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He would have been cursing if he wasn't gagged. As it was he let out a grunt as he landed on the ground and muttered something nasty about gnomes before looking up at the door and the banner. Oh. So it was finally jackin' time. Roch hopped to his feet and summoned his guitar, stepping up to the door and staring at it for a long, long moment.

Once he went through this door, he wouldn't be coming back out as a student. He'd be free of this place, never have to come back if he didn't want to. Walk away, don't look back, just as he had with his old neighborhood. It was no wonder a little grin was pulling at his lips as he pulled the door open.

The room was bare. He blinked in confusion, looking around, even spinning around as he got a few steps in--then the room warped all around him, making him feel sick to his stomach. He was still reeling as he started forward and promptly ran into a glass wall. For a second he stared at it, a sickening twist of dread in his gut as he took in the curve of glass, took in the sight of people in white moving on the other side. He was back in the tube. The changing tube.

The gnomes... they'd delivered him up to the hunters? He knew they were dirty little bastages that liked to make a profit, but he'd never thought they were this nasty!

"Hey!" he shouted, trying to get the hunters' attentions. "HEY!" he bellowed, slamming his fist into the glass. "LET ME OUT!"

"The subject doesn't seem to be cooperating," he heard one say, as if discussing a reluctant minipet. "I doubt he'll be useful."

"Well, one less is still one less," another says. They're carrying weapons. Weapons that look similar to the weapon that Edel had turned into in the horsemen trials--wait. "Wait," Roch said. "This isn't real. It's one of those tricks, right? This is graduation--"

There's a light over his head, it flashes, and gas starts to fill the tube that he's standing in. "Wait--WAIT!" he cried, gasping and grabbing his throat as the gast reaches him. He could feel his eyes start to water and he looked around, looking for anything or anyone that can help him. Except all he sees is Danny writhing in pain in the tube next to him--then shifting, changing into a weapon.

He heard his father shouting in pain and he turned, looking at a tube behind him just as the older reaper starts to change as well, twisting into a weapon. Then he heard his sister--

His mind cracks and he summons his guitar, forgetting that he can't do that. It shattered the glass with a heavy hit and he jumped out, slamming the body into the nearest hunter before making a break for it. He raced down the hall, the same hall that he had gotten caught in in the trials, and reached the door, grabbing the handle and yanking it open.

As he stepped out he found himself face to face with his grandfather. "Gramps!" he says. "Gramps, they're--"

"Who let you escape?" Vegas asks, fingering his cigar. "SECURITY!"

It was too much for Roch. He took off running, racing for the next door he saw and slamming through it.

One second he was a weapon, the next he was stepping through another door. For a moment Roch didn't know what was going on. He had legs again, arms, he could feel his guitar hanging across his back, and he was... where was he?

He looked down, taking in the long, dark purple trench that he wore--sleeveless, of course, the ragged, zipper covered pants, the boots. What, exactly--

"Hey! If you're going to play already, play!" a man in the back of the dingy room called. "I ain't payin' you to look pretty!" The man was a bartender, cleaning a nasty looking cup with a nastier looking cloth. "Get to playin!"

So he was playing a dive for some spare cash... Roch nodded, slinging his guitar over his shoulder and starting to tune it. "Hey," he said, leaning to the mic, "what city am I in?"

"Cruelopolis!" one of the drunks in front of him called out.

"Thanks," Roch said, launching into a tune. A part of him was back to realizing what was going on. This was his graduation trial, so this was some sort of preview of his future or something? Hell if he knew, but it wasn't that bad. He played a few songs, then hopped off the stage, heading for the bar. "Can I get a beer?" he asked.

A dirty looking beer slid down the counter and he grabbed it, downing it happily. He had no idea where Cruelopolis was. He had no idea how long he'd been there, either, but somehow he got the feeling that would happen a lot--

He stopped as his phone rang, and reached into his pocket, pulling it out and looking at it blankly for a long moment. After a second he answered. "Yeah?"

