Still (Y/N)'s POV
"MOTHERFUCKER!" A familiar voice exclaimed from outside the office, cutting mine and Dr Smiley's conversation short.
"SOMEBODY GET US DOWN FROM HERE!" Another person demanded, their words echoing down the halls. Given the sudden volume, both Smiley and Lazari were surprised to say the least. In their respective moments of shock, the doctor had once again dropped her papers and Lazari had effectively leapt out of her bed and clung to my right arm like a scared child. A devious smirk crept upon my face upon recognising the voices, and it took a lot of effort to maintain my composure.
"I'LL FUCKING KILL WHOEVER DID THIS BULLSHIT!" the first person roared, their tone full to the brim with rage. I covered the lower half of my face with my free hand, hoping to hide the ever-widening and shit-eating grin that was growing across my face. However, another yell down the hall was enough to make me lose my composure.

"SOMEONE GET US THE FUCK DOWN FROM HERE!" (B/N) yelled, a small bit of confusion mixed in with his anger. At that point, no matter how hard I tried not to, I couldn't help but laugh. I laughed and laughed as the trio of bullies angrily yelled out into the vacant hall, so much so that by the time I was done there were tears in my eyes and a cramp in my abs. After a minute or two, some teachers had came out to assess the situation and quickly rescued the damsels in distress.

"(Y/N)?" Lazari asked from beside me as I wiped the tears from my eyes. "What... was that yelling?" She asked nervously, looking up at me cutely.
"That *snicker* was..." I began, doing my best to fully regain my composure. "Those guys tried to- uhh..." I interrupted myself after a realisation. 'Since Zalga hasn't said anything, there's a chance she didn't know what they tried. And if she does find out, they're as good as dead' I noted, ultimately deciding to keep the truth myself.
"They tried what, (Y/N)?" Dr Smiley asked from her desk.

"Well, uhh... where to start?" I began, trying to stall in hopes of coming up with something convincing. 'If I tell a half-truth, that should make things sound at least a little more convincing... right?' I thought, silently hoping that neither of them had the ability to read my mind.
"From the beginning is generally the best" Smiley answered smugly, earning a quiet snicker from Lazari.
"Touché" I responded simply. "Well, the three lovelies you hear out there are the star members of the school's esteemed football team. There's (B/N): the quarterback, Pineapple: the running back, and Blueberry: the middle linebacker" I explained, giving extra context since the pair before me were still new.
"Pineapple and Blueberry? Their parents named them after fruits?" Lazari muttered to herself.

"Are they the stereotypical kind of jocks?" Smiley asked, not looking up from her papers.
"You mean bullies?" Lazari enquired innocently.
"If you did, then yes" I stated with a nod.
"Ew" Lazari said flatly, frowning at my answer.
"Are they ever reported for their behaviour?" Dr Smiley asked plainly.
"I've tried, nobody cares" I answered. "And even when people say anything, the principle just shoots them down. Can't let the star players have a bad rep, now can we?" I added sarcastically, earning a scoff from both girls.
"Did you try and back up your claims? The guys may be favoured by the school, but surely-"
"Of course I tried" I interrupted, rather upset at the mere suggestion. "Half of the teachers didn't believe me even after I had a black eye, so I managed to record another few instances of them beating me up. Can you guess what the teachers did?" I asked, only to receive a few seconds of silence. "Correct. They did nothing" I stated bitterly, getting a little heated at the memory.

"You got beat up?" Lazari asked sorrowfully, looking up at me with sad eyes.
"Given who-slash-what you are, it's shocking that you were ever harmed in the first place" Dr Smiley stated, setting some papers down and looking over at me. "Did you even fight back?" She asked.
"Nope" I stated as I shook my head. "I may be a top performing student, but we don't get special treatment like athletes do" I explained. "If I were to seriously harm one of the players, especially on school grounds, I'd get suspended almost immediately" I added.
"So you just let them beat you up? And you never got back at them?" Smiley asked inquisitively, her curiosity growing with every answer I gave.

