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Chapter Text

Max just sighed. Another day of this horrid camp, he thought. Complaining to himself about being sent to Camp Campbell for the summer was the usual for him. At least it can't get any worse...

"Maaaaaaax!" He heard the familiar, cheerful voice that was the subject of his nightmares.

Oh, I just had to say it.

All he did was lower his head in frustration, as soon as he felt the presence of David by his side.

"We're getting two new campers today!"

Nikki and Neil were just discussing the day's camp activities when they noticed Max with an even more agitated expression on his face than it normally had.

"Hey, Max! What's with the long face?" Nikki questioned him as he sat down next to them.

"Yeah, something's bugging you. Is it David?"

Max turned to them. "No." He switched back to gaze at what seemed like nothing. "Even worse, new campers."

The other two campers just peered at each other in response with a perplexed look.

David waited patiently as he spotted the bus approaching from a faraway hill. His grin got wider and happier as it got closer and closer. He didn't even seem to acknowledge that Max, Nikki and Neil were behind him until he heard Max's voice.

"What did they sign up for, again?" He almost regretted saying anything.

David faced Max, not looking surprised that the ten year old seemed to care at least a little bit, but was instead excited by what he said.

"I'm glad you asked!" He beamed. " One of them signed up for Happy Smiles Fun Camp, and the other joined Math Camp!"

Max felt his eyes twitch as soon as he heard the word, happy. "Just great. This kid is definitely going to be a pleasure to be around."

Nikki seemed to be in awe. "I can't wait to meet them!"

"Math Camp? Maybe they'll be interested in Science, too."  Neil shrugged.

"Here they are now!" Nikki pointed.

A couple of seconds later, when the bus pulled up to them and made a stop, David squealed in delight, while Max braced himself for the incoming bombardment of smiles that would probably be worse than both David and Nikki's optimism and hyperactivity combined. The door of the bus slowly opened, making a creaky noise as it did so, because of how old it was. It was really only the best the camp could afford, with their small budget and all.

Max raised an eyebrow as he saw a young boy about his age leave the opening first. The kid was wearing a red hat, striped shirt, shorts, and for some reason, had a humongous nose. He seemed to be all giggly and was fascinated by his surroundings. Yep. He realized. This is the one.

Next, what popped out appeared to be the complete opposite of him. It was girl with glowing blond hair, as bright as the sun, with a pink dress with a flower in the middle of it. He would most likely assume that she was the one who signed up for Happy Smiles Fun Camp, if it weren't for the angry, intimidating even, glare that she had possessed.

Before Max could say anything to Nikki or Neil about the two new campers, David bolted to them like a energetic kid that just saw an ice cream truck.

"Welcome to Camp Campbell! My name is David, and I'm the counselor here!" He announced in great enthusiasm. "You must be Billy and Mandy!"

"Yep!" The boy replied almost immediately.

Mandy, however, didn't say anything at all to him, like he wasn't worth her time. All she did was focus her piercing gaze to him as he spoke.

David looked at Mandy, but as soon as their eyes met, his joyfulness immediately shifted into nervousness. "Uh... Right! Come on, I'll show you two around camp."

Max stared at her strangely as he noticed this. How did she break David out of character this easily? Even if it wasn't that long, it's like she had this mysterious effect on him. Max shrugged it off as he followed them, since Nikki and Neil also tagged along.

When Max finally caught up to all five of them, all he heard was them asking continuous questions to Billy and Mandy that never seemed to end. He didn't dare say a word, for he knew they didn't even distinguish that he was there. Just what was so interesting about these kids?

After the tour, David left them by themselves, so the only people who were there were the kids. Billy was having a full on discussion with Nikki and Neil, and during so, Mandy got off and left. Some strange force pressured Max into accompanying her, which resulted in them engaging in a conversation. 

"What do you need?" the blond girl stopped without changing to his direction.

"I can see that you're already fed up by this camp," Max answered. "I'm not surprised, after all, I've been trying to escape this place for what seems like forever now. The name's Max by the way."

She looked over her shoulder to examine him, however not making an effort to turn completely around. "I'm Mandy."

"So, I'm guessing you joined the Math Camp? You don't seem much of a person that likes to smile."

She sighed in annoyance and finally swiveled to fully look in his direction. "Wrong," she responded. "My parents sighed me up for THAT camp so I could adjust my attitude. Or whatever."

