I was too scared to scream or cry, which was good because my nose was still bleeding so either would have made things much worse. 

The bear thing slammed down on me, which hurt less than I thought it would. It felt like getting hit with a giant kickball, which made sense because of the tire-like skin. It geared up for another jump. With more athletic prowess than I knew myself capable of, I stabbed my baton upward. 

As soon as the whatever the baton was made of touched the bear, it jolted in pain and the spot I hit exploded into mist and floated upward. Past the mist, I just saw a hollow inside, which explained the bounciness of its landing. I scuttled away, dashing quickly to Oka and Kalei, who were standing nearby. 

The void monster started huffing and kicking at the ground as its wound healed. I was able to pull my left hand away from my nose, the blood luckily drying so I was a bit more functional.

“Were you guys just watching me there?” I asked.

“Kinda,” Oka said.

“It knocked the wind out of me, I needed a second.” Kalei said.

“You got a hit though,” Oka said.

“A not good hit,” I said. “All I can manage are little baby sparks.”

“I can do a bit more,” Oka said. “But my powers aren’t enough either. Kalei?”

Kalei shrugged.

“I can make...nothing. Did I mention that my fangs came in like two weeks ago?” Kalei asked.

“You did not!” I said. “Hey, that means I have seniority! Like, fang seniority!”

“Not the time, Zeta!” Oka said. The beast was nearly recovered now. “Plus I’ve had my fangs way longer so I have the most fang seniority.”

“So what do you suggest then?” I said as we leapt away from another charge.

The void monster skidded past us and fell over.

“I was gonna say we try to beat it?” Oka said.

“That’s not a plan! That was already our stated objective!” I said.

“Seniority doesn’t mean planner!” Oka said. “As most senior Cani I nominate you to come up with a plan!”

“Yep, you’re up Zeta,” Kalei said.

“I dunno, teamwork?” I said.

“Like what?” Oka asked. “That isn’t much more detailed than mine.”

The beast was huffing again, getting ready to run at us.

“Fine! How about…on three we all attack at once!” I said. “Oka, you use your flowers to...do something, distract it maybe? Kalei, use your sports to like slide under it and hit it. And then I’ll hit it from the side or something.”

“You have a way with words, Zeta.” Oka said.

“‘Use my sports’?” Kalei asked.

“Whatever!” I said. “Just all hit it at once! On three!”

“Like...one two three go?” Kalei asked. “Or one two three and then we go on three? Or—”

“Just charge now!” I said.

The void monster stomped towards us as we ran. Oka got it in the face with a flurry of flowers, which made it sneeze. It smacked me away, then knocked Kalei down and braced for another jump attack.

“Your plan sucks, Zeta!” Kalei yelled as she got smushed into the mud.

I swung at the void monster, sparking some of its rubbery side away. I saw something curious though right as Oka joined my side.

“Wait, Kalei you were right!” I said.

“That your plan sucks?” Kalei said as she got bounced on again. “Yeah, that was pretty obvious!”

“No, look under the sludge of the thing! See it!?” I said.

Kalei kicked the void monster away and sliced up at it with her baton and leaving a mark that ran up its side, joining mine. The void monster rolled over, getting stuck on its back like a turtle, giving us a quick breather.

“Orange…?” Kalei sad.

“It’s the box!” I said.

“Whoa, you’re right!” Oka said.

There was no doubt, for some reason Penteldtam’s artwork, or a void copy of it, was wedged inside of the void monster.

“Maybe the void version goes down the same way as the real world one…” I said.

Kalei squinted.

“Let me get this clear since we probably only have a few seconds,” Kalei said. “Are you suggesting we sit on it to break it?”

“Uh, well,” I said. “…yeah.”

“Eh, why not?” Kalei said.

“On three?” Oka asked.

“How about on my order!” I said. “Ready? Team Starlight, go!!”

