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Hellene glared at Ronan and bristled.

"The fundamental principles of disdain are well documented. The worse the sartorial offense, the more violently Karl turns away from it, producing significantly more power. The highest record single Disdain Event recorded was at the Merha Manor using subject Kai at 346 Chanels of disdain, enough to recharge three iCoffins from empty to full power and have enough left over to power the waffle iron."

She pulled a heavy brick of paper out of her messenger bag. Hellene had learned all her research skills from her sister and had gone into a lot of very verbose detail. She handed it to Mr. Hack and his arm sagged when he grabbed it.

"The average number of Chanels that can be produced in a 4 hour period is about 4000 from Karl alone using the maul. That number leaped to almost 9000 when we put him near Dudz 4 Dudez. Our highest record was 16012 during their fedora sale."

"This is very thorough," Mr. Hack said, leafing through the tome.

"It is!" said Invisibilly, "and because the CRTIQuE Engine is unobtrusive and nearly silent except for the occasional hoot, you can put it anywhere."

"That's right, you don't have to rely on giant unwieldy tanks of water, for example."

"What about the care and...feeding?"

"We just let him out at night and he hunts for himself. He's very polite about returning, and he doesn't make a mess, unlike some monsters. He hasn't attacked anyone since I got him, not even Kai. It's beneath his dignity."

From under the sheet Karl made a haughty hoot.

With the praise being reaped for the security measure, Lin's moping seemed to lessen, just a smidge, over the umpteenth rejection from his werecat lovelies. Lin instead drew to attention and decided he could not heap all of the pressure on their mid-term on Gryff's shoulders, alone. He had to do his share so he piped up,

"And of course, one of the best parts of CUBRCK is its adaptability!"

"Adaptability?" Mister Ra leaned in and hexamined the machine closely, but kept a wary eye on it after almost losing his arm -- again. "How do you mean?"

"There's not a social function that you can think of that it can't pull out a proper outfit for." Lin declared with a prideful nod from Gryff's direction. "Atomica has so much clothes that CUBRCK can combine anything with everything within to form a fashionably appropriate outfit."

"A challenge." Gryff stepped up, holding a blank card and a pen. "I'll call on someone here to choose a social function, anything you can think of, and we'll feed it to CUBRCK and allow it to craft something tasteful and in style."

"Interesting!" Mister Ra declared and he turned towards the class. "Who wants to help with this hexperiment?"

A few hands went up, including that of one of the only ghouls in the class, Frankie Stein. Lin scurried over to her and handed her a slip of paper to which she jotted down her idea, then handed it back.

Lin then handed the paper to Gryff and he himself proceeded to take the 'blank' card and compress the proper complicated number of digit holes in it for the machine to read.

"Ready?" Gryff asked.

"Ready, Gryff!" Lin ran up to the machine and he tried reaching to insert the card (drawing a few snickers from the class due to his not even coming CLOSE to reaching it). Gryff took the card and inserted it, then read into the speaker...

"Midnight premiere of the new Twihard film... What!?"

Lin turned to look at Frankie and declared, "Twihard's not a REAL social function!"

And the machine known as CUBRCK started to shake and rattle and two extended arm appendages waved about...

D...A...N...G...E...R.../...D...O...E...S.../...N...O...T.../C...O...M...P...U...T...E.../...D...A...N...G...E...R...

Meanwhile, back in Mad Science....

The class lightly applauded Heath Burns and Gil Weber's presentation, "Combustability and the Monster High Gym Pool: Accidental Ignition." It was about harvesting energy from burning things that really shouldn't have been able to burn. Indeed, all of the students sitting in the first row who had previously been doused were now toasty and dry, a couple of them even slightly singed. Mr. Hack nodded as the two retook their seats and scribbled some notes.

"Decent crop of presentations this screamester," He commented, almost regretfully. "I'll be handing out very few deadtentions, it seems. All right! Screams! St. George! You're up next!"

Draconia jumped a little bit in her seat. Yes, they were dried off, but she always dreaded giving presentations. They always seemed to pull out the klutziness in her. Scarah gave her a reassuring look, and the two of them grabbed their invention and walked up to the head of the classroom.

"Our project is about wind power." Scarah gave the introduction via ESP, matter-of-factly. She knew about Draconia's overpowering stage fright and had agreed to do most of the talking if Draconia would agree to do the demo. "Wind is already used as a renewable energy source. If you ever drive across the plains of Hexas or Bootah, sure'n you'll see there are already several wind farms that use gigantic turbines to capture the power of wind and turn it into electricity. The problem is, that these turbines are stationary, and so it goes they're subject to the whims of Mother Nature and her deciding of whether or not the wind is going to be blowin' that day or not."