Max looked unimpressed. "You're not the only one, of course, that's why I'm here. By the way, why is your friend in Math Camp?"

"Oh, him?" Mandy eyed Billy, who has acting ridiculous. "He's an idiot, his parents wanted to make him smarter, I guess. Like that's gonna work."

"Hm."

"I'm going to unpack now, don't go in my tent, or else." She ordered as she exited the door of the main cabin.

"Okay? That-"

Before he could finish, Nikki dashed to him and interrupted. "Hey, Max! What were you doing just now?"

He was mildly irritated that Nikki had just crept on him like that, but he replied to her nonetheless. "Oh, I don't know, talking?" he retorted.

"Well, duh!" She changed her expression from straightforward to thrilled. "Billy's pretty cool by the way! You should totally hang out with us. We're gonna search for supernatural creatures!"

"Well, that's great," he had said in a sarcastic tone. "You do know that the supernatural isn't real, right?"

"Ooooooh, please! Billy says he sees monsters all of the time!" She put her hands on her hips and gave him a look that suggested she thought that he didn't know what he was talking about.

"Whatever. Do want you want, I'm going to my tent for a bit."

"Well, see ya then Max!" Nikki waved goodbye to him as she ran off.

"Mandy was right, he is an idiot. There's no such thing as monsters, or ghosts, or stupid made-up creatures."

"How come you're already by yourself, child? You just got here!"

Mandy glanced at her best friend, who was actually the Grim Reaper. "Who cares about this stupid camp? I've got better things to do."

Grim exhaled. "Uh huh, whatever you say, mon."

All she did was shake her head as she brought out a mysterious journal that she had found before she arrived at the camp. "Besides, this may be the key to what I plan to do."

Chapter Text

Grim woke up early in the morning to be able to get a cup of coffee in the morning before the others got up. Any normal person with a bit of common sense would figure that the people at Camp Campbell would freak out if they saw the Grim Reaper for goodness sakes! They never even seen or encountered anything out of the ordinary, unlike the people in places like Endsville, or Gravity Falls. Talking about Gravity Falls, that's the place Billy, Mandy, and Grim made a pit stop at on the way to the summer camp. While there, however, Mandy had stumbled upon a mysterious journal with six fingers and the number one on it. Strangely enough, she had been obsessed about it ever since. She didn't even dare to let Grim touch it, and even didn't tell Billy.

Grim made a grave effort to not be seen by any of the campers, let alone the workers there, but sadly he didn't succeed. His so far peaceful morning was ruined by the female counselor there, who was so shocked that she dropped the empty mug that she was holding, her expression holding both shock and fear. It smashed onto the ground, shattering in a million little pieces. However, this was the least of his worries. Grim was about to say something to her to make sure she didn't scream and make any more noise, but surprisingly she just pleaded. "Don't kill me! I'm too young to die! I'm sorry! I know I shouldn't have read those inappropriate magazines around the children! Forgive me!!!"

"No, I'm not going to hurt y-" He stopped mid-sentence as soon as he processed what she just said. "Wait, what?"

She stared at him awkwardly. "Oh. Forget everything I said then." She looked at him more closely and raised an eyebrow. "Um, David? Are you pretending to be the Grim Reaper as some weird way for everyone to be interested in the camp? It's not gonna work, y'know."

Grim gaped. "David who?"

"So, you're not David? Are you some kind of crazy cosplayer?"

"Wha... no?"

"Then who are you?"

"Well, I'm the actual Grim Reaper," He answered. "Don't be alarmed though. I'm just here to get me coffee for the day."

"Yeah right." She gave him a smirk. "I was just surprised when I first saw you. I thought you were just some psychopathic murderer in a costume. Of course I don't believe in little kiddie tales like the Grim Reaper."

He just grunted in response.

"What are you doing here anyway? This place is off limits to anyone besides people staying at the camp."

"Uh, well... to be honest here... I'm with two of the children, okay?"

She eyed him suspiciously.

"The two new kids... Billy and Mandy? And yes, I AM the Grim Reaper. And he IS real, mon!"

All she did was chuckle at his reaction. "It's hard to take you seriously with that accent." She then cut her laughter off and glared at him. "But you need to leave. It's the rules. And besides, now because of you I have a mess to clean up before David freaks out and asks a crap load of questions."

