[M] High School Demolition Music IC

[Awean8]

Class was so boring. The teacher, Mr. Brown, rambled on and on about how X = 4, as if algebra 2 will be used on an every day basis when you're an adult. Wade sat there drawing crude doodles of only lord knows, but on the side were words of a sort of poetic significance. He was playing the entire In Utero record by Nirvana in his head, on occasion mouthing the words that Kurt Cobain had written over fifteen years ago.

The worst part about sitting in class today was being so excited that he was about to burst. Today was the Battle of the Bands at the Ba-Bomb. Its the sickest club in town and his band has been practicing for months. He couldn't wait.

He went over the songs that they wrote in his head. They weren't particularly complex, or for that matter even good, but what do you expect from a High School band. The songs consisted of mostly basic four chord progressions, power chords and 4/4 time signatures.

Wade gave a sigh of pure anxiety, "We're going to suck aren't we."

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

"You forgot to carry the one," Addison pointed out from her place at the back of the class, slumped over in her desk, arms folded on the wood, head nestled into the crook of one of her elbows as if she was sleeping.

Rose red Heartbeats (http://ladygaga.shop.bravadousa.com/Product.aspx?cp=14781_25139&pc=BGAMLG14) shone through her hair as she shifted slightly, graciously messy waves moving easily. The headphones were on a low volume, so she could still hear the class, but her attention was usually on the music - the beat, the drums - more than the drone who has earned his teaching credentials by some miracle.

"Excuse me?" Mr. Brown whirled to look at the source of the correction, his balding head shining under the ugly florescent lights of the classroom.

"You. Forgot. To carry. The one," Addison repeated, opening her eyes to fix them on him steadily only to close them once he got the point. He turned red with some kind of anger or embarrassment once he looked over the problem again only to find she was correct.

"Thank you, Miss Michaelet," he murmured and started from where he'd made the error. Erasers took to papers and students scrubbed away the error they'd copied from the idiot at the board. Sarah who sat to Addi's right peered over at Addi's open notebook to find the pieces of paper crisp and clean, blank all but her name on the top right hand corner. With a huff at her failure to cheat on the rest of the problems, Sarah hunched back over her own paper.

Addi didn't move except to twist her lips into her signature little smile, laughing on the inside. The young woman was getting ancy, wanting hold her drumsticks, make music, needing the feel of distortion all around her, the air heavy and thick by the buzzing of electricity of her bandmates guitars and basses, their amplifiers.

A soft little, "mmm," slipped from her, prompting a few glances from curious classmates.

[Ushima]

Ken was beyond bored. That plus his bad morning he clearly wasn't in the mood for anything. First he woke up late, the Halo Reach Multiplayer lobby greeted him when he awoke. Apparently he was playing all night. Then he fell down the stairs in a rush, he probably had a concussion. Someone tried picking a fight with him on the way to school. And now he was stuck in algebra. This was by far his worst class. At least he had tonight to look forward to. The battle had been his main focus for months. He knew he was ready. He was a good guitar player and back up vocalist.

Ba-Bomb was gonna be going crazy when they started. He was nothing but confident. The bands singing on the other hand wasn't. Asking if they'd suck. "Hell no we ain't gonna suck. We're gonna kick major ass." Ken leaned over and punched hid friend in the shoulder. "Man up we can do this."

[Damonique]

Jasin skipped algebra with Mr. Brown using a copied note saying he had to finish an assignment in the library. The wiry junior stepped into the dimly lit library with the full appearance that he thought he owned the place. The library attendant looked at the note, glared, then went back to checking lists for overdue books, while behind her, the student library workers mouthed mock cheers over his head. They were his people, or at least they had been.

Jasin had spent his freshman and sophomore years hanging out with the human waste crew, the delinquents and freaks that didn't fit in with their own grades and so recruited from the unsuspecting underclassmen, but starting this year, he was the last one, the older ones had all graduated and the others recruited from the freshman had moved into more desirable groups. Luckily, Jasin still had his band.

Ken was okay, perhaps a bit eccentric, and great on the guitar. Addison Michaelet, in addition to being capable of kicking every male members asses combined, was one of the few people in their grade that not only owned her own drum set, but played them well. Wade, their vocalist, was the one who had pulled them all out of their own cliques of friends and turned them into a real band. Jasin provided the ride, the money, and also just happened to play some amazing bass, though in the beginning when they were desperate, they would have accepted him weather he was good or not.

Jasin's dad was some real estate developer. Some rich-guy type who made his money on bribes to the zoning departments and safety committee. He had, of course, forgotten about his son the day he quite being cute for Photo-op's, either way, the money kept coming. A thousand bucks for amp's? That was barely toilet paper to Iain Marc, Soulless Corporate Bastard. His family was rounded out by his stepmom who was barely out of her 20's. Obviously, Jasin didn't spend much time around the house.

Jasin took a seat in the back of the library and took his Schecter Diamond Bass out of its smoothe leather case and began tuning it. The others would meet him after class was out and they would all load up in his dodge minivan and get to Addison's house for a jam session. He had volunteered to make the noble sacrifice of Skipping Algebra 2 so that they could get out the minute school let out, before the parking lot turned into a moshpit of screaming teenagers and honking horns. Jasin's GPA would suck either way, so it wasn't like it would hurt him academically, he'd maintained a 2.5 GPA for the last two years and didn't plan on bringing it up now.

[Awean8]

When Ken punched him in the shoulder it admittedly hurt a lot, but he tried not to show it. "Thanks Ken, I'm probably just over-reacting."

Wade was sort of on the feminine side, not that he was gay or anything. In fact he actually dated a different girl every other month. He's just wasn't as macho as what you'd expect a guy should be. Instead of benching three hundred pounds he wrote poetry and walked around with an acoustic guitar.
He's kind of like your modern day hippie. He's absolutely smitten by the ideas love and freedom. He never wears shoes, being either bare foot or in socks.

The reason why he gets so many girls is because unlike most hippies he's fairly groomed and actually in a way handsome. He's also sweet and funny, although the reason why most of his relationships end are because he's sensitive and lazy. Usually afraid to commit all the way.

After Addison completely embarrassed Mr. Brown, the bumbling Algebra teacher, class soon after ended. Wade with his acoustic guitar in hand, walked quickly to the parking lot with Ken and Addison to await for Jasin to pick them up.

[Ushima]

"Yeah man it'll work out." Ken moved his way down the worksheet. He had gotten every question right. He laughed when Addison called out the teacher. He leaned over and whispered. "How the hell did this fool even get this damn job?" Really the teacher was the stupidest smart person Ken had ever met. When the bell rang the class practically stamped out the room. "Damn." Michael cursed as he packed up his stuff, his guitar case over his shoulder. He never left it out of his sight for a second. There were a lot of people who would just like to smash it. He put in a lot of hours on the loading dock to afford it.

The parking lot, where he was almost run down on more than one occasion. There were more than a few dumb girls on cell phones and arrogant jocks in big trucks always not paying attention. He was looking for Jasin. It wasn't Ken's turn to be the ride home. "Oh man I'm so pumped." Ken was always looking forward to playing. "Hey if we don't win can we let Addison beat the crap out of them? That'd be hilarious!" Ken was sure their drummer would come out on top of that. "Can I help? It'd be awesome!" One couldn't deny Ken had a bit of a violent streak to him. Gaming and Music were good outlets, but they could only work for so long. Needless to say the metalhead would pick a fight sometime soon. "So what we playing tonight?"

[Damonique]

Jasin waited for the bell to ring and slipped out the back of the library into the comforting brown leather seats of his old Chevy Minivan (http://cdn.rabbitfunds.com/wp-content/uploads/old-minivan.jpg). The back seats had been painstakingly removed to make room for all of their instruments, and Jasin was glad that the Van was made back when cars were really made out of steel. He could win a head-on collision with almost any car in the parking lot.

That was a good thing, seeing all the idiots trading paint and shouting obscenities at each other over the din of horns and engines blaring. Jasin smoothly backed the vehicle beside the rear entrance where the rest of the band was waiting and popped up the locks to let them in. His Schecter and Ibanez were already resting in the back of the van in their hard leather cases.

"C'mon, lets get out of here while there's still a gap in the traffic!" Jasin commented through the slightly-opened window. No one sped up, they all knew his driving too well. Jasin would be likely to just plow through the cars ahead if they didn't let him through.

Once the other were thoroughly seated and their instruments were cradled beside his guitar cases, he gave it some gas. The old manual transmission van was surprisingly smooth for it age, thanks to Jasin's meticulous and thorough tune up job.

"So, hows that pretty mustang of yours doing, Addi? I'd be more than happy to foot the bill for any parts that need replacement if it gets me under the hood of that baby!" He called back to their drummer as he took breakneck turns at impossible angles and weaved through the traffic. Some would call Jasin a danger to society when behind the wheel. he considered himself a patron of the lost art of the stick shift.

These musings were interrupted when some jackass in a bright purple F-150 tried to cut in front of him, thinking Jasin would stop to avoid trading paint. The guy was wrong, Jasin sped up, pulling the van up to third gear and stomping the gas pedal. This lost him a bit of chrome off the grill, but it was worth it when the Dumbfounded jackasses front bumper hooked in the grill, bent, twisted, and snapped in half.

Jasin left the shredded piece of fiberglass on the road behind him as he peeled out of the school parking lot at a click under Eighty-five Miles Per Hour towards Addison's house.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

"Don't even get me started on how half the teachers in this school have jobs," Addi mutter back to Ken, raising her head to flash him a grin and rise out of her seat as the bell rang a heartbeat later.

She pulled her headphones out of her ears, wrapped them up and tucked them into one of the front pockets in her bag her iTouch soon following it, then scooping up her blank notebook and slipping it into her backpack (http://i53.tinypic.com/ml427s.gif). She closed it and buckled the top flap down on only one side, the drawstring inside all the way closed and tied in a loose knot.

Mr. Brown turned from the board as everyone was getting their things together and said something about homework and the problems they'd just worked on, but no one cared. It was Friday, it was nice out, and school just ended for the day.

Peace. Out.

Addi heaved the canvas sack over her shoulder and ran her aqua painted nails through her sun-streaked hair, trickling out of the classroom with the rest of her classmates and into the massive hallway.

"Never be anything but loud and nitty gritty dirty little freaks," she murmured, Pink going around in her head as she wove her way through a group of stupid-looking freshmeat on her way to the parking lot with the guys. The mini pair of wooden drumsticks on her key chain clinked together as she drew them out of her sweater pocket, her hot pink rubber octopus (http://i54.tinypic.com/j0l1c9.jpg) dangling along side them and her silver house and car keys. It was habbit to fiddle with them whether or not she had her car; today, unfortunately, she did not.

"If I kick someone's ass 'cause we lose we may not be able to compete ever again. I'd break things, and then you'd probably finish them off," Addison pointed out, raising a brow at Ken, but unable to hide her smirk. They seemed far more concerned with winning, rather than having fun, and that made her worried - they'd started the band to have fun and make music, not to win competitions.

About that time, Jasin pulled up in his Goobermobile, she'd nicknamed it. The wood panels killed her; the first time she'd seen it, she'd asked, "Is that cherry or pine?" The memory made her chuckle to herself as she climbed in and took a seat.

"Pssshhh! Purring like a kitten, per usual," she laughed at Jasin's mention of getting under the hood of Gina, her Mustang. "Boy, nobody's touching my baby except for my daddy!"

Gina (http://i54.tinypic.com/5kpwd1.jpg) and Tommy (http://i54.tinypic.com/2upbvh1.jpg), her drum kit, were her most prized possessions, both dear to her heart and about the only things she ever referred to as her babies. Addison braced herself in the back of the van, cussing colorfully as their bassist tried to kill them.

"I fucking hate your driving!" She practically screamed as she felt the van speed up, heard the hideous crunch, scream and snap of the F150's bumper, seething angrily as he sped along. Addi wasn't the most courteous driver on the road, but speed was the major factor in most fatal collisions and the blond nearly always obeyed the speed limit when behind the wheel. She'd have already punched Jasin in the back of the head if he hadn't been driving; her hands were already balled into fists, white at the knuckles.

[Damonique]

"I fucking hate your driving!" Jasin heard Addi shout at him from the back seat as he left the school parking lot back in the dust, doing about thirty over the speed limit. She was so nitpicky about his driving, it was like having a mom. It wasn't his fault that like most things he had learned how to do, his driving had come from the human waste crew he used to hang with, the kind of guys who drove $1,200 Nissan's and Mercury's with $800 bucks of chrome and stereo bolted to them.

Luckily, Jasin had a bit better tastes than that, if no better driving skill. His van, nicknamed "Boris" for its oversized aftermarket Ukrainian engine was great for carrying people and instruments around, but his latest pride and joy was the '72 El Camino (http://www.72ss454elcamino.com/a72elky_ext3.jpg) he had picked up last fall at an estate sale and fixed, polished and painted over the summer. She was almost ready for her maiden voyage, as well.

"He had it coming to him for driving such an abomination, and twice over for thinking it was manly." Jasin chuckled back, talking about the Jock-Driven Purple F-150 he had just trashed.

"As far as the speed goes, there are never any cops along this stretch, but Princess Addi requires it, I don't suppose I have any choice." He joked in his best imitation British accent, eliciting chuckles from Wade and Ken. It bugged her immensely that Jasin was the only one of the three willing to make a joke it the expense of the violent freak of nature they named as their drummer.

Jasin smiled into his rearview mirror. Ken was right, they were going to kick this competitions ass in every way possible. It just felt like success.

[Ushima]

A van pulled up to them. "Oh dear god. We might not even make it to tonight." Jasin's driving skills were not all that great. "Life expectancy drops whenever you drive." Letting out a reluctant sigh he got in the back, placing his guitar down. Ken sat down against the seat. He'd rather not be looking forward. reaching into his Halo he pulled out his mp3 player. Ken put in one Earbud and started listening to music. Anything to help him forget the fact that Jasin is driving. "Dudes I'm starving lets stop somewhere. I didn't eat lunch today. Some idiot stole it." Wouldn't be the first time someone stole his lunch. People loved messing with him, they always hate what is different. "BK sounds really good to my stomach right now.

Ken started his music. It was turned up loaud, he'd joke about it's to keep the voices in his head quiet. "Enemies of metal. Your death is our reward." He sang quietly, growling. "Deadly sinners! Deadly sinners!" Ken loved playing this song. Every chance he got he'd play some portion of the song. The heavy beat always got him going. Ken started air playing a solo. "Mighty warriors with metal on their side!" Ken was reaady for tonight. Winning wasn't his concern, he just didn't want to suck. "Take one last step before you die!" He was bobbing his head now as the song continued.

"Jasin quit trolling our drummer. I don't think you could fathom the amount of hurt she could put on you." Once the song ended he caught part of the conversation. He turned around and leaned over the seat. "Besides as much fun as it would be to see you get your ass kicked, we need you for tonight. Can't win without a kickass bass am I right or am I right? And no picking third option to answer that either."

[Awean8]

Wade sat in the passenger seat of the Chevy mini-van, being used to Jasin's insane driving he paid no heed instead he paid attention to his rather ancient Game Boy Color (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.freewebs.com/game-winners/240px-Game_Boy_Color.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.freewebs.com/game-winners/nintendosconsoles.htm&usg=__nEjZQlST_Q-jSWwKbE8jMnIvJx8=&h=383&w=240&sz=17&hl=en&start=0&sig2=9nkBAfpeoUPibQX3i5rw_g&zoom=1&tbnid=nu2jQCS4z6rXvM:&tbnh=136&tbnw=85&ei=PsD-TPrhF4H0tgOH-oCwCw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgame%2Bboy%2Bcolor%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den %26sa%3DG%26biw%3D1550%26bih%3D848%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=446&vpy=322&dur=1681&hovh=283&hovw=177&tx=112&ty=128&oei=97_-TNbNDZTSsAOcstyrCw&esq=8&page=1&ndsp=41&ved=1t:429,r:18,s:0), which was adorned with stickers and scratches. He was playing Pokemon Yellow.

While attempting to 'catch em all' he thought about how he even met a group of mixed up cliches such as these three. Jasin had always been there. In fact Wade still remembers playing in the sandbox with that guy. During Freshman and Sophomore year he had hung out with people he liked to call the "the human waste crew", which was sort of better than what Wade did for both of those years. Playing DnD and wooing girls with his guitar and voice.

Which brings us to Addison, or Addi as she likes to be called. Wade met her when they had the same English class in their Sophomore year. Early on he had tried to ask her out, but when she declined it actually caused him to run home practically crying. He tried again the next day of coarse, and than the next day, and than the next day, until eventually they just started hanging out. They have remained just friends ever since, although it still gets a little awkward whenever they're alone together in the same room.

He wasn't really sure of how they actually met Ken. The various legends of how he had met the metal head are all mixed up. In one of these "legends" Ken is being sort of hazed by a couple of the seniors, and Wade defended him but another "legend" is as simple as he just showed up somewhere.

[Damonique]

"Dudes I'm starving lets stop somewhere. I didn't eat lunch today. Some idiot stole it. BK sounds really good for my stomach right now." Ken spoke up before resuming his silent heavy metal solo in the back.

"Sure, bud, I'm buyin'. I skipped lunch today to work on one of the busted amps and never grabbed anything." Jasin exclaimed as he passed another driver, who in turn cursed profusely at him.

"Jasin, quit trolling our drummer. I don't think you could fathom the amount of hurt she could put on you, and besides, as much fun as it would be to see you get your ass kicked, we need you for tonight. Can't win without a kickass bass? Am I right or Am I right? And no picking third option to answer that either!" Ken shouted from the backseat as Boris pulled up next to the Burger King drive through.

"One, I completely know how much pain she can put someone under. One of those jackasses seniors I used to hang with thought that it thought that Addi would be nice one to mess with for a while. He was wrong, and now he's down a few teeth." He paused, rethinking weather he wanted to go through with the last remark.

"I actually find a tough chick to be the hottest thing on the planet, myself." Jasin added jokingly, and waited for that little crease to form on her forehead that meant she was aggravated. It was a little "who could piss who off more" contest he had been keeping up for a while now.

"So, what do you guys want? I'm buying, but keep it under ten bucks a piece, I'm not made of money." Jasin inquired once they pulled up to the drive through window. Jasin wasn't exactly loaded, but he was psyched for the Ba-Bomb competition and didn't want them to waste any time eating that could be spent practicing one they got to Addi's place.

[Ushima]

"Yo number six medium with a coke dude." Finally he could get some food. His stomach would not shut up. He could swear it was louder than his music was. At least he lived long enough to eat, knowing Jasin. "Maybe I should drive from now on." Seriously was death worth anything? "I just got my Avalanche out of the shop. Guess that means it's my turn next regardless huh?" He had gotten into an accident the other month, some idiot showing off his new Challenger, side swiped. "That fucker nearly killed me and Addi. Then Addi nearly killed him!" Ken smiled at the girl. "Next time work in some combos."

Ken had also added a bumper guard. A big black metal battering ram to the front. A bigger exhaust so his trucker roared. A kickass new stereo, now he can set off car alarms as he passes. "Down side. I'm a little set back for my chopper. Eh I'll get there eventually." He wanted a bike ever since he was young. Now that he got his license he was almost there. maybe another three months pay.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Addison put her hiking-boot-clad feet up on the back of the passenger's seat, making a rude gesture at Jasin and, in a British accent to match his, saying, "That is not the point! I'd like to actually live to get to the show tonight!"

Her gaze swiveled to the blond at her side as he demanded food and rocked out, shaking her head a bit and rolling her eyes as he sang. She slid her arms under her tan thighs, making the back of Wade's seat bounce as she pressed forward with her legs, then let up, only to press again. A grin broke out on her pretty face as Ken spoke, making her gigglesnort as she did when surprised with humor.

Jasin offered to pay and she nibbled her lip in thought until he brought up the incident with the senior asshole; she'd punched him in the mouth and then pleaded self defense against his sexual harassment; he ended up being suspended and missed the senior activities while she'd been send to the nurses office to have her hand bandaged.

"Yeah, guys with their cherry V-card are totally smokin' hot, too, Jasin," she quipped back at him at his comment about tough chick being the hottest thing on the planet. The little crease on her forehead was there, her amber eyes narrowed at him but she was still smiling. Ken brought up the accident and her eyes widened at him a little as she spoke.

"Dude, that guy had alcohol on his breath!" She exclaimed, for about the hundredth time. "You just don't do that shit!"

Addi was the designated driver to pretty much anyone who had her phone number. She had just about one rule: no puking in the Mustang. The consequences to breaking this rule were rather obvious and had only been enacted once; Addison had proceeded to beat the drunkard within an inch of unconsciousness, only to then make him clean it up and pay for the detailing of the inside of the car and getting the carpets cleaned.

The young woman drew out of her seat and slipped through the space between the driver and front passenger seat, leaning over Jasin and out the driver's side window to speak into the little speaker box.

"We will take a medium number six, a Coke, a BK Double Stacker, extra bacon, medium raspberry iced tea and friiies! Pluuus..." she prattled off Ken's order and her own, only to retreat back to her seat and replace her feet on the back of Wade's seat, leaving an open ending for Jasin and Wade's orders.

[Damonique]

Jasin chuckled at the banter in the back seats and made exaggerated eye-waggling at Addi when she slid up between the seats to order her monster meal and Ken's order. The little crease had just formed between her eyes, but she was still smiling, the perfect equilibrium between pissed the fuck off and about to burst into fits of giggles, Something Jasin had only seen her do once before and was determined to cause again.

"Yeah, and guys with their cherry V-card are totally smokin' hot, too, Jasin," She joked at him. Not entirely true, Yes, Wade had gotten a shitton more ass than him in the last year, but Jasin was by no means a virgin, and hopefully he'd be adding to his total after they kicked ass at the competition.

"Hey, you'll be eating those words after the competition, chicks dig us musical types, Aint' that Right, Wade?" Jasin chuckled, turning to see that Wade was busy tapping away on the buttons of his battered, Archaic Gameboy color.

Jasin remembered that Gameboy, he had given it to Wade for his tenth birthday, though he had never told him that he had only gotten it because some kid left it in his bag after school and Jasin had nicked it from the kid when he wasn't looking. That was when Jasin had been going through a bit of a klepto phase while his parents were in divorce proceedings.

"Yo, Wade. Order Food!" He commanded his friend, while waving his hand over the screen. "Also, you need to knock down that Garydos's HP a bit more or you'll just be wasting Ultra Balls." He added, trying his best not to laugh at his own geekishness. Whatever, the Early Pokemon Games were considered retro now.

[Awean8]

Wade wasn't paying much attention to conversations like usual, although he would probably interject if someone was talking about him. For now he focused on kicking Onyx's ass with Pikachu's, "THUNDER BOLT!!..-wait what do mean it had no affect. Damn it!"

Frustrated, whenever it was his turn to order he simply looked over, "Umm....just get me some fries and a vanilla milk shake....and some hot sauce."

He really hoped this whole order was under $10 because if it wasn't he knew Jasin would deduct the finances out of Wade's wallet. A very lonely wallet at that, since very rarely did he ever have more than five dollars on him. He was always broke. He also thought over Jasin's question, "chicks dig us musical types, Aint' that Right, Wade". Do they? He never really thought about it all to much, but the whole sweet musician thing didn't work on Addi, so who really knew. Wade just went with the flow.

Addi's feet pushing against his seat began to bother him, but he was used to it. Instead of asking her to stop, he just turned around and stared deep into her eyes, in an attempt to make her uncomfortable.

[Damonique]

Wade finally and confusedly muttered out: "Umm....just get me some fries and a vanilla milk shake....and some hot sauce." The guy was always broke, but they needed to be full for their jam session tonight.

"You are not going home hungry, man, we need to keep out energy up, keep the vibes flowin', 'ya know?" Jasin inquired, leaving no room for objection.

"Three buck doubles, a Vanilla Shake, double order of fries, and I'll take two double Baconator's and an extra large mountain dew. And as much ketchup and hot sauce as you're allowed to give us!" Jasin practically shouted to the kid running the drive through.

"Will that be all?" The kid stuttered back. He barely looked old enough to be a sophomore.

"Whaddaya Think?" Jasin shot buck with an evil grin, scaring the kid out of his wits, who immediately returned with their food. As Jansen checked the bags for any holes in the order compared to the check, he noticed that one of the bags was filled entirely with hot sauce and ketchup. Seeing that all was in order, Jasin handed the kid his Silver Mastercard, let him swipe it, and sped off, Practically driving with his knees the rest of the way to Addi's house as he handed out food.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

"Oooh, yeah, that whole crooning leader singer thing and guitarist with the nimble fingers," Addi waggled her fingers at Jasin before Wade started to invade her personal space to get her to stop bouncing his seat. Stifling her grin, she leaned toward him in return and cocked her head to the side; between the two of them there couldn't have been much more than half an inch of space and her Blistex-softened lips her slightly parted.

Addi caught her breath a little, eyes lidded now and glancing from Wade's lips to his eyes and back as she slipped her tongue over her lips 'nervously,' teeth catching her lower lip then a moment before she spoke.

"Ye-yes, Wade?" She asked of him, amber gaze searching his curiously. Addison was so good at playing innocent and girly it was almost strange.

[Ushima]

"Pay for the damn food Jasin! For fucks sake!" Ken yelled. "God this is taking longer than when you and Wade are with a woman combined. And we've only been here for about a forty seconds!" The metal head was getting impatient. "I swear I'll beat you with Sasha." Sasha was the name of his guitar. He was inspired by The Heavy from TF2, his favorite character. "Seriously we need to get practicing." Finally they got the food. "Pass that back here." Taking the bag he dug out the chicken sandwich and started eating. Smiling in content he patted his stomach after swallowing the first bite. "Much better."

