Chapter Summary: The deed is done, Dummy Girl has her camera. With the comfort of his fellow classmates, they all set out on a goal to stop Dummy Girl's plans.

The second the alarms went off Casper was eager to get to work. He gave his beloved vampire a swift kiss on the cheek before he unlocked the lid and forced it open, quickly scurrying out of the coffin. Thatch climbed out of the coffin after Casper, waking up promptly now. Seems the vampire was getting back into better health after starving himself for a week! It was a comfort to see Thatch bounce back so quickly. Honestly, vampires were so wondrous.

Casper flew around the room quickly, shutting off the alarms as everyone woke up since everyone hated that dumb ringing sound. He also didn't want a single chance of anyone they didn't want hearing them, this had to be done quickly and silently. Casper decided to make sure Ra was getting up as well so the ghost opened the lid on the sarcophagus up, smiling at Ra as the tired mummy tightened the bandages on his legs. "Morning Casp," the mummy greeted calmly. "Ready to get to work?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Casper nervously smiled, wringing his hands together. Casper was nervous and excited all at once. Yes, they could get caught, but to see everyone wanting to help bring much-needed comfort. "Let's get to work Ra." He said, offering his hand to the mummy. Ra chuckled and took it, accepting the help out of his sarcophagus before he released the ghost, letting Casper fly and hovered near the door as the crowd of boys gather in front of him one by one, expect for Slither. Slither was... leaving? The serpent just slithered passed the group and Casper to get to the door. That made no sense, even Mosshead was standing in the crowd of helpers! Clearly, the swamp monster didn't want Dummy Girl winning after what she had done to him.

"Slither?" Casper frowned, watching the snake monster open the dorm door. Slither glanced back, then shrugged and just left. Casper didn't bother chasing him, he needed to concentrate. But even as he turned back to the group he could see Thatch was just as puzzled as he. Thatch was tapping his foot, and starting to look as anxious as Casper felt now that Slither had just up and left. But the ghost tried to keep his head on straight and his mind clear. "We split into pairs of two. We got to cover as much ground as we can before anyone else wakes up. There's an incinerator in the cellar, burn the pictures there. And uh... please don't judge Thatch and me from the photos Dummy Girl took," the ghost weakly added on.

Wolfie laughed, his tail wagging. "Oh, Casper I don't think there's anything on those photographs that can surprise us monsters! The most shocking thing in the world was you picking Thatch, nothing afterward could be more surprising than that." The werewolf quipped, gaining some chuckles and laughs from the fellow boys. Casper gently smiled and nodded as he lowered himself, letting his feet touch the floor.

"Let's get to work." He said confidently and opened the dorm doors, leading the group of boys out- just to be greeted with Slither leaving the girls room, helping the female students sneak out so they didn't wake Dummy Girl. Mantha, Harpy, Mickey and Monaco, and Triclops all carefully exited the dorm, then Slither shut the door ever so quietly.

Casper gave a confused look, and Slither almost helplessly shrugged again. "I figured they might want to help. We need all the aid we can get, right?"

"Slither, you're amazing." Thatch grinned and walked over to his friend, playfully ruffling up his gray hair. Slither smiled and looked at the floor, trying to hide his face from the students.

"Can't believe you forgot us," Mantha teased the mummy and ghost as she went to their side. "Honestly Casper, you'll need us... Also, I'm taking over. Wolfie and Harpy, go to the cafeteria with Mickey and Monaco. Fly-Boy and Triclops, head to the library-" Mantha started to give orders. Casper decided to just back off and let Mantha do her thing. Casper then figured he would oversee everything and help out everywhere. He quickly whispered that to Mantha and she nodded, waving him off as she continued to give orders to the students, having them pair up.

Then, at Mantha's demanding orders the students all split up in their pairs and got to work. Casper watched Ra and Thatch hurry off, they were going to check the entryway. They weren't going to leave a single room untouched... and honestly thank goodness they planned that.