Grim muttered to himself angrily, picked up his coffee cup, which only had black coffee, and exited the cabin and stumbled into Mandy's tent. Mandy was already awake and was reading the journal she found in the corner of her tent. When Grim entered, she glanced up at him and saw the exasperation sewn onto his face.

"Wow, Grim. You seem upset. Who peed in your cheerios?"

Grim ignored her snarky little comment and sat down on the sleeping bag that she had, cursing profusely to himself. This had startled Mandy a little, since she wasn't really used to hearing him use that kind of language.

"Okay, Grim!" She closed the book, and it made a loud slam, which made Grim jump. "Tell me what happened, now." She commanded, as she got up and walked to the side of the tent that he was in.

"Fine!" he shouted. "I got caught, and got yelled at by one of the counselors here! She thought I was crazy because she doesn't believe in the Grim Reaper!"

"You're really stealthy, aren't you?"

"S-shut up!" Was he could muster. He was basically boiling at that point. "Besides, what do you tink will happen to me if I get caught again? Kicked out?! How in da heck am I supposed to get me mornin' coffee, mon!? That's all I ask for when I have to drag my bony butt all the way across the state ta follow you kids!"

Mandy stared at the ground in thought, and gave a "hm".

"So what is it den, child?!"

She shifted her eyes back to him. "Grim, you're getting your bones in a bunch. I'll get your stupid coffee for you." She crossed her arms. "But when it's during the day I want you to be either in this tent or out in the forest where the campers can't see you, do you hear me?"

"Fine."

"I want to hear a yes, not a fine!" she barked.

"Yes, I will." he looked the other way as a sign of annoyance.

"Good." She went to leave the tent but then paused. "Now, that we settled this, I'm going to go get breakfast. If I hear or find out out that any of the other campers have seen or heard you, so help me Grim I will beat you so hard you won't be able to sit for a MONTH!"

Grim was going to object to her threat, but before he could start she was already gone. "Just wonderful," he whispered to himself. "Now I don't have any freedom whatsoever dis summer..."

Chapter Text

"Alriiiiiiiiiight campers! It's time for the camp activity of the day!"

These words struck Max like a bullet. He cursed and got up from his tent for the day, stretching. He trudged to where everyone else was, all of them lined up in front of David, including the new kids.

"Hi Max! Over here!" Nikki waved to Max. Billy also hopped up next to her and Neil. Max went to the side of them and rolled his eyes at the sight of... him.

"Ugh, I'm not really in the mood right now to have to do something, but oh well." Neil sighed.

Max nodded and peered for a second to his right and saw Mandy staring at him, but as soon as he noticed, she altered her glance. It's like she wanted something from him, or something. "Whatever." he grumbled.

"What!?" Nikki questioned what he said, even though he had made what he said barely audible. It's like she had super hearing for some reason.

"Nothing." He put his hands in the pocket of his sweater.

"Okay!" Nikki said, then turning to Billy to chat with him.

Neil looked at them and then at Max. "What's up with Nikki and that Billy kid? Ever since they met, they've been inseparable! I mean, he only came here yesterday!"

"Wow. I thought I was the only one that noticed." He shrugged. "Some questions will never be answered Neil, that's why it's best not to think about things too much."

Their conversation was cut off by David, who was ready to announce his plans for the day. "Today is a day for icebreakers!" His eyes twinkled. "To introduce ourselves to the new campers and also learn about each other!"

"Are you serious?!" Max asked in shocked anger, quiet enough for only Neil to hear. "I really don't like these new kids, and I definitely don't want to spend time of my day to learn about them!"

Neil sighed in annoyance, showing that's he didn't want to engage in icebreakers as well. Nikki and Billy seemed to be excited for this, however.

"Okay, first, how about... Mandy!" David spoke up. "Why don't you come up here and tell us all a little about yourself!"

Mandy walked up right next to him and faced all of the campers. "I'm Mandy, if you didn't already know. That's all." She would of went back to her place in the line of kids, if it weren't for David interrupting her.

"Isn't there more you would like to share?" He leaped in front of her to block her way.

Even though he was significantly taller than her, she viewed him as lesser than her. "No, there isn't. Now get out of my way or things are going to get ugly." She locked her eyes onto his.

David gave her a look that read out to everyone as "oops", and jolted out of the way so she could return to where she was before.

