Victor held up two fingers, his eyes shining as if they held two stars, a sly grin spreading across his lips.
"First," he wiggled the first finger.
"Bianca, our dear siren, is also participating in this race. I heard she's been the champion for several consecutive years. You must be tired of seeing that arrogant face of hers by now?"
He leaned closer to Wednesday, lowering his voice with a tempting tone:
"Don't you want to personally drag her down from that ridiculous throne and make her taste the mud? Just imagine, the sight of her flawless expression shattering... how delightful."
Wednesday's eyebrow twitched almost imperceptibly.
The image of Bianca being humiliated did indeed form a rather aesthetically pleasing piece of dark art in her mind.
Victor seized the moment, wiggling his second finger:
"Second, and more importantly—I found out that the winning team of the Poe Cup not only gets a whole year of bragging rights and supreme 'glory'..."
He deliberately drew out his words, observing Wednesday's reaction.
"...more importantly, they also gain a very practical privilege: off-campus privileges. Think about it, Miss Wednesday Addams, this means more lenient leave permits, more free time for investigations..."
He looked at Wednesday with a fox-like grin, as if he had just successfully stolen a chicken, knowing he had accurately cast the most tempting bait.
Wednesday fell silent.
Her gaze swept over Victor's triumphant smile, Enid's tear-filled hopeful eyes, and Venom's huge white eyes that seemed to relish the chaos.
Cold logic told her this was an absolutely terrible idea.
Participating in a primitive, aesthetically devoid competition destined to be filled with mud and stupid rivalry, alongside this group of noisy, unpredictable maniacs?
Absurd.
But... crushing Bianca underfoot... and that key named 'off-campus privileges' leading to a broader investigative space... her fingertips curled unconsciously.
"Making up the numbers?" she finally spoke, her voice colder than a winter wind in an ice cellar, dripping with undisguised sarcasm.
"Sitting in that... garishly colored, aesthetically bankrupt wooden coffin, like an idiot waiting to be sacrificed?"
Her sharp gaze shot towards Enid:
"If I am forced to participate in this farce, then everything must be done my way. Including, but not limited to, modifications to the boat, route selection, and... methods for dealing with competitors."
She paused, finally delivering the verdict Victor had eagerly awaited and Enid had desperately hoped for:
"I'm in."
Victor immediately let out a triumphant cheer, nearly lunging to give Wednesday a hug, but stopped short under her murderous glare, instead excitedly embracing Enid beside him.
Enid, as if struck by overwhelming joy, had tears still clinging to her lashes, but a brilliant smile had already bloomed on her face:
"Great! Wednesday! Thank you! You're the best!"
Wednesday added expressionlessly:
"Don't misunderstand. This is merely the optimal solution based on a cost-benefit analysis. And, if any one of you slows my progress, or gets a speck of mud on my clothes, I will not hesitate to throw you into the lake to feed the mutant fish."
"Of course, of course!" Enid nodded hurriedly, willing to agree to anything Wednesday said at this moment, "You're the captain! We'll all listen to you!"
Victor chimed in with a grin: "Exactly! Our Gothic captain! Our target is the stars and the sea... and Bianca's tear-stained, disheveled face!"
Venom added lazily: "And turning the other teams into our chocolate reserves."
Wednesday ignored the last comment. She took a deep breath, as if already foreseeing the chaos and misery the coming days would bring.
But strangely, aside from the usual annoyance, deep down, there seemed to be an extremely faint, forcibly ignored... eagerness?
She turned and walked to her desk, taking out paper and pen, her voice regaining its usual coldness and efficiency:
"Then, first, we need to redesign that pathetic 'black cat.' In its current state, aside from its stupidly bright colors, it's utterly useless."
Her pen tip touched the paper, beginning to sketch lines.
"We need to reinforce the structure, add concealed attack points, perhaps even install a retractable ram... since there are no rules."
She lifted her eyes, looking at Victor and Enid, a cold, chilling smile curling at the corner of her mouth.
"Then let us make the rules."
Outside the window, the night was deep.
And inside the dormitory, a bizarre fleet composed of a Gothic girl, a mad boy, a rainbow werewolf girl, and a greedy symbiote was about to set sail.
Their goals: win a race, humiliate an opponent, obtain freedom of access.
And in the process, they might just incidentally stir up a storm of bloodshed.
That's very Nevermore.
The lingering warmth of the Harvest Festival revelry hadn't completely faded, yet Nevermore Academy's Black Lake Dock was already enveloped in another, more frenzied atmosphere.
The annual, pulse-pounding 'Poe Cup' canoe race was about to commence here.
The air was a mix of the lake's fishy scent, the pungent smell of fresh paint, the dry heat of adrenaline, and... a faint, elusive hint of blood?
Perhaps a souvenir left by some team from last year.
Several gaudily painted canoes were haphazardly docked by the shore, looking like a group of stranded deep-sea monstrosities.
Competitors, wearing their respective team uniforms, were loudly clamoring, taunting each other, doing final warm-ups or... making threats.
Amidst this chaos, one boat attracted all gazes like a magnet—curious, disdainful, wary.
That was the completely renewed 'black cat.'
The once garish rainbow coating had been completely covered by Wednesday Addams with matte black paint.
Huge, ferocious feline claw marks were outlined in white paint on both sides of the hull, tearing from bow to stern, as if the boat had just escaped the claws of some dark behemoth.
The crew of the 'black cat' stood by their boat, making final... outfit preparations? Or rather, enduring torment.
"Oh my gosh, you look so adorable! Why not stick on some cat whiskers too?"
Enid said this to Wednesday, who had just emerged from a temporary changing tent, radiating low pressure.
Enid was wearing a tight black uniform, the cat ear headband on her head swaying slightly with her movements.
She already had playful whiskers painted on her face with greasepaint, looking exactly like an over-energetic cat-eared girl.
Wednesday wore a black uniform of the same style, perfectly outlining her slender yet explosive figure.
However, in fatal contrast to her physique were the black cat ear headdress atop her head, completely clashing with her Gothic temperament, and the expression on her face that seemed to wish the world would just end.
Her eyes were hollow, the chill emanating from her body dropping the temperature of the surrounding noisy air by several degrees.
"If you make one more comment about my attire," Wednesday's voice sounded as if it came from the frozen depths of a lake, each word carrying ice shards, "I will let you personally experience why nine lives aren't enough for a cat."
"Hey! Not fair!" a deep voice complained.
Venom separated from Victor's body, coalescing into its muscular, massive form, pointing at Wednesday and Enid, "Why don't I have a uniform? I want cat ears too!"
Enid looked up at this mountain-like black symbiote, apologizing sincerely:
"Sorry, Venom. We really... really couldn't find a uniform that fits your... uh... majestic physique."
She gestured with her hands, her tone filled with genuine regret.
Venom looked down at its own brawny pectorals and powerful physique, muttering gloomily, "Maybe I really should try to cut back on chocolate intake..."
Just then, the other end of the black line connecting to Venom trembled, and Victor finally crawled out of another tent.
The moment he stepped out, the air in this small area by the dock seemed to freeze for an instant.