Alwin ceased his screaming about the cookie, unsure whether he was being pranked or not. But since he was the designated pranker out of the three of them, he decided that no, it was not a prank.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Very."

"Well, if you insist."

Alwin rolled away from Winal's warm embrace, hopping into the control seat as Niwla moved over to join Winal. He had his wings behind his back as he walked, carefully observing the extra space within their shared mindscape.

The moment Alwin changed forms into a Yin-Yang Slime, that extra space shrank, reducing back to how it once was. At the same time, Niwla felt all of that extra processing power dwindle.

An unexpected side effect of their Core Skill, but one that he would take note of the next time a thorough plan was required out of them.

After the light had died and Alwin was back in his comfortable squishy body, another flash of light assaulted his corneas as he was teleported.

Another right prediction by Niwla. Well, it was more of a rig, because the bird was only half-right.

He had predicted that Alwin would get teleported, but what he got wrong was the location. Alwin had been teleported right into Lapis's lab.

"What!" Niwla squawked within their shared mindscape.

How could this be possible? What did he forget to factor in when he was making his calculations?

"Hey there, slime boy apprentice of mine," Lapis said.

"Hi, Lapis. What's up, other than the ceiling, sky, and I guess you, since you're taller than me," Alwin replied.

"Oh, how I missed you," she sighed. "Here, have a cookie."

Alwin hopped into the air and did three somersaults. A cookie! Yes! Finally, his request had been answered.

The slime didn't even bother with any Mental Hands; he just hopped up toward the drone, leaped into the air, and swallowed the cookie whole.

"You're much more fun than, bird boy," Lapis sighed again. "You hear that, bird boy. I don't like you. And when I don't like someone. It means I don't want to work with them. From now on, only slime boy and maybe ant boy will be part of my research."

"What!" Niwla squawked even louder.

How could this be possible?

Wait, no. This was Lapis he was talking about. She was as fickle as Alwin. This was well within the realm of possibility. He just hadn't accounted for such a reaction, mainly because he was preparing various scenarios during what he felt was an inevitable battle once he returned to class. And if he could somewhat tame Alwin, the same could be said for Lapis.

"If you give me another cookie, I'll tell you what bird boy is doing right now," Alwin said.

"Drones!"

Three more drones descended down the hidden entrance from Lapis' cafe. Each of them balancing a cookie on their head.

Alwin, ever the acrobat, got a rolling start. He pushed himself off the ground, performing multiple somersaults over the drone's head. Each time he passed over one, he used his black and white tongue to grab the cookie, shoving it into his mouth.

Finally, he landed on the ground, proud of his accomplishment. As he chewed on the baked chocolatey treat, he jiggled his victory dance. A jiggle to the left. A jiggle to the right. Jiggle, jiggle, jiggle.

"Ten points," Lapis said.

"Thank you," Alwin said, spitting out crumbs. "And just so you know, bird boy is freaking out right now."

"Hah! I knew it."

All of a sudden, another drone came barrelling down the stairs. It beeped, bopped, and booped in frantic pulses, telling Lapis something.

"Whoops, that's all the time I have for you right now. Little Milvee is doing an angry. Bye, slime boy. Have fun in class."

Alwin's smile dropped, turning into a frown. He opened his eyes as wide as they could go, pouting at Lapis, hoping that she could save him from the horrors that were school.

"No can do, slime boy. Say hi to Milvee for me. And bird boy." Lapis suddenly grew serious. "You're smart, but not as smart as you think."

Before Niwla could wrest control from Alwin, there was a flash of light, and all of a sudden, they were back in the classroom. Not just any classroom, the Training Grounds Classroom.

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"Alwin?" A high-pitched pitched planty voice came from his left.

He turned to find Uchronia the Potted Sprout, using her root-like legs to halt her charge. At least he thought that was her. Instead of that normal brown bio-ceramic pot, it was metallic, almost like some sort of chainmail.

"Alwin!"

A voice came from behind him. This time, the voice had a metallic ring to it and was filled with plenty of disdain.

Instead of turning around, he did a half flip, landing upside down to stare at whoever was calling out to him.

It was some sort of black bell, with tentacles that seeped out of it. That black belled tentacle monster continued to charge toward him, using those grotesque tentacles to propel him forward.

Oh, wait. That was Bion. He was a Mourning Bell or something. And as far as he knew, the only other monster in his class to achieve a Tier 3 form. And based on what he was seeing, the only monster that was charging at him.

"Bion, stop!" Uchronia shouted.

Normally I'd listen to whatever you said, Uchroniaa, but this little Al-loser is going to get it for sending me to the hospital!"

Oh right. He did do something like that. Technically, it was Winal who did it, but don't sweat the details.

Uchronia rushed around him, standing between him and Bion.