As Scarah spoke, Draconia unveiled their project. It looked like a slightly lumpy back pack crossed with a fan. She slipped it on and turned around a bit like a runway model to show it off.

"Our idea is, why wait for the wind to come to you? Flyin' monsters use wind currents to stay aloft. Why not take advantage of that and gather up some wind energy that stationary turbines can't touch? In fact, once we talked about it, we couldn't think of one reason why no monster has tried this before!"

Scarah walked over to Draconia and turned her around, pointing out the features of the turbine backpack.

"It's lightweight to avoid throwing off the flyer's balance, mostly plastic so flying through a cloud won't cause condensation or rusting, and thanks to our mod fashion sense, you can even wear this out in public and look freaky fab!"

"Looking 'freaky fab' is fine and all, as Mr. Harpie demonstrated earlier," Mr. Hack spoke up. "But what's TRULY important is, does it actually work?"

"Oh! Yes! Of course!" Draconia piped in, wringing her claws a bit nervously. "We've done three trials, and each time the turbine was able to save more energy each time!"

"Trials, you say?" Mr. Hack tented his fingers, which made Draconia's stomach give a flip. "Meaning, you wore that, and went up flying around?"

"Er...yes..." Draconia gulped.

"And of course, you're going to demonstrate that for us right now, right?" Mr. Hack could barely contain his cackle. "Da West! Open up that skylight!"

Glen looked down from his floating position.

"Sure thing, Mr. Hackington!" He grinned and gave Draconia a thumbs up and unlatched the skylight. Draconia swallowed again and looked at Scarah, who sent her encouragement telepathically.

"O....okay! Here goes!"

And at the sound of the *ping*, like the last sigh, a small rounded up wad of cloth came sailing out and clobbered Lin in the back of the head, knocking the tiny gremlin head over heels.

"Ow!"

Lin struggled to disengage himself when he sat up, holding the blue material with silver and gold emblem designs etched all over it, around two eyeholes and a hole for a mouth.

"What. Is. That?" Mister Ra asked as he stepped up for a closer examination.

"It's a mask." Lin said in observation.

"I totally recognize that!" Chase Q said from the back of the room. "It's worn by that totally hunked out centaur in Los Monstros De Destructos! I thought I lost... uh... where did that come from I wonder?"

Standing up, Lin passed the mask to Gryff to hexamine and the gremlin turned to the teacher with a smile.

"HA! Even in it's life throes, CUBRCK still gave us the answer! Anyone going to a Twihard movie would obviously need a mask to hide their shame!"

Once back inside of the classroom and everyone seems to have settled down from the display of Scarah and Draconia's project, things got quiet as the students took their seats and Mister Hack perused through his notes and glanced up.

"Alright!" Hack snarled. "Who should we have go next?"

"RIGHT HERE!" Glen jumped up to his feet, grasping Rory by the upper arm and pulling his cousin to his feet as well. "We're next!"

Mister Hack eyed the witch cousins with one eye closed and the other focused, and a sneer on his face.

"Alright, fine." Mister Hack cackled beneath his breath. "I've been looking forward to this..."

A collective groan emanated from the entire student body and Glen beamed at Rory.

"Hear that!? We might as well be the Main Event with this much attention!"

Glen hurried down with Rory following after him and they dashed to the far corner of the hall and they each took a corner of a large, covered cart and wheeled it over front and center where both the students and Mister Hack would have a perfect view.

"Ready?" Glen smiled at Rory and his cousin nodded, nervous for his very first mid-term Mad Science project.

"Ready!" Rory nodded.

The two witch cousins stood in front of the center of the cart and Glen swept his arms wide and said, "Ladies and... where did everybluddy go?"

The moment Glen swept his arms, every student in the class instinctively dropped and ducked for cover beneath the lecture hall desks. Rory heard a creaking and glanced upward to spot Mister Hack hanging from the rafter.

Draconia crawled up from under the desk with the most polite of phony smiles on her face to spare Glen and Rory's feelings.

"Contact!" Draconia said in explanation, giggling unconvincingly as other student's heads crept up from over the table.. "Dropped it."

Mister Hack climbed back down from where he was hanging and resumed his seat. He cleared his throat and said, "Carry on!"

Glen said, "Right! Ladies and gentlemansters! Boos and ghouls!"