I smiled as a few memories came to mind, and it only grew wider as my history teacher came in with numerous bed sheets bundled up under his arm. "Hey there, Nurse" Mr Smith greeted. "Sorry to barge in, but I think someone came in and took these from the beds" he explained.
"I was wondering where those went" Lazari muttered.
"I knew the room seemed mismatched when we got here" I lied, hoping her comment helped my believability.
"Got any idea what happened, Doc?" Mr Smith asked, only to receive a shrug from Smiley.
"Me and these two have only just gotten here, I had to grab (Y/N) on account of a sports injury and Miss Swann was kind enough to help me bring him up" Smiley lied, clearly catching onto my plan.
"Sports injury, (Y/N)?" Mr Smith asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow as he turned to me. "How'd you manage that one, kiddo?" He asked, his tone full of concern.
"Always worried about me, ain't ya?" I responded with a smile.

The teachers were tolerant of me since I kept my manners in check and I always did well in class, but Mr Smith always went above and beyond. My childhood incident certainly gave me a reputation, and it followed me everywhere I went. Even after I graduated middle school, I still stuck out like a sore thumb across town. Despite this, Mr Smith was always ready to welcome me into his class with open arms. I was certainly skeptical for the duration of my freshman year, but I gradually warmed up to him throughout my time as a sophomore. By junior year, I frequently found myself genuinely excited to spend time in his classroom.

"Obviously, especially since you come in every other day with a new bruise, tough guy" Mr Smith joked, giving me a light punch on my right arm.
"For real?" Lazari asked concernedly.
"Actually, it's more like every day. The knuckleheads out there tend to pick on the smart ones like him" Mr Smith explained as he folded the bedsheets and set them down. "Did you finally get your revenge on 'em?" He asked, looking over at me and raising an eyebrow as (B/N) continued his screeching tirade in the distance.
"Pfft, I wish I could do something to get that kind of reaction" I said dismissively, now assisting the teacher in dividing and folding the sheets. "That'd certainly be the day..." I sighed, hoping to make my lie more believable.

"What even happened out there?" Dr Smiley asked, grabbing a pile of folded sheets and walking off to a nearby bed.
"Someone must've come in here and taken the sheets whilst the room was empty" Mr Smith began, evidently trying to hold back a smirk. "They used them to tie up the principle's favourite trio and hang them off of the balcony just outside" he explained, his composure wavering as he did his best to muscle down a giggle. "It was originally a pretty scary thing to walk out and see, but..." he continued, covering his mouth as he steadily lost his professional facade.
"...But?" Lazari asked, evidently more curious than not.
'I'm glad he shares my humour...' I thought, hiding a smirk of my own.
"Whoever did it- *giggle* they drew a bunch of-" he continued, entirely unable to hold his composure as he burst out in a fit of laughter. Lazari and Smiley looked at him like he was crazy, and I joined them whilst holding back my own laughter.

It took about a minute, but eventually Mr Smith had calmed himself back down. After he regained his breath and wiped his eyes, he cleared his throat and continued his explanation. "The perpetrator had taken a marker and... 'drawn' over the athletes" he explained, clearly trying to avoid the details that would make him start laughing again.
"Drawn over them?" Dr Smiley questioned, seemingly confused at the idea.
"What'd they draw?" Lazari asked innocently. My mind quickly flashed back to only a few minutes ago, and I was immediately reminded of the things I wrote and drew. A small snicker escaped my lips, and that caused Mr Smith to lose it once again.
"Ask (Y/N)! I gotta go!" He yelled over his shoulder, struggling to hold in his laughter as he swiftly left the room. Both girls turned to me with a confused look shared between them, all while I stared back with a toothy grin.