As Casper was flying around the walls were COVERED with pictures of him and Thatch kissing. All the same picture. There were even some poster sized ones. He was utterly flabbergasted. Dummy Girl somehow even got pictures on the ceiling! How could such a short puppet do so much damage so quickly...? Everywhere he looked there was a photo.

Casper quickly went up high, starting to rip the photos off the ceiling and letting them flutter to the ground, where some of the other students were grabbing them and stacking them into piles for transport. Slither was assisting with his extendable arms, ripping tons of papers off the higher walls while students such as Wolfie and Quasi were stuck getting the photos lower. Casper had never seen the students ever work so hard, and so well together. It was humbling.

Stacks upon stacks of photos were being marched down to the incinerator. Casper was sure Dummy Girl probably killed at least a dozen forests, there was just so much! By the time 30 minutes had gone by there was hardly a dent on the lower walls. He and Slither managed to clear higher up, but that was just a small percentage of the problem. Casper was starting to feel fear tighten in his chest and he was panicking. They were going to get caught, he and Thatch would be exposed. Casper didn't know exactly what would happen, but he just knew it wouldn't be good. Kibosh disliked friendly creatures after all, despite once upon a time being friendly himself.

Casper wanted to see Thatch before they had to face Kibosh. He wanted to see Thatch, give him one big hug and feel his comforting embrace before time ran out. Casper gave a quick wave to Slither before he left him to handle that area. The ghost started to fly through the halls, searching for Thatch and Ra, since Mantha had paired the two together. After some searching Casper found Ra. The mummy was sweeping pictures into a trashcan to transport, but no sign of Thatch...

"Ra? Wasn't Thatch suppose to be with you?" Casper frowned and landed, placing a hand on the trashcan to keep it steady for the mummy as he swept in the pictures, seeing as the mummy had been struggling to do so.

"Eh, he ran off like 3 minutes ago, said he had something important to do. Oh hey Casp, I just heard Mickey and Monaco report to Mantha. They finished clearing all the teacher's personal offices, but the classrooms are a different story. They grabbed Fly-Boy and Mosshead to help clear those out, but the hallways are doomed. We can't get them in time."

"Got it, thanks Ra." The ghost flashed a smile to try to keep their spirits up. He helped the mummy lift the trash can upright. Ra grumbled, untying the bandages around his arms and instead wrapping them around the trashcan so he could drag it along behind him, along with the other 3 trash cans he had stuffed full of pictures. Casper weakly smiled, watching the mummy for a moment before he hurried off again in search of his Bat-Boy.

When he found Thatch at first he was annoyed. Thatch wasn't cleaning up the photos, but instead on the crystal ball, talking to someone. Thatch's back was facing the ghost so the vampire didn't notice as Casper drew closer.

"Mom I don't know anymore... It seems so hopeless now. Even with the others helping it's hopeless. Mom, I'm doomed... I plan to take the fall for Casper though... No mom, I don't think even you can help me now. Kibosh is going to find out and... It won't end well... Alder and Dash? After our last call Kibosh fired them and took over... No mom, I don't think that'll help." The vampire sighed, nervously toying with the curled telephone wire as he watched the phosphorescent crystal ball.

The ghost's breath hitched and he stopped his approach, turning invisible so he wouldn't interrupt Thatch. The living vampire was talking to his mom? That's what was so important? Casper nervously watched the vampire as he started to creep forward again, going around Thatch so he could see his expression. Thatch looked utterly riddled with concern, he looked so tired and desperate. His violet eyes were cast downwards, his shoulders slumped with the weight of stress.

"Dad must be disappointed, huh?" The monster muttered. Casper couldn't make out what was being said, but he could certainly hear Clementine's voice now, even if muffled. Sounded like she was yelling or firmly speaking to Thatch, but Casper couldn't hear a thing she was actually saying. Thatch shifted the phone, holding it between his head and shoulder as he moved his hands, pulling up his right sleeve. On his wrist was a small black heart. It looked to be drawn on with a sharpie, and by the shaky and faded edges, Thatch probably drew it on his wrist every morning when he brushed his teeth so it never fully faded. "Yes mom, I see it." He whispered softly, his eyes quickly darting up and down the hall. But Thatch couldn't see anyone. "Mom... Yes... I know he does... I miss him too..."

