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Rippen's day had started surprisingly well. He woke up two minutes before his alarm went off and managed to avoid hearing the awful contraption. No trains had passed by to shake the entire building where he lived.
But what surprised him most was that he walked along the path by the sprinklers and none of them soaked him with water! Not one of them! That had to be a miracle. Had the stars of the multiverse aligned in his favor?
He was on his way to his classroom, avoiding everyone, when he ran into Ms. Monkenfluffer.
"Oh, Mr. Rippen, I have bad news. The whole school woke up without water this morning. We already called the office—" Before the small teacher could continue her explanation, Rippen interrupted her.
"I'm not interested in knowing, thank you," he replied, resuming his walk to his classroom and starting to get things ready for his class.
As he was tidying his desk, a loud crash startled him.
"Happy Lipstick Day!" yelled a hateful redhead, kicking open the door to his classroom.
Something inside him told him his luck wouldn't last more than two hours, and now he knew why.
"Ugh, it's you. Lipstick Day... what?" he asked, genuinely confused.
Something that caught Rippen's attention about Penn was that his lips were painted the exact same shade of bright red as his hair.
"Lipstick Day. Didn't you hear?" he replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the universe.
"Does that even exist?" he whispered, hoping Penn wouldn't hear him. He didn't want to have to drag him out of the classroom. Not today.
"Yes, there's a day for everything you can imagine. Even Cat Day," he replied cheerfully, with a radiant smile. Penn knew Rippen wasn't expecting an answer to the question he'd posed to himself, but he couldn't help but listen and reply.
After analyzing Penn's voice for a few seconds, detecting no sarcasm but plenty of arrogance—typical of him—he decided it was time for him to leave.
"Can you go? I have to finish reading and signing all these useless papers, and I can't stand your presence," he lied. He'd already finished reading and signing all the papers on the desk at home; it was just an excuse to get him to leave.
He knew telling Penn Zero he was going to do something was completely pointless. But was it even worth trying? No. The answer was no, but maybe with a bit of luck, the hero would take pity on him and leave him alone once and for all.
"Why? I can help you fin—" he offered politely before being interrupted by Rippen. He didn't know why he kept trying if he always got the same answer.
"No!" he shouted, now quite fed up and agitated by this little conversation he was having with his enemy and least favorite student.
“Very well, I’ll be going, Mr. Grumpy,” he replied, waving his hands near his head. “But before I go, let’s get to what I came here for,” he said mischievously.
With a swift movement, Penn leaped up, leaned across the desk, and planted a kiss on Rippen’s cheek, a kiss that left a lipstick mark.
Penn trudged slowly out of the classroom, head held high, very proud of what he had just done, while Rippen, with a noticeable blush on his cheeks and the tips of his ears, stood stunned by Penn’s actions.
When he finally reacted, he glanced at his desk and saw a small transparent bag containing a makeup remover wipe and a note that read, 'I’m not a villain who would embarrass you in class, especially today when there’s no water :)' He tossed the note aside, carelessly opened the bag, grabbed the wipe, and began wiping away the kiss.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Penn Zero?” he asked, receiving no response.
Meanwhile, Penn, still holding his head high, walked toward his friends.
"Dude, where were you?" Boone asked.
"I went to bother Rippen," he replied matter-of-factly, his mischievous grin still visible.