The Cavalry Arrives

***** Trigger Warning: Physical Violence/Animal abuse *****

Many students covered their ears. When the shrieking stopped, a tiny fluffball had appeared near Vanessa's feet. The students and professors looked confused. Marc helped Vanessa up and step away from it.

"What on Tellus is that?"

"Uh, I think it's a gremlin. You know, those chaos prone furballs from the Nafriton Residence Hall."

The other students nodded in understanding. The pitiful little ball of fluff sat teary eyed on the ground then began to sob hysterically. Vanessa snapped out of her daze, then looked down at in disgust. Her eyebrows furrowed as she kicked it away.

"What a disgusting little thing! Someone beat this rat to death."

The lead professor clicked his tongue and glared at the fragile ball of fluff. Its screech interrupted his concentration. He was already infuriated by the situation and Daren's disrespect. With a wave of his staff, the tiny furball slammed into the ground in front of him.

"Well, little rat. It's quite daring for you to be here. You won't be that helpful, but I suppose you'll do for an impromptu magic lesson. Now students, does anyone know the best way to get rid of a rat? You squash them."

The little fluffball squealed in terror. A few of the female students frowned but several others among the crowd cruelly laughed. None of them noticed the evil smile on its furry lips. Before anyone could react, fierce chittering echoed throughout the plaza. One of the students looked up and paled in horror.

"Look on the roofs and in the trees! They're everywhere!"

Gremlins covered the roofs and trees surrounding the plaza. The evilly gallant Mayhem in all of his pink glory led the horde with the cackling Zap and the particularly cranky Grumpy. Perhaps the students were imagining things, but the pink gremlin seemed to gaze down on them with a regal air and looked approvingly at Daren.

< (￣^￣) > -- Not bad. Worthy of teaching. --

Mayhem turned his attention to the sobbing gremlin laying on the ground. A few students slowly backed away from Vanessa and Marc. In an instant, Mayhem's expression turned fierce. Don't blame him for being fierce. Those idiots fell for the obvious set up.

\( > o < #)/ (Mayhem) -- Bad con-ser-fat-eves! Vengeance! --

\(*o*)/ (Loyal Minions) -- Vengeance! --

Before anyone could react, the gremlins threw the plaza into chaos with ecstatic glee. Magic flew everywhere. Mayhem led the charge while Zap merrily shot electric bolts and Grumpy induced tears and temporary hysteria.

Young ladies shrieked as gremlins crawled all over them and tore off their jewelry. Young men tried to keep their pants up after their belts were stolen. Hair was pulled, friendly fire was constant, and clothing went up in flames.

The exits became crammed with those attempting to flee. Now stuck, they became easy pickings for the gremlins. Magic didn't work against the gremlins. It only made them madder. With the humans in disarray, the gremlins didn't even need to change into their larger forms.

(￣A￣) =3 (Mayhem) -- So sad. No need for serious. --

No one was safe, especially the conservatives. More specifically, The Butterflies, Marc and the professors. The gremlins particularly enjoyed tormenting them. Who told them to wear elaborate clothing and jewelry? Gremlins adored shiny things, especially if they could steal them from someone they hated.

Now in hysterics, Vanessa's makeup streaked down her face and her hair stuck out in strange directions after taking an electric shock from Zap. Mayhem particularly enjoyed shredding her dress and stealing the jewels falling from it. Marc wasn't spared either, and quickly became a ragged, hysteric mess.

The professors attempted to control the situation, but the gremlins were too fast, small and numerous. They would cling to the professor's arms and legs, biting them while trying to steal whatever valuables that they could. The professors who even lost their wands or staffs were particularly miserable.

Only Daren seemed undisturbed by the chaos. He looked on in stunned silence as the absurd situation unfolded around him. An odd chuckle escaped his lips as he sat down in the middle of the plaza. These were the monsters that haunted his dreams?

They seemed so pathetic as the gremlins clobbered them. His problems felt so small now. Suddenly, an enormous weight left his shoulders. Daren's mind cleared as his emotions calmed down again. Like the eye of a hurricane, the area around him was oddly peaceful.

