Into the World of Twisted Wonderland

🐙The Merchant from the Depths🐙 Chapter 3

After class, the four head to the hallway, seeing a group of students huddled around a board. "That must be where the results are posted," Deuce says and the four only try to squeeze themselves in the crowd, with Angel being pushed away and Grim only hopping across the students. Deuce noticed and grabbed Angel's hand, trying to pull her towards the group, which proved to be to be effective since they were at the front of the board. With Deuce's strength, he was able to pull her to where he is, making her hit his chest, in which Deuce blushes at the contact, seeing how tiny she was against his chest. He never noticed how small he was until he looked down and see Angel rubbing her nose, trying to make sure it wasn't broken.

"Okay, where am I in the top fifty?" Grim smiles as he looks over the board, trying to find his name. His voice broke Deuce's thoughts and he looked to the board.

"With an average score over 90, we've gotta be in there, right?" Ace asks, looking for his name as well. Deuce and Angel only look for their names.

"First ten places...nope. Twenty...nope. Forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty...nope," Grim mumbles as he goes through the list. "Wait a minute- I ain't in here at all!" He exclaims.

"N-neither am I..." Deuce sighs.

"Hoooold up. There's a list of the total scores each top achiever got across all subjects," Ace says in a panicked tone as he looks at the total score. His eyes widen at the scores. "The top thirty scored perfect marks-500 points!"

"PERFECT MARKS?!" Deuce and Grim exclaimed as they check the list.

"And that's not all, Angel's on this list!" Ace exclaims, making Deuce and Grim look at the list, seeing Angel's name at 16th position.

Angel could only widen her eyes at the list. "N-no way...I can't believe it..."

"If it's Angel we could understand it, but for 29 people to have perfect marks..." Deuce mumbles.

"B-but if I don't make it into the top fifty, that counts as breach of contract!" Grim says, making Ace and Deuce look at him in shock. Angel could only look at the trio confused.

"Wait, 'contract'? Oh no. Grim, did you...?" Ace asks Grim, surprise in his tone.

Deuce speaks up, shock evident on his face. "Judging by the look on your face, Ace, don't tell me you also-"

BWOOOOOP! Suddenly, Ace, Deuce, and Grim had a blueish purple stalk appear on their heads, the three of them looking at each other in confusion as they spot the stalks on each other heads. Angel could only look at the three with astonishment as the stalks just suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "MYAH! What in the world?! A sea anemone just sprouted outta my head!" Grim exclaims as he looks a the anemone on his head.

"G-Grim, you made a contract too?! You big cheater!" Deuce exclaims.

"Yeah, whatever, Deuce. You're just as guilty, keepin' your friends close and your anemones closer over there!" Ace states.

"I'll just give it a quick tug, and" Grim says as he attempts to pull the anemone off his head. Every time he pulled on it, his head is pulled as well, making him wince in pain. "...OW! It's not comin' out!" He whines.

Angel could only look at the three, trying to make sense of the situation that just occurred. "What is going on here?"

"I came to see what all the commotion was," a familiar voice speaks, and the quartet turned around to see that Jack walked up to them. "Why am I not surprised it's you guys? What're you doing?" Jack asks the quartet.

"Jack, did you make a contract too?" Deuce says as he looks at Jack, surprised to not see an anemone on his head. "Wait...You don't have an anemone!"

Ace only looks at Jack in surprise. "So much for looking like a bad boy. You're more of a square than Loosey-Deucey over here!"

Jack only tilts his head in confusion, crossing his arms as he looks at the trio. "Okay, what? I'm completely lost here. What are you talking about, and what are those things growing outta your heads?

"And what's this about a 'contract'?" Angel asks the trio, in which they only look away from their gazes, trying to find the words to say.

"Look, it's, uhhh..." Grim starts only for the anemone on his head to start moving right, making Grim step to the right. "MROW?!" Grim winces in pain. "What now?" The anemone only continues to tug Grim upwards, making him wince in pain as he only lifted off the ground for a bit. "This dang anemone's yanking my head!"

"Owww, geez! It's gonna rip my noggin off!" Ace says as the anemone pulls his head.

"So when he wrote 'absolute obedience,' this is what he meant..." Deuce groans as the anemone pulls his head as well.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAGGH!" The three only group together, with the anemones forcing them to walk in the direction they were pulling, making them all walk left of the board, down the hallway. Angel and Jack could only look at the scene in shock as the three only walk and groans, with the anemone being their guide.

"What now? The way they were walking, it was like the anemones were pulling them in that direction," Jack says in surprise. "Is a picture that stupid still worth a thousand words...?"

Angel could only look at the three in curiosity and concern. "We'd better follow them," she said to Jack. "Obviously, something's wrong here."

Jack only looks at Angel. "Huh? Where do I come in here? This is none of my business," he states.

Angel only pouts at Jack. "Are you scared?" She asks Jack.

Jack only glares at her. "Who're you calling a coward?" Jack only looks at Angel as she pouts, letting out a sigh and clicking his tongue as he puts a hand on his head, looking away from the  girl's cute pout. "Tch. You're starting to fit in around here a little TOO well. Fine. I'll keep you company for a little while, at least," he says, trying not to let the blush form on his face. Angel only smiles at him, happy that he's coming along. "Let's get one thing straight, though- this is purely out of curiosity. I wanna see what caused this. I couldn't care less about those guys. Just so we're clear on that," Jack states as Angel only gives him a smile.

"Yes, yes, I understand. Now let's go!" She says as she grab Jack's arm and pull him along, making him only follow the girl. Jack could only sigh and accept he pulling him along, mainly focusing on how she had to use two hands to pull his arm, making her realize how truly small she is. Maybe it's best I did go with her. She can't do anything with a weak body.