Into the World of Twisted Wonderland

🐙The Merchant from the Depths🐙 Chapter 5

"J-Jack?! What are you doing here?" Deuce asks in surprise.

"Oh, are you...?" Azul says as he looks at Jack. "No, I don't see an anemone on your head. I'm afraid we're having a staff meeting right now. If you don't have a stake in this matter, I must ask you leave for us to sort this out internally."

Jack only growls at Azul's comment. "Grrr...You think I don't have a stake in this? I was planning on studying on my own and out scoring these guys in a fair competition, and now you've ruined that. I think I DO have a stake here!"

"Oh no," Angel mumbles as she only steps out from behind Jack, making everyone look at her as well. Jack's the person with the most morals here! They've all offended his principles.

Grim only look at the two with a smile. "Angel? Jack? Are you here to save us?!"

"Don't get me wrong," Jack says as he glances at the trio, crossing his arms. "I'm disgusted with every last one of you. Why would I side with the slimeball offering shady backroom deals OR the guys who chose to let others do their work for them?" Angel could only nod and look at the trio with a disappointing look, making them all look down in shame.

"What are you here for, then?" Ace asks.

"Actually, I think Jack's right," Grim says, looking at Azul. "He's given me the wake-up call I needed. If you wanna win, you gotta snatch that victory yourself! In other words...If I can snatch my contract from Azul by force and tear it up, it's null and void!" He smirks. Azul could only watch the spectacle play out in front of him.

"Hey, now that you mention it..." A Pomefiore student speaks up.

"Who needs specialists when we've got numbers?! GET HIM!" A Savanaclaw student exclaims with a smirk.

Angel could only watch as the students only cheer and start to face Azul, in which he looks nonchalantly at the situation that just occurred. Angel only sighs. "These guys are hopeless. Violence isn't the answer to everything," she says.

"Not what I meant, but stay back, Angel," Jack says as he cracks his knuckles. "No way I'm going down without a fight."

"You're only just like them, Jack!"

Azul could only sigh at the crowd of students glaring at him. "Dear me, I really didn't want to resort to violence, but alas. Jade. Floyd. Play with them for a bit."

Two people step out, and Angel remembered that they were the twins she saw when she was observing people to be victims for the Spelldrive tournament. She sees that even in their dorm uniform, they are very easy to tell apart, with Jade having a neat appearance of the black pants suit, but compared to Azul, he had a purple undershirt underneath his buttoned jacket, with a white bowtie instead of a purple one. For Floyd, his appearance was messy, with the top button of his purple shirt not buttoned, his bow tie not tied, hanging around his neck, and his jacket open and loose. The two only look at the crowd, with Jade having a slight smile on his face and Floyd only having an amused smile on his face as the students look at the two. "Understood, sir," Jade replies.

"Oh man, I get to squeeze 'em all? Ha ha, niiiice," Floyd says playfully as the two only walk towards the students.

The students start shooting spell after spell, making Angel only go and hide under one of the tables, trying not to get hit by any wayward spells. As she hides under the table, she sees that Jade and Floyd only reflect their spells, with Jade shooting spells back, while Floyd only gets up to the students and hit them from where she kneels but isn't exactly sure where until some students start kneeling in front of her in pain. She could only watch as the four try to aim at Azul, only for their spells to be not effective as Azul only smirks and repel the attacks, sending a variety of attacks towards them, ranging from earth spells to lighting spells, shocking everyone. Throughout the chaos, Angel could get bits and pieces of the fight, only crawling on the floor to avoid any students' spells heading her way or from any students being thrown away to the tables and sofa. While she was crawling, she spots something shining, shaped like a piece of paper and she only crawls towards it, trying to get a closer look at it. After careful navigation, she was close enough to reach it and held out her hand to grab it, but suddenly, someone stops in front of her and she looks up, freezing at the sight of Azul smirking at her, while he only kneels down and look at her. "It sure would be a shame if I lost this," Azul says as he picks up the paper, keeping his eyes on her. "Don't want to let these people know that a thief made them lose their only chance of freedom," he says as Angel only backs away from him, and Azul only smirks as he stands up and looks at her scooting back. Angel could only look at Azul's retreating legs as she could only crawl back in shame to where she once was, seeing that most of the students are kneeling and panting from the fight, seeing that Jack, Ace, Deuce, and Grim panting and glaring at the twins, in which they only smile back, without a hair or breath out of place. Angel could only get up from the floor and head towards the four, with Azul and the twins looking at the scene of battered students in front of them. Angel could only look at the scene with wide eyes. They were able to take on ALL of them?! She thinks as she looks at Jade and Floyd.

"Geez, what a bunch of wimps," Floyd says in a bored tone, crossing his arms. "They're barely worth squeezing."

"It's like a whole school of feeble small fries," Azul says as he looks at the students.

Ace could only groan in pain. "How many kindsa magic can this Azul guy bust out?! I call shenanigans!"

"Did Azul's golden contract deflect all of your attacks?" Jack asks the others.

"Argh. This is just showing me how hard I lean on my specialty normally," Deuce sighs as he pants.

"Without his fire magic, Grim's nothing more than you garden-variety weasel," Ace says.

"Myah...I ain't a weasel..." Grim could only squeeze out before he drops to the floor in exhaustion.

"You have all signed these golden contracts," Azul starts, holding the paper that Angel saw under the table for everyone to see. "An official contract is completely unbreakable, regardless of how many bodies you throw at it. No magic can harm this document in any way. Heh heh heh..." He chuckles. "As long as the sea anemones stay on your heads, you will have no choice but to follow my orders," he says with a smile as he looks at the students in front of him. "Why don't you start by cleaning up the lounge? You can handle ingredient prep work afterward. Go on, now. On your feet and get to work!" He commands. As he finishes his sentence, many students could only stand up, the anemones on their heads pulling them to stand as they all tiredly try to ease the pain. Angel and Jack could only see Ace, Deuce, and Grim only follow instructions with sighs on their faces. Angel couldn't help but for bad for everyone. They exhausted themselves in a fight and then head straight to work afterwards against their will? That's so cruel...

"Is this for real...?" Ace complains as they only start moving.

"Jade. Floyd. You're in charge of instructing the new staff," Azul says to the twins.

"Yes, sir. / Yessir!" Jade and Floyd respond respectfully as the students only move around, trying to clean up the lounge.

Azul walks towards Angel and Jack, in which Jack only stands up and glare at Azul. "You're...Jack Howl from Savanaclaw Dorm. And you're Angel from Ramshackle Dorm, I believe? I would appreciate it if you took your leave now." Jack could only scowl at Azul and Angel could only look at the students, seeing their tired faces. "Why don't you come by as customers next time? You're welcome whenever you like," Azul says with a smile as he walks back to the lounge, disappearing behind a corner, leaving the two behind.

"Grrr..." Jack growls at the space where Azul disappeared to. "C'mon, Angel. We'd better fall back and regroup."

Angel could only look at her friends as they clean up, sighing and mumbling at the events that took place. She could feel her heart heavy as she looks at them suffering, but with Jack's suggestion, the two of them really couldn't do anything about it. "...All right. Let's go back to the dorm to find a way to solve this," she says quietly as they walk out of the lounge, with Angel taking one last look at the students before they leave.

As the two leave the lounge, Azul glance around the corner, looking specifically at a certain white-haired girl as she only looks at the students suffering with sympathy in her eyes. Azul only smirks. I think I know who the next major deal will be. He chuckles as he continues, heading to his office.