David sighs to himself as he casts the cleaning magic for the umpteenth time. The nasty shit sloughs off the brass piping in front of him, and he moves onto the next mess to clean up.

"This is so fucking boring."

The dismal chamber he's climbed into is full of eerie fog and rotten smells. The whole place makes him gag, but he'd rather be down here than be stuck up top with Michael. Flashes of illogical anger and betrayal well up in David as he pictures Michael's innocent looking visage.

There's a cracking noise as David's magic becomes unstable and tries to melt away the pipe. The fissure hisses with some kind of compressed gas, but David ignores it once the sound stops.

"Smells like rotten eggs..."

David waves his hand in front of his nose, and moves to the other side of the chamber. He can hear Michael toiling away up there. If he didn't know any better he'd think Michael had experience cleaning potion spills.

"Gouuh..." Something groans.

David whips around to see nothing out of the ordinary in the dismal chamber. The sound is still ringing in his ears, yet he sees nothing with his shaking eyes. There's a cold sweat on his back, and he presses his palm to his chest. The feeling of his heart hammering in his chest is unsettling.

"What the fuck?" David says incredulously.

Fear isn't something he usually feels, but this dark damp is affecting him. He takes a few cautious steps forward, and nothing happens. There's only the muffled sounds of Michael working above.

David slows his breathing as he turns to his work once more. Being down here for more than a few minutes clearly affects a person. David isn't certain if its the potion fumes or just the atmosphere.

"Ghughouuh?" Something gurgles.

David stops moving as that cold sweat returns to his nape. There's something unnatural about this fear, and he can hardly bring himself to turn around. Quiet dripping sounds grow louder as something approaches him from behind.

Cold, wet, squishy. Something wicked is on it's way, yet David can't make his muscles move. Spasming twitches twist his expression as the liquified abomination nears. There's a growing chill on his back now.

"Ghougrgruguh..." Something growls.

David whips his head around to see nothing, and nearly pisses himself in surprise. There's nothing here. It's all in his head, and he's hallucinating. These potion gases were supposed to be perfectly safe, yet here he is imagining a terrifying monster creeping up on him.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Deep shaky breaths calm his nerves as David moves down the pipe to clean another stain. This large inky black mark looks tough. The white magic activates, and in the instant it makes contact with the mass of dark goop David is sent flying backwards.

"GHOURRUH!" The monster roars angrily.

David hits a large drainage pipe headfirst, and grunts in pain. His vision is blurry as he tries to stand, but the strange cold fear settles in the pit of his stomach as he watches the black inky thing ooze its way toward him. Bones and stray bits of metal float in the black blob. There's even a human skull which floats inside the black tarlike monster's body.

"God fucking damn it..."

Metallic clangs cause the monster to halt its approach. David turns his head slightly and makes out a figure. It has to be Michael, but that little shit is too much of a coward to fight something like this.

~

Michael's legs tingle as he leaps after getting halfway down the ladder. He clenches his jaw to focus, and quickly takes stock of the situation. There's some sort of horrible oozing monstrosity making its way toward an injured David, and neither of them have any real combat training or experience.

"Ghuuuhh?" The thing groans.

There's no hesitation as the thing lurches toward Michael's unstable feet. Normally he would be hard pressed to fight such a thing, but in Michael already made up his mind. He is going to help David regardless of what David has done in the past.

"I hope this works!"

White light bursts forth from Michael's hand. The modified spell shoots out in a concentrated laser. Black tarlike goo melts much like candle wax beneath a flame, and the beast lunges aggressively at Michael's vulnerable fleshy body.

Michael is prepared for this. His translucent shield acts as a wall, and the deadly creature's amorphous body splatters onto the ground awkwardly.

"Hell yes!" Michael shouts in an unfamiliar voice.

There's some shock visible in his now effeminate face, but he maintains his composure long enough to send another laser of cleaning magic around his shield magic. The beam bends in an arc to land a direct hit on the prone goop monster.

Sizzling sounds mix with pained roaring. Each roar is smaller and smaller as Michael ups the speed at which he casts; Scorch marks and smoke are all that remain after seven casts.

~

David's blurred vision is gradually clearing, and he groans in pain while trying to right himself. He can make out that same girl he accidentally discovered in the boy's bathroom before. She clearly saved him, but instead of coming to check on David she clambered right back up the ladder like she had somewhere to be.

"How did she even get in here..?"

The situation makes things even more confusing for David. His concussion does him no favors as he tries to piece together the mystery laid out before him.

~

Michael's footsteps echo throughout the empty school corridors as he hurries in the direction of the dormitories. He has no idea how much time is left before Professor King arrives, but he needs Scy's help.

"Come to think of it, why do I need to hide my manifestation?"

The speed of Michael's running slows as he realizes he never asked such an obvious question, but several answers spring into his mind. Perhaps he's always considered such a thing unnatural, or immoral. What could possibly make it okay for a boy to become a girl?

His thoughts are interrupted when he feels a presence behind him, and nearly squeals in shock at Professor King's firm hand upon his shoulder.

"Are you where you should be, young lady?" Professor King asks.