"So, gonna tell us what this 'mystery person' drew?" Dr Smiley asked, folding her arms as she arched an eyebrow.
"And how you figured it out?" Lazari chimed in, clearly not following along. I took a deep breath to try and hold back some laughter, a task that was made surprisingly difficult as the trio of bullies continued their screaming out in the halls.
"I may, or may not, have drawn several... 'phallic shapes' across their faces..." I snickered, covering my mouth after I watched Lazari blush a bright red.
"Ph-ph-ph-phallic!?" She exclaimed in innocent shock. "Y-y-you mean l-like-"
"Yep - dicks and balls. All across their faces" I answered smugly, earning a small snicker from Smiley. "I also wrote and drew some other not-so-savoury stuff on their clothes" I added.
"And you fought all three of them? And knocked them out?" Smiley asked curiously.
"It wasn't exactly a fight, more like a one sided beat down" I stated, admittedly bending the truth a little in the hopes of making myself sound cooler. "You seem surprised" I added, noting the nature of Smiley's question and the tone she spoke in.
"Well a little" she agreed. "Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that you're mighty tough. But one of the first things you told me is that you 'get beat up a lot'" she reminded me. "And you just told us that you wouldn't fight back, so I had just assumed you're the type to keep as low of a profile as possible" she explained simply.
'I gotta start giving these supernatural Doctors more credit, so far both of them have had disturbingly accurate assessments of me in at least one department' I thought. "Nailed it with that one" I confirmed. "Difference this time is, none of them saw my face. And, if you hadn't noticed, there's no cameras in here or out in the hall" I explained, earning a nod from the pair before me. 

"Did they do anything to deserve it this time?" Smiley asked, causing me to pause for a moment.
"Oh yeah, and you never finished your story either" Lazari added.
'They deserved a lot more' I thought. 'But they're definitely in mortal danger if I drop the whole truth... yeah I should probably just lie' I decided, quickly thinking up something believable that didn't require much follow up. "Oh yeah, totally" I responded. "They came in all loud and obnoxious, kicking the door open and yelling for... I dunno what they even wanted really" I began, starting with the truth while I still tried to cobble a lie together in my mind.
"Right..." Smiley muttered, nodding along as I spoke.
"Before that however, Zalga and I had... a bit of an argument. And I was admittedly a little heated afterwards" I continued, earning a nod from Lazari and a raised eyebrow from Smiley. "And since those three and I don't have... the best relationship, I both didn't want them to start harassing me and also wanted to 'let off some steam'" I explained, now weaving some truth into my lies.

"What happened between the four of you?" Lazari asked innocently. "Is there a reason they pick on you or-"
"Is he telling the truth, Mistress?" Smiley cut in as she folded her arms. Her gaze pierced through me, as if she was looking deep into my soul to ask Zalga face to face. I felt a chill run down my spine, and soon a rumble in my throat.
"No idea" Zalga stated casually. "I've been busy running calculations since before those young men even approached the door" she explained, punctuating her statement with a quick yawn. "(Y/N) may be attractive, but I'm not exactly a fan of sharing a physical form" she added, causing me to blush almost instantly.
"Mom! Gross! He's my age!" Lazari exclaimed, a slight blush over her own face.
"Oh please. There's nothing wrong with admiring another adult's appearance, I know you certainly like the way he looks as well" Zalga retorted, making Lazari and I blush several shades darker.
"I-I-I-I-"
"I think you broke her, Mistress" Smiley noted, trying to stifle a laugh.
'Phew, crisis averted' I thought, sighing aloud and slumping forward.
"And possibly him too" Smiley added.
"He's fine, although you may want to lay Laz back down" Zalga instructed as I walked off across the room once again.

"So, any progress?" I asked, laying back on the bed once again.
"A little, but I'm not confident that you'll like my plan" Zalga stated, a hint of nervousness in her voice.
"I appreciate the warning - but you can lay it on me" I requested, interlocking my fingers and holding them behind my head.
"Alright then. To put it simply, I think the best way to locate the problem's origin would be to enter my castle first" she began, causing me to tense up at the mere mention.
'Does she intend to lock me up again!? Is this some elaborate kidnapping!? Is she gonna try and give Nightmare control!?' I thought, my mind kicking into overdrive as I silently panicked. '...Or am I just overthinking?' I wondered, taking a deep breath to try and bring myself back to my senses. "Right..." I mumbled. "And how did you come to this conclusion?" I asked, needing some reassurance to stop myself from freaking out.
"Based on the magical nature of my issue, the best place to begin fixing an anomaly would most likely be at the point of casting. Which, in this case, would be my throne room" she explained simply.
'That seems believable... and I can't exactly go on and ask Nightmare for a fact check right now' I thought, staring at the ceiling in silence.