Then conversation turned to the ammount girls Jasin and Wade got. His face turned noticably red. When it came to the area of women he wasn't that experienced, virgin. And the others knew it. Of course they made fun of him for it, what friends didn't? At least they knew better than to do it in public. Being a metal head he was a social outcast, just because. People just didn't want to see past the screaming. Sad really cause the meaning of songs could be really deep. One song, his favorite, was about individualtiy and rejecting conformity. But because it was metal he couldn't sing it without being looked down upon. Ken finished his food quietly.

[Awean8]

Wade's cheeks flushed a new shade of red. When Addi licked her lips, and started to talk all......sexy, Wade's jaw hung agape, as his brain shut down for about three seconds in order to process the moment. It was a sucker-punch to his heart, and he didn't know how to react except by retreating back to his stupid Game boy as he continued to pointlessly catch stupid Pokemon. ALONE.

His face was still bright crimson, from the embarrassment. This kind of thing never happened before. If some stupid cute girl that worked as a greeter for Hot Topic at the mall, or something had did the same thing Wade would have danced his tongue up in that, and in more ways than one by the way. Addi was different though, they were friends now. It just wasn't right.

It was just an excuse though and he knew it. He gave a deep sigh as he realized that his best friend Jasin, and the virgin metal head Ken were never going to let this moment go. The moment when their oh so confident lady killer leader had faltered when faced with the chance to get with an extremely hot girl.

He muttered curses to himself. "damn it...damn. fuckin.....shit....". He never cusses. He continued this for awhile until he calmed down enough to eat, as he started to drown all of his food in hot sauce. After he downed his vanilla milkshake he followed it up by sucking out the rest of the hot-sauce from their packets. He loved the spicy taste.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Addison donned her signature Cat-That-Swallowed-The-Canary smile as Wade retreated, and she leaned away from the back of Wade's seat, ceased bouncing him as she was passed her food. Her feet still up on the seat, she slumped and used the flat of her stomach as something of a table, rolling down the sides of her BK bag, fishing out her burger and dumping her fries into the empty bag.

With some skill, she held her drink with her thighs and unwrapped her burger, taking a bite then stealing one of the slices of bacon off the top and munching on it. She continued to eat on the way to her house, taking a drink of her iced tea every now and then, sometimes trading her burger for a few fries. Addi wasn't exactly a dainty eater, but she wasn't a slob and seemed to have some kind of method. She finished her burger before her fries and then adjusted, no longer needing her tummy-table, slumping less and continuing to eat the fries out of the bag.

As she finished, she tossed the original wrapper of her fries into the bag, then the wrapper of her burger into the little sack she'd made, and placed it on the seat where almost everyone could reach it. "Trash bag, right here," she announced, pointing, then taking another sip of her iced tea. They weren't far from her house now.

[Damonique]

As Jasin handed around food, he noticed the exchange between Addi and Wade. It was tense...then it just stopped, and wade went back to tapping away on his Gameboy. Jasin handed his friend his milkshake and the burgers he had bought him without a word, not even a snicker. It was difficult to not let out a single one-liner.

"It's okay, dude, we don't need a Yoko in the band anyway. Drama fucks shit up." He remarked quietly while the two in the back were busy chowing down. Wade had had a thing for Addi from day one, and not just the thing he had for anything with breasts.

Not that Jasin hadn't been tempted, hell, he couldn't say he wasn't tempted, there were a few night she had been willing to drive him back home drunk where he did little more than try to get into her pants. But she never brought it up afterwards, and Jasin wondered if it was because she didn't think he remembered or not. For that he thanked her. He had just gotten back into best friend status with Wade and that would fuck the whole thing up.

They pulled into Addi's driveway in Eerie silence, but things quickly got louder as they cleared out of the van and grabbed their instruments. It was time to rock, and it would be righteous indeed. Jasin popped opened Boris' back doors and retrieved his Schecter Bass and Ibanez Electric Guitar, not knowing wheather he would be relegated to bassist of backup guitar. Maybe he should invest in one of those double-necked Bass/Guitar combo's like Geddy Lee used to play in the Rush hayday.

That was one musical secret he would never be willing to admit and still show his face in public. Jasin was a huge Rush fan, he even had an R30 ticket stub signed by Geddy and Pert. But saying you like technotronic Prog-Rock was committing musical suicide in the age of metal and grunge.

[Awean8]

As soon as they entered the Addi's garage, he picked up his beaten up electric guitar which he had left leaning on her musty couch. This guitar has had quite a history. It first belonged to a blues musician from back in the 50's who openly claimed that he quote unquote, "sold his soul to the devil". It than changed hands to a 60's tree hugger with a knack for LCD, and than in the 70's it was used to make heavy metal back when everyone was either Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath. The 80's punk movement left the guitar scarred from the energy of each show, and the 90's grunge movement made this guitar experienced. Wade named it "Jude", and because of it's history he believes it has the perfect tone.

Setting up things for practice mostly consisted of plugging things in. You had to plug the mics into their amps, you had to plug in your guitar to the amp, and than you had to plug in your amp. It was quite exhausting.

Their show of their lives was tonight starting at 7:00 PM. It was 4:54 PM, so they had about an hour before they had to pack up and head downtown.

[Ushima]

"Hey Addi hold the bag open." Ken rolled his trash up into a ball and tossed it. "Two points!" He cheered, making the shot. Ken was good at basket ball. When he wasn't playing guitar, working, pwning online or asleep he was outside. Ken was the athletic one. But they finally pulled up to Addi's house. First thing he grabbed her drums and helped set it up, like always. Next he jumped back in the van to grab his bag, amp, pedals and cords. But the most important thinig was Sasha. The Ninja guitar. After doing it for so long he quickly set up his equipment. Plucking a few strings he adjusted his gear to make it sound perfect. "Shit yeah!" He was ready to rip, well not entirely. Setting 'Sasha' down he unzipped his hoodie and tossed it on the couch. Quickly followed was his t-shirt. Now he was ready to play. Reaching into his pocket Ken grabbed a pick.

Strumming a few cords, the loud electric guitar came out. It filled him with excitement. "What we doing first?" Ken asked, adjusting the tuning nobs on his guitar. Ken was down for practically any song they decide to play, though he did have his favorites. Any song he could 'play the shit' out of his guitar was alright and anytime he had to sing. He prefers screaming of course. Ken was bouncing on his feet, itching to get started. The red pick in his right hand needed to dance across the strings. "Let's start this shit!"

[TheBaron]

Mercy grinned to herself as she saw the van pull up to Addi's garage. She was standing in her own garage with pain and paintbrushes all around her. She had paint on her face and J-Rock was playing in the back ground. She looked at her current painting and smiled at it. It was a picture of a big red bleeding broken heart sitting in a puddle. She added the final touch and turned away from it. The heart was now bleeding into the puddle and her name was jaggedly signed into the bottom of the canvas. She waved happily at the people in the garage and smiled a big smile.

[Damonique]

Jasin shook his head solemnly at Ken and his minor demonstration of slight athletic skill. "Yeah, Yeah, you can dunk a ball into a hoop. Shuddup about it" he grumbled to himself as he removed his plugged his Schecter Diamond Bass (http://www.drumcityguitarland.com/drumcitygl/stores/1/images/Schecter/Schecter%20DIAMOND%20SERIES%20DAMIEN-5%20Black%20Satin%20Finish%205-String%20Electric%20Bass%20Guitar.jpg) into its amplifier and tuned the instrument.

Once again, Ken insisted on playing with his shirt off, exposing to the rest of the world his pale, white, hairless torso. Not a good image. The bass came out crisp and twangy, Perfect. Jasin slammed out a few heavy riffs to compliment Ken's fast'n'furious metal-shredding.

It was almost showtime, and Jasin was in the zone, they just needed their singer and drummer to get prepped. Across the street, he saw Addi's neighbors and one of their crews common friends, Mercy, painting away in her garage.

"Hey, Mer, care to listen in on the preshow jam session and give some critique? And don't mind Ken's eerily bald chest, thats just the way he was born." Jasin chuckled, pressing his palm against the strings of ken's guitar to quiet it so she could hear them.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Aided by Ken, she adjusted her kit before sitting down behind it and drawing out a fresh pair of drumsticks, twirling one between her fingers skillfully. She placed her foot on the bass drum pedal and pounded out a little bit of a beat, grinning.

Looking up at her bandmates, she clasped her sticks and set them on top of her floor tom, rising from her stool. "Be right back," she told them, disappearing through the garage's door into her house.

"Dad! The guys are over! Don't forget we've got our show tonight. We're leaving in an hour or so, but don't go on til seven, ok? May be home late!"

"All right, booger! Just be safe!" He hollered at her in return from his office upstairs, and she blushed as she closed the refrigerator door, arms full of water bottles. It was almost a mixture of love and frustration whenever he called her "booger," but she was such a Daddy's Girl that she'd never, ever tell him to stop. She and her father had a good relationship, trusting and as long as he knew where and who young Addison was with, he was almost always all right with it.

"Love you!" They called to each other at about the same time and she left out the door to the garage again, kicking up the lid of the cooler they kept next to the couch and dumping the water bottles into it before closing it again. Her gaze caught Ken and she grinned.

"Dude, you really need to get your ass down to my swim practices or something. Get some color on that skin!" Addi herself had a nice color to her skin due to a mix of swim and track practices, though she rarely went out without sun block on. Sitting down behind her drums again, she plucked up her sticks and spun them again, one in each hand.

For the life of her, Addison could not write with both hands, but she could spin a drumstick in each at the same time. The air in the garage was buzzing now, from a mix of microphones, amps and their gang's excitement, which was bright even in Addi's eyes. She pounded out another rhythm and tossed her hair as she did, feeling the beat in her chest, warming her muscles.

"Mmm," Addi murred, giving herself a little shake before purring her drumsticks on her snare, a drumroll.

"What to play~?" She teased, then blinked. "That is a good question, what is the set list tonight, Wade?"

[Awean8]

Wade spoke into the mic, "Well we're playing like an five song setlist."

He sort of danced barefoot in order to get a rhythm as he thought about the songs. "The first song on the list will be 'Phase One', it starts off slow but than hits hard and steady. It's the perfect first impression"

On Jude's fretboard he fingered a C chord, practicing in his head. "The second song will be 'A Sucker for a Sweet Talker".

"The third song will be, 'Potty Mouthed Gutter Head', it's a shit-kicker song. Ken here will enjoy it." Wade remembered that he had to scream in this song. Ouch. Its a good thing, he's going to be bringing some herbal tea, to mend his throat afterward.

"Number four......will be 'Williamsburg Fraud', and number five will be 'Diction Canary'. I think that will do."

[Ushima]

Ken looked down at his body. "Are we looking at the same thing? Or is the light really shitty?" His skin was tan, not as tan as Addi though. Ken's body was lanky, he had a decent amount of muscle on him. Hell his job was lifting packages all day, some of those were heavy. "Whatever you say though Addi. I'll join you. Could be fun." Ken waved at Addi's neighbor Mercy. After waving he looked at his right hand. The black ink of the word RAGE on his fingers. He had gotten it when he was sixteen. "Remeber when I got this Addi? You came with me, I kept bitching that I wouldn't be able to play for awhile. Getting tattooed didn't hurt that badly, though he was sad he couldn't convice Addi to get one at the time. He'd try every now and then. "Alright Wade lets hear that set list."

Ken's fingers twitched as Wade listed the songs. "Awwww we ain't playing 'Crazy Ex With A Shotgun?'" Ken had no problems with the list, number three had his name written all over it. "I'm down with those. Good choices." His fingers slid up the neck to the appropriate frets, tightened his fingers around his pick. He was ready to start. "Time to crank it!" All of the dials on Ken's gear goes up to eleven, and thats where they were set.

[Damonique]

"Sure, Bro, I can do it all. Then again, I'm bass, so its really up to the vocalists, I just got over laryngitis, so I won't be singing for most of the list." Jasin replied, and began tuning and testing his base for the first set. "Phase One" was a really Bass-Heavy song, from beginning to end he had to alternate between slamming out bass riffs and slowly dialing up his amp until it flooded the whole building.

Jasin's Musical style could best be described as "White Noise", without a whole lot of real tone and pitch, but a distinguishable beat that was always there. The Schecter Diamond was a beaut for that job, being a top-of-the line Amp Bass, meant to be played long and loud.

The few times he wasn't creating an all-consuming background he played Twangy cut of notes and wild riffs, almost playing the Bass as a guitar at times. It was a little Effect trick he had learned from his secret Inspiration, Geddy Lee. The only bassist to be bigger than his whole band put together.

Ken's Black Metal thing meant they played a lot of that, so he took quite a bit of inspiration from Ronnie J. Dio, with flat, loud, all encompassing notes hitting you in waves. He was also the only one in the band with a voice deep enough to sing backup, which meant for one song at least on this setlist he would have to sacrifice his ailing throat for.

[TheBaron]

Mercy smiled and walked over to the garage ear plugs in hand. She liked their music a lot but it was not something she was willing to sacrifice her ears for. She still needed them. She heard the songs they were playing. She liked all of the songs they were playing so far. Then again she liked most music to a point. The only type she didn't like was country for some strange reason she couldn't quite put her finger on. Oh well... She walked through the entrance of the garage and leaned on the garage door frame. She then laughed a little to herself as she realized that she still had paint on her hands and that probably meant she had it on her face.

She mentally shrugged and thought, "Meh... when don't I have paint on my hands and face..."

She looked about at the group feeling slightly out of place amongst the musicians even though they were her friends.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Addi glanced up and spotted Mercy leaning against her garage door's framing; the Goobermobile was at the girl's back, hogging up the whole driveway. With the garage door closed, the garage was an oven, so it'd become a habit to practice with it open and placate the Michaelet's neighbors with homemade food, holiday parties, and a discounted or free use of the band, depending on how close the neighbors lived and how loud the band played.

"Hey, Merc, didn't see you there. You've got paint in your hair," Addison said and flashed her a smile before looking over to Ken.

"You're paler than you think you are," she giggled, winking at him then leaning forward to peer at his hand, the tattoo he was talking about. "Oh, yeah, I remember that! And I've told you, I'm not getting anything done until I can do it LEGALLY!"

She mentally ran over the set list Wade had apparently just put together and nodded, drumming out the beginning of Phase One to adjust herself, fixing the height of her stool then the levels of her cymbals and high hat, wiggling on the leather seat. Mentally, she went through a checklist, then blinked a little.

"Uh, guys, I know this is totally girly of me to think of, but... What are we... Wearing? Do you have your show clothes with you?" Addison was at her house, so it didn't really matter - she knew what she was going to wear, but had the guys even thought about it?

[TheBaron]

((Miss Post XC Sorry))

[Damonique]

Addi and Ken bantered for a little while about his tattoo, And finally, Addi dropped the question equivalent of a tactical nuke on them.

"Uh, guys, I know this is totally girly of me to think of, but... What are we... Wearing? Do you have your show clothes with you?" She inquired. Addi probably had a dozen outfits in six different motif's in her closet. Jasin didn't do clothes, neither did wade. They were the sort of guys who only bot clothes once a year and lived in hoodies, jeans, and T-shirts. Ken occasionally bought some getup, but he wouldn't know a fashion if it kicked him in the ribs.

"I suppose we should follow some sort of style, Huh? Look a bit more professional. I have some jackets in my car. Lots of a leather, we could go with that, I guess." Jasin offered. He rotated jackets often, and had a penchant for trench coats, and always had a couple in the van to lend out to anyone who dirties up their shirt at a concert or something. Ken already had a whole "Leather, Studs, and Chains" Metalhead thing going on, so he'd fit. Jasin hadn't even thought about it, himself.

[TheBaron]

Mercy's hand flew up to her hair and she grinned ruefully, "Well thats going to be a fight later I am sure... but oh well." She grinned at Ken, "You are indeed paler than you think you are." She laughed out loud when she heard Addison's question. "This will be amusing to watch. I wonder what the guys have brought to wear... if anything." She walked over and plopped onto a clear space of the couch and watched them.
Then she heard Jasin's suggestion and she spoke up a bit nervously as she always was when the spotlight was on her, "Now...u-ummm I am no fashion expert but couldn't you guys just go dressed as yourselves. If you all wore the same thing you guys would look kinda silly in my opinion...." She trailed off into silence.

[Damonique]

"Now...u-ummm I'm no fashion expert but couldn't you guys just go dressed as yourselves. If you all wore the same thing you guys would look kinda silly in my opinion...." Merci stammered out. She was right, they were a high school band who's budget was equivalent of whatever they had collectively payed for their instruments. Nothing was going to disguise that.

"I think she has a point. We'll just have to let our badass music skills do the image part for us, Now lets get jamming, I promised Mer here a show!" He chuckled, suddenly abnormally excited. Must be the anticipation of kicking ass tonight.

His bass was tuned and plugged up into its amp. Jasin wanted to hammer out a Riff or streak off into a cut-in-cut-out pattern that no natural human could follow. The competition didn't really matter, he just wanted to put his fingers to the strings and start playing.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Addison frowned a little and shook her head as she said, "That wasn't what I meant... Just that we can't exactly wear what we wore to school."

Motions at her light grey shorts and layered tanks, the sweater on the couch. "Nevermind..." She pulled her feet up on the legs of her leather stool and chewed on the inside of her cheek, waiting for the guys to start. In the mean time, she rat-tat-tatted on her snare, something like the high school's drumline would do. Addison loathed being misunderstood, and often just shut up when she was. The topic had passed anyways.

[Ushima]

"I got my jeans, belts and chains in my bag." Ken didn't know much about "fashion" but when it came to show gear he'd rock metal all the way. "As you probably guessed I am going shirtless." It was expected of him to go without a shirt, either that or he borrows one of Jasin's trench coats. "Shouldn't matter what we wear though right? I mean its about how well we play that's important. No one goes to a club to see what the band wears." ken strummed the intro to the song. "If you care that much though Addi you can throw together something real quick before we leave. You're always good at that. Usually turns out to be a kickass outfit to. Wanna borrow one of my studded belts? You can get first pick."

[TheBaron]

Mercy perked up, "If you want I can help you with your outfit Addi..." She looked at Ken and grinned and poked him. She hopped up and skipped out of the garage. "I am feeling rather hyper so I am going to paint something. Unless, you guys are about to start soon. Also can I get a ride to the concert if you have any room in the van. Then she perked up, "You should let me paint it sometime. It could look really bad ass." Then she froze. Her eyes widened and she gasped, "I forgot about my painting..." She dashed back towards her garage and vaulted over the fence that separated the two garages. She hit a puddle of paint right outside of her garage door and slipped and knocked over a few buckets of pain on her self and a can of open black pain sailed off of a table she hit and fell on her head emptying the rest of what was in it on her head. She laughed.

[Damonique]

Jasin winced as Mecy took a head on collision with a number of cans of paint. Oddly, she seemed only barely surprised. Merc was the token spaz of there group, when Ken wasn't filling that niche. She was always darting here and there doing this and that. It was a shame she didn't play or she would have fit right along with their band.

Mercy had never been "Popular" Per-se. Strangely, the artistic type is always under-appreciated, even less than musicians. For that reason, she had spent a lot of middle school hanging out with Jasin and Wade. Back then he had never put too much thought into the fact that she was a girl, and for the longest time she had just been "One of the guys".

Since high school had started a drastic change had taken place, and Mercy, like everyone had sort of drifted away, only to drift back together thanks to the catalyst effect of the band's formation and the fact that she had re-met them through her neighbor, who just happened to be Addi, their little crew's newest member.

Mercy was actually sort of cute, in a "That puppy with the awkward spots when every other puppy in the litter is either black or white" sort of way. She wasn't Addi-level untouchably hot, but also not the chick you always felt sort of lame to still hang around.


"Need any help!" Jasin shouted over, only to be waved away enthusiastically. A good thing, too, they had to practice.

Addi and Ken were already scratching out the timing of "Phase One" with broken series of notes, and he immediately started out the bass portion. The song started low and gritty, the slow but constant bass riff gaining speed and volume until it encompassed the entire garage. He liked the song, Straight, simple, and to the point, and with a lot of room to play around with sound and rhythm tricks.

[Awean8]

Despite being a hippie, Wade thought himself rather fashionable (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/9500000/NEVERSHOUTNEVER-3-nevershoutnever-9512955-400-600.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fanpop.com/spots/nevershoutnever/images/9512955/title/nevershoutnever-3-photo&usg=__ivyCWfH00OBFpRSphW6inTZmh3g=&h=600&w=400&sz=33&hl=en&start=151&sig2=eWZfQ1ZX9mHp4yBdibnr7Q&zoom=1&tbnid=TtK3FUN6Z2_c0M:&tbnh=162&tbnw=120&ei=CqQBTdmRAcL_lgepmfT_Bw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnever%2Bshout%2Bnever%26um%3D1%26hl%3 Den%26biw%3D1550%26bih%3D848%26tbs%3Disch:10,4003&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=778&vpy=258&dur=367&hovh=274&hovw=182&tx=104&ty=149&oei=daMBTc2_OoT58AaktczpAg&esq=10&page=6&ndsp=32&ved=1t:429,r:27,s:151&biw=1550&bih=848), or at least as much as punk was concerned. His looks didn't matter all that much to him. His hair was a total mess every morning, but he made sure every time he took a shower to keep his hair soft and clean. Wade also shopped at thrifts stores, and Good Will, sometimes even stealing clothes from Wal-Mart from his constant lack of moo-lah.

"Okay, this song is simple so don't screw up", Wade walked himself to the mic putting his lips against it, "The song ends with Ken's solo, so don't over do it Ken."

"One-and a two-a one-two-three-four!"

Wade's guitar sounded from six decades of experience, and although the riffs he was playing were simple, the pure tone was perfect.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

At Wade's count-off, she sat prepared, falling into the music on her cue. Addison played with practice; she had almost every song down pat, taking the advantage of her kit at home and practicing on her own almost every night.

Addison played full-out, but she was still a bit quiet and frustrated from being misunderstood, her crease forming between her brows. Her right foot fell on the bass pedal, the other poised over the pedal to her high hat; her hands gripped her sticks, the rounded tips dancing over the taught drumheads. The pound of the bass drum vibrated up her leg and into her chest and it as almost as if her heart fell into rhythm.

Her teeth caught her lip, eyes following her sticks for a little while before she looked up to the guys, bobbing her head now as she played. Her eyes moved from each of the guys, settling on the dark-haired Wade, making her smile softly as he played, fingers moving so swiftly over Jude's fret board. Quickly, the moment passed and she went back to concentrating on the music, the crease back in her forehead and attention on her drums.

[Ushima]

Ken rolled his neck. Loosening it up. He adjusted the yellow caution tape strap so he could play better. Wade's countdown started. "One and a two a one-two-three-four!" Addi's drums kicked in first, the loud crashing and beats. Jasin then came in with bass. Ken moved his fingers into place, strumming. Sasha came to life, the sound of his soul. Metal flowed in his blood as he played cords. He heard Wade singing and he'd step up to a microphone and sing his bit. Ken had his legs spread wide and his body low to the ground. Screaming lyrics with practiced ease. With his right foot he stomped on a pedal, changing the sound for a small mid-solo. Fingers did their part, his tattooed hand bringing a small portion of life to the song. He stomped again to change back.

He looked to Wade, the hippie and his beat up guitar backing up his awesome lead and singing each verse. Jasin kept up his jams, he was shredding. Addi kept hitting hard, now bobbing her head as she played. He smiled at his childhood friend. Screaming out more lyrics that lead into his solo he strummed hard as he shredded. He was headbanging as he ripped through a solo. When he finished he let his last note hand and he messed with the wammy bar to give it that last kick.

[TheBaron]

Mercy flopped back into the pain with a wet splat and smiled a little at the sound. She heard them start to play and a twinge of jealousy shot through her as she wished she was as talented as any of them. She rolled over in the paint so she could watch them better underneath the hedges. She smiled as she watched them play with such spirit and joy. Well… maybe not joy… maybe more excitement something or other. She looked at Addi and was envious of her. She shrugged and tried to forget about it. She took her eyes off of Addi and closed them to listen to the music for a little while longer. They were definitely good… well more than good. They were great as high school bands go and they were definitely high on her list. She had other things to attend to at the moment and rolled over and hopped up almost slipping again. She looked up at the sun and smiled. She then saw the moon doing that weird thing it does sometimes by being up before the sun has set. She skipped still covered in paint into the paint splattered garage and stopped in front of two blank canvases. She smiled and rubbed the first canvas on her hair and face until it was completely black. She grinned happily at it and set it down to dry a little. She picked up the second one and wiped it on her chest and back smearing it with a combination of yellow and orange. She then thoughtfully and purposefully using her finger and the black paint in her hair drew faint lines of black amidst the yellow and orange. She stepped back to admire her work. Painting with large amounts of solid colors wasn’t really her style but she felt it was appropriate for the way she felt at the moment. She then carefully picking her way through the cans of paint made her way to a multicolored door. She kicked it open to reveal a laundry room with a shower in the back. She shut the door behind her and put a brick in front of it to make sure it wouldn’t open because she had broken the lock. She stripped and opened the washer only to find that it was full of her other clothes, “Oh for Christ’s sake.” She quickly moved them to the dryer and put her current clothes in the washer and put heavy duty cleaning fluid in it. She turned on the shower and waited for a half minute while it heated up and once it was hopped in it and began to wash herself.

[Damonique]

Jasin slammed out the bass backing of the song in steady, timed streaks of simmering waves of noise and quick, sharp slashes of dislocated notes. Wade was nailing the vocals and lead, Jude, His bashed-up decades-old electric guitar spitting out notes at a thousand miles per hour.

Addi was slamming heavily on the bass drum, backing up Jasin's wild, flailing string of deep, loud shrieks of music. Ken was alternating vocals with Wade and shredding heavily with his loud'n'thick guitar. Waves of noise shrieked out of his amp and bounced around the garage like ricocheting bullets.