The students taking cover looked at him in a mix of horror and admiration. Daren was the only madman who dared to sit in the middle of the battle without any protective measures. Whenever a student tried to get near him, they were inexplicably mobbed by gremlins. People quickly learned to avoid him.

"ENOUGH!"

The lead professors slammed down his staff. The entire battle screeched to a halt.

"I've had enough of you vile creatures! I demand that you return from where you came!"

He proudly stood with his staff held high. Suddenly, one of the gremlins burst out into tiny laughter. Then another, and another, until the entire horde was rolling on the ground laughing. This pathetic excuse of a human seriously said that with confidence?!

Just as suddenly as the laughter started, it stopped. Wicked grins plastered the gremlins' faces as they turned towards the lead professor all at once. They decided to find out exactly where his confidence came from. A chill ran down his spine as they slowly advanced towards the professors.

The students quickly took the opportunity to escape or take cover to watch. Meanwhile, the other professors cursed the stupidity of their leader. Why on Tellus did he have to attract all of them?! Surrounded, even the densest of them realized that this wasn't going to end well for them.

And indeed, it didn't. A single command from Mayhem launched the gremlins' assault on the professors. Only Matcha didn't participate, as she was too busy acting cute in front of Daren. He carefully picked her up and looked at the shoe mark on her fur.

He frowned and tried to heal her, but Matcha pushed his hand away. She craftily winked and put a tiny paw over her sinisterly smiling mouth. Confused, Daren just went with whatever she wanted. Matcha wasn't going to die, so it should be fine.

Just as the professors finally started to fall to the gremlins, an enormous pressure descended onto the plaza. Everyone fell to the ground, no matter if they were student, gremlin or professor. In a flash of light, several new people appeared in the plaza.

The headmaster had returned, and he was not happy with what he found.

**********

The high-ranking faculty and those involved with the latest gremlin incident had gathered in the headmaster's office. The headmaster and those who had just returned learned about what had transpired when they were away.

"Professor Asheton, how could you provoke the gremlins by tormenting one of their own? Do you not remember what happened with Lysander Foryl? We are extremely lucky that they didn't completely lose their minds."

The headmaster slammed his staff on the ground.

"How could the rest of you allow this event to happen? The gremlins are a highly protected magical species by the way. Do you want an investigation by multiple national departments and agencies? Answer me!"

The guilty professors lowered their heads. None of the other faculty and staff would speak up for them. If the gremlins had gone berserk and transformed, then students could have died. Deputy Downer was the most furious of them all. Professor Asheton was fortunate that staff were forbidden from dueling each other.

To furious to speak any further, Headmaster Marin motioned for Ramona to take over. She promptly took out several recording artifacts and played each one.

"These are videos of two interesting events. The security system caught them both of course, but the several students also had recordings. The causes of the gremlin incident are crystal clear, but what about Vanessa Landrienne's proposal, hmm?"

Professor Asheton spluttered under the heavy pressure from Headmaster Marin and Deputy Heston. He couldn't even form complete words.

"The headmaster was very surprised when he came back to find that his student's classes had suddenly changed and heard that he was going to marry Vanessa Landrienne. Headmaster Marin doesn't have any issues with Mr. Forolan finding his own partner, but in this video, he exclaimed that he hated her."

The atmosphere in the room went from frigid to subzero.

"Did you all know about the other students isolating Mr. Forolan to forcibly recruit him? About Vanessa harassing him? About her attempt to force him into an engagement? Did you all ALLOW such FOOLISHNESS to happen?"

"No! No Deputy Heston! It's all just a misunderstanding!"

Ramona's face suddenly broke out into a smile. The guilty professors felt a tiny bit of hope.

"Oh, so it's just a misunderstanding. That's fine. I can work with that."

That hope was crushed when her angelic smile warped into demonic fury.

"Well then, how come a student spent weeks harassed and traumatized over a misunderstanding?! What on Tellus did you all mean by calling his harasser a 'wonderful young lady'? Or, my personal favorite, 'Proving love and devotion is not harassment'?!"