We ran over and turned around, grabbing each other’s shoulders as we leaned back, sitting down on the void monster. We fell to the ground, just like in the art gallery. The monster squealed as it melted into a puddle at our feet. As we got up, we were greeted with a quick burst of mist, and then as it cleared, a bright and shiny new version of Penteldtam’s stupid block that I hated lay right before us.

“We did it!” I said. “We won’t get expelled!”

“What’d you say back there?” Kalei asked. “Team Starlight, go? Are you serious?”

“Shut up! I…it sounded cool in the moment!” I said.

“It’s pretty,” Oka said. “How’d you come up with it?”

“It’s…cuz of…Raina Starlight.” I muttered.

“Hey, good job!” Diast said. “Looks just as bland as our lovely principal’s.”

Dr. Diast was right by us, leaning on her shovel.

“Did you know this was gonna happen?” I asked.

“I had a hunch,” Diast said. “Guilt chimeras grow pretty quickly, especially when the guilty party is present in the void.”

“Guilt chimera…” I said. “All of that thing was made of guilt? Even the pizza boxes?”

“That might’ve been me,” Diast said. “Don’t tell me you don’t regret a pizza when the 4am heartburn kicks in. Or four pizzas spread out over a long weekend. It was four pizzas.”

“But what about the tires?” Kalei asked.

“I’m not an expert on everyone’s various guilts, Kalei.” Diast said.

“So what were you doing while we were fighting that thing?” Oka asked.

“Studying your fighting techniques,” Diast said. “It was like a pretest. Room for improvement, obviously, but you still beat that thing. Cross one off your Benta scholarships.”

That was a relief too. I felt too celebratory to think about how many more I had to beat.

“Shall we get back to business?” Diast asked. “I.E. sneaking this thing back?”

Diast showed us how to get back from the void, by finding the point we entered it and seeing the pillar with the void rosin bowl, which somehow existed between the worlds. If we pulled out a void rosin and scraped it on a fang, we’d go back. If we needed to bring anything from the void back, we just had to be touching it when we grabbed the rosin.

After we returned our batons and gate rosins, Diast helpfully took us to a cleaning station near the temple so we could get the goop (and nosebleed in my case) off of us.

“Now we just gotta figure out how to get this back to the gallery.” I said.

“Mayhaps a blankie to cover it up?” Oka said.

“Did you just say ‘mayhaps’?” Kalei said.

"It's my trademark personalized dialogue," Oka answered.

“No blankie, but we do have a tarp,” Diast said. “That plus a cart should do the trick.”

Luckily both were in a storage closet in the cleaning station. Diast made us wheel the thing back.

It felt too easy, even if rolling the cart across the field was really awkward because the dirt was uneven and I almost tripped and fell onto the box, nearly crushing another one. The halls we passed through were pretty empty, but we did get some looks as we made it to Hall 4C.

My stomach dropped immediately when we got to the art gallery. There was a crowd formed. Oka, Kalei, and I shared a nervous look. We left the cart by the edge of the hallway and pushed through the crowd. Or, Kalei did, and we followed because she was a lot stronger than us. I did make sure to apologize to the thirteen or so people we shoved past.

The crowd was circled around the former box. We were too late. Penteldtam was on his knees in front of the destroyed piece of art.

“Hahahah…” Penteldtam laughed bitterly. “RAAAAAGGHGHHHH!!!”

His elongated scream sounded even louder in the silence of the hall. His scream was enough to probably make another guilt chimera in the void just from me alone.

“WHO DID THIS!?” Penteldtam screeched. The group of students and teachers around him didn’t answer. “ANSWER ME!”

Diast patted me on the shoulder and gave us a sympathetic look.

“So we’re screwed. Now what?” Kalei whispered.

“Dr. Diast, is there anything…?” I asked.

“You could fess up,” Diast said. “Or we could walk away and pretend this never happened. I am content with either option.”

We went unheard from Penteldtam’s loud sobs. My brain said to just run. But my conscience kept me anchored. Kalei shook her head at me, but I wasn’t gonna rat her or Oka out. I turned and took a deep breath.

“I—” I said before someone else spoke.