"And when we get there, how do we go about fixing this anomaly?" I asked, wanting to at least hear a consistent plan before acting.
"That's where you come in, you'll have to-"
"Please don't forget, I'm essentially magic-less right now" I interrupted, causing a silence to fall over the room.
"...shit" Zalga mumbled in annoyance. "Back to the drawing board I guess..." she sighed defeatedly.
"Well, at the very least, we know where we have to start" I stated, attempting to soften the emotional blow. "Chin up, you got this" I added, hoping some words of encouragement would assist in Zalga's work.
"Heh, that's cute" Zalga scoffed, her smile creeping onto my lips. "Thanks, (Y/N)" she added.
"No problem, roomie" I responded, with us sharing a small laugh. With that, I closed my eyes and let out a deep sigh. I wasn't particularly upset at the situation I was in, but I knew that there wasn't much good coming from it either. 'Nightmare... I hope we can make this work...' I thought, my mind slowly drifting off into unconsciousness. 'Our bond was fragile he said... just gotta take it one step at a time...' was my final thought before I finally fell asleep.

(Time Skip, not just past nap time - but to the end of the school day! Man, what a leap)

"How long do you think Smiley's gonna take?" I asked, mindlessly scrolling through InstantGram whilst we waited. 'Man, these stitches hurt' I thought, gently holding onto my injury.
"Only another minute or two, she said that she had an 'idea' on how to help things get back on track" Lazari stated.
"And did she happen to tell you what this 'idea' of hers was?" I asked, not looking up from my phone.
"Not in detail. But she did mention that it involved-"
"That blood sample I took" a familiar voice cut in, causing both Lazari and I both to jump back in surprise.
"Holy crap!" Lazari yelped in shock.
"Shitballs!" I 'elegantly' exclaimed, my surprised tone evidently overshadowing Lazari's.

"Don't do that, Smiles..." Lazari huffed, taking a few quick breaths as our heart rates returned to normal.
"We both know that I'm ignoring that request" Dr Smiley stated smugly, doing her best to stifle a laugh. "Shall we get moving?" She added, still smiling subtly at her successful jumpscare.
"Sure, but where are we headed?" Lazari asked as we set off.
"Home" Smiley said casually.
"But I thought we couldn't" Lazari muttered confusedly. "You know, the whole portal thing?" She added.
"We can get in just fine according to (Y/N), so we needn't worry about it really" Smiley explained nonchalantly.
"Well, yeah, I knew that. But what about getting back out?" Lazari questioned. Seeing as I wasn't really a part of the conversation, I remained silent on the matter. However, it was Smiley's silence that evidently unnerved both Lazari and I. But after a short period of time, she gave a response.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there" she stated, giving a simple shrug as she spoke.
"Greeeat plan, Smiles..." Lazari groaned sarcastically.

"Do you at least have a plan, (Y/N)- Where'd he go!?" Lazari exclaimed after I had wandered slightly ahead. Taking a few steps back, I exited the alleyway I'd entered and gave a quick wave to the pair.
"Not too far, don't worry" I responded, punctuating it with a small chuckle. "Keep up, slowpokes" I added jokingly as I took a few steps forward.
"That's the wrong way" Smiley stated, her and Lazari now standing at the alleyway's entrance.
"Yeah, Devil's Woods is-"
"I know" I interrupted sharply, stopping in the middle of the alley. "But my gut is telling me that this isn't going to go as smoothly as I'd like, so we're heading to my place first" I explained, still facing away from the pair as I spoke.
"Oh really? And why would we need to go there first?" Smiley asked, causing me to smirk a little.
"Well, under the current circumstances..." I began.

"I'll need to be prepared for anything"