THEY WERE IN DETENTION AGAIN. They had been sleeping as much as they could, taking melatonin pills obsessively during free periods, and regularly skipping classes that they deemed "unimportant" to help Rox look for their missing friend. Mrs. Wine, their American History teacher, had caught them mutually napping in the hallways instead of attending her Socratic seminar, and blessed them all with the gift of detention. 

So Xandra, Paris, Dexter and Theo found themselves standing in Mrs. Wine's classroom, waiting for her to arrive. 

"The fact that you three are here makes this so much more stupid," Xandra threw herself into Mrs. Wine's rolling chair, pushing herself around, darting like a jellyfish across the classroom. 

"Look, I didn't ask to be a demigod," Paris frowned pointedly. "I don't want to be here, either." 

"Where would you rather be, Buenos Aires? Reading GATTACA fanfiction?" Theo drawled, looking up from his drawing of a dick on the whiteboard. 

"Writing it, actually," Paris snipped back. "And who do you think you are, Naoki Picasso?" 

It came out before he could really think about it. They all looked away, tense and awkward. Xandra stopped jetting about the room, Dexter took a seat with a defeated sigh. Paris stopped kicking his legs, and Theo capped the marker, dropping it like it was somebody's ashes. 

Mrs. Wine strolled in. Narrow, rectangular glasses perched on the edge of her nose, held around her neck with a chain. She had black hair done up in a sharp bun and a crimson dress that barely concealed her well-rounded, plastic figure. Her heels, black, rapped a sharp pattern into the linoleum of the floor. 

She shut the door behind her and leered at the kids. 

"She looks like she walked straight out of a cheap PornHub movie," Paris whispered. 

"How do you know what a PornHub movie looks like?" Theo shot back.

"Welcome to detention, sweethearts," she purred. "Take a seat." 

Dexter shrank deeper into his seat. Paris plopped down next to him, throwing an arm around his shoulders. Theo took a seat in the back, skulking in the shadows. 

Xandra spun in a circle, displaying her already-seatedness. 

"A seat not in my chair, Ms. Choi," Mrs. Wine scowled. 

"It's Cho," Xandra corrected, getting up and shoving the chair into the wall. "Not that hard to remember." 

"Do not sass me, you murderous little wench," Mrs. Wine hissed. "I can do things to you that would haunt your very dreams." 

"I'd love to see you try," Xandra rolled her eyes, kicking back in a different chair. "My nightmares are even worse than that colour is on you." 

Mrs. Wine chuckled. "They're only about to get worse, little girl." 

"How's that? You're going to show up to school in gym shorts?" she taunted. 

"I'm going to take over your world. I'm going to raze this place to the ground, and when I do, she's going to bless me with more power and adoration than your sorry, pathetic soul could even comprehend," Mrs. Wine growled, lips pulled into a horrendous smile. 

Dexter turned to Paris. "You can't be serious." 

"What?" Paris wasn't paying attention. 

"She's a Damia, Paris," Dexter hissed, squeezing his arm. "A Damia." 

"Dexter, I like your hands on me, but not when it's cutting off my circulation," Paris gently extracted himself from Dexter's grip. "Who's a Damia?" 

"Mrs. Wine!" Dexter said furiously. 

"Yes, dear?" the teacher whipped her head to smile eerily at him, teeth bared. 

Dexter cowered, but he held his ground. "Who's 'she'? I thought you were married?" 

Mrs. Wine bristled. "Don't ask stupid questions, Dexter, dear. Whoever said there were no such things was obviously an idiot themselves." 

"That's true," Xandra admitted grudgingly. 

Dexter wasn't in Mirage. His mystical powers of prediction via stomach grumbling wasn't active, but the sinking feeling in his gut was all the same. Something was off, and it wasn't Paris' deodorant. 

"I'm quite happy you four little maggots fell into my lap," Mrs. Wine cooed, scraping her nails along the desks, leering at them. "You're the key to my success. My little morsels before the big meal. Once I bring your dead, soulless bodies to my Queen's feet, I'll be rewarded, blessed. I'll get to serve the Once and Future Queen, to be in her presence, to breathe in her scent." 

Theo recoiled slightly, whispering to Xandra. "Is this how I sound when I talk about General Rox?" 

"Yes," she said adamantly. 