For just a moment, Jasin saw Mercy pop her paint-streaked face out of the bushes between her and Addi's house, and he flashed her a quick smile before delving back into his heavy bass riff. The song was reaching its sudden, intense finale. Louder, Louder, push every Decibel of sound out of your amps until their about to catch on fire, then a string of insane, cacophonous notes from every instrument, a long, synchronized wail from Wade and Ken, and then silence.

Ken was visibly sweating ,and Jasin himself felt droplets of condensation matting down his long dust-brown hair, his nondescript grey T-Shirt sticking to his skin. He slung his Schecter over his shoulder and walked over to his van, popping the back doors and retrieving a bottle of cool water from and ice cooler he had stocked this morning.

Stumbling back to the band, he popped open the bottle and drained half of it before setting it down and throwing a hi-five to Ken.

"We were fucking awesome. We're going to murder the competition tonight if we keep it up like that!"

[Awean8]

Wade had first been introduced to music when he was only three months old, when his mother used to play Beatles records. They soothed him, he would fall asleep to their sweet melodies, and cry when he couldn't hear them. It wasn't too long until it got to the point where his parents could no longer stand them. When he was five he listened to his father's records, mostly Black sabbath and Led Zeppelin.

The day punk was introduced to him was the day everything changed. The rebellion that was fueled by the music Nirvana spewed began a trend of teenage middle school pranks, and dress code violations. For the first he was introduced to other punk acts, and to the annoyance of his parents he sang their songs in the shower. In seventh grade he picked up a guitar for the first time, when his dad got him one for Christmas. He practiced everyday, and eventually he began to write his own songs. As he became a better guitarist, he just naturally became a better singer.

He always thought to himself that the rebellion that are in authentic punk acts was always the same rebellion that was in sixties hippie acts, it was only a matter of the means.

Addi's garage vibrated as the Demolition Boys took the first step in making history. A single drop of sweat ran from above his forehead. As they finished with the finale, Wade followed Jasin to get a bottle of water.

"We were a little off", Wade said knowing exactly where they had messed up, "We don't really have time to work on it now, so we'll just try to fix it at the show."

He pulled out his cellphone (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.japan-o-matic.com/blogimg/sf05/cell_charms.jpg&imgrefurl=http://japan-o-matic.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_archive.html&usg=__9GpfehQeOi4eylkOMm-ga6kIFTc=&h=852&w=1136&sz=561&hl=en&start=33&sig2=CHWmSDlUA2yUpl4Lfa2W1Q&zoom=1&tbnid=1sKpScvDjbk48M:&tbnh=156&tbnw=198&ei=UkgETZq6O-m5nAfT1ZXlDQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Djapanese%2Bcell%2Bphone%2Bcharms%26um %3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26biw%3D1550%26bih%3D848%2 6tbs%3Disch:11,326&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=454&oei=7kcETaHvNZWSnweqs6joDQ&esq=37&page=2&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:33&tx=113&ty=63&biw=1550&bih=848)and checked the time, It was already 6:14, they had better start packing up and head downtown. Butterflies began to eat away at his stomach; he was nervous. "Come on guys, let's pack up and go."

[Ushima]

Ken hefted Sasha over his head. Unplugging it he sat down on his amp and put her back in her case. He just sat there for a bit, catching his breath. Sweat covered his body, when he played he got into it. Reaching the short distance he grabbed a water bottle and a towel out of his bag. Ken drank some before dumping some on his head and back. "Fuckin' a." Ken was grinning. Drying himself off he then put his shirt back on. "Let's pack this stuff up and hurry." He unplugged everything and packed it away into the van before helping Addi with her drums again. Grabbing his bag he headed inside the house. "Using your bathroom." Was all he said.

"Hey Ken nice to see you again." Addi's father greeted him when he walked in.

"Hey. Just using the bathroom." Entering he opened his bag and took off his boots. Removing his white pants and replaced them with black jeans. Next out of the bag was a studded belt, followed by four chains, two on his right and two on the left. Two red bands with black studs he put on his right arm and a bandoleer on his left. Ken put his boots back on, closed up his bag and went back to the garage. "Alright I'm good let go tear shit up!"

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Addison sat, panting for a moment as their practice ended. A grin sprung onto her pretty features as she rose from her seat, quickly dismantling Tommy, her kit, and packing him into the Goobermobile. Ken announced he was going to use her bathroom and she nodded consent, as if he really needed it.

Standing in the empty spot where Tommy usually squatted himself, Addison looked around, mentally going through her checklist. She tucked a spare bag of drumsticks in between a few drums, then gave her hips a little wiggle.

"Going to go change, guys, I'll be back right quick," she told them and disappeared inside, moving through the kitchen, living room, passing her dad who had migrated back to the couch, she slipped up behind him and gave him a kiss on the head whilst he looked over the latest shipment of books, categorizing them and reading the ones he found the most interesting. She took the stairs two at a time and slipped into her room, shutting the door behind her.

Addi stripped out of her shorts and layered tanks, tossing them into her dirty laundry basket; she glanced herself in her antique floor mirror, and paused, eyes roaming over her frame, where her tanlines faded or disappeared under her panties and bra. Looking away, she snatched her dark tank top off her bed and pulled it on over her head, then wiggling into her skin-tight snake skin leggings; unsatisfied, she pulled a knitted tunic on over her tank top. Satisfied with the outfit (http://i54.tinypic.com/2dlugdy.jpg), she sat down to tug on dark, knee-high worn leather boots (http://i52.tinypic.com/29kz5sn.jpg), doing her best to wrinkle them down around her calves. Addi added a silver tarnished ring to her left hand's middle finger - her good luck charm - then a linked metal bracelet to her right wrist; she grabbed a studded black bag (http://i56.tinypic.com/30jl65l.jpg) and threw it over her shoulder, tossing open her door and going to her bathroom. She cleaned herself up a little, swiped on fresh powder-scented Dove deodorant, added mascara and Urban Decay's YDK (http://www.eyeshadowlipstick.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/urban-decay-eyeshadow-ydk-150x150.jpg) eyeshadow to her eyelids.

She tussled her hair and frowned at herself before trotting downstairs and going back to the garage. Doubling over where she'd tossed her backpack, she drew out her slender wallet, checking for her cash and ID, and chapstick, slipping them into the studded bag. She pondered a moment, knowing she'd worked fast enough to not make any of the guys wait on her, but wondering why she forgot something. Moving to her sweater on the couch, she snatched her house and car keys out of its pocket, catching them mid-air and then slipping them into her bag.

"Mkay, I think I've got everything. Money, ID, keys..." She murmured, looking around her garage.

[Damonique]

Everyone broke off to either change, get dressed, or load there shit in the back of the van, and Jasin wandered over to the driveway and ruffled through the handfull of duffel bags of miscallanious "Too Drunk to Drive Home" gear, and found what he was looking for.

He threw off his soaked grey T-shirt in the driveway and tossed it into one of the bags, Revealing his slightly pale but decently-toned torso. Jasin had been a stick until a couple month's ago when he started, under heavy pressure, to sign on for some of Addi's classes at the gym, where he had found kickboxing. From that point onward it had become a routine each Tuesday evening for him to pick up Addi or vice versa and drive down to the gym for her swim classes and his Kickboxing.

Now he was finally beginning to tan from the outdoor classes, and he had gained some bulk around his shoulders and arms. A few old bruises dotted his stomach and arms from blocking, but they were healing up fine.

He then pulled on a skin-fitting black T-shirt and a Tan Leather half-length trench coat (http://www.gap.com/Asset_Archive/GPWeb/Assets/Product/624/624607/main/gp624607-01p01v01.jpg) from one of the duffel bags and pulled them on. He left the trench coat open. He looked very East-Urban Punk with the trench coat over his sliced-up faded jeans and steel-toed leather boots (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51uhXIwsLZL._AA280_.jpg).

Checking himself in the rearview mirror, he used his fingers to properly re-bedhead his hair and tip up the stubble on his chin and upper lip to make himself look a bit more ragged. Perfect.

The others were still pretty busy, so Jasin found himself walking across Addi's Yard to Mercy's place. An insane-looking painting was unattended on the canvas, and he perused the art that was laid to dry against the wall. Mercy's work was, admittedly, awesome, the sort of thing the lay out as the opening exhibits in modern art galleries in museums.

Strolled deeper into the garage, he heard the water running in the bathroom in the back of the garage, the door was being held shut with a brick, but it had been loose enough to leave it a bit cracked open.

"Hey, Mer', we're gonna' be heading to the show soon, you Coming? We could probably use the moral support and all that jazz!" He shouted into the door, feeling a bit awkward in that situation.

[TheBaron]

Mercy hopped out of the shower and noticed that the music had ended. "Well I hope they haven't left yet." She was squeakily clean for once. Not a speck of paint on her. She didn't pause to look at herself in the mirror not caring what was there. She already knew what was wrong with her and what she would like to change but she was content enough with herself that she didn't often look in mirrors. She ran over the the dryer and pulled out some clothes from the pile of clothes in there. She heard Jasin's voice and blushed furiously and called out stuttering, "C-c-coming..." She pulled herself together and sighed, "Just let me finish dressing." She slid into her panties and then slid on her tight black jeans that showed off her legs. They rode low on her hips and she put on her bra and over that her shirt that when down to her hips. It was half a size to small for her but she didn't care to much about that as long as she was wearing something. Over that she threw on a light jacket. She grabbed her knee high converse and her brush and stepped out of the the room not paying attention and nearly ran into Jasin. She stopped to suddenly and started to fall.

[Damonique]

The shower stopped and Jasin heard movement through the door as Mercy apparently scrambled out of the shower.

"C-c-coming..Just let me finish dressing." She called from the other side of the door, and he resisted this immediate urge to just sneak a peek through the crack in the door. It wasn't long before Mercy came bowling out into the garage in a rush. She tripped on the brick that she had used to crack the door and fell into Jasin, almost bowling him over.

Jasin tossed one hand out and around to catch her and tried to grab the doorknob with the other, but she hit him too fast, and down they wen't, falling into a piled of paint cans. He was there to break her fall, but nothing was there to break Jasin's. His back struck the edge of a can and he winced in pain, while another split and splattered white paint all over the back and sides of his jacket.

"Ugh..you really need to clean this place out some, mind helping me up?" He chuckled out through the winces of pain, laughing in spite of himself. It hurt, but he would be fine once he got up and walked it off.

[TheBaron]

Mercy gasped, "I-I-I am so sorry... oh no you have paint all over the back of your jacket.... I-I-I am so sorry. W-well my mother always says I am so clumsy that I anyone near me when it struck would go down with me. Well she used to say it. She is dead now... but umm....ummm look at me babbling." She was flustered and nervous now. She hopped up off of him and helped him up. "A-a-are you okay... I hope you aren't hurt..." She looked around this garage. She smiled a little, "No I just need to a bigger garage and a bigger bottom floor of my house since it is all mine to do with what I wish now..." She glanced at him she was very nervous. In the background her iHome was playing Tony the Tiger (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DznHfzNODoM).

[Awean8]

Wade didn't sweat as much as the others, so he kept the clothes he had, instead he walked inside to see what Addi's dad was doing. They both were on pretty good terms; they usually end up talking about music. Back in the day Addi's dad actually got to go to a lot of the concerts Wade wished to have been there for, so it was always exciting to talk to him.

Whenever Addi came back down stairs and into the garage, Wade ended his conversation with her dad and began to pack up his stuff. He stuffed Jude into her case, and than stuffed it in the back of the cluttered van. Going over the checklist in his head, he grabbed the acoustic guitar, a tuner, extra strings, cords, pedals, his amp, and stuff them all in the back.

"Is that everything? Are we missing anything?", he asked as he watched stars pop up one by one as night began to fall, "and where did Jasin go?"

[Damonique]

Mercy seemed startled out of her wits as she blurted out a string of words that he almost couldn't interpret. She helped him up and finally began to regain her composure, smiling weakly.

"A-a-are you okay... I hope you aren't hurt..." She inquired as Jasin just sat up and brushed the dust off of his jacket.

"Nah, Nah, I'm fine, and the paint 'll come off, hell, it actually looks pretty urban punk like this...I'll tell 'ya what, when your not busy do that paint-fleck thing that famous artist did in black and white on this jacket, and we'll call it even, eh?" He smiled, examining the wild spatters of paint of the bomber jacket.

"Your okay, right?" He asked as he stood and examined her hands and arms for bruised or scratches, but didn't see anything besides a few superficial scrapes. The fall had been his fault, after all, standing that close to the door.

"We should probably get back to the others, huh? If you need a ride, theres still one more seat in the back of the van.

[TheBaron]

She beamed at him, "Of course I could do that to your jacket if you wanted me to." She sighed and when she heard him ask if she was alright she smiled and blushed a tiny bit glad that he was worried about her.

"Yes I am fine and yes please I would love to go with you guys if you have a extra seat. I just need to go run and grab my real and my fake id and I also need to go grab some cash money." She turned around and ran to the door that lead into the house.

Inside was more paint cans and paintings. She had slowly and surely over last summer taken over the first floor of her house. Her dad who was usually drunk or at work stayed up stairs almost all the time anyway. She brought him meals but he was rather despondent. She was actually kind of afraid of him now. She ran into the largest room of the house which she had claimed as her own and glanced around it.

There were more cans of paint and more paintings. She really had to find something to do with all these paintings. She shook her head and jumped over the couch and grabbed the wallet that was resting on the table. She disliked purses because they were such a hassle to carry around. She checked for what she needed and it was all there. She turned and started walking and tripped over the couch and nearly knocked down another paint can mountain. She took that moment to look around the room. It was a mess but in a good way.

Her bed was tucked away in a corner but she rarely slept there. Her cat dominated that space. There were three sofas to form a three sided square with a clear table in the middle. She hopped up and ran out of the room back down the hall and out into the garage where she almost tripped again over Jasin. She caught herself on a counter and smiled at him blushing furiously, "Well I guess we should go then?"

[Damonique]

Mercy disappeared in a storm of words, almost tripping into her house. He chuckled when she mentioned a fake I.D., and remembered to change the one in his wallet to the one that read him as being Jacob Nielsson, age 21.

He left his jacket on the chair behind her canvas and went over the last fifteen minutes in his head. It had been his fault she had tripped, standing that close to the door like some sort of pervert. He then smacked himself in the forehead for pretending he hadn't been tempting.

Mercy never gave herself credit for it, but she was actually pretty attractive. The fact that she never commented on it only added to it, because she wasn't all stuck up like most hot chicks. Addi could, and would, if given the chance, spend an hour just applying makeup and rearranging her outfit until it was perfect. Mercy just threw on jeans and a tank top and called that it.

Busy thinking, he barely noticed when she stepped back out of the house into the garage. The others were beginning to converge around his Chevy Van and he thought he heard some sort of crass shout involving lots of curse words telling him to get over there from Ken.

"So, you all set. We need to show up early if we wan't all our stuff set up the way we want it." He told her, chuckling. It was good support that they had a friend in the crowd, but it also made him suddenly afraid of them spontaneously sucking right in front the crowd. A bunch of nobodies opinions wouldn't matter ,but this was Mer, one of him and Wades few friends from grade school that still hung out with them.

[TheBaron]

While he spoke she ran over to the black canvas and the orange yellow one with the black streaks. She grabbed a paint brush and dipped it in the black paint and one the yellow orange one painted ground a single tree and a stick figure person. She grabbed a big brush and dipped it in the red and painted a blazing red sun in the air. She laid it on thick so that the red dripped down to the earth.

She smiled and turned to Jasin, "Yes I am ready to go and well that is all I can do in a couple minutes. I would do the other one but we have to go or your are going to be late to your concert." She walked over to him and impatiently grabbed his hand a spoke, "Listen no more thinking or worrying or whatever it is that you are doing. You are going to do fine." She started to pull him over to the van and spoke in a jokingly, "I do so hope that Jacob Nielsson will be able to join me for a drink tonight it would be a shame for me to have to drink by myself." She shoved him lightly towards the van and looked up to the sky which was starting to fill up with stars, "Well if we are going to go we had better get going."

[Damonique]

Jasin watched Mercy as she made the simple painting, each of her strokes exactly as long and as thick as she needed. Painting wasn't much different from playing guitar or bass, the medium was just different. You had to control your hands, your thoughts, know exactly what your going to do before you do it or you mess the whole thing up.

"Listen, no more thinking or worrying or whatever it is that you are doing. You guys are going to do fine." She smiled, as they walked out of her garage along the path towards Addi's backyard. Jasin smiled as well. Mercy could always tell when, and most of the time what he was thinking, it was almost scary.

Jasin walked with her towards the van, and while they were still out of earshot from the rest of them, she tugged him to the van and gave him a bit of a conniving smile that looked so out of place on clutzy Mer, the girl he remembered building sandcastles with when they were six, crying on his shoulder in middle school when things were bad at home. But then again, he had barely talked to Mercy in the last year and a half, who was he to pretend he knew who she was anymore.

"I do so hope that Jacob Nielsson will be able to join me for a drink tonight...it would be a shame for me to have to drink by myself." She smirked, a hint of humour in her tone, but also some seriousness. He wondered how she knew about the fake I.D. and more importantly, why she had said that, with that tone, at that moment. His first guesses made him truly hope she couldn't tell what he was thinking.

Jasin wasn't quite sure what to say, his first thought was the stereotypical "Why the hell not." any guy would think, the second was a sheer opposition to the first. Jasin knew he lost restraint when he drank, said whatever the hell it was he was thinking wheather it was smart to say it or not. He was wondering if he was going to end up doing something stupid, something that would end up losing him a friend. He pushed these thoughts back and forced out a thin smile.

"He would be glad to, if we don't fuck up the show. Otherwise, he may be busy removing Addi's foot from up his ass for playing badly." He responded cooly, and ended the conversation by walking up to the others, who were gathered around the van. It was showtime.

[Ushima]

Ken whistled when Addi came back into the garage. "See didn't I tell ya? Gorgeous, as always." Ken gave his friend a smike. "Worried for nothing." Ken turned toward the van. "Ok, where is Jasin?" Their bassist had disappeared when his back was turned. "He ain't in the van, that's for sure." Snapping his fingers he exited the garage and looked toward Mercy's house. "Yo Mr. Daddy Issues! Let's go! Grab Mercy and lets go!" Ken went back inside the garage. "Found him. Now lets go."

[Damonique]

"Yo Mr. Daddy Issues! Let's go! Grab Mercy and lets go!" Jasin heard Ken shout, and he stepped out from behind the van with Mercy, walked up, and punched him in stomach, not too hard, but plenty hard enough for it to hurt.

"Yes, my dad's a bastard, as I've told all of you multiple times using a variety of adjectives, but I don't have 'Daddy-Issues'" He muttered, and popped open the drivers side door to the van and used the button on the dash to unlock the rear doors.

"Everybody, lets get going. We need to get there early if we wan't our shit set up right." Jasin shrugged, suddenly in a sour mood, though the idea of winning the competition lightened the cloud. Either way, they would play, and they would kick ass. It just depended on how good the other bands were.

[TheBaron]

Mercy poked Ken and smiled mischievously well it looks like you got what you deserved." She laughed and hopped into the farthest back seat off the van and waited for the others to get in.

She was thinking and was all of the sudden she wasn't feeling very cheerful. She was thinking about how Ken had said, "Daddy Issues." She had forgotten that Jasin was similar to her in that respect.

She looked out the window to the second story window of the room she would never go in again. She shivered as she remembered her father's hands grabbing her arm and how her fist had felt on his face. She remembered staying out that night. "I didn't go home that night or the next..." She murmured it louder than she meant to. She shook her head and was once more lost in thoughts.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Addi rolled her eyes at Ken and smiled, shaking her head as she explained, "I already knew what I was going to wear, ya geek, I was worried about you guys. Besides, I'm the one mostly hidden behind Tommy."

She reached out, patting Tommy's bass drum in the back of Jasin's van. Jasin and Mercy promptly appeared after being called for and she smiled a bit, piling into the van with everyone.

"Lets see... Bassist, guitarist, lead, drummer, groupie--! We're good!" She ran off the checklist with a little giggle and drew her chapstick out of her purse, swiping the un-scented balm over her lips. She wore no foundation or cover-up, no powder, just the mascara, little bit of eye-shadow and now the chapstick; she ran her fingers through her hair again out of habit, looking to them curiously as they waiting for Jasin to start up the van and head out.

[Ushima]

Ken knew the punch was coming so he took it. Right in the gut, all he did was look at his stomach. "That's it? Man that was pathetic. Stick to music. Safer." Ken threw the rest of his gear into the va and put his ODST hoodie. Ken listened as Addi listed off the members. "Shit yeah that's everybody. Wade, hurry up and get in. Jasin, you kill us I'm kicking you ass for all eternity in the after life." Ken took his usual spot in the back of the van. His hands were shaking with excitement. "This is what we've been practiving for. We can do this." He said more calm. "Time to rip."

[Damonique]

"Hey, you should meet me at the kickboxing ring some time. Only reason I didn't kick your ass right now is because we need our guitarist undamaged for tonight!" Jasin retorted at Ken's comment, rolling his eyes, and slid into the drivers seat, digging his shoulders into the brown leather seat.

Suddenly back out of his dour mood, Jasin revved the van and peeled out of Addi's driveway in a burst of maniacal laughter. The van sped along Addi's street at twenty over the speed limit and curved towards town. Jasin slowed down once they hit the main road, for fear of traffic cops and the chances of damaging the instruments..or one of their band members.

Slowing to a boring 55mph, He took a moment to look around the van. Everyone seemed excited, anticipating. This would be either the best or worst night of their bands career, no doubt either lifting them to intermediate fame, or striking them down to the cesspool of failed high school bands. It was do or die.

"So, everyone gets what we're out to do here, right? We're not just going to play, we're going to Fucking win! 'ya got that!" Jasin shouted enthusiastically, leaving no room for argument.

[TheBaron]

Mercy was the only one who was still contemplative and she stared at the window at the sky. She wasn't in the mood for cheer. She leaned her head on the headrest and closed her eyes. She inhaled slowly and took in the scents of the van. She smelled the instruments and the musty smell of the old van. She was about to further analyze the scents of the van and then she heard Ken's words and exhales slowly and she thought to herself. Well isn't he excited. She smiled and felt his excitement leaking into her. She smiled and grinned at him in excitement.

"Hell yeah you guys are going to do amazing. There is no one who is as good as you guys in my opinion."

[Awean8]

Wade breathed mist onto the window and made elaborate pictures of dinosaurs fighting aliens with his fingertips. He tried not think about the upcoming show, there will be a lot of bands playing; they probably won't get back until 2:00AM. There was no use in getting his nerves tied in a knot, especially since tonight was only the preliminaries. If we win tonight, and than win again at the Final Round the prize will be a free sign-up with the Tri-Force records.

He wasn't playing his Game Boy, mostly because the batteries were dead but also because was thinking to himself. He thought about how his dreams of being a professional musician were about to come true.

They were getting closer, the Bo-Bomb was lit like fireworks. They place was packed, "Good luck, getting a parking spot bro."

[Damonique]

"Good luck getting a parking spot,bro." Wade chuckled from the passengers seat, and Jasin turned to look at him, cocking one eyebrow with a maniacal grin on his face, a psychotic gleam in his eye.

"Is that a Challenge, my friend?" Jasin cackled, and wheeled the van into the Ba-Bomb's parking lot. It was chaos, a million contrasting speakers competing with the clubs surround sound. Jasin finally spotted what he was looking for, a front row parking lot with a corporate van, probably delivery or catering, just pulling out. He pounced.

The vintage Chevrolet van swerved into the spot before the delivery van could even clear the spot, almost busting off a rearview mirror as it sped in. They were in a parking spot, right next to the door.

"Do not Challenge me, young grasshopper, for I shall kick your ass." Jasin chuckled to Wade, in his best Mr. Miyagi voice. Chuckling to himself.

"Now, we'll need to get our gear unloaded. Me and Ken can get the Addi's Drums, Addi and Mercy can carry guitars, and Wade can get the paperwork done at the door, Agreed?" Jasin rattled off, sliding out of the drivers seat and unlocking the back. Jasin tended to take charge when shit needed getting done.

Jasin had the attitude of a born leader, but people seemed to like to follow Wade more for some reason, and besides, it was a sacred music tradition that lead singer is the boss. As bassist, Jasin was exiled to the duties of carrying amps and standing in the background of every photo-op, looking like some kind of deranged stalker.

[Ushima]

The van zoomed into a parking spot. "Son of a bitch!" Ken cursed as he was jostled around in the back of the van. "Are we dead?" Ken really hated it when Jasin drives. "I swear I'm going by myself from now on. Safer." Ken got out of the van with the others. Stretching he heard his joints pop. He heard Jasin give out orders. He was "assigned" drums, but he was going to help with that anyway. "Don't worry Addi I'll take good care of'em." He always did. He could probably set up Addi's kit in his sleep, he's been doing it for that long. "Just take care of Sasha alright Addi?" Ken winked. "Let's go Jasin. And don't you dare drop anything."

[TheBaron]

"Wade I wouldn't challenge him you will probably lo-..." It was to late he had already found the parking spot and she chimed in a tad bit smug, "I told you so..." She listened for a moment then look up as Jasin spoke again. He was taking charge of the situation. Mercy smiled at Jasin. He was a natural leader. Then she heard what he said, "Ummm... Jasin not that I am opposed to helping and in fact I would love to but remember that I am clumsy to the point of nearly being crippled." She hopped out of the van and stretched. "But if you still want my help... I will be glad to..."

[Damonique]

Jasin chuckled and helped Ken lift the drums. The guy seemed to have serious issues with him, not that he didn't understand, Jasin and his former "Friends" had pissed a lot of people off in the last couple years and he had a bit of an abrasive personality. He couldn't expect everyone to like him in the beginning.

"Ummm... Jasin not that I am opposed to helping and in fact I would love to but remember that I am clumsy to the point of nearly being crippled." Mercy stuttered. It was true, she wasn't quite on a roll, having nearly killed herself twice and him once in the last hour.

