Chapter Text
Damon never expected Tozu to be standing menacingly in his room when he woke up today; neither did he expect what would come out of the host's mouth soon after.
"Good morning, Damon!" He had greeted, "You, my friend, are in for a treat!"
The debater sinks in his own frame, "Something tells me that this isn't a good thing..."
"That is where you are wrong," Tozu chuckles, "I'm very glad to inform you that I have drugged your classmates!"
"You did what?"
"I drugged your classmates," he answers, "One of them has the antidote, so scurry about, go and find it."
Damon's never gotten out of bed faster in his life, and, as Tozu poofs away, the debater slams open his door and stares down the dorm hallway, eyes flicking to every name placard. What could they be drugged with? Something lethal? Will he be blamed as the blackened if he can’t find the antidote in time? Damon doesn't want to take any chances, so he runs straight ahead, grabbing the knob and slamming Cassidy's door open.
"Cassidy?!" He asks, frantically, "Where are you??" He steps inside, searching around. Once his eyes land on the bed, however, he immediately covers them and turns his head away, "Oh my god- I'm so sorry-"
The crude image plays in his mind again: Cassidy, in her undergarments, looking quite feverish while lying on top of the covers.
The debater hears her chuckle, "Oh, Bargain Bin, why are you here?"
Damon keeps his gaze focused on the suddenly amazingly looking wall as he responds, "I just- do you have the antidote?"
"What do you mean?"
"The antidote!" He annunciates, "You were drugged. Tozu said one of you had it?"
The debater hears the bed creak and footsteps patting up to him. He feels two hands cup his cheeks before turning his head right in the gamer’s direction. Her face is so close. So unbelievably close. She smiles wickedly, "An antidote? I have no idea what you're talking about."
Damon stares at her- messy hair, flushed face, hazy eyes- she's biting her lip and her breath is hot on his skin. The debater grabs her by the shoulders and attempts to push her away, but her grip is insanely strong on his jaw.
"Cassidy, I don't know what's running through your system but you should probably-" And then her lips are on his. Damon stumbles backwards, eyes wide as his back hits the wall. That's when he finally realizes it:
It's an aphrodisiac. His classmates are drugged... with an aphrodisiac. This is... the worst possible situation.
Cassidy manages to slip her tongue inside his mouth, and by god- Damon grabs the sides of her face and rips her off, panting. "Cassidy, what the hell?!"
The gamer strains against his grip, desperately trying to touch him anywhere, everywhere, "C'mon, please?"
Damon shakes his head as dread pools in his gut. Are all of his classmates like this...? Sex-crazed maniacs willing to do anything to get laid? Anything? The debater takes a deep breath, then looks at her blankly, "Go to the bed."
Cassidy, deluded, grins, "You're catching on... good, Bargain Bin, real good." As she collapses down, bouncing on the mattress, Damon sweeps the blanket out from under her and scrunches it up into a make-shift rope. Cassidy giggles maniacally as the debater roughly grabs her hands, wrapping them tightly. He ties everything to the headboard and turns around. "Hey- Bargain Bin, where are you going?!"
"Just stay there," he calls back to her, "I'll be back soon enough."
Damon leaves her room and shuts the door, desperately wondering why the hell they don't have locks. He sighs, rubbing his temples as he stares dejectedly down the hall. What if they're all like Cassidy? What if they're worse? That's when, suddenly, a familiar fan-wielding matchmaker walks into his view. When she sees him, she yells, "Mochi!"
Damon flinches as she runs up to him, stumbling back when he feels her embrace. "Toshiko?" He questions, "Do you know what's going on?"
She shakes her head, "No, but Ingrid's acting weird... she locked herself in the bathroom."
Damon bites his cheek, looking down at her and sighing, "Oh no.”
"What?" She asks, "What's wrong?" Toshiko steps back and the debater paces side to side, thoughts overflowing his head. He shouldn't involve Toshiko in this... but she deserves an explanation, right? Maybe he can just...
"Okay," he stops and faces her, "Everyone... has been drugged."
Her eyes widen, "They have?"
Damon nods, signaling for her to follow as he walks towards the dining hall, "I need to get you somewhere safe... who knows what anyone could do in that state."
Toshiko walks beside him, "What do you mean? Are they gonna die?"
"No," Damon opens the door for her, "At least, I hope not."
She enters first, the debater close behind. The dining hall is empty, thankfully, so Damon leads Toshiko over to the table. She takes a seat, squinting her eyes suspiciously, "You're not telling me something."
Damon sits and pauses, frantically trying to decide his next move. Sweat drips down his forehead as he taps his food on the ground repeatedly. Ultimately, hiding stuff from her is just going to cause problems. He sighs, "It's an aphrodisiac."
Her eyes widen, "Really?"
"Yes," the debater admits, "And I don't need you to get involved with this at your age, so stay in here until I tell you otherwise, okay?"
Before Toshiko has a chance to respond, the sound of a door creaking open causes both of their heads to whip around suddenly. With her makeup bag bouncing along and her hair flowing as she walks over, Diana questions, "Hey guys, where is everyone?"
Damon sighs, dreading going over the whole spiel again. But, Toshiko beats him to it. "They're all drugged with aphrodisiacs."
Diana's eyes go wide as she stands in a stunned silence for a while, eventually breaking it with, "What?"
"Tozu decided to drug all of them," Damon clarifies, "With... certain hormone inducing substances."
Diana looks down at him, "And... you weren't, affected?"
Damon scratches the back of his head, "Uhm, no. I'm not really sure why, though."
"Did Tozu tell you?"
The debater sets his head in his hands, "He just, appeared, in my room this morning. Told me that everyone was drugged and that one of them had the antidote," he looks up at the two of them, "I'm guessing neither of you have it?"
They both shake their heads. "Great..." he mutters, "Cassidy was enough of a hassle. I have no idea what the hell I'm gonna do about the rest of them."
"You met with Cassidy?" Diana asks, "She was, er, affected, I’m guessing?"
"Yes," Damon mumbles dejectedly, "Tried to kiss me and everything. I literally had to tie her up."
Toshiko laughs, "Now that I'd like to see!"
Diana glares at her in warning before turning back to the debater, "I can help you, if you'd like-"
"No," Damon shuts her down almost immediately, "You two need to stay out of this, okay? You're staying here until I have the antidote."
Diana sighs, "Okay, fine. But, be careful."
The debater gets up from his chair and heads to the exit, calling back, "Barricade the door with a chair and don't let anyone in. I'll knock eight times so you know it's me, alright?" They both nod. "Diana, I'm trusting you to take care of Toshiko."
"Alright, I will. Find it fast, and good luck!"
Damon shudders as he closes the door behind him, truly terrified to go down that hallway. He's already dealt with Cassidy, so that's one down. No, he needs to think about this logically. Who would Tozu entrust the antidote with? It must be a particularly responsible student, right? So then, wouldn't they have used it already? Maybe a dumb one that doesn't even know what it does...
Damon takes a deep breath as he walks down the hall of horrors, eventually stopping at a very specific door. He grabs the handle, exhales, and then opens it up.