The vampire softly sighed and closed his eyes, letting himself lean back on the cool stone wall as he listened to his mom while he held the wrist which had the small black heart. "Mom, I'm scared... I don't want Casper to get hurt... Yes mom, I know." He faintly smiled, a soft laugh escaping him. Casper felt such relief just hearing Thatch's laugh now, but his laughter stopped abruptly. "Wait, you think I can...? There's no way. I'm not old enough, you said-... I..." Thatch frowned deeply and looked up and down the hall, his eyes narrowing at the dozens of photographs. He carefully raised his right hand, taking a deep breath as he kept the phone held to his ear with his left. Clementine must have been giving him instructions...

Casper just watched in awe as the photos started to rip themselves off the walls, then as if a gust of wind came all the photos were suddenly blown down the hall, all gathering into one big messy pile near Thatch's feet. Thatch seemed to be in a bit of shock himself, his mouth slack-jawed as he stared at the pictures. Casper could hear Clementine talking, but Thatch seemed too shocked to answer her back. "It worked..." He softly whispered. "Mom it worked!" He perked up, quickly holding the phone tight to his ear. "I got to go, mom, we might have a chance! I love you, I love you so much, momma!" He quickly spoke before he tossed the phone back up on the receiver.

Casper quickly moved back as Thatch raised his hand again, blowing the photographs like a wave in front of him. He hurried down the halls, the incriminating pictures being ripped off and joining the ever-growing wave. If someone had a fear of papercuts this would absolutely be a nightmare. Thatch was bolting down hall after hall, alarming several students as he ran by, taking all the photographs with him. As he passed the door to the incinerator he let the giant wave settle and just fall into a huge heap. The vampire then went down a different hallway, repeating the same processes. It was like a giant sweeper was rushing through.

Casper was just flying behind Thatch, still unseen as he watched in what could only be described as awe. Casper barely managed to tear his eyes away to look at the clock. They could do it... they just had to get the pictures down the stairs. Casper quickly rushed back to the door, seeing the students gathering and struggling to handle the giant amount of papers Thatch kept dropping off. Casper allowed himself to be seen and quickly started to help stack the papers and fly them down, throwing them into the incinerator. Slither was poking the papers and fire with a stick, making sure the flames burned strong and that every photo that was put in was nothing more than ash. Stacks upon stacks were carried down, Casper just tossing them into the fire and Slither made sure the fire was burning strong as ever.

After what seemed like hundreds of stacks Casper turned to grab the next pile, but Wolfie wasn't there with the next stack like he had been before. The ghost peered up the stairs just to see the werewolf helplessly shrugging.

"That's it!" He called down. "Close it up and head up, the alarms are going off!" He whimpered, then turned and ran. Casper looked at Slither, who quickly poked at the fire, making sure all the pictures were deep in the flames before he slammed the grate and hurriedly followed Casper up the stairs. The two found everyone slowly gathering in the cafeteria, out of breath but looking thrilled. Thatch was straight up on his back, laying on top one of the tables with his cloak just placed over his face, blocking out the light. Casper allowed himself to laugh and headed over, pulling the cloak off and grinned at the exhausted vampire.

"Thatch, that was amazing! We got them all!"

"Got all of what?" A booming voice came. The crowd of students turned their heads as Kibosh entered the cafeteria, looking mildly annoyed with his arms crossed over his chest in a disapproving manner. "It sounded like a tornado running through the school just a few minutes ago." He noted as he carefully scanned the students, who were all desperate to avoid any sort of eye contact with their new headmaster.

Just then Harpy waddled into the cafeteria, a single photo in her mouth. When she saw the giant green monster of a ghost her eyes went wide, her feathers ruffled up and she quickly went to Ra's side, giving him the picture. The mummy hurriedly crumpled it into a ball, and that's when Kibosh noticed.

"Hand that over," he demanded with an outstretched hand. Ra clutched the crumpled photo, his eyes wide in fright. As Kibosh started to float closer his brown eyes raced around the room and right before Kibosh seized it Ra threw it to Mantha who speedily jumped up and caught it.