A second later David continued on. "Um... so next is Billy!" He smiled like nothing happened just a few moments ago as Billy bounced in eagerness to his side.

"Hi there everyone! I'm Billy, and I likes chicken, and ice cream, and chicken, and ice cream, and my pet cat!" He bowed like he was the winner of a talent show. "Thanks you all!"

Everyone clapped at his introduction except Neil, Mandy and Max as he fled back to where Nikki was. They seemed rather, unimpressed per say.

"Alright! Thank you both! Now what we're going do now is a fun little challenge that requires each and every one of you to have fun!" David called out.

All Max did was groan. What a great day so far...

______________________________________________

It was lunch at last, but for Mandy it felt like the day was going to last forever. She grabbed her lunch and sat on the right of Billy, who was just speaking with Nikki, until she left to go see Max and Neil.

Billy saw Mandy and wanted to start chatting it up with her as well. "Hi, Mands! How was your day so far?"

She snorted. "Horrible. You know I hate Tuesdays, Billy."

"Don't you hate all days?" he asked.

"True."

"Okay then! But it's just so fun here at camp, huh?! I can't wait until after lunch to see what's gonna happen next!" he paused for a second to catch up on what he was going to say next. "Oh yeahs, where's Grim? I haven't seen him all day!"

"Grim is in my tent, you idiot. Well, at least, he'd better be." She took a sip of her water.

"Who's Grim?"

Mandy turned around to see Max right behind her, and in shock she choked on her water.

She couldn't say anything because of this, so Billy butted into the conversation. "Grim is our bestest friend ever, duuuuh!"

Still gagging, Mandy punched Billy right in the nose, which knocked it clean off.

"Hey! What did I doooooo?!!" He shouted at her.

All Max did was stare with an expression that showed that he thought something was seriously wrong with them.

Mandy was finally able to clear her throat. "What do you want, you creep?"

Max disregarded what she had said for he knew she was trying to avoid the question that he had asked. "I asked you something first."

Mandy rolled her eyes. "It's really none of your business. So beat it."

"Whatever then. Have it your way." He replied as he walked away from their table.

As he sat back at his own table, he thought to himself. I wonder why she was being so mysterious about this Grim person? He decided to bring this up to Nikki and Neil. "Hey, guys? I think Billy and Mandy are hiding something. Well trying to, anyway."

They both shifted to his direction at once.

"Really?!" Nikki gasped. "What if they're part of this super secret organization?" she loudly whispered.

"I would actually believe that." Neil replied.

"What?! No!" Max stated. "Let's be serious for just a second here. They were talking about someone named Grim that's supposedly in Mandy's tent."

"Grim? That's a strange name."

"Ooooooooooh, what if he's the REAL Grim Reaper?!" Nikki claimed excitedly.

"Nikki, there's no such thing as the Grim Reaper." Max told her.

"How do yoooou know, you never diiiied!!!"

"This is pointless. Besides, I felt like we already had this conversation before." Max returned to the previous topic. "Now, who's in for checking out what's going on with those two?"

"I am!" Nikki and Neil said in unison.

"Alright, now, here's the plan. Tomorrow, as soon as she leaves the tent, we'll see for ourselves what she's hiding."

They all nodded in agreement.

Chapter Text

"Oooooh, this is SO exciting! We're just like ninjas!" Nikki broke the silence of early dawn and rose her hands like she was ready to deliver a karate chop.

Max and Neil both shushed her at once.

"Oops, sorry guys."

They all watched the tents, hoping that someone would leave theirs, especially Mandy so that they would be able to investigate.

As quiet as mice, they waited behind a rock not far from the site as they saw the tent that belonged to Mandy zip up and open. A while later they saw her leave from it, with her usual angered expression engraved onto her face.

As soon as she was out of sight, Max spoke up. "Okay everyone, this is our chance! So don't screw this up." He eyed Nikki as he said the last sentence. "We need to do this as quick as we can so she doesn't catch us."

"Aye aye, captain!" She replied with a salute.

"What if she notices that the tent is different because we were looking around?" Neil asked.

"Good question Neil," he responded. "If there really is this Grim guy in her tent, then she wouldn't be too suspicious that some of her belongings have been moved around."

"Oh. But what if he is there and then tells her about us?"

He cursed. "To be honest, I haven't really thought about that."

Neil and Nikki exchanged anxious glaces with each other.