"Its fine, grab my Guitar and Bass, they're in the leather cases. I think Wade would be pretty pissed if you dropped Jude, and Ken's touch about his Ninja anyway. I find the Schecter and Ibanez have a serious lack of personality right now, perhaps a few dings would do them good, eh?" Jasin chuckled.

"NOT that that is an OK to drop them!" He added as he and Ken began walking with the drums up to the backstage loading door, where a doorman was surveying the crowd. The doors wouldn't open for another ten minutes, and the crowd was already pushing and shoving, hoping to get the best seats.

"Look, Ken, I get it, you don't like me. Thats cool, I'm well aware that I can be a bit of a jackass at times, but we gonna have to learn to play nice if this bands going to get anywhere, Okay?" Jasin muttered before they reached to door, trying to break the ice.

[Ushima]

"Your friends made my life hell for the last two years. There's a reason I got this tattoo. I was so angry." Ken was very angry last year, and depressed freshman year. "I'm having a little trouble forgiving. I put two of your buddies in the hospital over the summer remember?" Ken rmembered the fights, one in June and the other mid July. It lasted two hours. "You're trying to change, I can tell and I respect that." Ken smirked. "But you got a long way to go. Don't screw up, you'll regret it." He looked down at the bass drum in his hands and broke out in a large smile. "She doesn't know this, but she saved my life. If it wasn't for Addi I probably wouldn't be here, I was so depressed two years ago." The drummer girl was his only friend in high school, everyone else from his childhood ignored him. He was different so he was isolated and alone. "Hard to believe someone like me used to be suicidal. Don't tell Addi, I'll never hear the end of it."

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

The dark blond young woman gave a little groan as Jasin drove them to Bo-Bomb and she very nearly flew out of her seat as they parked, trying to get out of the van.

"Laaaaand!" She cried, clutching the lightpole on the curb, pressing herself against the metal as she flashed the group a grin.

"Yeah, yeah, guitars, bass, a-chech-a-peas, I get it!" She muttered, going to the back of the van and pulling out the guy's instruments, organizing their pedals, spare strings and the like into a spare duffel bag Jasin must have forgotten back there, making good use of it as they unloaded.

Mercy reminded Jasin of how accident prone she was and Addi gave a little shake of her head, smiling. "It's ok, Merc, I got it no sweat. We don't need you tripping and hurting yourself, or one of the guy's babies especially before a show."

Addison headed toward the back of Bo-Bomb, the back door where most of the entertainment and staff trickled in. "Guys, the door's back here. Merc, you know the drill. Just tell them you're with the Demolition Boys. If the doorman gives you any issues, text me and I'll come kick his ass," she said to Mercy with a playful wink, but fully serious.

The young woman went to the door, flood light illuminating the alley from above the sticker and poster obscured door and she knocked, only to have it promptly swing out into the alley from the inside.

"Yeah?" Asked a maroon-haired and tattooed woman wearing a headset. "Band name, please," she said, after spotting the guitars over her shoulder and duffel bag.

"Demolition Boys," Addi told her.

"You're... A girl," the woman raised a dark eyebrow.

"I am the only girl and I'm also the drummer, the guys are getting my kit," she motioned toward the Goobermobile, only to see they'd disappeared. Addison sighed.

"All right," the woman said, looking down to her clipboard and checking off something - presumably that the band was here - with her Sharpie.

[Damonique]

"Heh, You hate my friends, I hate my friends, 'Least we agree on something. I was never really like them anyway. I hung back and played hookie enough to still be cool, you know how it is. Wade had went all hippy on me and people had started actually treating Mercy as a chick. So I did what I had to to fit in." Jasin sighed, then shook his head. "I don't expect you to forgive me. We just need to keep things cool while we're with the band. Morale, 'ya know?" Jasin finished.

They had finally navigated the drums around the throng of people waiting to get into the show and reached the rear loading area. Addi was already there and had there spare gear in one of his duffel bags laid out backstage. The bored lady at the desk just nodded them through. Wade wasn't far behind with some guitars, and Mercy had opted to check them in for fear of breaking something expensive.

Setting down the drums and wiping his forehead with his sleeve, Jasin looked around, scoping out the competition. Everyone looked almost identical to them, teenagers unloading and putting together instruments and soundboards, amps and pedals. Except one difference. The Demolition Boys(And A Girl) were going to win.

[Awean8]

Wade held Jude in his right hand and a thick amount of paperwork in the other. The paperwork involved not breaking anything on the stage and how the club wasn't exactly responsible for any injuries sustained while playing.

After the brown haired lady had made the comment about how the Demolition 'Boys" had a girl in it Wade frustratingly explained, "I WAS LIKE A FRESHMAN WHEN I CAME UP WITH NAME! I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ADDI BACK THAN!"

He remembered when he first started this band. It was just him. He walked around with an acoustic guitar and just sang. He sang until both his lungs and his heart gave out, because their was a reason why he started playing music. Let's just hope she isn't here tonight......

He walked in, the smell of cigarettes, and alcohol permeated he the hallways. Hipsters looking pretentious as always stood there with their hipster friends pretending they were obscure. Other desperate bands went into the dressing rooms and crowded every foot of hallway.

"We need to find our dressing room."

[TheBaron]

Mercy shrugged and hung back at the van waiting for the doors to open. She sighed as she realized they had left it unlocked. She walked over the the driver side and rolled her eyes when she saw the keys still in the ignition. She sighed as she opened the door and removed the keys. She slid them into her pocket holding on to them till after the show. She muttered disapprovingly under her breath, "So like him to leave his keys in the car." She locked the doors and skipped around the back of the van and watched the jostling crowed at the entrance. It didn't matter if she came in first or last she had a friend who worked at the bar and he was "on duty" as he liked to say tonight. She laughed softly to herself, "Free drinks for me tonight..."

[Jacogos]

The familiar roll of a double-bass pedal penetrated the air, the creator of this sound sitting on a stool with just his bass drum on the floor. He was setting up his instrument at the moment, and was testing his pedals out. He grinned wickedly as the roll continued, until one of his band mates, an averagely tall boy with long dark brown hair and a denim jacket that sported the M of Metallica on its back, spoke to him. "Cum'on Jr., we don't need you wearing those Jesus feet out already. We're focused, right?" The boy called Jr., whose real name was Kevin Dawson, laughed and stopped, tweaking on of the pedals before looking back over the rest of his drums and cymbals.

The boy in the jacket, Jacobi Johnson, was busy polishing his guitar (http://www.all-freeware.com/images/full/49450-guitar_screensaver_audio___multimedia_other.jpeg) to perfection, making sure that its nearly perfect body was still scratch free. He had received it as a combined present from the rest of his band mates a day before the show, and he treasured it above his own life. He had yet to name it, but he knew it was going to be something beyond awesome, as any instrument of metal should have.

Another boy, short, pale, with short dirty blonde hair, and completely unbecoming of the usual stereotypes of his instrument, was tuning his cheap guitar (http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/regular/9/8/3/457983.jpg) by ear, something that was quite hard to do in the ruckus of this place. He was outfitted in a simple hoodie that sported the Disturbed Guy image, and he seemed very out-in-space. His name was George Heinsman, though most people called him King because of his favorite rock icon, King Diamond. If he possessed one, he would have worn the King's trademark long black trenchcoat.

The bass player, who was talking to a girl off to the side, was very tall, black skinned, and lanky, a stereotypical basketball player, really. He was very unlike his stereotype, though. Quiet, very anti-confrontational, and into jazz, he seemed more like an out-of-place white kid. His name was Dantavian Fitz, and he seemed content with talking to the band's newest fan. The girl, pretty, red-headed, and dressed in all black with no make-up, also was out of place, since she really didn't belong back there, but she knew the owner of the place, so she got backstage passes. Now she had struck up conversation with at least one of the members of every band present, and so far, she liked this black guy from the band More Than Meets the Eye the most.

The new arrivals caught her eye, though, and Dantavian caught her looking at them. He turned, and with a motion, got Jacobi's attention. "Yo Jake, ain't that that one guy from school?" Jacobi blinked and looked up from his baby, turning to look at the Demolition Boys. He grinned slightly. "Oh yeah, look, its Wade. I wondered if he was gonna show up... Come on, bring your friend, lets welcome them." He got up and set his guitar on a stand, leaving Jr. and King to themselves as Dantavian and the girl, Amanda, followed them. Jr. just did a little drum roll on his snare, antsy from his recent Monster. Jacobi hoped it would wear off.

Strolling causally up to the group was a problem only because of the sheer multitude of bands and junk in the way. After carefully picking out a path, the three finally got within speaking distance, the greeting given by Jacobi. "Yo, Wade!! Wassup, ya dirty hippie?" Jacobi grinned more and held out a hand for a high-five/handgrip thing popular among black people. "So, you made it. Startin' to worry we wouldn't have any real competition." He gestured to Dantavian and Amanda. "You remember Dante, hopefully, but the girl even I don't know so we're both getting an introduction." He laughed a little and moved at bit to let Dantavian shake Wade's hand as well. The girl smiled and spoke up. "I'm Amanda. I'm not in a band, but I got passes from my neighbor, the Bo-Bomb's owner." She didn't hold out her hand for a handshake, but smiled warmly enough for a greeting.

[Awean8]

Wade accepted the hand-grip gladly, it was something him and Jacobi had done every time they saw each other. "Ha! I'm not dirty. I shower everyday.", he said jokingly although he was also completely serious.

"Well, you know how we roll! Sup Dante", Wade had said ignoring the jazz man's hand grip instead taking an interest in his lady friend."So Amanda. You're pretty cute. Nice smile too. It's also amazing that you know the owner of this rad place. We should exchange numbers just in case we need to book another gig."

About week of texting each other, about two days of sexting, and one song "written just for her" later and she'll just be another notch on his headboard. It was sort of pathetic, but it was the only he kept from feeling lonely. He really needed a REAL girlfriend.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Squeaking in surprise at Wade's outburst, she held still, blinking at him a few times before bursting out into giggles and nudging his side. "Hey! Relax, Wade, I doubt you could have ever dreamed that your drummer would end up being a girl," she told him.

Looking to him, Addison could see it as he slipped into thought, and the look in his eyes grew worried for a moment. A smooth, honey-tanned hand slipped onto Wade's shoulder urging him forward slightly, into the club, and his feet seemed to respond, leaning them into the club; inside, the air was hazy, thick, and it was, of course, loud. Coughing softly and not used to the smell of cigarettes, Addi let out a soft, hissing complaint, "Isn't smoking inside places like this illegal now?"

A few lucky patrons who weren't here to play in the Battle of the Bands yet allowed backstage sported plastic yellow wrist bands with Ba-Bomb's logo and a bold "21+" marking. Since the club did sell alcohol yet the event tonight was all ages, the wrist bands were required and IDs would be checked frequently. Following close to Wade, Addison glanced behind them, trying to spot Jasin or Ken; her teeth caught her lip thoughtfully, guitars still over her shoulder and duffel bag in hand in the dark and rather cramped backstage area.

"This place is a zoo!" She told Wade, leaning over his shoulder so he could hear her; her amber eyes flitted around, seeing what she could. Addison was smiling rather brightly, chest tight was anxiety - but the good kind.

A tall, dark-haired man in his late twenties and failing to pull off an 80's Bon Jovi look passed the pair, looking down his nose at Addison and muttering, "Get the fucking groupies out of here, no?"

His words caught Addison's attention, her eyes had already passed over him but now they snapped back, her blood boiling. "Excuse me?"

Anyone who knew her could nail the tone she spoke with. At about that time, Jacobi had spotted Wade and was going over to him with his friends, Addison a few steps behind now, glaring at the want-to-be.

"I said, get the fucking groupies out of here, girlie. Now, move your tight little ass."

Light caught Addi's eyes, fury obvious. Slowly, she slid the guitars off her back, placing them carefully beside the duffel bag on the floor; her purse found a place beside them. Addison could hear Wade and the other band talking now, catching up or whatever; in a part of her mind, Wade's words to an "Amanda" were perfectly clear, making her stomach knot.

It'd dawned on Addi recently that when she was angry, her other emotions were far more acute and responsive; her jealousy of Wade's swinger status that she normally would have ignored now made her blood run even hotter.

Looking up at the man, Addison said, her voice louder now with anger, "You want to take that back now, or should I just wipe the floor with you here, rather than on stage, dickhead?"

[Ushima]

Ken set down the bass drum. "Ok." Quickly moving he set the rest of her kit up. "Got it up." He always made sure to set up the kit perfect. Addi trusted him with her gear, he wouldn't let his best friend down by screwing up. With that done though he had to push his way through people to get to his bandmates. Finding Addi first he took Sasha. "Thanks for keeping her safe sweetness." Taking his gear and walking away he called back. "Your kit iis all ready." He didn't get a reply though, Addi was busy threatening someone. Ken didn't like that. So going up to her he put a arm around her shoulder. "I really think you should take that back." Ken said to the man. "She'll tear you a new one. And if she doesn't I sure as hell will."

[Jacogos]

Jacobi laughed and was then distracted by the confrontation by the "dickwad" and the girl Wade was with. By Wade's words to Amanda, he judged that this WASN'T one of his many girlfriends, and thus dubbed her to be in his band. Walking over as another boy came up as well, Jacobi eyed the guy with the 80s look askance before speaking to Addison. "Hey, save it. I'm sure Wade doesn't want you roughed up before you guys perform. As much as I'd love to see this guy get what's coming to him, any cheap shot could put you out of the performance, if not from injury, then from just being kicked out." Then, to the other guy, he whispered. "Hey, I'm not sure if you knew this, but I just heard these guys over there-" He gestured to some random band he didn't know. "-talking about trashing your car. Just sayin'." With that, he went back over to Wade and them.

Meanwhile, Amanda flashed another smile. "If you only knew how many band members had tried to get my number here, you might not even try. While I do find you reason to be... logical, I'm sure you can find someone else who'll be able to set you up gigs." She giggled a little, a trill like that of a songbird. "Who knows, maybe you'll find that person here, once you win." She winked, then spoke to Dantavian. "See ya big guy, I'm cheerin' for you the loudest." With a grin that could've meant anything, she walked off. Dante sucked his teeth and looked at Wade. "Damn, I ain't never met a girl that could play with words like her. I tried to get her number, too, but I got the same." With a shrug, he nodded to Jacobi, who had joined them now.

"Well Wade, I guess its time for 'good lucks'." He grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. "I've heard most of the other guys warm-up, and to be honest, you guys truly are our only competition, though I'm basing that on what I've heard from you alone. Play your ASSES off, cause we ain't leaving with anything lower than first." With a slight squeeze of Wade's shoulder, he turned and walked back over to his band. "Yo, Junior!! Come on, we need to start warming up, and lets double check our set list!" Kevin whooped and hit a cymbal, which cause George to snicker. Dante just facepalmed.

[Awean8]

Just as Wade was a one-liner away from getting into Amanda's pants, he looked over to Addi and heard what the brown haired man said to her. He heard everything, and even though it took a lot to get him pissed. Let's just say he was pissed right now.

His fists were clenched as Amanda began to talk to him, about whatever. Wade flushed with anger towards the brown haired man. This wasn't like him at all, but than again even John Lennon got pissed sometimes. Wade left Jacobi's group and stormed over to the man and grabbed him by his collar. "You'd better just walk away, because when I'm done with you. You're gonna wish that Addi here had kicked your spine up into your empty skull"

After Jacobi had his back, the brown haired man stumbled away almost knocking over a light stand. For some reason the guy looked really familiar, but Wade was so pissed that he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Wade said his 'Good lucks' to Jacobi and his crew and finally found their dressing room. Wade was still pissed by that one guy. He gave a deep stressful sigh as he set Jude down and finally got to look at tonight's schedule. They were going on last.

[Damonique]

Jasin watched the whole confrontation with quiet evaluation, some guy messes with Addi, Addi gets into "I'm going to snap you in half." mode, Ken backs up Addi, Wade sees the guy messing with Addi and storms over like a spaz, and Jacobi backed up Wade. The hormones in the area were raging.

Once the guy finally figured out what was best for him and walked away, Jasin stepped into the group of angry, adrenaline pumped band members and smirked.

"Hey, Wade, you know who that was, right? That piece of shit used to be one of my friends." He said it with a sort of detached humor, like he found it hilarious and shaming at the same time.

"Oi, Jacobi, haven't seen you around in a while, eh?" Jacobi was one of the few guys at their high school who he, miraculously, hadn't pissed off in the last year and a half, and they were on decent terms. If Jasin hadn't gotten back with Wade's crew and joined the Demolition boys, he would probably be playing secondary bass or Rhythm guitar in Jacobi's.

[Ushima]

Ken removed his arm from around Addi's shoulders. With the guy leaving and the others here she probably wouldn't fly off the handle. Ken looked over at Wade. The hippie just threatened someone. "Thought you guys were all about peace and love and that shit? Probably for the best he walked away, hated to have our lead singer sent to the hospital." Ken doesn't have much faith in abybody elses fighting abilites except for those he's seen already. He himself had a street brawler slash MMA style. "Eh well I'd have helped." Ken was slightly disappointed a fight didn't break out.

Looking past Wade he saw Jacobi. "Yo dude." Ken flashed the devil horns. "Didn't know you guys were playing. Man we got some competition now." Ken laughed as Jasin approached. "Look whose here Jasin." He was happy to see another familiar face. Jasin started speaking to Jacobi as Ken looked back at the guy. Hearing Jasin say he used to be friends with that guy, realization dawned on him. "Wait I recognize that fucker now." Ken clenched his fists. "I am so kicking his ass later."

[Jacogos]

Jacobi realized that two other guys had started talking to him as he began to walk away, so he turned back. One of them had been the guy that had first come to the girl's aid (Addie?). The other was from somewhere else, but he suddenly realized that he recognized him as well. "Well well, if isn't old Jasin... Life hasn't kicked your ass yet?" He grinned, humor alight in his eyes. "Seems like it would have, the way you used to be. Or probably still are, eh?" He chuckled a little, then nodded to the other guy, Ken. He didn't know this one, but Jacobi figured this was the fourth member of Wade's band. Well, assuming the rest of his assumptions of who was in the band were right. He returned the horns and shook some of the hair out of his face.

"'Sup, man? You actually doubted we'd be here? Hah, you're funny." He smiled good-naturedly and raised a hand in farewell as he turned back to his band mates. "Sorry, I really gotta go, we're due on soon. Peace and good luck, Demo Boys!" He jogged off to his band, grabbing up his guitar when he got there.

"Alright alright, of course we're finishing with OUR song, but have we all agreed on the other four songs?" Kevin and George nodded, but Dante shrugged, speaking. "Real quick, lets go over them before someone messes up by playing the wrong song." Kevin raised his hand quickly. "We're startin' with Rollin' On Through! We agreed! Don't back out on me now, Boss!!" He was referring to Jacobi, the only one of the four who truly saw Jacobi as the ringleader. Jacobi laughed and nodded. "Yes, Junior, we're starting with Rollin'. Don't worry, besides, More Than will get your drumming skills tested anyway. Next, we said we wanted to show off Dantavian with Flamer's Groove." Dante grinned a little and played the first few notes, a quick progression of high notes. Jacobi nodded and continued. "The next two are our fillers, really, High Expectations and Duel in the Junkyard. Then we finish it." He used his best impression of Mortal Kombat's announcer saying 'Finish Him!', which made the others laugh a little. "Agreed?"

The other four nodded, and at that moment, some guy with a clipboard came up to them. "More Than Meets the Eye? You're up next." Jacobi, Kevin, and Dantavian grinned and whooped. George sighed once, whispering to himself. "I'm NOT going to mess this up... I won't!"

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Still glaring at the man as Ken came to her side, her body was rigid, tense with anger as his arm went around her shoulders. Her eyes didn't move from the offender as Ken spoke; what did make her look away from the asshole who had called her a groupie was an unfamiliar voice telling her to save it.

"Save it?! Doesn't want ME roughed up, oh, buddy--!" She turned her anger on Jacobi, who'd interfered; on a normal day, she'd beat his ass along with Wanna-Be-Jovi, as he clearly didn't know she could, but he had a point. Getting in a fight now would get them thrown out of the competition, and probably the club as well. She drew in a breath and fixed her amber eyes on Jacobi.

"My shots aren't cheap," she told him rather flatly, balling a fist at her side.

Lost in thought for a moment as she tried to calm down, mentally passing off Wanna-Be-Jovi as a dickhead virgin who didn't know a record from a laserdisc (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laserdisc), Wade's movement caught her attention. Her gaze followed him, turning her body slightly as he grasped Wanna-Be-Jovi's collar and practically growled his threat at him. Addison blinked a few times, obviously surprised, anger draining from her body.

As Wanna-Be-Jovi walked away with a rather rattled expression on his face, Jasin joined the little group, some exchanging hellos, good lucks, others preparing to leave; Jasin promptly reminded them Wanna-Be-Jovi used to be one of his friends and Addi cracked a little smile, placing her hand on Jasin's shoulder and giving his cheek a kiss before reminding him in a tone that one spoke to babies or puppies with, "And now you have us."

Giggling softly, Addison bent down, grabbing up the guitars she'd carried in, as well as her purse and the duffel bag, sliding the guitars over her shoulder again. She followed Wade to their cramped little dressing room and she placed the gear she'd carried down, sorting it out; strings to Jude, Sasha, and the Diamond, pedal here and there, assorted picks in the little velvet bag, tuners, cables all neatly arranged on the table.

She looked over to Wade thoughtfully, placing her hands on her hips, before she moved to where she'd tossed her purse on the couch. She unzipped it and drew out a small black box, going to Wade and crouching before him, her hands on his knees as she balanced on the balls of her feet.

"Hey, you ok?" She looked up at him, pausing long enough to for him to answer. Licking her lips, she looked away, down at the box she turned in her hands. "Listen, I know you probably can't use it tonight, but..."

Addison offered the little box out to him with a little smile, "I hear they're really good to play with. I know I don't know much about guitar shit, but..."

Inside the box she offered to him was a vintage-style pick (http://i53.tinypic.com/2j2ddty.jpg) made of ebony wood, inlayed with green abalone. Her teeth caught her lip and tugged as she awaiting his reaction. Nervously, she stood and gave a little shrug, saying, "It's just, like, a Christmas present or whatever, you know. Just, early... You need to calm down and stuff, get you mind off..."

She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, waving a hand, only to glance back at him. Thank God none of the other guys were in the dressing room yet.

[Jacogos]

Kevin zoomed off to get his drums set up on stage, leaving the others alone for a moment. Jacobi looked over a George, who had just finished his personal 'pep talk'. He clapped George on the shoulder and grinned. "You'll be awesome, King. You always are! Just remember how we're doing the finale, and everything else will be just like a rehearsal, minus the bitchiness." He grinned more and pulled George to his side, and arm around him, and did the same to Dante on his other side. "We're going to blow them all away, and leave no roof left for the Demolition Boys! Because we're More Than Meets the Eye, and NO ONE can beat us!!" The three all smacked each other on the back with a roar, then grabbed their instruments and went on stage.

"Alright everybody!! Let's give it up for our next band!! MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE!!!!

The announcer was loud, but the crowd there was louder. George was amazed at how many people came to see a simple Battle of the Bands. He stopped and thought, then. Oh yeah. We live in a boring ass city. He grinned a little to himself as he went to plug in his guitar. Jacobi and Dante did likewise, and Kevin was sitting down after finishing his setup, and he looked completely psyched. It took a lot to get to that kid, Jacobi though with a small laugh. He went up to the mike and tested it with a quick tap. "Alright, let's get this party started... Give it up, everybody, you're about to witness METAL!!!" At that moment, the double bass roll started, and a drum solo reminiscent of Judas Priest's Painkiller and Van Halen's Hot for Teacher kicked up.

Kevin was a true prodigy on his instrument, which is why the band called him Junior, short for Reverend Junior, in honor of Avenged Sevenfold's recently deceased drummer. He could have done this solo blind-folded, and really he did, his dirty-blonde hair flying as he head banged to his beat. After the four cymbal crashes that cued them, the rest of the band picked up the frenzied pace with a few power chords before going into their song Rollin' on Through. It was a heavy song mainly about a long drive to Vegas, though it was packed with plenty of drum breaks that Kevin loved so much.

They got through that one with little mistakes, nothing too noticeable. Jacobi was a little pissed that he couldn't hold that last note any longer, but his voice started to crack, so he gave it up. Next up, Flamer's Groove. Jacobi came up to the mic again and gestured to Dantavian. "Now you get to have a little taste of our man with the finger-picking machines, Dante!!" Dantavian flew into his bass solo with gusto. He had been ready for this since Kevin started the last song. It had a fast paced feel, like the ending of Metallica's (Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth, but he screwed up a little when someone screamed out "WHOOO, Go Dantavian!!!" Jacobi grinned. That sounded like... The music interrupted him as the rest of them joined in. Much like Rollin' on Through, Flamer's Groove had an instrument focus, the bass guitar on this song which had a few solo moments like Kevin did on the first song. The lyrics were simple, without a true refrain line, and spoke mostly of druggies, the flamer's being anyone who smoked, since they used fire to light their drug.

The next two, as Jacobi said, were fillers. Duel in the Junkyard was third, and it featured the switching of parts between George and Jacobi as they 'dueled' each other for solos. They weren't anything complicated, more like slow Satriani solos that progressively got a little more complicated. It was an instrumental, no singing for Jacobi. He did that on purpose. High Expectations was simply there for icing on the cake, with plenty of pauses that left the crowd wondering 'Was that it?', only to scream back into the song a moment later. Its lyrics were simply about keeping your head out of the clouds, something Jacobi thought was a problem in high school.

