Chapter 12 • Punishment Ducking

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Chapter 11	Prologue • Chapter 12	Chapter 13

Hall of Mirrors

Ace	Yeah right, like I'm gonna was a hundred windows. I'm just gonna go back and—

Grim	AHA! GOTCHA, PUNK!

Ace	Oh no! They saw me!

Grim	Stop right there, pal! No fair gettin' a head start! Wait!

Ace	Who in their right mind would ever wait?! Seeya!

Grim	No way are you gettin' out of this! You think I WANNA wash windows?

Deuce

...Hm?

Ace	Outta my way!

Deuce

Hey! What gives?!

Please, stop him!

He's shirking his cleaning responsibilities!

Deuce You want me to cast a spell to stop him?

Deuce What? That's not right! But how to stop him?

Deuce

Like, freeze his legs? Or bind them with a rope? Or maybe I could... Hmm... No...

Grim	I don't care how! Just do something! Anything!

Deuce

Anything?! Anything, huh... All right! Here goes anything! I summon thee... something heavy!

Ace	Bwaaah?! Wha?! A pot?!

Grim	Ah ha ha ha ha! Look, [MC], look! That Ace guy got crushed beneath a giant cauldron! It squashed him flat! Aha ha ha! That's what you get!

Deuce

A cauldron?! I wasn't expecting that. I may have overdone it this time...

Ace	Owwww! What are you bothering me for? You guys coulda just banged out the work yourself!

There's no "banging out" a hundred windows!

Headmage's orders. You heard the man.

Deuce

You have to wash a hundred windows as punishment? What the heck did you do?!

Ace	I was just screwing with that furball a little. ...Okay, and the statue of the Queen of Hearts got a teeny bit charred. Sue me.

Deuce

You damaged a statue of the Great Seven?! No wonder he flew off the handle at you! After you managed to get into THIS school, how could you get in trouble on the very first day?!

Ace	Oh, shut up. Who are you, anyway?

Deuce

My name is Deuce. Deuce Spade. Don't you remember your own classmate? Uh...

Ace	You don't remember my name either, do you?

Deuce

That's not the point! You shouldn't try to shirk an order from the headmage!

Ace	Yeah, yeah, message received... Fine, let's bang out the windows already. Huh...?

What...?

Grim sure has been quiet.

Ace	The furball! He's gone!

Grim	Ah ha ha ha! I'll let you two handle the rest! See ya, suckers!

Ace	You caught me so YOU could run away yourself?! Hey! You there! Uh... Juice?

Deuce

My name isn't "Juice". It's Deuce! With a D!

Ace	This is partially your responsibility, you know! So help me catch that little furball!

Deuce

How is this my responsibility?!

Ace	Grim's useless janitor friend can't use magic. That means this is up to you and me!

TWISTUNE

Twistune Dialogue - Follow that Grim!
Twistune Start
Ace	You better stop right there, furball!
Grim	Make me, explodey hair!
Ace	Then a game of cat and mouse it is! Follow me, Juice!
Deuce	How hard is it for you to say my name right?!
After Phase 1
Pass Grim Ack!! I got nowhere to go—! Ace One more push, and we've got this in the bag... Deuce If I stop him with my magic! Ace Hey, could you NOT steal my schtick? Step off! Deuce Or you could just stay out of my way! Grim Woo! Now's my chance! Ace Hey! WAIT! Fail Ace It's not fair. Why does he have to be so fast on his feet?! Deuce What if we try splitting up and cornering him from both sides? Ace Who said you could call the shots? And split up how? This is a one-way street! Deuce Uhh... Umm... Well... Ace That's what I thought. Okay! Less mumbling, more moving!
After Phase 2
Pass Ace Don't forget! You gotta wash all 100 windows by yourself if I catch you. You said so! Grim Nuh-uh! I did not! Ace Match the timing of your magic with mine, Deuce! Deuce Huh?! Ace Were you even listening?! That was way too soon! Grim Lucky me! Time to make a break for it. Fail Ace Just give it up! Deuce Stop causing such a ruckus all over campus! Ace OOOF! What's the big idea?! Why'd you run right into me?! Deuce I-I didn't mean to. It was an accident! Grim Myah-ha-ha! I'm out, losers!

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Chapter 11	Prologue • Chapter 12	Chapter 13