"Eh, we'll compromise or whatever."

Neil shrugged while Nikki hopped up and down in excitement, proving that she was ready for action.

Max lead them into the tent while keeping a close eye on his surroundings. As soon as everyone else was inside, he was ready to go in as well, until he heard a load, "WOAH" from Nikki.

All he did in reply was curse quietly to himself while he pinched the bridge of his nose.

He scanned the scenery around him rapidly to see if Mandy was nearby and then bolted into the tent.

When he was inside, he noticed that Nikki was amazed. However, Neil was shocked and didn't say anything at all. Max peered above him to see what was going on and was flabbergasted.

"I told you so, Max!"

He barely paid any attention to Nikki's words. All he saw was what was looming over him, the Grim Reaper.

Max let out a scream as soon as his mind finally processed what was happening.

"Oh no mon, you're gonna get me in trouble! Keep quiet child!"

Max stopped screaming after what seemed like a whole minute, leaving behind words that only sounded like murmuring. "This... this isn't real, right? This is all in my mind... and I'm totally not going insane right now... right?"

The skeleton shook his head. "Nope. This is one hundred percent real, so quit denying it!"

Max immediately reverted back to his normal attitude. "Oh my god... I'm just going to sit and rethink my life for a little bit..." He walked over to the side of the tent that Mandy usually spends her time reading in and sat down.

"YES! I WAS RIGHT!" Nikki extended her hand towards Grim in order to shake hands. "Nice to meet cha, Mr. Reaper! I'm Nikki!"

Grim reached out and and shook her hand awkwardly for a couple of seconds and then let go. "Um... you seem eager to meet me... not much mortals are excited to see death after all."

"I'm not a normal mortal!" Nikki proudly stated.

Neil finally gathered up the courage to speak. "Wait a second, why would the real Grim Reaper be in a little kid's tent?"

"Well, this is kinda embarrassing... but I lost a bet to Billy and Mandy and now I have to be their best friend forever."

"How did you lose a bet to them? You're a powerful being able to reap any living thing!" Neil asked.

"It's a long story. And I'd rather not talk about it." Grim pouted.

There was just silence for a while between all of them until Nikki interrupted it.

"Yep! I just lost all my respect for you."

Grim snorted in annoyance.

Max eventually got up and stumbled next to everyone.

"Right, so I was wrong about the Grim Reaper being fake, so what else is real, the Boogeyman?!" He flailed his arms up in the air in a sarcastic gesture.

"Actually, yes."

Max put his hands in his face, which showcased how irritated he was. "I give up."

"Well, this was underwhelming, gotta bail!" Nikki announced as she darted out of the tent.

"I don't think it was, but okay." Neil got ready to leave. "Max, you going?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be out there in a minute." He gazed over at Grim.

"Alright, if you so say so." Neil said as he left though the opening of the tent.

Grim and Max just glanced at each other for a few good moments.

"Uh... yeah?" Grim intended to end the supposed starring contest.

"Nothing." He shrugged. "This is just a lot to take in at the moment."

"I can imagine."

"Uh huh."

"Y'know, child, you really remind of Mandy for some reason."

Max made a face that basically yelled 'ick!'

"Her? Yeah right."

"Huh, I would tink so."

"Why?" He genuinely seemed interested in the conversation, as he tilted his head to the side.

"Just a similar personality type." Grim pondered for a bit. "You act as if you dislike her. I would of thought that you two would get along, since you're both alike."

"That's exactly the problem." He brushed off his sweater. "People who are very similar usually don't like each other. Whatever, it's not like I care, she's too bossy for my taste anyway."

"Dat I can agree on."

Max smirked and put his hands in his pockets. "It was horrible talking to you, and stuff."

Grim knew he was joking, even though he tried to say it as serious as he could. "Likewise." Grim mustered a tiny smile.

As Max got ready to go, he started to wave goodbye, but froze in place.

Grim looked over to what caused him to pause like that, and gasped in horror by what he saw.

Mandy.

Chapter Text

"What. Are you. Doing. In MY TENT?!"

Both Max and Grim could feel the immense amount of hatred embedded into her voice.

"Well, Mandy, what happened was-"

"SHUT UP GRIM! I didn't ask you!" She turned to Max, fire burning intensely in her eyes, making it seem like she wasn't even human, as she pointed at him. "YOU!"