"So you work for the Queen of Shadows," Paris guessed. 

"No shit, Sherlock," Dexter muttered. 

"Fuck off, Watson," Paris shot back. 

"Enough bickering," Mrs. Wine slammed her hands down. The desk crumpled like tin foil under her fists. Paris and Dexter flinched, mouths snapping shut. 

She preened. "Much better. Now, the Queen only requires your heads. As for the rest of your bodies..." 

She licked her lips, deep red smearing across her cheek. 

"I've been craving human flesh," Mrs. Wine hummed. "I bet you'd taste quite delicious." 

She pounced, faster than any of them could blink, and snatched Dexter. Her sharp red nails dug into his cheek, making him cry out and thrash backwards. He couldn't move, though, pinned in place by her acrylics cutting crescents into his soft skin. 

"Ah, ah, ah," she chided. "I don't like my meat stringy. Panic tends to make the meat tougher to chew." 

Paris lunged at her. "Let go of him!"

Mrs. Wine caught him mid-leap, her nails cutting red lines into his forearm as she twisted him away. He crashed to the ground, groaning. 

"Paris!" Dexter cried. 

"Shhh," her fingers sliced deeper. Dexter whimpered. 

Theo approached cautiously, hands raised. "Hey, lady, who looks terrifyingly like a MILF. Let's talk about this, okay? I--" 

A chair hurled through the air and crashed into Theo's chest, sending him sprawling backwards. 

"Stay down," she crooned. "Stay like a good boy, or I'll make this so much worse for your pretty little friend here." 

Tears were leaking down Dexter's cheeks, mingling with the blood that was running down his neck. Her fingernails were cutting so deep, blood had seeped down her wrist and dripped on the desk. 

Xandra swore to herself. There was nothing to do. No super speed, no Damia gas. Nothing to save Dexter, nothing to do but sit and watch. 

She might as well be unconscious. 

Xandra threw herself at Mrs. Wine, ducking and sliding just before the teacher's arm could sweep through the air and knock her out. In a baseball slide, she tackled her legs, biting as hard as she could into the tendons along her calf. 

Mrs. Wine screamed, a shrieking horrible cry that scraped Xandra's eardrums. She kicked out, the heel of her pumps catching Xandra in the side of the head. Her vision blurred as she curled into herself, pain blinding her. 

"Goody me," Mrs. Wine turned her attention back to Dexter. "A meal in peace. Finally." 

Xandra wasn't sure if her concussion was making her hallucinate, or if she was dying, or if her brain had just given out and was making up random shit to entertain her, but she was fairly certain that Mrs. Wine crumpling to the ground, bloodied, was no conjuring of her mind. 

"Not so fast, bitch," Hanna Mae snarled, baseball bat clutched in her hand, bracelets jangling on her wrists. "Don't touch my babies." 

MRS. WINE LEAPT AT HANNA WITH A VENGEANCE, claws extended, mouth foaming black bubbles. Her pupils had gone entirely dark, blacking out the whites of her eyes, and blood leaked everywhere from both Dexter's cuts and the blow Hanna had dealt her to the head. 

She screamed as she jumped, bowling through desks and aiming for Hanna's throat. 

The baseball bat came crashing down again, crushing Mrs. Wine out of the air, slamming her into the ground by Theo. He took the opportunity to smash the chair on her torso, beating the air out of her. 

"Careful, she's still Mrs. Wine! Only her mind is gone," Hanna yelled, advancing. "Just hit her head hard enough to knock her out." 

"Got it," Theo hoisted his chair, circling the wounded teacher. 

The two of them paced around her, lions stalking a kill. 

"Stay down," Hanna warned, "Or I'll beat you to hell and back." 

Mrs. Wine panted, pushing herself off the floor, glaring. "I was born in hell. Your pathetic threats are laughable." 

"So is your outfit," Hanna said scornfully, and attacked again. 

Mrs. Wine dodged, darting out of her path. Her nails flashed out and caught Hanna's arm, ripping the flesh. She hissed, but brought her bat down, cracking on her arm. Wine yelped and pulled back. 

"You'll never win. My Queen is too strong. She'll find you, and all your family, and kill you," she seethed, threatening. 

Hanna laughed, grinning over Mrs. Wine's shoulder. "I'd love to see her try. Go ahead, baby." 