Rory called out, "Gilldren of all ages! The Cousins Bludworth and West are proud to bring to you..."

In unison, "The most fangtastic mid-term project of the YEEEEEAR!!!!"

"Mister West! Mister Bludworth!"

In unison, "What!?"

Mister Hack sighed, "Is the D-Hex introduction absolutely necessary?"

"Well," Rory reasoned, "You told us presentation was very important."

"Harumph!" Mister Hack clasped his fingers and twiddled his thumbs on the edge of his desk. "So I did. Carry on!"

Rory nodded to Glen and each of the witch cousins took two handfuls of the cloth covering, and with a magnificent flourish...

WHOOSH!

They whipped the cover off to reveal a large crystal ball perched on a bone candelabra with electrical wires connecting it to a small generator with a large cable draped over the edge of the cart. The crystal ball was sparking and weaving energies inside.

Glen and Rory looked around and saw that everyone had again dove under their tables at the moment they pulled the cover from their project. They look at each other and Glen shrugged.

"How many times can someone lose a contact?"

"a.. dimensional rift?" Ronan gulped and stayed right where he was, huddled with the other students who were trying in vain to press themselves even further away from the two Witch boos and their project.
A wall blocked any more movement back, though several of the students were casting furtive glances at the exits and weighing up failing mad science vs possible undeath or worse.

"Do you... think that thing is dangerous?" What was he talking about? Glen made it, OF COURSE it was dangerous!

"Sir... are you certain allowing this is such a good idea?"

Mr Hack seemed a little uncertain, though at the same time a strange smirk of delight was spreading across his grizzled face.

"Questionin' me are ya boy?"

Ronan shook his head.

"N.. No sir, not at all. Just... "

"I don't want to die!" One of the boos wailed from somewhere in the crush of terrified students.

Mr Hack laughed that wheezing laugh of his.

"Carry on." He waved his clipboard at Rory and Glen.

Ronan agreed with the sentiments of the wailing student and backed up a little more, inadvertently right into Atomica.

Meanwhile, on the other side of campus...

"... So once your boogniets turn a ghoulden brown on both sides, y'use a spider strainer to fish 'em outta the oil." Marceline was nearing the end of her midterm presentation for Home Ick. The warm scent of fright dough wafted through the classroom, and her classmates looked on in a dreamy state of hunger as she scooped the doughy mounds out of the fryer.

"Plop those yummies onto a paper towel to get off all'at excess oil, an' let them cool down'a bit before transferin'em to a plate an' dusting them with powdered suga'." She picked up a small shaker can and sprinkled air-light sugar over the boogniets. "An' then, y'done! That's how y'make tradit'onal Loa boogniets!"

"Well done, Marceline." Miss Kindergrubber clapped her tiny hands with glee as Marceline let out a huge sigh of relief to be done. "Now all that's left to do is taste the final product!"

As if that was their cue, the rest of the class rose from their seats in a haste and made a grab for one of the fright dough treats. A murmur of full-mouth approval rippled through the classroom as Miss Kindergrubber took a bite of her own boogniet.

"Hexcellent! Crisp on the outside, warm and chewy inside, and just the right amount of sweetness! You've earned your A, Miss LaGhede!"

Clawesome! Marceline though to herself. Her parents will be so proud!

"And next to present we have... Dashner Hawke?"

Back in Chop Class....

Gryff held the mask away from him with distaste, the fabric dangling from his talons.

"CUBRCK's sense of humor outlasts CUBRCK itself, the software was built to last. Obviously we need to work on proofing it against deeply, profoundly poor taste, but you can't blame us for that. It did work," he said, handing the mask to Mister Ra.

Mister Ra turned back to the CUBRCK, his face scrunched up and he paced around the machine. He passed the mask from one hand to another hand to another hand to another hand...it made two full circuits as the teacher contemplated the hulk of closet.

Finally he turned back to the impeccably dressed hipogryff and his diminutive partner.

"I cannot deny this is a vast improvement over your last project as this one did not main or melt anyone..."

"That's that witch's fault, he shouldn't have forgotten his skateboard here during the creepaccino foam testing phase!"

"Yeah, he 'forgot' it," Gryff sneered, casting Chase a gimlety side-eye.

"The organizational principals are sound and it didn't appear unlife threatening. A - - and you are never to design a shoe rack."

"WOO HOO!" Lin cheered, "what'd I tell ya, Gryff? Your idea was the greatest!"

Gryff gave a thin, smug smile as the pair went back to their worktable.

"Of course it was."