"Actually, I was JUST leaving!" Max replied in an almost witty tone.

"I told you ONE THING NOT TO DO. AND YOU WENT AND DID IT ANYWAY!"

Max grimaced. He raised his hand in order to add a comment to what she said, but she cut him off.

"Why won't you take a hint already?! GET. OUT." She aggressively crossed her arms. "And if you DARE tell anyone about this, you'll be as dead as Grim over there!" She leaned over in Max's direction to look more intimidating and threatening.

"Mandy-"

"GRIM!" she eyed him with the most deadly stare she could muster. If looks could kill, it would be one of Mandy's infamous death stares.

"MANDY," Grim raised his voice to show that he wasn't messing around. "If you would actually listen ta me for once, you would know dat not just Max saw me! Two other kids did as well!"

These words just made Mandy even more agitated than she was before in that moment, which didn't even seem possible at first. In reply to Grim she gave the most heated movement of stomping towards him. "I TOLD YOU GRIM." She narrowed her eyes at him intensely. "I told you NOT to let any campers see you! Don't just think that you're going to get off of this scott free!"

Grim sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Max, why did you come here, anyway!? Now I'm in da doghouse... just what I needed..."

Max finally snapped back to his senses and shot back to Mandy's fury. "You KNOW WHAT?! I WOULDN'T BE HERE IF YOU DIDN'T ACT SO SUSPICIOUS! Maybe you should learn how to control your idiot friend if you want to keep secrets so badly!" He shouted at her, cursing way more times than Mandy has ever heard in her life. As he finished talking, he rose his middle finger at her to say that he no longer wanted to deal with her shenanigans.

Mandy flushed a bright red in anger and tensed up as she towered over him, crossing her arms one more in a jerked movement. "This is NONE of your business! CAN'T YOU FIGURE THAT OUT GENIUS?!"

Max decided that it was time to exit from this train wreck. He rolled his eyes as he headed to leave her tent.

"I'm warning you, MAX! If you DARE defy me like this again, you'll be sorry! I'll hurt you SO bad, that you won't be able to sit for a year!" She curled and clenched her fists, announcing that she was ready to engage in a fight if she really had to.

All the ten year old did was shake this head like she was insane as he left.

When he was gone, Mandy zipped right past Grim, so he barely even noticed her as she grabbed her journal from her suitcase, and dusted it off for about five minutes straight. He had too much of a headache to even comprehend what was even happening anymore because of all of the yelling that he had just witnessed.

She sighed in relief after all of the quiet that just sat with them for the time being. "At least he didn't mess with this."

Grim perked up. Even with his headache, he could still hear what she had said. His expression changed from tiredness to annoyance in seconds. "Ya know what, child?! Maybe people would just leave you alone if you showed dem kindness for once, so den they would actually respect your wishes!" He crossed his arms. "And what is up with that journal anyway? You've been paying way more attention to it than you have to me! And I'm da Grim Reaper!"

The blond-haired girl seemed to have calmed down by then. "Stop pouting, bonehead. This journal contains secrets about the supernatural that probably you don't even know."

"Yeah right..." Grim had whined in protest under his breath.

As she got up to go outside, she paused and stayed in one place. "Don't make me regret giving you that information. If this morning repeats again Grim, I swear that you can count on me-"

He put his hands up to quiet her from shouting again, since the pain engulfed in his skull was already bad enough. "Woah, Woah! I get it, I get it!" He looked at the ground, slouching. "No repeats, yada yada..."

"I mean it Grim!" She began to zip open the tent so she could go somewhere far away from the area that she was in, still holding the book in hand. As she started to say her last sentence to him, she swiveled to his direction. "Now, whatever you do, don't follow me. I have something important that I need to take care of that was nothing to do with you."

Before he could leave a remark, she had already disappeared from his range of sight. "Just what is dis girl getting herself into dis time..." He had muttered to himself so quietly that what he said was barely audible, even though no one was there to be able to hear him.

____________________________________

"W E L L  H E L L O  T H E R E  R O S E ! ! !" The luminous figure overhead had called out to the girl. "WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU?"

"Don't call me that." Her silhouette casting a shadow so all that was seen from where she was standing was her glowing eyes and frown. "I heard that you can make deals with others that can let them have anything that they desire. Even if it's impossible, I believe?"

