Twisted Wonderland: The New Student

Ace had just entered the Hall of Mirrors not paying attention to his surroundings. The building was cylindrical with a dom on top. There were eight archways, one of them being the entries. Each had a mirror designed in the ideals of the dorm. "No way am I washing a hundred windows. I'm gonna head on home…" Ace said walking down the entryway not seeing the approaching gray cat.

"Hey! You!" Grim yelled across the hall startling the ginger.

"Gah! You found me!" Ace froze a bit looking at the gremlin, the distant shape of his counterpart could be seen through a bit away.

"You jerk! Hold up! I won't let you be the only one to escape!" Grim exclaimed, slowly catching up.

"I'm not just going to wait around for you! I'm outta here!" The boy said, rushing towards his exit.

If the little monster could get any more agitated, his fury would go far beyond any humans. "It's not fair for only you to get out of it! I want to skip out too!" He yelled, picking up the pace.

They ran towards the open room, Ace nearly bumping into another student. He wore the same uniform as the ginger, the only difference being that his vest was covered by his closed jacket. He had dark black hair, short and straight, parting towards the left side of his face. A black spade was present under his right blue eye.

"...huh?" The boy glanced at the upcoming figures. 

"Outta my way! Outta my way!" Ace yelled trying to pass the guy.

The black-haired boy was startled. "Eh? Wh-whoa!" He was confused about what was going on.

Xinyi had just come in the door, she was out of breath. Grim looked back quickly, growling, before looking at the new figure. "Catch him!" he yelled not even stopping.

Deuce looked astonished at the action. "Magic to capture someone!?" he exclaimed before going into deep thought. "I should freeze their legs- no. How about restraining them? Or I could… um…"

Grim growled again. "Anything, I don't care how! Just hit him hard! Hurry!"

Deuce calmed a bit trying to think. "Anything!? Any… thing…" he then looked at Ace who had nearly reached the dorm mirror. "Okay! Anything is fine so come on! Something heavy!"

The ginger had little to no time to react as a giant black pot came over his head, slamming him to the floor. "Gaaah! What the heck!? A pot!?" he yelled, trying to escape once more.

The cat monster began to dance around the squished male, laughing at them. "Check it out!" he called to the girl who just came to them, her breath coming out heavily. "Ace is as flat as a pancake under that cauldron! So lame!"

Deuce looked at the scene a bit ashamed and uneasy. "I didn't think I'd get a cauldron. Did I overdo it?"

Xinyi went down to the ginger and checked him over. "H-he d-doesn't seem to be i-injured in any way. I-I believe you're g-good."

"Man, this hurts…" Ace grones before looking at the girl. "You should be fine. Those one hundred windows should be clean in a flash."

Xinyi looked at him, a frown on her lips. "T-that's n-not something you d-do 'i-in a flash'." She stated before helping him up. "T-these were o-orders from the headmaster, y-you can't d-disobey them."

Deuce watched them, processing what was being said. "Washing one hundred windows as punishment… What in the world did you all do?"

Ace looked at Grim, eagerly glaring at the monster. "I got into it a bit with that furball and we might have charred the Queen of Hearts' statue a bit." He explained, walking away from Xinyi.

The raven was astonished. "You damaged one of the Great Seven Statues? That's definitely something people would get angry with." He stated. "You get into a prestigious school, then do something like that on the first day…"

"...Shuddup. And who are you?" Ace spat.

"I'm Deuce. Deuce spade. Would it hurt to remember your classmates' faces at least?" before trying to say the ginger's name.

Ace laughed a bit, smirking at the male. "You haven't memorized them either."

"A-anyway! As your friend stated, if you were ordered to by the headmaster, that means you take it seriously." Deuce exclaimed sternly.

Ace sighed looking away. "Yeah, yeah. Understood… Then let's get it done and over with." he then turned to Xinyi only to find someone missing. "Huh?"

The girl released his confusion and paused for a moment. "...wait…." she looked around but the gremlin was no where to be found.

"Ah! That furball's gone!" the ginger thought his hands up in frustration. "Dumb cat! He made me take his place!" He then turned to the two other people in the room. "Hey! Umm… Juice?"

The raven was appalled. "I'm not Juice! Deuce! Deu!" He reprimanded.

"You're partly responsible so help us catch that furball!" Ace stated, completely ignoring the statement. He took off running towards the exit, the others following close behind.

"Why me?" Deuce asked, looking at Xinyi who was trying her best to keep up.

Ace growled in front of them. "That deadweight can't use magic so they don't count! Let's go!" He started as he grained speed. Deuce was hot on his tail while Xinyi was left in their wake, out of breath and steam.

A person who has been punished is not thereby simply less inclined to behave in a given way; at best, he learns how to avoid punishment.

B F. Skinner