Charlotte burst out into applause. "Wow, Vendetta! What a great story! And you told it so well! All that emotion! You should be a professional storyteller!"

Vendetta rolled her eyes and shook her head. Stupid blue girl.

The blue girl sat down on the ground and looked up at the fiend maker. "You're such a great orator," she gushed, pulling a blade of grass from the dirt. "Now will you tell me 'The Three Little Pigs'?"

"No!" the green girl said angrily. "Leave me alone! I do not want your company!"

Charlotte nodded happily. "I'm going to school now! I'll see you there, Vendetta!"

The green girl grabbed her enemy's shoulder before she had the chance to skip away. The famous evil grin crossed her face.

"Did you forget our little deal?" she smirked, gesturing back toward the mutant clam. "You have to take 'Pedro' with you…"

The oblivious little girl cheered and picked up the fiend clam, petting its shell affectionately. "Come on, Pedro!" she squealed. "Let's go to school so we can learn!" With that, she began to skip off to Mu Elementary, a mile-wide smile across her blue face.

"Wait, Charlotte!" Vendetta called after her. "Be sure to tell Mr. Milk that I've got a special surprise for the class today…"

Charlotte agreed enthusiastically. "Yippee!"

When she was out of sight, Vendetta turned to her large hamster companion and smiled crookedly. "Let's go home and make some more fiends."

Grudge grunted and smiled back at the little girl. He withdrew a pen and pad of paper from his pocket. He couldn't speak, but that didn't stop him from trying to communicate.

"You're not alone now, are you?" he wrote, handing the lined paper note to Vendetta.

The ever-present anger in the green girl's eyes had vanished again. In its place was an emotion Grudge hadn't seen on his creator's face in a long time. She looked happy. Evil, but genuinely happy.

"I'm not alone." Vendetta stroked Grudge's fur. "Because you're here."

The fiend and the fiend maker turned and walked back in the direction of the green manor. The morning fog surrounded them, making the atmosphere hazy. The rain never did start that day.

Vendetta stopped walking for a moment and cleared her throat. Grudge turned back to face her.

"Thank you for everything… George."