Mrs. Wine turned. 

And Theo brought his chair crashing down onto her head, her body crumpling to the floor like a house of cards. 

"Good job, sugar," Hanna praised, studying the unconscious Mrs. Wine approvingly. "We'll make a Keeper of you yet." 

Theo grinned. "I could get used to lugging a chair around Mirage. That was fun. Nice bat." 

Hanna grinned. "Thanks, it's my daughter's." 

The door to the classroom opened, and Theo spun, chair at the ready. 

"Are you done being a drama queen, or should we go back outside?" Rosa Mae ushered Illias through the door, giving her wife a lovingly exasperated look. "Goodness, Hanna, the boy is bleeding and you're comparing weapons?" 

Hanna laughed good-naturedly, squeezing Theo's shoulder. "I'm just giving credit where it's due. Illias, check on Xandra for me, will you? Theo, if you're feeling fine, go give Paris a hand. Rosa and I will check on Dexter." 

Theo nodded, crossing to where Paris lay groaning, offering him a hand. "C'mon up, Amsterdam." 

Paris clasped his arm, hoisting himself up. "Fuck you." 

Illias held his sweatshirt to Xandra's head, trying to staunch the bleeding. "Head wounds always bleed worse than they are. Less fat and muscle around the skull, so the blood flows pretty heavily." 

Xandra grunted. "I'll be fine." 

Illias helped her up, tucking her arm over his shoulder. "Just don't fall asleep any time soon. Concussions are serious." 

"I can feel it," Xandra griped. 

Illias shot her a shy grin. "Yeah, I can tell." 

She gave him a grudging smile. 

Rosa ripped parts of her flannel to bandage Dexter's and Hanna's arms, both torn by Mrs. Wine's killer acrylics. 

"I wonder where she gets her nails done," Hanna mused, sponging the blood of Dexter's face gently. "Not a single one broke." 

Dexter chuckled weakly. "Props to her nail lady, I guess." 

"The Asian ones are always badass," Xandra called from the corner. "We make killer nails." 

"Literally," Paris groaned. "God, that looks awful." 

He touched Dexter's cheek. Dexter ducked his head shyly. "It's not that bad." 

Rosa and Hanna exchanged looks over their heads, grinning. 

"How'd you know to come?" Theo asked, sitting himself in his weapon-chair. "The school's closed. How'd you even get in?" 

"The power of a mother," Rosa rolled her eyes. "Hanna just barged in. That's why we were late. Illias had to convince the security guard I was a guest speaker preparing for a seminar." 

"Never underestimate a momma on a mission," Hanna chimed in, kissing Dexter's cheek. "All better?" 

He touched the cleaned wounds wonderingly. "It's like magic." 

She winked at him. 

"I hate to break it to you, but Naoki's not here," Xandra spoke up, holding Illias' hoodie to her head. "We still haven't found her. Slept all day looking. That's why we were in detention." 

"Oh, baby, we didn't come for Naoki," Hanna gave her the softest look of love. "We came for you. General Rox warned us there might be trouble, and there was no way I--" 

"We," Rosa interjected. 

"--were going to let you four get hurt," Hanna finished, cupping Xandra's cheek. "We care about you, too." 

Xandra's eyes welled up. 

"Hate to break the happy moment, but I think we need a game plan," Theo nudged Mrs. Wine's limp body. "What do we do when she wakes up?" 

Rosa tossed him a roll of duct tape. "Start with that. We can figure the rest out here, as a team." 

Theo nodded, and crouched to duct tape his teacher. 

"Gather 'round, my loves," Hanna called, pulling out a chair and sitting at the desk. She looked like a matron presiding over Thanksgiving dinner. "Now, who's got any ideas on how to dispose of this body, then get Naoki back?" 

author's note!

another short chapter, unfortunately, and a lazy one too. i've been fighting burnout, plus the beginning of midterms, plus a thousand other things, so i'm proud of myself for even getting this much out. when we finish, and if i get motivation, i'll go back and edit everything for sure. 

also, on a much sadder note, brokenglvss is leaving wattpad forever </3 i love you so much gabe, and i'll miss you a ton! good job for making a good decision though. we love you! obviously we're still keeping dexter, but we'll miss your comments </3 

see you guys next time, and comment if you'd rather marry hanna or rosa LMAO