"Keep away!" Ra shouted, and chaos erupted. Students were running all over the cafeteria and when they were a safe distance from Kibosh they would holler for the person with the photo to throw it to them. It turned into a huge, dangerous game of keep-away with all the students desperate to keep the photo out of Kibosh's reach. From Mantha to Monaco, Mickey, Quasi, Flyboy, Mosshead, Triclops, Slither and to Pumpkinhead.

Casper floated up near the ceiling, his eyes solely on the paper, watching how the students pitched it to each other whenever Kibosh got too close for comfort. It was thrown to Thatch when Pumpkinhead got cornered by the big green ghost. Wolfie quickly grabbed the vampire's hand and tried to make a mad dash to the door with him, but of course, the adult ghost was much faster, blocking them from leaving as his patience for the students ran dangerously low. Kibosh grabbed Thatch by his cloak, assuring the vampire wouldn't runoff.

"Enough! What are you hiding?" Kibosh demanded. Thatch went pale, staring up at Kibosh fearfully as he just froze, unable to turn away or throw the crumpled picture. He was like a deer in headlights, helpless. Wolfie whimpered, looking at the frozen vampire and the terrifying ghost. Something had to be done to protect Casper and Thatch, so Wolfie decided to do something unpredictable to protect his friends. He snatched the paper from Thatch and shoved it in his mouth.

One could see Wolfie desperately chewing, then swallow regrettably with a nauseated look on his face. Paper didn't taste that good after all. Kibosh seemed... disturbed or speechless... or both. He just looked at the werewolf and vampire, completely confused. "Did you just... Eat that?"

"Eat what?" Wolfie asked dumbly.

"The paper...?"

"What paper?"

"You gotta be kidding me." Kibosh groaned as he released Thatch. "What are you hiding!" He demanded, glaring down at the small werewolf.

"Nothing!" Wolfie backed up, his ears pressed back with his tail between his legs. "I-I plead the fifth." He whimpered.

Kibosh took a deep breath and looked around the room at all the students, silently judging them for a moment, then he seemed to relax. "All of you tried to hide... whatever that was... I admit that was some good teamwork- and as I see there is no harm done, I will let this slide." He decided after a few moments. Kibosh always could appreciate teamwork. Monster's working together for a common cause.

"DON'T!" Dummy Girl yelled as she entered the room, her tiny legs moving fast as she ran up to Kibosh. "Don't let them get away with this, they're all guilty!" She yelled.

"Of what?" He sighed softly, peering down at the small child. It was too early in the morning for all this crap.

"They're all hiding this!" She said as she held up a photo, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Casper and Thatch in disgust. "Isn't that just awful!" She claimed loudly. Kibosh took the picture into his hand, his red eyes carefully studying it. A dreaded hush fell over all the students, like a huge cloud of gloom. All their efforts were to waste now. Wolfie utterly deflated, his tail dragging the stone ground as he weakly whined in defeat, turning to Thatch sadly. It was all for nothing.

Thatch opened his mouth to disagree, but his shoulders slouched and he hung his head guiltily, waiting for his doomed fate. They were caught. Cats out of the bag. They were sure to be expelled or worse now. Thatch seemed to be giving up, after all, who were they to fight the leader of the underworld?

The towering green ghost deeply scowled and looked down at Thatch and Casper. "This is unacceptable." He spoke almost evenly as if the ghost was trying to keep his composure. "Thatch, Casper." He said determinedly, making the vampire recoil back at his own name.

Casper felt something overcome him. He flew to Thatch's side and firmly seized the vampire, holding him close. "I don't care!" He barked at the terrifying ghost. "I don't care if you find it unacceptable. Everyone but Dummy Girl accepts us here, we're not afraid! Thatch and I love each other, so what? What's wrong with loving someone?" Casper yelled defensively, allowing the vampire's head to rest on his chest. He wanted to keep Thatch close, to hold him and protect him.

"How dare you raise your voice!"