"You owe me money, Roch," a growling voice called over the phone.

"It's in the mail," Roch said, hanging up. He slipped the phone back in his pocket, only to stop as he felt a piece of paper folded up. He pulled it out, staring at it blankly for a moment. There was a list on the paper, along with a map to the nearest portal to the human world. He flipped it over, looking at another map that had his handwriting across the top. It said "Targets."

Oh. So he was still working as a trick or treater? Yeah, this made sense. He wondered when the last time he saw his family was. It'd probably been a while. He pulled his phone out, calling his sister.

"Hola!" she said cheerfully. "Roch! It has been forever since you last called!"

"How's it going, Terra?" he asked, leaning against the bar.

"Oye, you've got five minutes," the bartender snapped.

"Oh, it is fine! Your son is waiting for your return!"

Son? He almost had a heart attack. "Er... that's... good? How is--"

"Cisco! Come say hello to your padre!"

"I--I'll have to call back," Roch stuttered as the bartender snarled at him. "Take good care of... um... the kid," he finished, hanging up.

What in the hell had he done to wind up like this? Maybe he shouldn't have taken to dating around, after all.

Another door. When was this damn thing going to be over? Roch stepped forward, shaking off the idea of having a kid somewhere--it was too disturbing to think about. And... he found himself face to face with a class of kids that were... well that one was definitely staring at him, he thought, looking at a particularly disturbing boil in the front. Roch looked behind him, staring at the board on the wall with horror.

His name was written in chalk. That meant... he was teaching? He looked down, taking in the suit with an expression of horror. A teacher? Seriously? "Um..."

"Are you really going to teach us breaking and entering?" the eager student asked, waving his hand in the air over his head.

"I am?" Roch said blankly. "They let me TEACH that?" he asked after a moment.

"For the human world, duh," a teenage ghoul said, looking bored. "But I bet you suck at it. Why else would you be a teacher?"

"Yeah, sure," Roch said, not really listening. Seriously, teaching a bunch of brats how to b&e-- "Well first off, uh... how's your lock picking skills?" he asked, heading for the cardboard box and digging through it. He had no idea what he was doing, but hey, he was pretty sure that the professors he had had no clue what they were doing, either!

"Like, that's seriously boring," the ghoul said. "Can't we do something more entertain--"

Roch pulled out a metal capsule the size of a large chicken egg, looking at it with a grin. "Here we go. One locked bomb--ah, for each of you! I would unlock it quick, otherwise the jacker's likely t'go off," he added, tossing the egg to the ghoul. "And who KNOWS what sort of nasty s**t I came up with?" he asked with an evil grin.

"Wait, what?" one of the kids asked, finally looking up from their texting.

"Either unlock the egg or it'll blow up," Roch said. "You gotta work fast when you're breaking and entering, y'know? The boogies ain't that slow. Neither are the humans."

BAM!

"Forget your lock picks, kid?" Roch called to the now-glowing boil in the back. "Don't worry, the glow will wear off... eventually."
***

The Boss Room

Roch stepped into the final room, flicking a bit of food off of his shoulder and looking around. Circular room, giant green knight, and most importantly--his diploma! He stared at it for a moment, finally seeing the end of the tunnel in front of him, practically tasting the freedom that came with it.

"HALT. YOU SHALL NOT PASS."

Yeeeeah, it sort of figured, Roch thought with a sigh of frustration as he summoned his guitar. It would never turn out EASY with this school. EVER. He shadowstepped forward and slammed the body of his guitar into the giant green guy.

Well, he was getting bored, anyway, he decided.

Roch's HP: 45/50
Attacks hit: 1
Attacks Missed:

A twist of the waist and Roch slammed his guitar into the green knight's side, repeating the last hit.

Roch's HP: 35/50
Attacks hit: 3
Attacks Missed: