Twisted Wonderland Book 5: A Beauitful Tyrant

Having had enough, Epel decides to pick a fight with Vil and plans to quit the team. Epel tries to fight, but Vil actually has the upper hand, and the fight finishes with not much time.

"Agh..." Epel grunts and coughs.

"And there we have it. I win, as usual," Vil says, "As it stands, you are neither cute nor strong. You're but a plain apple, devoid of any poison. If you don't shape up, you'll never land a single hit on me."

"Ouch. Harsh," Ace says.

"Yeah. Vil can be strong when he needs to," Jasper says.

"Pomefiore goes harder on athletics than even Savanaclaw..." Grim says.

Kalim walks to Vil and says, "Come on, Vil. Epel's a freshman. Cut him a little slack. I'd be hard-pressed to think of anyone on this campus who could take you in a fight.

"Kalim, you stay out of this," Vil says, ignoring Kalim.

Then turns to Epel, "Listen, Epel. I told you this on the day we first met, and I'll say it again. If you want to be yourself, then become strong and beautiful first. Cease this childish tantrum and get back to rehearsing."

Epel soon grows upset, "D-dagnabbit... I just... I just..." and begins to sob.

Without another word, Epel runs out of the ballroom in tears.

"Epel!" Deuce calls out.

"Epel, wait!" Briar calls out.

But Vil says, "Let him go. If that's enough to crush his spirit, then I'll remove him from the roster myself."

"Don't you think you're being unfair, sir?" Deuce questions, "He's been putting a ton of effort into dancing and singing, and you're just dismissing it..."

"Spare me the infantile notion that hard work guarantees a reward!" Vil says, sounding angry.

Jamil and Deuce are stunned to hear it. Even Briar and the others are shocked.

Then Vil says to Deuce, "For that matter, Spudling Two—you have no bandwidth to spend worrying about others. You're far behind the other members in all aspects of your performance. Spudling One started at the same time you did, yet the difference between you is telling. You are, in effect, slowing the rest of us down. Don't give me reason to accuse you of conveniently ignoring this fact."

"I know that, sir..." Deuce replies.

"Then don't talk like a full-fledged ensemble member when you're still dead weight.

"...Sorry, sir," Deuce apologizes reluctantly.

"Yeesh. You really set him off," Deuce says.

He then mutters, "See, this is why I keep tellin' you to keep your head down and stop butting into things."

Then says to Deuce, "You're not exactly smart about this stuff, Loosey-Deucey."

"Grrr..." Deuce grows irritated and shouts at Ace, "Shut! UP! You think I don't know that?!"

"Whoa, easy!" Ace says, taken back.

"A 'smart guy' like you wouldn't understand!" Deuce continues, and runs off.

"What was THAT about? Dude, I am so confused," Ace asks, confused.

"Ace, what you said was really insensitive," Briar says.

"Yeah, you really gotta start thinkin' about other people's feelings before you open your mouth," Grim says.

"You're the last one I wanna hear that from, Grim," Ace says, annoyed. "And why should a guy with his act together walk on eggshells around a guy slowing down the team? We're doing the same rehearsals. Not my fault he can't do the moves."

"Deuce and Epel are doing the best they can. Giving them criticism is one thing, but being harsh is another," Briar says.

"And Vil was being really mean," Sereia says.

Then Briar begins to walk towards the door.

"Where are you going, Briar?" Tanzanite asks.

"To find Deuce and Epel. Maybe there I can help them," Briar says, and leaves the ballroom.

"You think we should follow her?" Grim asks.

"Maybe, but I know Briar can handle talking to those two," Jasper says.

Jamil sighs and says, "This is getting nowhere. We're not going to get in any decent practice like this." Then turns to Rook and Vil, "Upperclassmen, what would you say to calling a quick recess?"

"I second that motion, Jamil. Let's all take a breather, shall we?" Rook says.

"Yeah! We can all rest up and clear our heads," Kalim says.

Vil huffs and says, "Fine. If we must."

Soon after, everyone leaves the ballroom to take a break.

In the hallway of the dorm, Vil brings out his phone and says, "Mira, Mira. Tell me something."

On the phone, Mira answers, "What would you like me to look up?"

"Who, at this moment, is the most beautiful of all?" Vil asks.

Mia answers, "Displaying results for "account with the most comments using the word 'beautiful'': Neige LeBlanche."

Vil remains silent to hear it.

And says in a bitter tone, "The idea that hard work is always rewarded is utter drivel only true in fairy tales."

Unknown to Vil, a small speck of black and dark purple negative energy begins to slowly expose from his body. Then more droplets of blot falls to the ground and some merge more into one puddle.

Vil is so deep in thought that he doesn't hear someone calling out to him.

That someone is Rook, "...il. Vil!"

Vil quick;y snaps out of his thought, "Ah?"

And turns to see Rook standing being him.

Rook asks, "What's the matter? It's not like you to lose focus. One would think that the Roi du Poison could take a little swipe from a cute kitty-cat."

"Please. Could you stop?" Vil says, frustrated.

Then Rook says, "Vil. Might I suggest providing Monsieur Pommette with a demonstration? Speak your words into action. Show him the power of your beauty.

"...Heh. Very well," Vil says, taking an interest.