"WHY, YES INDEED KID! Y E S  I N D E E D !" He had put his hand out, which had sparked a bright blue flame that emitted from his fingertips, making the trees and bushes of the surrounding forest have light tint, causing the atmosphere to fluctuate according to the scenario.

She was ready to shake his hand to make a contract with the strange new being, but not yet. "Great. Now, I need something from you. Something very important..."

Chapter Text

Max sat down by where Nikki and Neil were eating their breakfast and put his head on the table in aggravation, not saying anything to them at all.

"Max? What took you so long?" Neil leaned over to get a closer look at him since Nikki was between them. "What happened?"

"Nothing." He answered with a muffled sound, since his face was still pressed onto the cafeteria table.

"You DO know that thing hasn't been cleaned in like a month, right?" Nikki stated out of the blue.

Max cursed loudly and stood up as quickly as he possibly could.

"Messing!" Nikki chuckled at his expense as he kept on yelling angrily.

"God, Nikki!" Was all he could respond with after how frustrated he became. "I'm seriously not in the mood for this shit!"

"So, uh, what's the matter with you?" Neil poked at his food since it looked kinda gross.

Max just folded his arms. "Just great! Couldn't have gone better!" He added sarcastically.

"You got caught, didn't you?" Nikki gave him a smug look.

Max rolled his eyes, but he wasn't facing her direction so she couldn't see his frustration with her. To do this, he moved his head around in order to give her a death glare for a second before turning back around. "What do you think?!"

"Well, maybe it's that you look more irritated at life that normal...? I dunno." She just about shrugged, bearing a dubious look.

"I'm fucking done." Was all he replied as he stood up dramatically, then stomping to the other side of the Mess Hall so he could exit out the door.

"But Maaaaax!" Nikki called out to him loud enough so that everyone else in the room could hear. "You forgot your fooooood!"

"Leave me the hell alone Nikki!" Max screamed back at the girl before slamming the door, which made a racket, realizing that he was making a scene but at the same time not caring.

Everybody there just stared and shot daggers at Nikki as if she had just killed someone while she had resumed eating her breakfast, oblivious to it all. Finally noticing all eyes were on her after a brief time, she just raised an eyebrow and spoke up, mouth full of food. "Whapf?"

It seemed to be quiet for a while until they all returned back to enjoying their meal, Mess Hall sounding normal again. 

However, at one of the tables there was a certain counselor who was concerned about the whole ordeal.

Mandy, ignoring what had happened between Max and Nikki, stared at her food venomously. "They expect us to eat this garbage?" She complained as she narrowed her eyes at the plate of food. "No way. It doesn't even look editable."

Even though she was talking to herself, Billy didn't seem to realize that as he responded. "So can I have it Mandy?" He begged like a puppy. "Pleases?"

All she did was let out an annoyed grunt before pushing it towards him, head turned the other way.

"Yes!" He shouted happily as he digged in, after a while rubbing it all off his face before once again talking to the blond haired female.

"Uh, Mandy? How comes you don't like that Mac person? Isn't he like... uh... Nikki's friend or somethingandtheother?"

"It's Max." Mandy corrected him coldly as she rested her head on her hand. "And he was in my tent without my permission. Especially after I told him not to. Snooping around I suppose. Probably because he just had a bit of curiosity." She closed her eyes and huffed out a sigh in irritation.

"Billy?" She had then asked in a sort of bittersweet voice mockingly as she finally looked right into his eyes.

"Yeahs?" He answered her innocently.

"Do you know what happens when you straight up cross me?"

"Um," Was this a trick question? "You get... upset?" He hesitantly spoke as he smiled nervously at her. He wasn't very good at answering correctly, but somehow Mandy seemed pleased with his reply, even though she couldn't smile.

"Yes, you're right. Tell me. What happened to you when you defied me Billy?"

Billy appeared kind of scared. "Really, REALLY bad things. Things I shall not repeat aloud!"

"Good." Mandy stated, before shifting her evil gaze off Billy and returning to her usual self.

He was kind of weirded out to ask her anything after that, but he didn't really think about it since he did anyway. "Why?"

"Because." Her expression showed that she didn't care, but at the same her presence had a silent anger feel to it.

She turned her head to Billy's direction once more, and he swore for a second that her eyes turned from their usual gray to tiny yellow slits.

"Max is going to pay for how he has wronged me. Whether he likes it, or not."