As the last chord of High Expectations finished echoing in the stadium, Jacobi looked at his band members, and they were all grinning. They knew what was next. Jacobi went up to the mic again. "You've all been wonderful tonight, and I hope you realize just what true metal is by now. However, we have one more song for you, and maybe you'll realize why we love it so much. Its a band wide favorite, and nothing less than a cover of an amazing song by an equally amazing band. Have you guessed what it is yet?" He paused, as if listening for someone to say it, then grinned. He struck up the band, and the song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTflUfX_quw) they played was loud, and in charge. When the instrumental (0:00 to 1:07) began to fade, Jacobi yelled out.

"THIS IS MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE!!!!"]

With that, the band began the true song (1:13 to end). This was their song, and they played it perfectly. Jacobi wasn't much of a 'screamer', so he brought the lyrics into his own growling voice, giving the song his own spin. He also slightly changed the lyrics slightly. Whenever the original song used pronouns such as I or me, Jacobi changed it to We and Us, referring to the band as a whole. Really, the whole band had a slightly different take on the way the song was played, as opposed to Testament. Once it got to the solo, George was grinning wickedly, resembling his grinning Disturbed hoodie quite well. He tore the place up, he fingers flying as the solo pierced the air with violent intentions. At the end, when the song pauses before the last five notes, the whole band 'Yeah!!'d into their mics, and then played the notes, going into a famous Big Rock ending that had Jacobi and George switching between playing solos.

With a huge final note, the band was finished. Sweating, panting, and overall exhausted, they gave one final bow before they rushed off stage.

[Damonique]

Jasin chuckled when Addi kissed him on the cheek and cleared out quick to set up his bass when he noticed that ken had disappeared. If there was one thing Jasin didn't want to be, it was competition for Wade. The guy was a lady-killer, and he didn't mind this "thing" he and Addi had going on, hell, maybe she would even put an end to Wade's enviable but aggravating-as-hell Swinger phase.

Jasin removed his Schecter Diamond (http://www.drumcityguitarland.com/drumcitygl/stores/1/images/Schecter/Schecter%20DIAMOND%20SERIES%20DAMIEN-5%20Black%20Satin%20Finish%205-String%20Electric%20Bass%20Guitar.jpg) from its Black Leather and Metal Case (http://p.lefux.com/61/20100730/A2322000AI/guitar-case-leather-hard-shell-1-Gallay.jpg) and ran his fingers along the strings, testing it out as Jacobi's band, More Than Meets the Eye, played. They were good, really good.

Jacobi's last song was, as much as Jasin hated to admit it, one of the most badass things he had ever heard, and their drummer was almost Addi's equal in the art of the percussion. They would be tough to beat, but not impossible. A few other bands went on after Jacobi's, but none of them matched up to the first performance by a long shot. There was one more band up, then a short recess, and then The Demolition Boys would be on.

They had been the closing act through a stroke of luck that they had secured the last open slot for performances at the battle of the bands. Jasin mentally put together the positioning. He would be in back, beside Addi's drum set. Most Bassists stood front stage to the left or right of the guitarist, depending on which hand he used to play, with the Rhythm guitarist on the other side. Once they had seen the videos from there first few amateur performances earlier this year, they quit that. Next to Jasin, Wade and Ken looked short. Its never good for the lead guitar/vocalist to look short, so Jasin was relegated to beside Addi's drum-set. He didn't mind.

The set was playing in his mind. Their opener, Phase One, would rely entirely on him, given the first three minutes were nothing but a long, increasingly loud Drum and Bass instrumental, then Ken and Wade would cut in with some epic power-chording and lyrics to shock the crowd who though it was just going to be a calm instrumental all the way through.

Their second song was meh for him, basic Bass backbeat, no sound tricks, no solo's, just backing up the lead while Wade did his thing. Their third song, endearingly named "Potty-Mouthed Gutter-Head" was where Wade stepped down and Jasin took over backup lyrics while ken did lead vocals. Lots of screaming, lots of shouting. Ken brought the enthusiasm for music that sounded like things dying, and Jasin brought a deep enough voice that could shove out the lowest guttural screams without skipping a breath.

Their fourth song, "Williamsburg Fraud"(Don't bother to ask where the name came from, Wade wrote it) had lots of rhythm switches and sound tricks to occupy his bass pick, and it was by far their longest piece at seven and a half minutes long, he never came out of it without bloody fingers. Lastly, "Diction Canary" was one of Wades hippy pieces, which, while not Jasin's favorite thing in the world, did make use of Wade's voices natural tone, and the five-part all-instrument harmony at the end was specially written to showcase how awesome the whole band was when they all applied their own skills.

Jason figured the odds of them winning as four to one, and even if they missed the top place, they would still probably take second behind More Than Meets The Eye.

[Ushima]

Ken had to admit that More Than Meets The Eye was pretty epic. Hey give credit where credit is do right? Still the confident smirk didn't leave Ken's face. They could win, they just had to play perfect. His fingers twitched in excitment and he couldn't stop moving. Pacing back and forth. "Man I'm so pumped!" Bouncing slightly on his feet he rolled his neck. Ken was probably annoying his friends with constant movement, he was prbably making a trench in the ground. Though he was trying not to think much, Wade's actions early seemed he might have a crush on Addi. He didn't like that at all. Wade and Jasin had no clue how close he and Addi were. They've been friends since they were seven, tens years. As their old friends grew up, drifted apart and shunned him for being different she was the only one that stayed. She saved him, not that she knew anything about it. The metal head shook his head, no time for unrequited feelings now. Had to play.

He picked up his beer and took a drink. The Dos Equis now empty he set it down before he went to his guitar and started getting ready. Sasha was in perfect condition. "You ready?" Yes he talks to his guitar, though its not like he was expecting it to talk back and answer him. This instrument, his weapon, his partner was going to help carry them to victory. "Ready to shred Sasha?" Of course she was, she was always was ready to kick ass. Ken was happy with the set list. Their shock and awe song was pure awesome. Though he was looking foreward to the third, when he would be lead vocals. He'd scream his heart out, playing hard enough the strings might cut his fingers. Though with his music preference that might be a cool thing to happen. "We're here to kick ass and chew bubble gum." Ken said, he'd say it to the crowd during their introduction. "And we're all out of gum." He finished the Duke Nukem line. "Oh yeah I'm ready."

[Awean8]

Wade didn't really know how to react to the gift. It was a really nice pick. It probably cost a fortune. He calmed and forgot all about the douche bag from before, even though he still remembers him from somewhere.....

He got down to his knees, and met her eyes with his. Without saying anything he wrapped his arms around her and held her. "I'm okay now, thanks for the present."

"Well, isn't this cute. Is this your new floozy, Wade", a woman with long blonde hair had said at the door as her shirtless and muscle head boyfriend wore her on his arm. Her name was Mallory. Wade's freshman girlfriend who broke his heart and drove him into music and into a swinger like lifestyle.

Wade was devastated. His heart came to a complete stop. "Hii-Hi, Mallory."

"This is Adam, my new boyfriend and the front man for Ganon", she gave a wide grin as she spoke for she enjoyed every ounce of Wade's misery. "Ganon has had a record deal, and has also toured with the Pixies. Adam works out, is a vegetarian, blah, blah, blah....and oh- Adam's penis is also two inches bigger than yours so HA! Hahaha!"

They both laughed at him and Addi. This was obviously some sort of psychological warfare in order to mess them up, and it worked affectively. Wade felt as if he had coughed out his heart and than had it nailed to his sleeve. It was the same way he felt the last time he was in the same room with her, the day she broke up with him.

She wasn't always a total bitch. Freshman year, Mallory was really nice, but as Wade and her spent every day listening to old records together, she soon grew bored of him and tossed him aside for the first musician to walk by. This is when Wade first decided to pick up the guitar in hopes of winning her back. It didn't work.

Ganon was scheduled after More than Meets the Eye. The Bon Jovi wannabe asshole from before was standing behind Mallory and Adam. That's where Wade had seen him before. He was the legendary drummer for Ganon.

"You bitches better know your place", Adam had said, The Demolition Boys are just an amateur excuse for cacophony. Only professionals deserve to work under Tr-Force records."

Wade wanted to curl into a ball and just die. He held on tightly to the pick Addi had given him, as if it was flashlight and he was lost in a dark room. Why did she of all people have to show up and ruin everything? Why?

[Jacogos]

Heading backstage in order to congratulate Dantavian's band, Amanda stopped when she heard a familiar, if shaky voice. She turned and saw three people between her and two others, one of those two who had the voice she recognized. That boy that Jacobi guy had been talking to. Sneaking a little closer, Amanada's eyes widened as she listened to what was being said. She also recognized the one guy that Wade had been about to beat up. She flushed furiously. Dickwads like that didn't get far with her... She barely knew the two being picked on, and she felt like she should do something. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. Grinning, she quietly backed away.

Amanda remembered meeting the other members of that band, Ganon, before, and she knew that they were currently at the bar, she had passed them on the way backstage. She quickly headed over to where they kept their instruments. She thought for a moment, then, looking around to make sure no one was coming or looking, quickly untuned the guitars, then quickly went in search of a drum tuner. Making sure she was still unseen, she loosened the snares and toms' heads, then made the cymbals loose as well, where they'd fall off if hit hard enough, but wouldn't from the move from back to front stage. She stepped away and casually set off to find More Than Meets the Eyes. Smiling to herself, she dropped the drum tool in the bag of some girl who was busy snogging a druggy in the corner. Its not like the Demolition Boys would have any trouble with beating Ganon anyway, she knew that, but if this embarrassed the hell out of the band, then that would be Karma enough for her.

[Damonique]

Jasin had been looking around for the others after he had finished tuning the Schecter. He never named his guitars like Wade and Ken did. They were tools, weapons, conduits for the rhythm that resided in his soul. Or some BS like that, a Philosopher Jasin was not.

Looking over at Addi and Ken, Jasin saw a face he never wanted to see again. Adam. Football player, complete shithead, and lead singer of Ganon, there second main competition behind More Than Meets the Eye. The guy had kicked the crap out of wade and Jasin in middle school, and now he was apparently doing Wade's freshman year girlfriend, Mallory.

Kent, the squirreley ex-member of The Human Waste crew had apparently shifted to Adam's camp after graduation. Since he had started kickboxing, Jasin had gained some bulk around his shoulders and arms,and looked about evenly matched with the meathead idiot. Jasin hooked to top two buttons of his black trench coat and pulled over a guy with a pack of Malboro's in his shirt and took one and lit it, the guy was drunk off his ass and didn't seem to care.

"Adam...tired of kicking over Mercy's sandcastle's in the playground and jacking Wade's lunch money after school? Oh, and I see Kent's taken up the job of sucking your dick." He muttered cooly, taking a drag off the cigarette for effect. The combination of the Cig, the trench coat, and the overplayed sort-of pissed but not quite expression made him look like a convincing douchbag again.

Jasin made a bluff at Kent and the guy shrunk back behind Adam like the weasel he was. Kent was an awesome drummer, but he completely lacked a spine. Jasin still owed him a kick in the face for hassling Addi earlier, but he played it cool.

"I hope you guys and whatever that thing is you have under your arm..." Jasin pointed with the smoking stub of his Malboro to Mallory. "...aren't hassling my bands singer here. We need him if we're going to kick you and your brain-dead toddlers with instruments off the stage."

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

"Well, isn't this cute. Is this your new floozy, Wade?" An unfamiliar voice rang out in the room.

"I am sick and fucking tired of being taken as a slut!" Addison hissed under her breath, slipping her arms from around Wade - who'd caught her still crouching and had slid to his own knees off his seat to embrace her - and look at Mallory as Wade greeted her.

As a woman, Addison surveyed the other female; she was a twig, first off. Her long locks were obviously a dye job and needed a trim - no matter how flat-ironed they got, how they frayed and splintered at the ends was an obvious sign of unhealthy hair, which was really inevitable. Addison, personally, did her best to keep her hair healthy and as soon as a half inch of dead, unhealthy hair appeared she got it trimmed. Mallory wore too much make-up and the man whose muscled - and oiled, apparently - arm she hung off of made her want to gag; overly muscled men were an uber turn-off for Addison, they reminded her of body builders. She couldn't decide which one of the two was a bigger tool.

At Mallory's penis comment Addison had an idea.

Without another thought and totally aware of her bandmates prescense, the young woman slid her arms around Wade, practically pushed him into the chair of the dressing room he'd been sitting in before and slid her slender, toned frame against him. Her hips wiggled between his knees and then aligned against his, her breasts pressing against his chest as she kissed him, eyes closed. Addison, honestly, didn't care about Wade's reaction, and the show wasn't meant for him.

Jealousy. It burned in Mallory's eyes and as Addison drew, slowly away from Wade's mouth, Addi's amber eyes fixed on the muscle-head's girlfriend and she said, "It isn't all about size, you know. It's really all in the motion, the hips."

Addison's moved slowly against Wade's as she said this, only to look back at Wade and smile gently before slipping off of him and tugging him out of the chair. The young woman balanced herself on one foot, drawing her lucky set of drumsticks from the leg of her high leather boot, and taking one in each hand, twirling the one in her left hand between her index and middle fingers. "Besides, what's that saying?"

Taking a few smooth steps forward, cold fury burned in her eyes as she stood eye-to-eye with Mallory, speaking again, "Save a drum bang a drummer? Or is it... Drop a skank, get a better life?"

A smile sweet enough to give anyone a cavity came to Addison's lips, standing just inches away from Mallory and Adam.

[TheBaron]

Mercy walked through the doorway before the first band started playing. She looked around the venue. It was awesome if a little bit to full for her tastes. She liked space that was for sure and she definitely did not like how random guys always touched her butt as she walked by them. She sighed hit one guy who had gotten a little bit to venturous for it to have been more than a accident and probably knocked him unconscious or at least silly. She gasped and hopped around in a little circle wringing her throbbing hand and wrist. "Damn it your head is harder than Jasin's and he can be really thick headed both figuratively and literally sometimes."

The thought quieted her a little and she slipped through crowd to the bar. She slipped on the stolen band that identified her as over 21. She heard a voice from the bar calling her and she looked over to she Warren her gay friend who worked the bar calling her with her usual seat reserved. She grinned at him though the grin showed no happiness. This made Warren frown. She shrugged as she slid onto the old bar stool silently. He looked at her concerned, "Whats got you down Mercygirl..."

She rolled her eyes, "Boy troubles..."

He grinned, "Ahhh boy trouble... don't we all have them..."

She laughed at him, "No only females and you have the kind of boy trouble I am talking about. However, I don't want to get into it right now. I want to get plastered all over the wall then confront my problems when I cannot walk straight and words like pudding make me laugh."

Warren laughed, "Alright. Alright. I will get you something strong if you promise to call me tomorrow if it either gets worse or doesn't get resolved."

She grinned at the big gay man, "Fine, fine just get to work..." Warren grinned at her and turned to fix her up with something strong. As he did she lay her head down on the counter and thought about Jasin even though it made her a little mad that he was who she was thinking about. She smiled as she thought of a memory that she had told the adventurous guy who was now taking a snooze, "Damn it your head is harder than Jasin's and he can be really thick headed both figuratively and literally sometimes."

Back before high school Jasin hadn't thought of her as a girl... just as one of the guys. That bothered her now that thought about it. Well one day she and him and Wade or someone had been messing around in the park and Jasin was fooling around in a tree and fell out of said tree and hit his head on said rock. Probably should have killed his dumb ass but then again that would mean that he would have had to realize he should have died. She frowned at herself. It wasn't like her to be so venomous towards people even in her own mind. Well maybe it just had something to do with the fact that Jasin was invading her mind. Waking and sleeping. Grrr it bothered her. She didn't think that she want him in her head but apparently she did... She did't even know what to do anymore. Whatever back to the story. He of course hadn't died or even hurt himself. Just knocked himself unconscious. Wade or whoever, it was had run off to get help. Mercy was sitting by him with her head in her knees crying. She remembered hearing him sit up and he looked at her looking bewildered. He got up and hugged her. Man he had been a lot nicer prior to high school. She wondered why he changed. Asked her why she was crying and she called him and idiot then the doctors came and took him to the hospital.

She was snapped out of her revere by Warren placing before her a rather large bottle of vodka and a shot glass. She smiled at him and rolled her eyes and he looked at her and patted her on the head and then poured her a shot, "Boy troubles ehh... poor you..." She nodded and downed the shot. Boy troubles indeed.

[Damonique]

Jasin forgot about what he was doing and let the Marlboro fall to the ground in stunned silence, watching Addi's show, and, against his own better judgment, completely wishing he was in Wades Position right now. Adam's jaw was dropped, Kent was leaning forward like a ravenous animal.

That was the creepy thing about Kent, he had that sort of "Rapist in the making" look in his eyes, fucked up bastard. Jasin took the moment of distraction to drop and do a leg sweep at Kent, sending the already off-balance perv tumbling into the floor. He wasn't too worried about Adam. He and Wade could've probably taken him, and with Addi here, there was no contest.

Everything quit going in slow motion once Kent's face made contact with the ground. Thud. It was an entertaining sound, and he could almost imagine it reverberating through the weaselly drummers hollow skull. Jasin was back up in the exact same position he had been in before he had leg-swept him before any of the security guards made it over.

"He fell, 's all. Kent, dude, you should seriously pay more attention." Jasin said neutrally, lying more convincingly than most people tell the truth. The security guys just walked past without saying a thing.

While Adam was busy looking dumbstruck from Kent of the floor to Addi on Wade, Jasin used his boot to extinguish his cigarette butt and stepped over beside Addi and Wade, his 6'5" frame towering over him like a bodyguard as he stared daggers at Adam and his stick-bitch of a girlfriend.

Behind his back, to Addi and Wade, Jasin flashed a thumbs up and a peace sign and anticipated Adam's next move. If he was smart, he would walk away right now and save them both from getting kicked out, but if it was a fight he wanted, the football-playing, beer chugging fool with an IQ score about the same as his GPA was going to get it.

[Awean8]

This is by far the weirdest situation Wade has ever been in. His ex-girlfriend and her perfect as fucking hell boyfriend has just waltz in to the Demolition Boys dressing room, and are berating him and insulting the size of his penis. Than Jasin with "middle school rage' burning inside came to confront the Adam and his humongous biceps.

The weirdest part of all this was when Addi kissed him oh so seductively, in order to clearly piss Mallory off. He really hoped Addi didn't notice that he had a boner, because it would be pretty embarrassing if it came about from only one kiss. Good thing, he was wearing jeans, so it wouldn't show very well.

Addi got off of him to confront Mallory up close and Jasin kicked Kent in the face. Adam wasn't impressed, or afraid of what people he liked to call 'losers'

"Ganon your on in five!', the organizer of the Ba-Bomb had said.

"Nice chatting to you losers", Adam said in his usual condescending manner. Mallory and the members of Ganon left the dressing room. Shortly after a short and chubby-ish asian man came.

"Did you guys see anything. Some one totally screwed over our instruments", he said. Wade nodded 'no' to the man who than ran out of the room weeping, "I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE BECAME AN INTERPRETIVE DANCER! WAAAH!"

Weird. Just weird. This situation was almost unreal. Well, in any case Ganon was going up next and Wade wanted to see how good they were. They were good enough to get a record thats for sure.

[Damonique]

Jason's visage of confidence and violent attitude was wearing thin, and he realized that shit could happen now. There were a million things Adam could do right now, involving a knife or a gun. Even if he decided to keep things fair, Addi couldn't take the guy with brawn alone, and even if the three of them could take him, they would get kicked out for sure.

"Ganon, your on in five!" The announcer shouted, saving their collective ass, and Adam pulled Kent off the floor and exited, Mallory shooting Addi a parting glared as she walked out with her hips practically twisted around Adam's leg. Addi just sort of stood and smiled that "I won, Bitchesssss" smile she usually reserved for finding that perfect snarky remark when he or Ken did something stupid.

Once the Asian guy finished freak out that somebody fucked up his band's instruments and left, Jasin started laughing...and laughing, and laughing, returning to "Nice Jasin" mode. After a few minutes he caught his breath and turned back to Addi and wade, still chuckling under his breath.

"...Should I leave you kiddy's alone and let you two, Erm.....get it out of your systems, so to speak? Seeing the condition Wade-o here is in, it looks like it would only take him a couple minutes. Nobody tell Ken though, or he would freak." Jasin chuckled, every word drenched in mocking condescension. They would NOT live this down.

[Ushima]

Ken's didn't think the night could be any better. Of course the feeling wouldn't last long. As he made his way toward the dressing room, Sasha on his back, a group of people exited. It was the band Ganon. Ken groaned, there was no avoiding them. "Hey look at this punk."

"Don't you fuckers have to play?" Ken really wasn't in the mood for a confrontation, not yet. He still had plans to beat the shit out of one of them later. Ken finished off another bottle of Dos Equis, now he had a perfectly good weapon incase they tried something. "Get the fuck outta here."

"You missed quite a show in there." Someone said. Ken recognized him but couldn't get the name to surface in his memory. "Got pretty hot and heavy." Ken just gave him a look, one that clearly showed he was getting angry. But he sighed once they had passed and he continued to the room where his band mates were. He could hear Jasin talking about him.

"Don't tell me what?" He looked at the three od them. "Everything ok in here?"

[Damonique]

"Everything Ok in here?" Jasin immediately quit laughing when he heard Ken's voice behind him, and shot Addi and Wade a knowing smile as he turned around, slick as could be, with a snake-eyes expression on his face.

"Oh, nothing. Just a bit of a chat with Beefed-Up Fuckwad Adam. Apparently, he's fucking Mallory now making her an even more despicable slut than she already was. Oh, and I had a bit of a run-in with Kent, my ex-bud from earlier. I wonder how Ganon 'll be able to play with their drummer having a mild concussion." Jasin chuckled, flashing a nonchalant wave at Addi and Wade behind his back.

Jasin hated being the one who had to lie to Ken, but he was too damn good at it not to step up to cover Wade's ass, looking at the empty beer bottle in Ken's hand, he smirked.

"Its not smart to drink before a show, better to save the drinking until after we win." He said nonchalantly and picked up his Schecter, running his fingers along the Bass's silver-oxidized strings. They couldn't have drama fucking up their show.

[Jacogos]

After the band finished putting their instruments up and locking them away in Dantavian's mom's SUV, Jacobi, Dante, George, and Kevin went looking around for stuff to do while they waited for the results. Jacobi and Dante were going to watch and cheer for the Demolition Boys, but there was a while until they went on. So the band went their separate ways for now.

George just went around talking to people he didn't know, and rarely, ones he did know from school. He only mentioned that he was in a band to the ones that asked, or already knew. He wasn't one of those guys who really flaunted that, especially since he wasn't that amazing at it. Jacobi was a lot better than him, but the guy let George play lead so that Jacobi didn't seem like a spotlight hog. George snickered at the thought. Megadeth's singer and lead guitarist, Dave Mustaine, was far from a 'spotlight hog', and Jacobi might very well replace him as that image when the band got its record label.

Junior went off to the bar, sporting an over 21 band that he had snagged off of some guy passed out in the bathroom. He didn't know if they'd accept it, with his boyish features, but he wanted to give it a shot. A few minutes later, he was grinning foolishly over an empty bottle of Bud Light. Kevin was the youngest member of the band, if you counted by months. He just barely passed the cut-off age for him to be an eleventh grader, and sometimes, he wished his parents had made him stay behind. In terms of pushiness with grades, they might as well be Asian. He blinked quickly when he saw some girl talking to the guy who had given him his drink. Had he seen her before? He thought he had. Walking over, Kevin spoke slowly to Mercy, the question still ringing in his head. "Hey there! You get to hear that band More Than Meets the Eye? Wicked awesome, weren't they?" Subtle as always, Junior.

Jacobi and Dante went off in search of the Demolition Boys, hoping to get their feedback on the performance. As they did, the two bantered about each other's music tastes. Dante had joined the group, not because he liked metal, but because Jacobi had found him playing bass in the school parking lot one day and asked him to join. The big black guy was on the opposite end of the spectrum from a metalhead, being a Jazz guy himself, but he picked up the metal style well when he played. As always, the bass rhythms he made had some sort of jazzy undertone to them, especially in the Flamer's Groove solo, yet they always fit. Jacobi was making a comment about Satchmo when they ran into Amanda, who nearly tackled Dante with a hug, exclaiming who great their performance was. Jacobi grinned ear to ear at the embarrassment of his negro friend, who stammered out a thanks as he tried to pry off the red-head from his stomach.

After a short discussion on it, the three made their way to were the Demolition Boys were, coming in a few moments after Ken did. "Wassup, Demo Boys!!! How'd you like it?" Jacobi yelled as he came in, still grinning ear to ear. Dante raised a hand in greeting, muttering out a "Dammit, Jacobi, why you gotta be so loud?" Amanda smiled at the band and said nothing, wondering why they all seemed so tense.

[TheBaron]

Mercy wasn't exactly wasted yet but she was sure as hell not sober anymore. She shook her head and hiccuped. She gave her mind a moment to settle and suppressed any further hiccups. As if on cue Warren came and and took the vodka and the shot glass away. She turned to face the person who has spoken and found him to be much close that she had first imagined and she scooted a little back and smiled at him. He was very attractive. However, he wasn't Jasin. She sighed then remembered that he had asked her a question and she smiled and moved a step forward so she could talk in a normal voice and not have to shout but it was still a little to close for someone who didn't know they were talking. "Yeah they were great... but why do you ask."

[Damonique]

"Wassup, Demo Boys!!! How'd you like it?" Someone practically shouted into the room. It was Jacobi, with Dante behind him. Jasin let out a sigh of relief and chuckled, thankful for the distraction. Lying to ken was no easy business , the guy seemed like an idiot but could call a bluff with the best of 'em.

"'Sup, Jaco, that'll be a tough show to beat, but you just watch us trample all over it!" Jasin chuckled sportingly, exaggeratedly pretending to play his unplugged Schecter. The first rolls of Ganon's first song were filtering in through the open door.