He was being protected? That was great. It meant that he didn't have to move or get out of the way. Hurrah to the power of laziness.

Also, why were they fighting? This wasn't the Sparring Room. Or maybe it was, but they decided to revamp it to match the Training Grounds Classroom for whatever reason. And there was also the fact that all of his classmates were watching the fight go on. Most of his classmates, anyway. Gus was eating yet another muffin pulled out from Cor knows where.

"It's a sparring match, Alwin," Niwla said. "So at least that was something I was able to get right. But how could I be so wrong with Lapis?"

"Don't know, don't care. What I do know and care about is that I want to get in on the action."

"I do too, but it'd probably be easier to do that once you're not upside down and when this current match is over."

"You may be on to something, Niwla."

Back in the real world, Alwin hopped right back up. He looked up just in time to watch Bion, the Mourning Bell, leap over Uchronia. He whipped a couple of black tentacles behind him, ready to strike Alwin down when some paper-thin ones appeared over his black bell, wrapping him tight.

It was Milvus!

"Let me go, Milvus!" he rang. "Let me put that little Al-loser back in his place."

"Bion! That's no way to talk to Mr. Milvus," Uchronia scolded.

Tiny little yellow eyes glared from under his darkened bell at the Potted Sprout monster.

"Fine," he spat. "I'm sorry, Milvus. Now, could you please let me go so that I can put little Al-loser in his place?"

Uchronia rolled her eyes at that statement before looking at Milvus.

"So, Mr. Milvus, what's your decision?"

Alwin could detect a hint of venom in her otherwise benign choice of words. Looks like she was still mad about how everything she did and was going to do was seemingly plotted out in advance by a certain triangle-shaped monster.

Milvus smiled, looking at Alwin.

"Well, what do you think, Alwin? Do you want to fight Bion?"

"Do I have to? I mean, I've already beaten him once, pretty easily, I might add."

"Why, you little Al-loser! You just caught me off guard. I won't be going easy on you. Fight me!"

"Remember, Alwin, you and Bion are the only Tier 3 monsters in your class. Don't you think it'd be a little unfair if you were to fight anyone else?"

"True, true. You're making a lot of sense, Milvus. But then why was Uchronia fighting Bion? Check and mate."

"I wanted to spar with you originally, to see if what I've learned during the holidays could bridge the gap between us," Uchronia said. "But you didn't show up for class. Bion was literally the only other option."

"You hear that, Bion? You're nothing more than sloppy seconds."

The Mourning Bell thrashed even harder within Milvus' grip, screaming a slur of tolling noises that only a bell could understand.

"Looks like he really wants to fight you, Alwin?" Milvus said. "What do you say?"

After giving it about half a second of thought, Alwin said, "I say you already knew we were going to fight and were just trying to rile up Bion on purpose."

Milvus didn't say anything; he just smiled.

"Are you ready, Alwin?" Milvus asked.

"I will be once Uchronia gets off the sparring grounds. Don't worry, Uchronia. I'll spar with you after I mop the floor with Bion."

"Good," she said, walking away to the sidelines where she joined Gus, who was immediately reamed out for not paying attention to the fight.

Milvus put down Bion on one side of the classroom, Alwin rolled to the opposite side. The steaming mad Mourning Bell stared him down. Alwin met that glare with a look of his own. He stuck out his black and white tongue, blowing raspberries at him.

All it did was make Bion even madder. That blackness of his was starting to give way to a deep, murderous shade of red.

But why would he react like that? Raspberries were sweet and delicious. He was sweet-talking him. Bion should be thankful that he did something like that.

"Now remember, this is just a sparring match to see who has been keeping up with their training during the holidays and who hasn't. I don't want any injuries, got that?"

"No promises," Bion growled.

"Yup," Alwin cheered. "And just to be sure, I won't use that form against Bion."

"Don't you dare!" he roared, charging straight at him. "I'll beat you senseless until you transform, then I'll be that form to a pulp just like the Al-loser you are."

"Hey!" Alwin said. "Milvus hasn't said start yet. You're disqualified. Therefore, I win."

That did little to slow Bion down. If anything, it made him move faster, skittering across the ground with those black tentacles of his.

Since Bion was cheating, it meant that if he won, it would count as two wins. Talk about a good deal.

Alwin hopped in place, eager to mop the floor with Bion.

Good thing Bion really insisted on beating him with his tentacles and not using that annoying Species Skill where he kept ringing his bell and assaulting his ears. It meant he didn't have to waste any energy closing the distance. Instead, he could waste it by hopping in the air, doing flip after flip. Frontflips. Backflips. Sideflips. And sometimes even no flips at all.

Though maybe that was a mistake. He was starting to feel queasy. All of those cookies were struggling to stay down.

Just as Bion lunged at him, bell first, Alwin whispered, "Yin-Yang Slime: Secret Art."

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