"I don't care! I love Thatch, and nothing will change that." Casper snapped, tightly holding onto his Bat-Boy. He could feel Thatch shaking in fear, clinging to the ghost for comfort. When Thatch was weak, Casper would be strong. He would protect Thatch, even from Kibosh. "What's wrong with being friendly, or loving someone? As long as we scare the fleshies what does it matter between monsters."

"Don't raise your voice at me, Casper! You two will-"

"But he's right, isn't he, Kibosh?" A disciplined voice entered the room. Awareness turned to the newcomer, and many were just staring at the intruder in pure confusion, except for Kibosh, Slither, Casper, and Thatch. Clementine stood by the entrance, her watchful eyes analyzing the situation. "You're going to do what to those children, old friend?" She withdrew her hand from the door, letting it swing shut behind her. She raised her head up and gracefully strolled across the cafeteria floor, her hands gently folded in front of her as she walked. Casper could tell she clearly wanted to make herself known. She was dressed differently than he was used to seeing.

She was wearing a flowing, midnight black ball gown that dragged the floor behind her as she walked as if she was some sort of sophisticated queen. Clearly, Thatch got his style and attitude from his mother- no doubt now. Her dress had a sweetheart corset. Accented with white lace down her sides at the base of the skirt. Clementine had her black hair down, letting it pool down her shoulders and back like a dark river. She truly looked like a vampire, her violet eyes glowing dangerously. She certainly knew how to make an elegant introduction, was that something all vampires had to master, or was it natural?

"Clementine, you left your castle?" Kibosh asked in disbelief. He turned away from the students, seeming to be just in shock at the fact Clementine was here more than anything. It was like he was seeing an old friend for the first time in a long time.

"When my son called me in utter distress, questioning his father's love for him I left my home, yes." She seethed dangerously as she moved closer to the ghost, showing her sharp fangs to Kibosh. "After a hundred years I left my castle, coming to this awful school to see my baby bat being yelled at for loving someone. I remember a time when you loved someone, Kibosh!" She snapped as Kibosh allowed himself to float down, getting face to face with the intruding female. The female snatched the photograph out of Kibosh's hand, not even looking at it. She just didn't want the ghost to have it a second longer. Clementine then turned away from the ghost and her eyes fell upon Casper and Thatch.

Casper slowly released Thatch, who just stared up at his mother wordlessly. Clementine fell to her knees, pulling Thatch into her protective arms, his head resting against her bosom as she brushed his hair back in a comforting manner. "My child, my sweet baby boy..." She whispered softly, pressing a kiss to his brow. "Don't you worry about a thing." She softly laughed, then looked at Casper. "You did a good job, I'm proud of you. Never thought I would say that to a ghost, not Vincent or Kibosh... Well, that's a long time ago."

"Clementine you're not allowed to-" Kibosh frowned deeply as the female cut him off.

"To be in this school? Does it look like I care? My son and his boyfriend have been assaulted, bullied and shunned. Now you are piling onto it! I want a word with you, alone."

"I'm not someone you can order around." He roared, the room shaking with Kibosh's powers. Clementine stood firm, placing herself between Kibosh and all the children as she released Thatch and stood up. She held her head high, meeting Kibosh's gaze with her own steady glare.

"You do not scare me, Kibosh... I remember a time when you were of so close to Arthur and Abigail." She moved closer, to the ghost, meeting his steady gaze now. Kibosh lowly growled like a feral beast, but after a cautious glance at the students, he made a motion before he started to head towards the exit.

Thatch quickly hurried forward and grabbed onto his mother's dress, looking up at her with desperate eyes. "Shh, my bat," Clementine whispered. "Stay here with Casper and the others. You did a great job, I couldn't be prouder." She instructed, gently prying Thatch off of her before she turned and followed Kibosh out.

Casper watched with a curious gaze, and as they left the ghost could see the hostile air between Kibosh and Clementine almost disappear within seconds. Clementine giving Kibosh a smile as they started to talk, then the doors shut and Casper could no longer see them. As Casper and Thatch turned back to the students and all of them, including Dummy Girl, was utterly slack-jawed.