"Bajezzus, I'm scared my ears'll end up bleeding form the overplayed powerchords...YOU CAN'T REPLACE TALENT WITH VOLUME, DAMNIT!" He shouted out the door in the direction of the stage before slamming it shut. The rooms were soundproof, so they could only barely perceive the vibrations from Ganon's noise.

"God, I get the white-noise Bass thing, I do it all the time, but has anybody ever taught those guys about sound tricks?" Jasin added. In reality, Ganon's music was pretty good, but it hurt morale to admit that, so he resumed a spout of profanities aimed at Ganon, its members, their music, and everything else related to them.

[Jacogos]

Kevin shrugged and took another swig of his beer, finding the edges of his vision getting a little blurry. It was probably all this smoke in here, he thought. "Well, you know, I'm their drummer and everything, so I figured my opinion was a little biased, ya know?" Did that come out right? Weird, how he was second-guessing himself now. "I feel like I've seen you before... You go to my school?" He looked her over slowly, wondering if she did.

Jacobi grinned at Jasin's confidence. He needed it, really. Jacobi knew that his band had played their hearts out and fingers off, and he was confident in their placement. However, the bagging on that band, Ganon, was pulling a laugh from him. He found himself cracking up. "Jeez, dude, a little bit of hate going on there, eh?" He continued shaking with laughter as Dantavian and Amanda just smiled and laughed a little. Dante listened to the bass and shrugged, seeing where Jasin was going with that. Or, seeing where he wasn't going with it really. It wasn't awful, and the black man noticed that their bassist was simply keeping morale up. That ok'd him in Dante's book.

Amanda stayed quiet still. Those chords were hardly out of tune. Did they figure out what she had done and fixed it, or had she gotten the wrong band? She blushed to herself at the thought, and she hoped no one else noticed. If she had messed up someone else performance that didn't deserve it, she'd feel horrible.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Addison Michaelet crossed her arms under her bosoms, grinning her little grin and pursing her lips like a kiss as Mallory, Adam and company left. Turning back, she smiled at Jasin and Wade, swaying her hips a little, obviously rather proud.

"Don't tell Ken, though," Jasin said, just as Ken walked in.

"Don't tell me what?" Ken asked. It wasn't worth hiding, and she didn't see why Jasin thought so. Keeping things from members of the band was what caused trouble to begin with.

"Everything's fine, I just kissed Wade to make Slutty McBitch jealous. Seems I did a good job," Addi told Ken with a smile, twirling her drumsticks again.

Jacobi, Dante and Amanda came in and she cast a smile to them, lifting a hand, still twirling a drumstick and nodding to them in greeting. "Great set, we could hear it all the way in here. Much better than this crap," she gestured at the speakers that brought Ganon's music into the otherwise mostly-sound-proofed dressing room, as most were in venues.

Addison slid her lucky drumsticks back into the leg of her boot, then sliding her fingers through her lightly curled hair, glancing side-long at Wade, her gift box still in his hand.

[Damonique]

Jasin shook his head violently as Addi told the TRUTH. It wouldn't upset any rational person, but Ken let his emotions jerk him around too much, which was why he seemed so violent all the time. He REALLY hoped it didn't distract him in the show, Ken's guitar was a key part of their music.

Jasin shrugged as if he had left out a minor detail, and talked Rhythm and sound tricks to Dantavian. The big black Bassist wasn't completely given up to the iron claws of metal just yet, and had a thing for indie jazz. Amanda tried to join the conversation but apparently didn't get Bass. Most people didn't, so she just sort of laughed and chimed in general opinions.

Jasin reached into his pocket to pull out his Schecter's tuning key to show it to Dante, when he realized he was missing his keys. He must have left it in Boris' Ignition when he and Ken had unloaded the drums and forgotten about them. Noone would want to steal the archaic Chevy Minivan with its oversized aftermarket Ukrainian Engine, but the same keyring had the only set of keys to his recently-acquired Classic El Camino. I would cost him a fortune to replace those keys.

"Shit. Guys, how long do we have until our set starts. I need to run and get Boris' Keys. I think I sort of left them in the ignition during the rush. Damn I hope Mercy noticed them, she was the last one out. Goddamnit!" Jason shouted, kicked over a chair. Their set was the second one on after Ganon, and Ganon was almost done playing from the sound of it.

[TheBaron]

Mercy smiled at the boy named Kevin, "Yeah maybe, who knows, anyway you are kinda cute." Why was she saying this. She didn't like him at all. She shouldn't lead him on. However, she smiled at him anyway. Maybe it was because some small part of her was trying to grab Jasin's attention. Another part warred with that part. Why bother he probably wasn't interested since Addison ((OOC BTW that is my real name Addison Been dying to say that.)) was around. He wasn't even in the room to she her flirt with this guy who she wasn't interesting in. She sighed internally wishing Jasin was there. She called out to Warren, "Can I have a dew more shots." Warren grinned, "Coming right up Mercygirl." The music awas loud and a new band was up. She shifted and felt Jasin's key against her thigh. She sighed again internally. She would have to remember to give them back to him. "What a drag" She was still smiling and chatting with the boy. "This band sucks though don't they. A little to generic for my taste."

[Awean8]

Ganon was on stage. Everything they did was sheer perfection. Wade watched from backstage. The guitarist for the band sounded like fucking Jimmy Page, while Kent sounded like John Bonham. Adam was singing notes that Wade hadn't even dreamed of singing before, and the writing was structured perfectly and without flaw.

"HOW THE FUCK ARE WE SUPPOSED TO FOLLOW THIS!", Wade screamed at the top of his lungs, "If we follow this with our shit music we'll be a fucking laughing stock."

Wade was obviously upset. Adam even had better stage performance than him, largely due to the fact that Wade also played guitar therefore rendering him mostly stationary. "I can't believe this is even happening."

[Ushima]

Ken's eyes widened, the grip on the beer bottle tightened. He almost broke it in his hand and he had to fight against turning it into a missle aimed for the hippie. "Really?" He felt....defeated? He didn't know, he never felt like this before. Jasin was off to the side shaking his head. The bassist at least tried to spare his feelings, whatever those feelings were. Noticing who was in the room he gave greetings, Jacobi he flashed the horns and said 'hey'. The black guy, Dantavian he remembered from earlier greetings, hey gave friendly nod. He saw the girl who Wade was trying to get into bed with him. Ken gave a disgusted look before turning to the drummer and lead singer, who was freaking out. "Oh god damn it." Honestly he didn't know why Wade was freaking out. Ken thought all hippies were supposed to be about chill and that crap.

"God damn it Ken will you please stop just standing there you're freaking me out!" Ken didn't realize Wade could have a breakdown like normal people. So being the 'great' friend he was he decided to help.

"Chill!" Ken grabbed Wade, slapped him once in the face the started shaking him. "We are the god damn Demolition Boys!" He yelled. "We're better than this even on our worst day! You know it, I know it and everybody here knows it." Still shaking Wade. "Now man up!" Ken let go of Wade and turn to the rest of the band. "We got this. We're kicking ass tonight." He'd ignore the fact that Addi kissed Wade for now, cause he was wondering when he became the motivational speech guy.

[Jacogos]

Kevin blinked at her compliment, but kept smooth. "Uhhh, thanks, you are too, ya know?" He was buzzed, true, but not drunk, so it still threw him off a little. She must be drunk, too. Far out. He blinked again. Wait, what? He listened to the band, too, when she mentioned them, and nodded his head slightly to the beat. "Eh, I can see where their roots are, but yeah, they don't flow right with me." Since when did he talk like this? He leaned against the bar and looked at Mercy for a moment. "Ya know, you really are pretty damn pretty. You think-" At that moment, a security guard grabbed Kevin by the wrist, holding his arm up to his face so the bracelet dangled in front of him. "This band yours, sir?" Kevin grinned. "Aww, nahh, Jacobi's lead singer, so I figure he's the 'band leader', right?" The security guard nodded, raising an eyebrow. "You have some identification for me, sir?" Kevin stayed quiet for a moment, looking at the man. "Uhh.... You see... what had happened was..." He bolted. The guard went off after him, leaving Mercy to herself.

Wade was freaking out, the bassist was ranting off about Ganon being shit, and talking bass stuff to Dante, their girl drummer was psyched, the dude called Ken was trying to get Wade's morale up, but seemed a little disturbed himself. By what, Jacobi couldn't tell. Seemed like a great way to prepare for a performance. Jacobi waited until the guitarist was done before moving up next to Wade, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "Yo, bud. Listen. You hear that shit? Whatever's going on in your brain is lying to you. You think THAT'S good? Bullshit. I know how you play, and by yourself, you could place higher than this trash. With the talent you got here to back you up, you'll thrash them. Look at me." He moved in front of Wade and looked him in the eyes. "You are the DEMOLITION Boys, right? Well guess what you're gonna do? You're gonna go out on that stage and DEMOLISH those wanna-be's!! You wanna know HOW you're gonna do that?? By playing you're fucking asses off!!" Jacobi brought both of his hand down on Wade's shoulders, grinning wide. "You can do this, bra, you know that better than I do." He stepped back, waiting to see if any of that got through.

Meanwhile Dantavian was still talking bass stuff to Jasin, laughing a little. Good to know SOMEONE out there had good tastes. Amanda just didn't understand. At that moment, George bust into the room, looking a little flustered. "Yo! Jacobi! Cops got Kevin! He stole an alcohol band or somethin'!" He stopped, breathing hard. Jacobi swore and moved off. "God Dammit... I gotta go find the kid, come on, help me out, George." He exited, but not after he got a glimpse of Amanda. His jaw dropped. "Dude!! Jac-" He stopped, pushing his singer out the door before continuing. His speech was drowned out by Ganon, but you could see Jacobi's eyes widen as he looked back over at Amanda. He fist-pumped, then went off towards where Kevin was being detained.

At this, Amanda raised her eyebrow and quietly took the moment to slip out of the room. Dante didn't notice her disappearance for a few minutes, when he realized he was the only one of More Than Meets the Eye left in the room. Well, technically, Amanda wasn't apart of them either, but he didn't count that. He suddenly felt awkward, and spoke a little quieter to Jasin on their conversation.

[TheBaron]

Mercy rolled her eyes exasperated and showed her ID to the other cop who came and questioned her. He nodded to her and walked off to check others. She sighed in relief glad that he had not questioned Warren. She spotted Malory coming towards her and groaned, "Here come Bitchtator Leader of the Bitchanites." She disliked Malory throughly and really did not want to deal with her right now. However, it was clear to see that she was in a killing mood and she had spotted Mercy and decided that she was the one to kill. She threw back two more shots and grinned weakly at the girl approaching her, "Hello Malory... how ummm... nice to see you again." She cringing internally from the raw antagonism that flowed off this girl.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

"It was no big deal," she told Ken, only to be startled by Wade's yelling.

"HOW THE FUCK ARE WE SUPPOSED TO FOLLOW THIS!" So much for morale. Ganon was good, no matter how much they put them down. Addison sighed and tipped her head up toward the ceiling, running her hands over her face.

Ken was talking and shaking Wade and, feeling her presence was just aggravating things, squeezed past Jacobi and company and left the dressing room. The dark blond wove through the crowded backstage hallways and earned herself a few questioning glances from security and Ba-Bomb crew members, but her confident stride made them dismiss her.

For a little while, Addison stood off to the side of the stage, watching Ganon play; they were good, she knew, but they weren't family like many other bands were, and the slight friction on stage between the members was something only another musician could detect. Moving on, Addison grabbed up a bottle of water and cracked it open, taking a sip before recapping it and carrying it as she roamed around.

The kiss with Wade was nothing to keep from Ken. It simply wasn't. It's purpose was to make Mallory jealous, and that was that. The fact that it'd been just about the best kiss she'd ever experienced was something that no one else needed to know; Addison slid an arm around her ribs under her breasts, putting her elbow on her hand of her other arm and biting her thumbnail. Addison's amber eyes danced over the writhing crowd of Ba-Bomb as she stood at the stage door. Why she held onto herself like she did, she didn't know.

Was it the kiss? Was it how Ken's knuckles had blanched as he gripped his beer bottle? Addi looked up, eyes searching the dark roof of the club as if the answers hid in the exposed and black-painted pipes, ventilation and stage lights that clung to the ceiling.

[Awean8]

Mallory looked at Mercy like a lion would to a gazelle. "Don't fucking talk to me you loser bitch. I might catch a case of lesbian", she pompously said just to continue down the hallway go be a total bitch somewhere else.

Wade shrugged off both Ken's and Jacobi's pep talks. "I need an alcoholic beverage." He stormed off into the club searching for the bar. He never drank, in fact he thought the horrible stench of alcohol breath was for guys who didn't know how to get women. This was one of those rare instances however, the last instance coincidentally was also concerning Mallory.

"She used to be so nice.", Wade remembered what Mallory was like when they were all kids. Back than she actually enjoyed laughing, and not at someone else's expense at that. Back than she wasn't into rock stars, and she was the cutest girlfriend he could ever ask for. When she broke up with him in Freshman year, she completely changed.

"Warren, get me a beer." He wasn't in the mood for anything right now. The gay man would have probably asked what was wrong but how do ask someone who is usually laid back and cheerful why their so upset. Warren just obeyed and got him his order. Wade eyed the bottle filled with toxic liquid, and contemplated the consumption of it.

[Damonique]

For a moment, it looked like Wade would recover, snap out of it, and be back to being the happy-go-lucky, hippie bullshit-spouting, womanizing lead singer and guitarist they all needed him to be. Instead he made the sort of Decision Jasin would have made.

"I need an alcoholic beverage." The words were like a ton of bricks. Ken could hold his beer fine, sometimes he even played better drunk. Jasin could do with a few beers before it even put a notch in his senses, but no, not Wade.

Wade didn't drink much at all, for good reason. Jasin remembered Eighth grade when he had been experimenting with things he shouldn't, and he ended up snatching a bottle of vodka from his dads liquor cabinet and convincing wade to toss shots with him. It ended with Wade sick in the bathroom, almost ready to go to the hospital, while Jasin just laughed his ass off, because when he was drunk he couldn't think of anything but how hilarious that was.

Jasin and Dantavian tried to follow Wade out into the club, but he lost track of him. There were three bars on the opening crowd area, and Wade would probably head to the one tended by Mercy's friend Warren, halfway across the club floor. They were running out of time, The Demolition Boys would be called in ten minutes, and someone needed to set up. Addi had disappeared.

"Goddamn it all. Dante, would 'ya mind helping me with these instruments. We need them on stage soon, and everyone seems to have forgotten that we have a show to play." Dante, thankfully, agreed to help, and they started getting together the gear. Jasin didn't say anything to Ken, he seemed a bit overwhelmed at the moment.

Why couldn't Addi have just lied?

[TheBaron]

Mercy felt her mood fall through the floor, the one thing she did not want to hear. From anyone... It bothered her a lot when people said things like that about her. It wasn't true so it shouldn't bother her. But it did... She knew people accused her of it behind her back and in front of her. Sher had done... things before. She just wasn't all up in anyones grill about it. Warren looked at her and frowned, "Don't listen to that bit- Oh Mercy don't cry..." She felt the tears on her face. She was being over emotional from the drinks she had. SHe was feeling unnecessarily hurt but what Malory had said. She knew that crying would only make her come back and make fun of her some more. That only made her cry a little harder. She felt Warren patting her on her back. She knew the guys and girl were coming on soon so she had to cheer up but the thought of Jasin seeing her or not seeing her made her feel a little worse for some reason. She sighed, "This has been a tough night..."

[Ushima]

Wade looked ok. "I need an alcoholic beverage."

Ken facepalmed. "Talk about fucking counter productive." Wade couldn't hold his booze like Ken. So far the metal head has only had two and it'd be a few more before he actually felt any different. "Guess our speeches didn't work Jacobi." Normally he wasn't good with words but he thought his speech was pretty awesome. Thinking back on it he was psyched up more. With everybody leaving the smile slipped from his face. "Wade could go fuck himself." Ken picked up the bottle and threw it against the wall. It shattered, shards rained down. "Womanizing, pansy asshole." Running a hand through his hair he sat down on the couch. He was angry, so an amazing performance from him was practically assured. Ken takes what he feels and pours it out as he plays. "I should've acted sooner." Ken layed down on the couch. "Damn it."

[Damonique]

As Jasin worked through a tangle of cords, wires, plugs, and dials. It was all a bunch of bullshit. Addi could have just fucking lied like the rest of the world so often does and ignored this whole thing. Now Ken was pissed, Wade was drinking, and Addi was nowhere to be find. They were pretty much fucked.

As he tuned some amps to the right frequency, Jasin thought back to before things had been so damn complicated. Middle School, back before he was smoking back in the school parking lot and Wade was sticking it into everything that happened to have breasts.

It had been a great Summer. Jasin had gotten his dad to pay for Him, Wade, and Mercy to go wherever they wanted. Movies, Parties(That was when Jasin had first gotten an affinity for Nicotine and Alcohol), Concerts, you name it. The Iian Marc "I'm sorry that you can never see your real mom again because I sued for custody" bill worked for it all.

The first days of Freshman year, it all changed. Wade had met a girl, Mallory. She had been nice at first, but she took away his personality, he was more or less her bitch. Soon Wade and Mallory were skipping lunch together and spending all the time after school with each other. Jasin tried to confront him about it, and had been less than kindly told where he could take his complaints. Wade said he was jealous. How the hell could he be jealous of a life-sapping attention whore like Mallory. Jasin almost busted the wattage dial of an amp when he clenched his fest in anger, remembering that.

After that it was just Jasin and Mercy. Jasin had tried to be there for her after her mom died, but she was withdrawing in on herself, telling him to go away and that he could never understand what was going on. He quit coming to her house to try to talk to her after she had punched him in the jaw when he had picked her door lock so that he could go talk to her. Girl had a damn good punch in her, must have been all of the painting. He reminisced fondly.

After that, he started chain-smoking and drinking every other weekend. His dad had bailed him out of county jail after party busts twice. It wasn't a good life, Jasin wasn't a natural delinquent. A bit of a rebel, maybe, but not a bad person, not like some of the people he got busted with. Jasin was glad he had found his friends again, found his band, otherwise, he would have ended up dead, OD'ing somewhere in an alleyway.

"Next up, for our Final Performance, The Demolition Boys!!!" The announcer shouted. That meant they had about ten minutes to get on stage. Jasin forgot about "Yoko Breaking Up the Band", forgot about how angry he was that Wade and Addi couldn't just keep it cool and Lie.

Walking up to where Ken was slouching against the wall, Jasin grabbed him by the heir and raised him to his feet. It wasn't too difficult, Ken wasn't paying attention and Jasin had a serious height advantage. Jasin knew it probably hurt. Whatever, hopefully it would just make their Guitarist angrier. He played great when he was angry.

"Get the hell up. Quit feeling sorry for yourself, and help me get this shit on stage." Jasin was in No-Nonsense mode. They weren't going down without a metaphorical fight. If Ganon wanted competition, they would get competition. The shit with Wade and Addi could wait.

Before long, Jasin had most of the gear set up on stage. The Amps weren't positioned perfectly, and Addi's drum kit was probably a bit off center, but it was all technicalities. Jasin was just glad the stage curtain had been lowered so that people wouldn't see that they were still sans their Singer and Drummer. Jasin just got shit in position and plugged it all in. They only had three and a half minutes. Jasin went over the mental checklist.

Guitars. Check.
Amps, Plugged and Loud. Check.
Drums in Place. Check.
Band Members.....That one would take some finesse.

Or Not. Jasin told the guy to pull up the curtain in the "Do what I say, or I'll bust your face in." attitude he usually reserved for unsuspecting drive-thru attendants who got how meal wrong when he was running late.

The curtain went up, and Jasin walked up to the microphone. Jasin didn't know if Ken was behind him or not, and couldn't look back. He adjusted the mic.

"Yo, Wade, Addi. We don't give a fucking shit about anything right now but you two getting your asses on stage and PLAYING THIS GODDAMN SET! You have one minute to get up here....Or I'll start singing." Jasin said that last part with an air of Finality. Jasin couldn't sing. He could scream, sure, and he was great and doing spoken word background. But he could not sing. He definitely couldn't sing anything wade had written, all of it was meant to be done in his Awkwardly feminine, oddly soul-shaking voice. Not Jasin's deep, low, scratched to hell screech.

Looking at his Rolex, Jasin counted down the seconds. If Wade and Addi got on stage, everyone would think it was just stage acting. If not....well, Jasin would see if he couldn't go live with an uncle in the Caymans for a while, because he'd be an exile in this town.

"Come on, Wade, Man. Don't let me down." He whispered, over and over, too quiet for the mic to pick up.

[Jacogos]

Jacobi and George were discussing their idea when Amanda finally caught up to them, busting in between them. "SO! What's this I hear about me?" George blushed violently and stammered until Jacobi sighed and spoke over him. "So, you're in chorus?" Amanda looked at George, then at Jacobi, taking in each for a moment. "Yeah... and?" George finally burst out. "TOLD YA!! You're Amanda Rogers! You're like the freakin' singing beast in our school!! How many All States did you get soloist in?"

Jacobi butted in rudely. "George. Shut up. Please. Thank you." He looked at Amanda again and began to run the details of their interest by her. She raised an eyebrow again and folded her arms under her breasts as they walked. "What exactly do I get out of this?" Jacobi shrugged. "That's the problem, eh? What exactly do you think we have to give you?" She thought for a moment, looking up and to the right. "Well, maybe I could... 'borrow' Dante for a while, if you don't mind..." Jacobi stopped, looking at her. She laughed. "Kidding, Jacobi. I'll think of something." She winked and turned around walking back the way they had come. George stared after her until Jacobi came back to drag him along. They still needed to find Kevin.

Dantavian was fine with helping Jasin set up the equipment, at least it kept him busy. He thought about going to see if Jacobi and George needed help, but he figured that the Demolition Boys needed more help at that moment. So he helped them set up and, when they were done with that, he moved off to the side to listen to them, watching from the side curtains like a roadie used to the band's performances. He laughed to himself at Jasin's 'curtain call' for the other two, and wondered what kind of effect that would have the band members.

[Awean8]

Ganon was announced off which caused Wade to sigh in relief. The beer he had ordered had gone still untouched, and just as he was about to take a sip he heard Jasin's voice. It was touching to him in odd Jasin kind of way. Wade had finally snapped himself out of his pathetic torrent of feeling sorry for himself. The Demolition Boys were his only true friends, and he almost let that go to waste.

Him and Mallory were over, and done with. He had to get over it. No matter how many times he had sex with random girls nothing was going to change the fact that he was heart broken and alone, so the only logical thing left to do was to rock out.

Wade dashed out into the crowd, leaving his beer. "Let me through. I'm the singer", he yelled to get people to move. Why are there an abnormal amount of fat people right when I'm trying to get through? He had pushed past a number of people, until it got to the point where he was on top of the crowd crawling over people to the front. When he finally got to the stage, he was already breathing heavily. "Thank......you.....Jasin."

[TheBaron]

Mercy grinned through her tears that had slowed down considerably. Jasin said he was going to sing that was laughable. She remembered his attempts to sing and knew that he would still not be able to do it. Wade patted her on the back and whistled softly, "Well Mercygirl. He is indeed a looker if that is the guy you are going after." She nodded sadly. He will never care. Not about me. I am nothing. She wiped away her tears. It was still very evident that she had been crying and would be for at least another thirty to forty five minutes. She sighed and wiped her eyes again. She really wanted them to do well. There had been two other really good bands before them. However, she had faith that they could do it. She grinned and waved at Jasin not caring whether or not he saw it.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Addison, back against the papered wall, raised her hands to her face and, with her ring fingers on both hands, discretely rid her eyes of the tears that'd be welling there. At about that same time, Jasin's voice came over the sound system, him standing up on stage with Ken and Tommy was off-center in the background.

"Yo, Wade, Addi. We don't give a fucking shit about anything right now but you two getting your asses on stage and PLAYING THIS GODDAMN SET! You have one minute to get up here....Or I'll start singing."

"Keep your FUCKING whitie-tighties on, JASIN!" Addison raised her voice, strong lungs projecting her voice as she strode toward the stage, weaving through the crowd. The young woman's eyes were hard, fixed on Jasin as she walked up to the stage, raised her leg to draw her drumsticks from her boot again and lift herself smoothly up onto the stage, striding toward her kit.

She grabbed her spare bag of drumsticks off the platform, gripped her kit's frame and heaved it a few inches to the left. Taking her seat behind Tommy, she adjusted the suspended microphone into its new position and strung her bag of sticks open and close at hand. Relaxing in her spot, she shook her hair back over her shoulders and cast her eyes out over the crowd, twirling her sticks in her fingers as she often did when they were in her hands.

[Awean8]

-disregard this-

[Ushima]

Jasin pulled his hair. "Ah what the fuck!?" Ken grabbed at his head. "Fuck I really need to get my buzz cut back." Ken's head was lowered as Jasin yelled at him. He really was acting like a child. Deep down he knew he was better than this. He wouldn't let something like this get in the way. The Demolition Boys were all he had. "Alright time for me to man up!" Ken grabbed Sasha off the chair and followed Jasin. "Alright lets go do work son!" Ken was excited again. He followed Jasin and Dante onto the stage. "Yo hand me that cable." He plugged in Sasha and got his amps and pedals all set. Going over to his mic. "Check one, check two, check." He tapped the microphone twice before giving a thumbs up.

"Ken help with the drums." Dante ordered. Ken did as he was told. First he kept the bass going, then the snare, then highhat. Each piece had to be checked by the sound guy. Then he was asked to play the whole kit. So Ken played the first twenty seconds od Disturbed's Deceiver. Getting the clear from the sound guy he set down the drum sticks. Ken watched as Jasin called Addi and Wade, laughing.

