I finally got the chance to write Dominic being the supportive brother this time. I've written his siblings encouraging him or him being the voice of reason often enough but I've never really written him demonstrating just how much he respects and looks up to DJ as much as I have him do with Devon. Dev and Dom both love snarking and sassing DJ, but they look up to and love their big brother so much.

Speaking of the brothers, I have to say, it makes me really happy that so many people seem to like DJ and Dominic. I mentioned this before in response to a very thoughtful and kind comment I received a few chapters back, but my plan has always been to have the brothers play a bigger part in the story as it goes on. I won't spoil how this will happen but there's a pretty big development coming in the Scarabia arc (this one involves Mala, so I hope you'll look forward to that as well) and an even bigger one set around the beginning of the Ignihyde arc. There's a lot to look forward to and I can't tell you how excited I am for it!

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