"You sing? Son of a bitch." Ken knew if anything he'd step up and sing. He voice was all ranges, though screaming and growling was his preferred area. A movement in the crowd caught his attention. It was Wade. Ken couldn't believe the amount of large people in Wade's way. "Hey clear out." Ken ordered the people and Wade got on stage. "We ready for this shit?" Turning back he saw Addi sit down and he gave her a smile. "Glad you're here princess." He used the old childhood nickname. He grabbed a waterbottle and handed it to Wade. "Must be thirsty, cause I know for sure you didn't drink that beer."

[Damonique]

Jasin let out a sigh of relief, and then a smile, as Wade finally broke through the crowd to join him on stage. He was breathing heavily, and Jasin could barely hear the thanks me s gave. Jasin just smiled and put a hand on his friends shoulder.

"Buddy, I think 'ya need this!" Jasin chuckled, and handed wade the microphone, a moment later, Addi vaulted on stage, much more gracefully than Wade, who had taken his microphone and picked up Jude, tuning as quickly as he could by increments.

"Keep you FUCKING whitie-tighties on, JASIN!" Her face was red a beets and there was that slight crease between her eyes that formed when she was about to move past friend-angry to giggling like a damned schoolgirl. Jasin couldn't tell if she had been sweating or crying ,but her face was wet. Everything was coming together. There was just one thing missing.

Jasin picked up his Schecter by the neck one-handed and twisted it around behind him, looping the strap over his shoulder and spinning the bass up into his waiting, Calloused hands. His long, dust-brown hair was throwing of perspiration and he felt like he looked like somebody from an '80's hair band. Scanning the crowd, he found her, or really, he found Warren, her big, black gay friend who happened to tend Bar #3 and the Ba-Bomb. Just to his left, there she was.

Jasin couldn't see Mercy too well from where he was, but she looked like she was smiling. He flashed her a thumbs and pointed the bass neck straight towards her, his ice blue eyes straining thorough the bright stage floodlights as he just smiled, and then, he set his fingers to the strings. Bass came first before even the drums for "Phase One" and he added his own flair, a full ladderscale up and down the high and low chords of his bass. A little trick practice be Rush's Geddy Lee, his unknown tutor. Mercy was the ONLY person who knew he liked Rush. It wasn't in the music Wade had written but Jasin worked it into the opening. It turned out sounding good, crisp, and...Unique.

Then he started the Bass Proper, Letting notes hand as he manipulated the portable switch to turn up his Amp. Louder, Louder, Louder, and pummeling waterfall of sound resonating from the Schecter and bouncing around the club and reverberating off the wall. Then Addi cut in with her drums, freaking Mozart with drumsticks. Wade and Ken would start in a moment with lyrics and guitar, but for now, it was all Jasin. And Addi. But mostly Jasin.

[Awean8]

Wade quickly ran into the dressing room, and grabbed Jude just in time to plug her in and than start. Jasin began to play the opening bass part to "Phase One", with Ken giving off distortion with his guitar and Addi preparing to play her bit. He had something to say but he had to say before Addi started playing or they wouldn't hear him.

"Guys......For everything that has happened......I'm sorry."

Addi began to play drowning out any explanation for the apology. He began to strum his guitar in an almost furry, as Ken backed him up on lead. "Phase one to my plan - begins with - everything you said - "

He let the opening words out in an raspy punk rock voice, despite the fact he was hitting actual notes. For the chorus he made his voice more clean, "I wouldn't be caught dead - with a heart on my sleeve - or some red on my teeth - Than again I'd do it just to prove a point. - Than again I'd do ANYTHING to prove I'm right"

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Addison was probably the most easy to miss-read of the whole band. Her eyes were expressive, but sometimes rage, confusion and hurt were all varying degrees of the same look, and there were other times where she just had to laugh about it. Why, in these times, she had to laugh instead of cry, she didn't know. Overwhelmed was a good way to explain it, but there was absolutely no reasoning behind it.

Addi had a rather gifted life, compared to her friends, her bandmates. She had her loving father, adorable mother who, granted, worked a lot (as a nurse), but Addison really couldn't legitimately complain about anything. She was a little violent, but she never kicked anyone's ass without reason, without throwing the first punch, and she always saw a punishment for it, to some degree.

At her cue, the tips of Addi's drumsticks smashed against the drumheads; the bass pedal pressed to the floor almost in slow-motion for the drummer and the Demolition Boys flowed into Phase One. How appropriate.

Addi's chapstick coated lips moved softly with Wade's lyrics and she played, nailing every beat. The seventeen year old played hard, skin beading with sweat under the hot stage lights - they were worse than her garage during summer practices; she was thankful to just be wearing a pair of tank tops, even if one was knitted.

For a moment, panic struck her.

The smooth, usually solid wood of Addi's drumstick crumpled against the batter head of one of her mid-toms. Dropping the slender shaft of wood, her hand went to her spare bag of sticks, slipping into it and plucking out a spare stick, continuing on flawlessly with the new stick.

She licked her lips and tossed her hair back again, out of her face, only to have it fall back over her shoulders as she played. The muscles of her arms and legs warmed with the music, the noise and beautiful distortion pressing in around her, making the air thick to breathe. She loved it; this was her sex, this was her drug, alcohol, her high.

[Ushima]

Ken took his shirt off and threw it off to the side of the stage where he'd get it later. "Let's fucking do this." Addi and Jasin started things off. It was slow, but not for long. Ken played and the note went on for a bit before a Ken kicked it up. Fingers on frets and strumming aggressively. Everything he felt was coming out, anger, saddness, happiness. Stepping closer to the mic he got ready to scream a few lines. His voice came out, heavy, angry. Sasha roared as he kept playing. Feet spread out and knees slightly bent, headbanging. Ken let the music wash over him. His body felt hot, he was starting to sweat a little, his fingers working and playing perfectly. This is what he loved, more than anything. Playing music, it was his passion.

Stepping up he began to sing again, this time a bit longer. He held the last word for a good thirty seconds. The song was coming to the end, and that meant a solo. So Ken moved to the edge of the stage, bending down low again, his hair in his face as he headbanged and shredding. His fingers were moving fast. On the last note he held it and played the wammy bar as they finished the first song.

[Awean8]

They played through the set without too many problems, although Addi had broken several of her sticks but she didn't seem all too distraught. By the end of the sixth song they were all sweating, and tired. The lights shined onto the stage and began to hurt Wade's eyes.

They all got off stage and crowded into the dressing room. The owner of the place will be announcing who will proceed to the Final Round in about five minutes. The pressure was killing Wade.

By the time he had walked into the dressing room, he had already finished off two water bottles and left them littered on the carpeted floor. Sitting on the couch he sat silently waiting.

Mallory nervously poked her head through the door, unsure how to feel. She gave a sort of awkward sort of smile, as if she was impressed by him or something. Wade could hear people talking about them in the hallway.

"Dude, were you here for the last band?"

"No, er - I was taking a piss. Were they any good?"

"Dude, they were awesome!"

"Wait - Are you guys talking about the Demolition Boys?"

"Yeah"

'They totally sucked. They were total amateurs."

"Nuh-uh. They were totally legit."

"Enjoy listening to sub-par low quality bands, jerk off"

The conversation between the three went for awhile before they all got bored quickly dispersing to different parts of the club. The next five minutes were going to determine if the Demolition Boys were going to sink or swim. Getting signed to Tri-Force records will help them get a record, and than possibly even put on the map.

[Damonique]

Jasin was exhausted, disheveled, and soaked with sweat. His calloused fingers were bleeding from the bite of the guitar strings and his throat was on fire from his Uber-Low background lyrics. They had played amazingly though, Ken's guitar fueled by anger and emotion, Addi has played perfectly as always, and Jasin's Bass kept putting out sound at an ear-splitting 1700 Decibels.

Jasin opted out of going into the dressing room with everyone elses sweaty selves, and just stepped in long enough to grab a cool bottle of water. He walked out onto the club floor with his Schecter slung over his shoulder, the brushed-diamond finish on the wood making it easily recognizable. He got a few high fives and some snickers concerning his pre-show desperation move.

Soon he found what he was looking for, Bar #3, well know for the fact that the Bartender, Warren, never seemed to check ID's with too much scrutiny if you looked like you could hold the drink. Mercy was there at the bar as well, with at least one empty vodka bottle in sight. Mercy had started REALLY drinking after her mother died. Jasin knew that only because he knew the guy who had hooked her up with her Fake ID.

Jasin slid his own false identification, listing him as Jacob Nielsson, Age 21(A senior who had graduated and moved to Canada two years ago) across the bar to warren and took the corner bar stool perpendicular to Mercy's, laying his Schecter across his lap and using his sleeve to wipe of the thin trails of blood his cut fingers had left on the face.


"Warren, I'll have a bottle of vodka. If the next five minutes prove favorable, I'll be having a celebratory toast. If not, I'll need you to leave the bottle so I can drink myself half to death." Jasin chuckled, pointing to the announcer who would seal the fate of the Demolition Boys. As he was waiting for his drink, Jasin reached over and shook Mercy's shoulder to get her attention. She hadn't noticed him walk up, so she was definitely more than a bit drunk.

"Hey, Mer-Mer, how did we do?" He inquired, using a childhood nickname that he hadn't called her by since at least fifth grade.

[Ushima]

Ken finished playing. It was an awesome show. Everything he felt poured out and he felt so much better than he did earlier. Panting and sweating he raised his fist and the crowd cheered louder. Getting off the stage Ken picked up his shirt from where he threw it earlier. Noticing Jasin break off and walk away he knew where he was going, to find Mercy. That made him wonder where the other girl was, he hadn't seen her since they arrived at the club. Though Ken knew she was alright, if something were to have happened they probably would've heard of it by now. "Fuckin' a!" Ken entered the dressing room. "We kick ass or we kick ass?" He walked over to his stuff and started packing up his gear. "Damn." He cursed as he saw the glass shards from when he threw the bottle. Ignoring it for now, as cleaning it up would atract attention, he opened his guitar case. "You did good girl." He placed the guitar in the case. "Rest now." Again talking to his guitar. Closing the case he stood up and grabbed a water bottle. Drinking a bit he dumped a bit on his head and drank some more as he moved to the couch. "Great job princess." He nudged Addi as he walked by. Laying down on the couch he yawned. "Damn I'm tired." Rubbing his eyes he watched Wade pace around. "Chill buddy, we got this." Ken was confident in their performance. The conversation outside the room he found funny. "Seems opinions are mixed. Fuck them I say. We rock, they don't know shit about music."

[Jacogos]

Jacobi managed to find Kevin, who was sitting outside some sort of booth set up for the security. Obviously it was only temporarily, so Jacobi figured there must be an extra temporary guard or two on duty for this gig. Kevin looked at Jacobi and grinned wide, waving him over. "Boss! I knew you'd come bail me out!"

Jacobi laughed, "What is there to bail you out of? Seems like you can just walk off." Kevin looked down and shrugged. "They say I can't go until they're done 'filing' me or some shit." Jacobi sighed and went into the booth for a few minutes. When he came out, the Demolition Boys were already on their second song. He looked up at a speaker and grinned. "Yeaah, Wade, that's what I'm talking about. Little punk-ish for my tastes, but it'll go well with the judges." He beckoned for Kevin and George, who had settled on the bench to discuss their performance and Amanda. "Come on, ya nerds, we got a band to cheer for. Oh, and Junior, you owe me twenty." The two grinned in unison, though Kevin looked a little confused at the mention of 'twenty', and whooped, jumping off the bench and heading for the stands.

Dantavian was still viewing the performance from the back side, nodding his head in time with the music. Very catchy, and damn well played. He could only really admire Jasin's playing, since he didn't know shit about the rest. The lyrics were alright in his opinion, but he was a jazz guy, so his opinion didn't really count there. He heard familiar voices behind him and turned to see the rest of his band heading towards the stands. He smiled to himself and followed them, looking back at the Demolition Boys for a moment as their song ended.

More Than Meets the Eye found their way into the pit rather easily, and soon were all headbanging (with the exception of Dante) to the music. At the end, they were probably the loudest ones cheering for the band, all of them flashing metal horns and hooting and hollering over the din of the crowd. When they were off, Jacobi grabbed the group as a whole and spoke over the noise, "Come on! We gotta find them and congratulate them! When the winners come in, though, don't be too smug when we get gold, right?" He laughed and sped off through the crowd towards backstage, Kevin and George right behind him. Dante laughed a little and stayed in the crowd, looking around for a moment before following.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

"Take me with you, I start to miss you," was playing over the Ba-bomb speakers now, filler by the DJ as the bands were done for tonight. The club's crewmen cleared the stage, and Addi followed Ken and Wade back to the dressing room. She was panting softly, mopping sweat off her neck, forehead and cheeks, the back of her neck, with a towel.

"Fuck, I hate stage lights," she muttered, mostly talking to herself before cracking open a bottle of water in their dressing room and downing more than half the bottle before pulling it from her lips and gasping like a swimmer for air. "Like heat lamps..."

Addison snatched up a flyer of some kind, but on good stock paper and folded it in half, drawing the front of her baggy shirts away from her frame as she started to fan herself, closing her eyes and relaxing for a moment. Ken nudged her as he passed by and she just smiled at him, nodding at his praise.

"We were awesome," she said, looking to her purse and grabbing it up from Ken's falling feet as he plopped down on the couch. She opened it and fished out her phone, checking her messages.

"Sounds like there are about six parties tonight," she told them, tapping away on her phone now, responding to text messages. Her phone vibrated a few quick times in a row and she drew up the new messages. "Three have been shut down already. Bailey's, Aaron's and Margaret's are still going, though."

The guys probably didn't know who they were, and Addison vaguely recalled, but that wasn't the point. Addison had already told her father she'd probably be home late, and she forwarded the potential party addresses to her dad, noting that she was still at the club, just finished their set, haven't announced the finalists yet, and may be around one of these addresses later, will tell which one(s) later, xoxox.

"I'm going to go get some fresh air," she told them and tucked her phone back into her purse, slipping out the dressing room door. She moved through the dark hallways at the back of the club and then out the alley door she'd come in. So not to lock herself out (which she'd done before), Addison wedged a piece of a cement block between the heavy back door and its frame, leaving it cracked open about an inch and a half.

Addi placed her back against the brick wall that butted up against the back of the Ba-Bomb, closing her eyes and tipping her head toward the sky. From the door, she could hear the music and other assorted cacophony of noise from inside, even the music that pumped out the speakers set up outside the front of the club. She relaxed there for awhile, supporting herself against the wall, enjoying the cool night air, how it chilled the beads of sweat on her forehead and neck that she'd missed.

[TheBaron]

Mercy had been absorbed in the vodkas daze and the spectacular music that the band were playing. She still looking like she had been crying recently as she looked up at Jasin when she heard his voice. She wiped her eyes and face to make sure they were clear of tears. She had really enjoyed the show. The band were great as she expected so she didn't have much comment about that. However, Jasin deserved to hear it. She grinned a little and smiled, "You guys were great. You really were. I actually like the Bass parts the best." She was slurring in her speech slightly. She was holding her drink well. She wanted to keep it together in front of Jasin. "I hope you night besides the actual playing was fun and hopefully drama free mine certainly wasn't. SO guy when I got here got adventurous with his hand so I hurt mine on his face and he has been out I would assume ever since." She shuddered a little at the thought of the hand touching her... She shook her head, "Then I was talking to this guy from this band his name was Kevin and he was nice enough until the police dragged him off. Then of course to top it all off Malory came over and bitched me out. Left me in tears actually. She is really good at dragging people down right when they are teetering on the edge. I h-... strongly dislike her..." She sighed and pushed him one of her last two shot glasses full of vodka. "Well drink up me hearty... May the night become better after this point. She downed hers and lay her head on her arms on the bar.

[Awean8]

The owner of the place, a rather odd looking old man dressed like biker, stepped onto the stage with several not as old judges. It was time to announce who going to the Final Round next week, and who was going home with nothing. The old biker dude stepped up to the microphone sporting some thick shades, and said, "So far this bodacious battle of the bands has had me has been real fly."

It was clear to Wade this old man was just trying to feel young and hip; it made him giggle. He was still nervous since the next few words, were going to change everything. "I am happy to announce the winners. In third place, The Demolition Boys.-"

The news struck him like a car wreck. Not only did Adam beat him, but another band had also proved that they were better. His heart skipped a beat. "In second place, More than Meets the Eye, and in first place Ganon!"

This sucked.

"Chime in next week for the Final Round, where these three bands will battle again to see who comes out on top. The winner getting the chance to sign with Tri-Force records!"

[Damonique]

Jasin smiled at Mercy and trailed a few fingers through her quite messy red-tipped black hair and watched the stage, keeping the shot glass in his hand for the final announcement. The guy who ran the club, an older guy wearing a bit too much leather and a pair of thick rimmed aviators, stepped up. Not a lot of people knew that he was an old, old school rocker. Played at Woodstock, even, though he had just sort of taken the stage, rather than was paid to play.

Mercy was definitely more than half drunk. While her grief spiral after her mom had died had attained her some decent tolerance, it was apparent in her slurred speech and inattentive smile that she was drunk. The guy on stage was still holding out, finally, he got the damned mic adjusted and started talking.

"I am happy to announce the winners. In third place, The Demolition Boys, In second place, More than Meets the Eye, and in first place Ganon!" The crowd went wild. Jasin slumped a bit at first, then tossed back his shot of vodka and stood up, shouting towards the stage.

"Bunch of bullshit, I can get the Demo-Boys going in third, but More than Meets the Eye kicked Ganon's ass a million different ways at once. Somebody's payin' off the judges I tell 'ya!" His protests were completely drowned out by the crowds own protests and cheers, but it felt good to say it.

Jasin probably should have gone back to his band, but he didn't want to go near the inevitable shitstorm from Wade and Ken. Guys couldn't just take a win as a win and call it good. But hey, they were making it to the finals, so they still had a chance to kick Ganon's ass once and for all before it was all said and done!

Jasin took another shot of the vodka and turned back to Mercy, grinning slightly. Depressed drunkenness didn't suit her at all. Jasin ordered another bottle of vodka from warren and laid one hand over her shoulder and placed the other under her chin, lifting her head up so he could see her eyes.

"You know, Mercy, you don't give yourself enough credit for staying you know....You. Look at Mallory, while I still didn't like her back when she was with Wade, she was almost, you know, nice. Then she turned into bitch princess to make herself feel better than the rest of the world. I mean at least when you have issues you admit it. Probably something Wade should give a shot, if he did, there would be a hell of a lot less drama going on in the band." Jasin started, almost getting off topic about a dozen times. He wasn't even buzzed yet, but something about trying to explain something to a drunk person made it easy for the mind to wander.

Jasin paused and downed another shot. Usually he didn't drink so compulsively, maybe an unconscious attempt to even the playing field. If your going to hit on one of your best friends while she's drunk, you may as well be a little buzzed. Or some shit like that, he thought.

"What I'm trying to say here, is that you have a lot more good than you give yourself credit for. You know that, right? You nice, pretty, you look a lot better than you seem to think, you never seem to get mad, really...and, you forgive people. I turned a total fucker starting about halfway though freshman year. I never really targeted you, but my friends were the same people who made your life hell. Same goes for Ken...and the fact that we're even still talking is a miracle." Jasin finished, taking another shot to settle his nerves.

Everything seemed a bit awkward as she just sort of looked at him. Probably wondering if I've gone insane or can't hold alcohol as well as I thought. Jasin thought. Great, now I'm being snide to myself.

[TheBaron]

Mercy groaned when she heard the announcements about the bands placing. This was really not her night. It didn't bother her so much that they had gotten third since they would still be able to go to the finals. She looked up as Jasin spoke to her. He was saying nice things to him that was for sure. she listened to him ans said nothing so that she could hear him out. He talked about things all across the board and they were for the most part good things. He was waiting for her response now

Mercy patted him on the head. His words made her a whole lot happier than the alcohol ever could or would. She wasn't focusing on the results at all. all that mattered was that she was talking to Jasin and he was saying really nice things to her. What exactly those were she had to ponder for a second and get them straight. When she finally did she grinned widely, "One Warren... I have definitely had to much to drink. Two Jasin... I am to drunk to really know what to say to you in response to the things that you have said to me since they are the things that I have always wanted to hear you say to me... Three I am drunk enough that what I am about to do makes sense to me..." She reached out to him twined one of her hands in his hair and brought his lips to hers.

[Ushima]

Ken ran his hands through his hair, it was getting pretty long. "Fuck it I'll get it buzzed." Taking a drink he finished up the water bottle and tossed it out. Sighing he got up and moved and stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame. "Should be announcing the results soon." Ken said to the only person in the room with him, Wade.

"I am happy to announce the winners. In third place, The Demolition Boys, In second place, More than Meets the Eye, and in first place Ganon!" Ken's heart sank. They didn't get first.

"Fuck!" After they played their hearts out. "At least we placed." Sighing he punched the wall. "We'll own in the finals." After all that talk he did they didn't get first. He was kinda pissed at himself, all that talk and nothing to show. "We're gonna have to step tour game up. Ganon will be no problem to beat. More Than Meets The Eye has me a bit worried though." Ken knew hell have to practice until he nearly drops dead. "Got a lot of work to do huh?" Ken, despite losing, was smiling.

[Damonique]

(Post Co-Op'ed with Vampbaron)

Jasin smiled when she spoke, thankful he had cheered her up....then she kissed him. It wasn't a six-year-old-not-knowing-what-we're doing kiss, or a middle school just-experimenting-with-boys kiss. It was real, and long, with lots of tongue and he felt his skin burning up. The kiss broke for a moment as his Schecter Bass shifted out of his lap to hang lazily under his shoulder by its strap.

"Mercy...your drunk and I can't...." He was trying to stutter something out about how this was wrong and how he wasn't that sort of person. But it Feels Right. His subconscious butted in, so he just stood there, ice blue eyes transfixed on her face. Mercy pulled away so that her face was less than a inch away from his.

"No you listen to me... I want to kiss you even when I'm not drunk and being drunk is the only way I can do this... You intimidate me to much other wise. So for once you thickheaded boy you are going to listen to me, whether or not I have to get you drunk to kiss me back." She added the last bit with a smirk kissed him again.

Warren from the bar rolled his eyes and crowed, "Get a room... gosh... you offend my gayness." jokingly. Mercy ignored him and kept kissing Jasin. It felt so completely right, there was no way that the "rational' or "intelligent" parts of Jasin's mind were going to stop it.

Jasin didn't bother trying to argue with her, there was no point. The idea that Mercy, timid, quiet Mercy was doing this was too shocking. Looking at Warren, Jasin used his one free hand to slap a 20$ bill on the bar table and take back his Fake ID. He stood, hiking the Schecter up onto his shoulder and pulling Mercy up with him.

"You still have the keys to Boris', Right?" He asked as he helped push them through the crowd of people near the entrance. His face was sweating, and he couldn't tell if it was because of the number of people around them or Her. He broke and resumed kissing her as he finally pushed through the crowd into the parking lot. The Autumn air was cool, but it felt good.

As they finally reached the parking lot, She pushed him against the chilled metal of his Van. She was still kissing him as she reached into her pocket and pulled out his key chain, She pulled her face away and grinned, letting the keys hang in front of his face.

"Just be glad that I'm the one that found them." She grinned at him. "Because now we can use your van instead of having to wait." She smirked naughtily, and he took the keys and popped open the back of the van and fell back into the carpeted interior, Mercy falling on top of him. He shut the back door and put the key into the ignition. He popeed open the glove box and found a condom he had probably left there a year ago, and turning knob on the radio to some classic rock station. Not because he wanted to hear it, but because it muffled the sounds coming from the van a moment later.

*Insert Early '60's Vintage Porn Soundtrack Here*

[Jacogos]

Jacobi just caught sight of the Demo Boy's room when he heard the owner get on stage, or rather, he heard someone mention it. He turned and had to dodge out of Junior's way, who couldn't be bothered to stop running. Sighing, Jacobi waited for the man to spit out the winners.

"In third place, The Demolition Boys, In second place, More than Meets the Eye, and in first place, Ganon!"

"Son of a bitch, GANON got first!? Bull SHIT they did!!" Jacobi burst out, followed similarly by George. The little guitarist managed an impressive rant considering his usual anti-cursing policy. Very impressive.

Even Dantavian was peeved. "You gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me, man. Ain't no way in hell those posers beat us, much less the Demo Boys. Bitch is rigged, you ask me." He muttered for a little while longer, about marching up to the judges and knocking some sense into them with his bare hands. Jacobi seconded that motion, but only after seeing how the other band was taking it. Hell, they were still going to the finals, after all.

Jacobi peeped his head into the room to find only Wade and Kevin. Figuring Wade was the only one he'd really be able to talk to, he went in, leaving the rest of MTME outside. "Yo, Wade, we made finals! Now we have to practice and show up those posers who bribed the judges, eh?" He grinned a little, hoping that the hippie would take his little pick-me-up well enough.

Meanwhile, a bored Amanda Rogers found her way out of the smoke filled pit and out one of the side doors. Coughing a little at the freshness of the air, she sighed and looked around for a different entrance to the Ba-bomb. That's how she ran into Addi. Well, not literally, but she jumped a little when she found someone outside the club as well. "Oh! Woah, didn't think anyone would be out here." She paused for a moment, looking the girl over. "Aren't you the drummer of the Demolition Boys?" Odd, having a girl in a band named the Demolition Boys.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

"God damn it," Addison murmured as she opened the alley door all the way to go back inside. She meant to step back inside just in time to hear they'd taken third place, More Than Meets The Eye had gotten runner-up and Ganon had taken first. She needed to hit something, run, play, anything.

"Oh! Woah, didn't think anyone would be out here," a voice said, startling her. She turned to see a girl she recognized as Amanda coming toward her from one of the other back doors to Ba-Bomb. She asked, "Aren't you the drummer of the Demolition Boys?"

"Uh, yeah. M'name's Addison," she introduced herself, nodded, then slid the brick back into place to hold open the door again.

"You're friends with More Than, right? Tell them congrats for me, you'll probably see them before I do. I need to get some water. Don't get raped out here, ok?" Addi joked, flashing Amanda a smile then slipping back into the club.

She stopped short inside and her fingers slid through her hair, gripping at the roots as she stood in the darkness that was backstage. A DJ was controlling the music now, mostly American Top 40 for dance music with a little bit of rock and metal thrown around in there.

Still wearing her tank tops, she rubbed her arms a little, adjusted the purse on her shoulder and went out the stage door into the club, walking over to the first bar and asking for bottled water. Someone next to her left and she claimed the stool quickly, sliding two dollars to the bartender. Two dollars for a bottle of water. She sighed and took it as he handed it to her, cracking open the cold bottle of water and taking a sip. Addi hooked the low heels of her boots on the bar around the base of the stool, putting her back to the bar and watching the dancers who swarmed the middle of Ba-Bomb.

Addison had played her heart out tonight and they'd only taken third... She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, long locks brushing against her back and the bar.

[Awean8]

"Jacobi. Quit being like that. Ganon didn't bribe the judges. Can't you see past your ego enough to realize that they were playing on another level from us?" Wade said getting up from the couch. "We have a lot of work to get done if we intend to even compete against them next week."

Wade slipped himself out of the room, with his hands strategically placed deep within his pockets, as he avoided all the sweaty people in the back who pretended they knew how to dance. He saw Addi at the bar; he gestured to her and yelled over the loud dance music, "Let's go find Jasin and get out of here!"

Addi sighed a little and slid off the stool, only for someone to grab it up as she left. She moved through the crowd toward Wade and tailed him as they walked.

"Get out of here? Where are we headed from here?" She looked him over from behind, gripping the top of her purse to keep it from the nimble fingers of thieves and holding onto her water bottle with her other hand. It was still early, for a Friday night.

Wade checked the time on his phone, it read 12:04. "I don't know. Do you think anyone we know is up?"

Serpentining through the crowd, checking each wet face to see if it's Jasin's. None of them were. Might as well head to the van, and just chill. Jasin is bound to come around. He's probably shit-faced right now. Wade stepped out through the exit door, into the cold night air. He looked back to see if Addi was following.

She was. Addi was just steps behind him and tossed her hair a little as they stepped outside, enjoying the feeling of cool air on the back of her neck, even for just a moment. Addison slid her phone out of her purse and glanced at it, opening a new text message and sighing.

"Well, another party just got crashed. That leaves Bailey's and Aaron's still going. Bailey's is less likely to get shut down tonight..." She glanced at Wade as they walked, tucking her phone away again. "If that's on the table, anyways."

"Aaron is a date rapist, so Bailey's it is." Wade approached the van. He never enjoyed going to any parties hosted by Bailey, there wasn't much to do, but it's by all means better than going home and pouting. He wrapped his fingers around the handle of the van's back door. It was cold, and slightly stung.

Addi giggled and slid her arms over her head, hands grasping her shoulders as she stretched, saying, "Yeah, he kinda is. Super creeper, too. Which is kinda weird, since he's a jock. Augh.. AAAH!"

"Nah bro. That only proves to makes him more of a date rapist", he said with a short laugh before he opened the door seeing EVERYTHING. There were things about Jasin, he just didn't want to see him doing. This was one of them, and poor Mercy. What kind of sick and twisting game did Jasin put her through in order for this to happen? More questions raced in his head as he screamed "GAH!" out of shear shock.

"DON'T LOOK!" She shrieked at Wade as she turned around, shaking her head - hard - as if her memory was an Etch-A-Sketch and the images of Mercy and Jasin intertwined and... Heaving would leave her head.

"Oh, God, WARNING! WARNING! We need a WARNING for this!" Addison shouted, pointing at them without looking.

Wade attempted to shield Addi's eyes, but there was only so much you could hide. Addi was freaking out a lot more than Wade actually was, since after the initial shock he went back into chill mode. This made wonder was a Addi a virgin? The question both intrigued him, and scared him at the same time. That weird sort of jealousy only Sort of guys get crept in, it sucked.

Wade slammed the van door just as quickly as it was open. In a flustered kind of way he told Addi, "I won't speak of this again, if you won't". He just wanted forget this ever happened.

"Never again, NEVER. AGAIN!" The second time she said it she turned and hollered, pointing in at the van. Embarrassed and flustered, she grasped Wade by the arm and hauled him away.

"I am NOT riding in that van... Taxi?" She looked at Wade, saying, "I can go pick up Gina and come back and pick you guys up."

[Damonique]

Jasin wasn't really thinking as it all happened so quickly. Jasin had brought more than one girl into the back of his van before, but this was Mercy. Innocent, quiet Mercy he remembered playing with on the jungle gym in grade school, who he had ended up going to the eighth grade dance with at the end of middle school because he didn't know any other Girls. He remembered that, they ended up just sort of holding back and talking because neither of them really knew how to dance.

The back of Boris didn't have any seats, so there was plenty of room. It was a chilly night so he had turned the heater onto full blast when he turned on the radio, but it was still cold enough that your could see your breath. There was a lot of it, between kisses, wreaths of cool grey steam whenever their lips parted. Mercy didn't wear any lipstick or lip balm, but her lips still had a sort of sweet flavor to them. Probably her body wash or shampoo.

She was laying on top of him, which made every movement take forever. Jasin shrugged off his trench coat, which made a decent padding on the carpeted flooring of the van. Mercy was almost moving faster than him. Her tee shirt came off first. Under it she was wearing a nondescript black bra over her breasts. Mercy actually had breasts now, a development he had somehow missed in his memories. She had been mostly flat-chested until after high school started. Her skin had a a bluish tint from the moonlight filtering into the van windows.

Jasin didn't bother with his shirt, it was still sticky from the sweat that accumulated as he weaved through the crowd, making out with Mercy the entire way. Jasin suddenly felt faint, imagining how that looked. There were people he knew in that crowd. But Jasin didn't care. Mercy had broken off a long string of kissed to fumble with the zipper of her jeans. Jasin noticed his own becoming very uncomfortably tight and he yanked the zipper and it locked up. Jasin fought it.

Mercy was shimmying her jeans down now. Black panties matched the bra. For a second Jasin paused, ice-blue eyes taking in every detail as every childhood memory of her he had was played over. I'm in the back of my van, fighting my zipper, while Mercy. Quiet little Mercy, is laying on top of me, wearing nothing but a black bra and panties. Was his last thought. Then the zipper gave. Jeans off, hands around her hips as he pulled down the panties while she pulled up her bra.

Then he flipped, so he was on top, and then....Bliss. It wasn't just sex. It was everything, every memory, every thought from over the last eleven years of his life involving this girl compiled together over several minutes of intense pleasure. Their breathing was heavy, wreaths of visible mist fogging up the windows of the van and putting a lazy tint on everything.

There was a shriek.Mercy. No, she was shuddering and moaning, not screaming. AddiWhythehellamIthinkingaboutaddiwhenI'mhavingsex withthegirlwhowasessentiallymybestfriendsincegrade schooland.........."DON'T LOOK!".

Jasin shot up and slammed his head on the roof of the van and everything went back into full-speed from slow motion. Jasin saw Addi and Wade looking into the back of the van through the open back door that quickly slammed shut. He tried to stammer something buy instead just ended up in a fit of choking as all the words got caught up together.

"Oh, God, WARNING! WARNING! We need a WARNING for this!" Addi shouted once the door was closed. Jasin couldn't think of anything to say, instead, he just sort of looked at the van door, then down, at a visibly-uncomfortable, and gloriously nude mercy, then back at the van door.

"I won't speak of this again, if you won't" Jasin heard Wade finally say, back in chill mode. Wade had been with more girls than Jasin, he shouldn't have been so suprised. Addi was cursing under her breath.

"Never again, NEVER. AGAIN!" Addi shouted towards the closed van, and Jasin finally pulled his jeans up around his waist and moved to open the door, the smacked himself in the face as he remembered Mercy laying there. Jasin let out a long, shuddering breath, then breathed in deeply, looking down at her. He didn't say anything, he was too confused for words. He just sort of laid there, his hand lax on the door handle, his piercing blue eyes completely blank to match the expression on his face as he stared at her.

[Ushima]

Ken finished another beer before heading out to the parking lot. He was trying to find anyone, they had gear to pack. And now he just wanted to go home and sleep. He wasn't sleeping much, just stays up until his body quits on him and he sleeps wherever he is. "That can't be healthy." He muttered to himself. "And now I'm talking to myself. Fucking great." Ken grabbed the bass drum and carried it out to the van and gently set it down on the side. Ignoring the fact that he might have saw the van shake he went back in and got the rest of Addi's kit and set it down. "One person down." Ken cracked his knuckles as he entered the club again.

Spotting Wade's gear he picked it up, thinking how he was alone moving all this stuff. Not that he minded, moving gear wasn't that hard. Ken loved hard work, one of the reasons he got a job on a loading dock. That and it helped him bulk up, a lot. But getting back to the task and out of the thoughts he was having he set the gear down by the van again. Again the van moved but figured it was his eyes playing tricks on him. "Now I'm seeing things. What a piece of work I am." Now he needed to get his gear...and find his shirt. "The hell did I throw it?" He ignored the article of clothing for now, picking up his bag, guitar case, amps.

He found Addi and Wade walking to the van, his mood visibly darkened for a second. He kept walking, overhearing them talking about a party. A party was probably the last thing he wanted to be part of. Hell he'd probably fight everybody there and win, though a great reason for the cops to bust in and the last thing he needed was another assualt charge. Shaking his head he put the gear with the rest before coming back around hearing shouting. "What's going OH DEAR GOD!" There was Jasin, and Mercy. "You mother fucker! We ride in that thing! The fuck is wrong with you!? Couldn't take it to a bathroom!?"

[TheBaron]

Mercy lay still as Jasin looked at her. She felt self conscious and a little bit uncomfortable with their unfortunate discovery. She didn't feel guilty. She was happy, so wearily happy. She was tired. She looked at Jasin she opened her mouth to say something but the closed it. She grabbed her shirt off the floor and pulled it over her head and pulled her panties on in the awkward silence. She felt a bit more secure since she had clothes on. She looked up at Jasin who was still frozen in place. She moved over to him on her knees and lay her head on his chest. She couldn't look into his eyes anymore. Not until she knew what he was hiding behind that blanco emotionless expression. She whispered something unintelligible into his chest then finally got the courage to ask her question, "Do you regret it...?" She prayed and hoped that was not the case. The last ten minutes before the discovery had been some of the best in her life. She blushed as she thought about certain things that made the moments feel so good. She dragged her eyes up to his face, "Please tell me..."

[Damonique]

Jasin was still in a bit of shock, from everything happening so quickly. There was so much commotion outside of the van. Apparently Ken had showed up just as Wade was closing the door. Great, another person whose going to get onto me for this for the next century. Jasin thought. If it was just Wade and Addi, it wouldn't matter. Wade wasn't one to judge and Addi was Mercy's neighbor, so she would find out fairly quickly anyway, but Ken would be another matter.

Mercy began pulling her clothes back on and moved as if to step out of the van, and then turned back and laid her head on his chest and mumbled something he couldn't make out. Mercy tended to have trouble talking when she was in a stressful situation. Jasin remembered when he had read her book report for her in sixth grade because she couldn't get herself to speak in front of the whole class.

"Do you regret it...?" She finally inquired, snapping the awkward silence. Jasin looked at her blankly. He didn't even know that That was. Drunken sex in the back of his van? He'd done that before, but this time it was different. They always say sex is better with someone you love. Do I love her? Jasin had never really asked himself that question. She was just sort of always there, so he had never had to think about it.

"Please, tell me..." She pleaded, her red-tipped black hair falling over her eyes as she tilted her head down as if bracing herself for the answer. The blank expression on Jasin's face shattered and softened into a humorous smirk, the one that got him in trouble with so many teachers, it was just his natural expression.

"No. They would have found out eventually...assuming this was more than a one-time thing. If I'm getting ahead of myself, thinking that me and you could actually be a...you know, Item, then I'll talk to them and this 'll never be brought up again. Drunken sex, No big deal." He stuttered out. It would make sense if she wanted to just go back to normal, forget this ever happened.

But thats not what I want. And there was that voice in his head, telling him what he wanted. I want her. I have since grade school and was too stupid to admit it to myself. The voice added, forcefully. Jasin pushed it back. This was no time to let drunken, half-baked fantasies invade on reality. It was Mercy's decision. Jasin couldn't make it for her.

He just looked at her, questioningly, not knowing which answer he wanted more.

[Awean8]

"Taxi!", he shouted at one of the cabs that were passing by, only to turn around to pick the teenagers up. "I wanna go with you since I don't have much else to do."

The taxi came up to the curb and as the door opened it revealed the elderly driver that smelled of cigarettes and roasted peanuts. Wade had only had about three bucks to for the fare, he gave a deep sigh wishing he had money. He had already forgotten about Jasin and Mercy, in fact he was mentally high fiving Jasin on a good job.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

"TAXI!" Wade shouted a moment later, flagging one down. She took that as a yes.

Addison let Wade get in first and she glanced around, back toward the van (Ew). Wade was talking, making her look back to him for a moment, he said, "I wanna go with you since I don't have much else to do."

As good of an excuse as any, she figured and nodded. She looked back again, saw Ken and waved, calling out, "Ken! Wade and I are gonna go pick up my car and we'll come back for you!"

She slid into the bench seat that was the back seat of the taxi, closed the door and leaned forward a bit, giving the driver her address. She relaxed into the back seat as the elderly man punched the address into his GPS and then pulled away from the curb.

"I never, ever needed to see Jasin and Mercy like that," Addison grumbled, rubbing her forehead, "But at least someone's celebrating, I guess."

[Glitch]

Mick had just left the club; he was twirling his keys on one finger as he strolled through the parking lot still humming the tune of the last song he heard at the concert. He let out a sigh as he walked, the cool air felt good after being stuck in a stuffy club for a few hours, he regretted the choice of his denim jacket now.

As he neared his car he noticed a bunch of band gear heaped up next to an old school van, and a bunch of people standing around the van looking rather stressed, his car was parked near so he figured it wouldn’t hurt to see if they were having car troubles. "Hey, you guys need a jump or something?" He realized then that the gear next to the van was from the Demo Boys, the band that came in third at the show, he recognized the gear, not any of the band members though, he must not have been paying attention.

"Aww, hey. You guys totally shoulda took first there, fuckin' Gannon was'nt even in the same ballpark. . . Ehh, you probley don’t need to hear it from me though, like I said, you guys need a jump or something? I got some cables in my trunk~" Mickey hoped he did not look like a creep, wondering up on a group of people he did not know and offering help.

[Ushima]

Ken sighed as he leaned against the van. Having just caught Jasin and Mercy going at it was not something he saw coming. Hell everybody was caught off guard. Was there even a way to not be surprised? Sighing again he just slid down the side of the van and just sat there. "From now on I'm driving myself." Ken rubbed his eyes, fatigue setting in. He started wondering who would be at home. He knew his dad and step-mother were gone and had taken his little brother and baby sister with them. That just left his oldest brother Mike, and his older twins, snobby, prissy drama queen cheerleader sister Maggie, and prick, football jock asshole brother Drake. "Fuck." Ken figured his borther would be out so he'd be alone with the terrible twins until their parents came home.

"Ken!" Hearing his name Ken looked up at Addi. She was in a cab with Wade. Scowling he listened. "Wade and I are going to pick up my car and we'll comee back for you!" He didn't respond, just leaned his head back against the van, hard. That feeling of defeat was coming back again, along with a bit of anger.

"Hey you guys need a jump or something?" A new voice broke up out of his thought, thoughts that consisted of kicking Wade's ass. He decided not to though, though it would probably be really easy and enjoyable.

"Nah we don't need a jump." Ken stood back up and dusted himself off. "Just waiting for two of my friends to stop fucking in the back of the van." Hell he didn't care he just said that. If you wanted shit like that kept private you don't fuck in the back of the van. "And not where I specifically sit." Ken thought. "Anyway, names Ken. Lead guitar for Demo Boys. And we should've won, no way those shits in Gannon can step to our skills." Some would argue Ken had a big ego, but its not bragging if its true. "Oh well we'll take them out in the finals."

[Damonique]

Co-Op'ed with Vampbaron.

Jasin sat there for several agonizing seconds as Mercy just sort of sat there, looking at him. Finally, she brought herself up so that she was level with his face. leaning forward so that she was talking directly into his ear, barely above a whisper. Jasin's pulse quickened.

"I will always want you...But I also don't want to just be a stain on the floor." she gestured with her free hand to the van floor where they had finished just minutes before. "So you listen to me. Like I said, I want you, So it's up to you. But before you decide, let me remind you of something." She gently pinned him up against the back door of the van and pressed her lips to his. Jasin could still hear the others talking outside of the van. Jasin raised a hand and placed it under her chin and pushed up, breaking the kiss.

"Personally, I'm not sure why this didn't happen earlier. I mean, your there, you've always been there. After you mom died, I tried to help, but I just didn't get it. I shouldn't have given up after that night you punched me though. Maybe if I had been a bit more persistent things wouldn't have taken long." Jasin paused. He was rambling, it happened when he was trying to say something that actually mattered. Finally, he found his train of thought again.

"So yeah, I would love to keep this..." Jasin gestured to the area around the back of the van, the clothes loosely scattered around, his duffel bags and musical equipment that had been pushed away to give them room. "...Going. Casually, though. I'm just not ready for anything serious. So maybe we should take this somewhere else. I'm good to drive, I was barely drunk before." Jasin finished, and motioned towards the front of the van, the dim glow from the dash, the light hum of the classic Van's engine.

"Where to?" Jasin inquired, back to wearing his mocking smirk. Everything would be alright, the others would get over it. I'm the bassist, it doesn't matter what..or who, I do, as far as the band is concerned. He thought idly. Jasin wasn't a fan of how little impact bassists usually had on a bands dynamic, but regardless, Jasin would be the one handling contracts and deals for them if...when, they became famous. He had inherited a bit of the cold-blooded-businessman gene from his father. He was also the only one of his friends with a lawyer on speed dial.

Mercy looked at him and smiled a beautiful smile, leaning back sat back and grinning as she slide into her jeans. "Well we should first grab a few instruments so that the band doesn't kill us. And then, well, I think we should head over to my house. That is if you want to go." She suggested, and Jasin crawled through the gap between the vans seats and took his place in the drivers spot, leaning back into the cool leather seat.

Jasin saw a tall, broad-shouldered guy talking to Ken and Wade. Maybe he was a rep or something? Jasin rolled down the window and smirked at Ken.

"Yo, We're dressed. Get your shit loaded before I get bored and peel outta here. The traffic is a bitch." Jasin shouted to Ken. Yeah, a bit rude, but from the exaggerated motions that accompanied his speech, Ken was probably saying something a good bit more insulting about Jasin. As Ken grumbled somethign no-doubt insulting under his breath, Jasin turned to the new guy.

"Yo, I'm Jasin, The Bassist. You might have seen that stunt I pulled trying to get THOSE two..." Jasin pointed at Wade and Addi. "..On Stage. It worked, so I call it a win." Jasin chuckled.

[Glitch]

Mickey raised one brow and let out a short chuckle, he spun his keys around a few more times. "For sure, for sure. I'll be there next week actually, if Gannon takes the prize maybe we can catch them in the parkin' lot, I mean my Nova has a three body trunk, minimum." He jerked a thumb to the candy apple green '70 Chevy Nova parked a few spaces away from the van, it had two black racing stripes running across the top, and appeared pretty well maintained. "It's my baby, but I could afford to drop some posers in there." He let out a laugh, hoping it was actually funny.

He then looked to Jasin as he rolled down the window "..On Stage. It worked, so I call it a win." He chuckled and nodded back to him. "Yeah, I caught that. Nice work there. . . Names Mickey, Mickey Davies. But you can call me Mick if you want, up to you I guess." He stood there awkwardly a moment, not entirely sure what to do next.

"So, ehh, you two know ah any good aftah parties, or you guys just heddin' home? Because I'm not quite lookin' to turn in for the night." He figured this was pretty good after concert conversation, but truth be told he was really just looking for an excuse to hang out with the band.

[Awean8]

Wade just gave a sort of nod to Mickey from the far seat inside the taxi, this was sort of his standard greeting when meeting new people. It wasn't too intimidating, and not overly friendly. It was also cool. "Yo! We might be going to Bailey's 'party', so we'll call you later to meet up."

The taxi began cruising through city, the beautiful bright lights passing by as blur through the window. Wade breathed on the glass and used his fingertip to write poetry through the moisture, only stopping to briefly glance at Addi. There was that awkward silence, that only happened on long drives home.

Even though the taxi's heater was clearly on it was still freezing inside especially since the seats were made of leather. Wade shivered almost violently; he wasn't dressed appropriately for the cold. Not even a jacket, or anything. The taximeter already read roughly six dollars. Wade hoped they were almost home, but the chances of that were highly unlikely.

[Jacogos]

Eventually, More Than Meets the Eye all met back up at Dantavian's mom's SUV which had all of their instruments (somehow) inside. Jacobi gave a whoop. "Alright! We have second place, now for some fun!! What do you guys have in mind?" Dante just shrugged and kept quiet, as normal. George rubbed the back of his head and looked down. "My parents want me home, so I can't do anything, Jake. Sorry." Jacobi sighed and looked at Kevin.

"What about you?"

"Always up for some fun, Boss!"

Grinning again, Jacobi looked back at Dante. "Come on, big guy, you know you want to go get wasted somewhere! Anywhere!" Dante grinned a little and pulled out his phone, a crappy old Sprint flip phone. He flipped through some unread messages before showing one to Jacobi. "Who the hell's Bailey?" Dante shrugged and put this phone up. "Better that then nothing at all. Or getting caught at a bar, hah." Dantavian laughed a little at Kevin's expense, who laughed as well, and the big guy got into the driver's seat.

"We can drop King off on the way, shouldn't be a problem." The rest of the band whooped before piling in, cramming themselves a little because of the instruments. A yell got Dante's attention as he started the SUV up. "Hey!! Wait up!" He peered out the window, sticking his head out, and saw Amanda running up with a slight flush from the running. "Hold... Hold up... Jeez, I need to get out more... You guys going to a party, or what?" Jacobi grinned from shotgun and leaned over Dante to speak to her.

"Some dude named Bailey's throwing one, so we'll head there. 'Cording to Dante, they don't have a 'list', hehe." Amanda smiled a little. "Mind if I tag along?" Jacobi frowned and looked at Dante, then at the backseat. "You think there's room, bud?"

"Hell if I know." To Amanda, he said, "You mind squeezing with drummer and guitarist?" Kevin laughed and George looked into his lap. "We have names..." He muttered. In a few minutes, Amanda was squished into the passenger's side back window and the SUV was meandering its way out of the parking lot.

"You sure you know where you're going, Dante?"

"Of course!!"

"You were supposed to turn left back there." Amanda said quietly.

"Ahh shit."

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

"I ran out cryin' and you followed me out into the street," sang Taylor Swift on the taxi's radio. Addi sat in the back seat with Wade, her head tipped back and the crook of her elbow was just over the bridge of her nose, bent so her upper arm was over one eye, fore arm over the other. Phantom shapes and colors danced in the darkness behind her eyelids and her lips moved with the words to the country song. Addison was softly singing.

Addi. Singing Taylor Swift.

She felt Wade shiver next to her and lifted her arm away, turning her head and looking to him; her lips were still now but twisted into a little smile as she asked, "Cold?"

Addison rubbed her arms a little, now, herself and slouched in the seat. It would warm up, soon, she hoped, and then reached up, playing with a vent, opening it, twisting it this way and then the other as she thought. The mental image of a sweatshirt of Wade's on one of the tool boxes in a corner of her garage came to mind and she told him, "I think you have a jacket in my garage, we can grab it before we head back out."

The taxi meter hit ten dollars as they pulled up in front of Addi's house, all dark except that the porch lights were on. She leaned forward and passed the driver a ten dollar bill between the seats before slipping out of the taxi and headed to her front door.

[TheBaron]

Mercy opened the back doors of the van and grinned at Mick and motioned to the receding form of the retreating taxi that contained Wade and Addi. "If you want to go party you should go with them or follow them after they come back. My name is Mercy. By the way." She poked her head around the back of the van and looked at Jasin, "Come on get out of the van and help me pack up these instruments. I want to go chill over at my place." She then tripped over nothing and fell on the ground next to the instruments, "Damn the vodka is wearing off, I am only clumsy when I am sober." She sighed and rolled over and called out to Jasin, "Jaaasssiiiinnn, come help me up I am tired and getting clumsy again. So you know what that means." She grinned up at Mike, "So if you really want to come back to my place and hang out with Jasin and I. I guess you could but I cannot guarantee that you will have a very good time."

[Ushima]

"Tch." Ken watched Mercy fall down. "Fucking drunk." He said under his breath, though now with the back of the van empty he could load the gear inside. "Let this shit air out before you close the door." Loaded first was the guitars, amps and bags. Ken picked up his bag last and threw it in before going over to the beast that was Addi's drum kit. He sighed and looked at where the taxi used to be. Most people thought Ken didn't care about anyone or anything anymore. But he did, and he cursed himself for it. He felt more than anybody in the band. Jasin seemed to pick up how much he ran on feelings and usually tried to make sure he didn't go acting on them, the aggressive ones. Ken wore his heart on his sleeve. Actually looking down at himself he'd change it to arm, as his shirt was still M.I.A. "If I haven't gotten it by now its gone forever." That was his rule of thumb for his shirts.

Climbing out of the back of the van he went back up to Jasin. "Alright man your bang bus is loaded up." Yep Ken was still pissed. "And I know what you're thinking, thinking to stop mentioning it with everyone around. Just be lucky I don't have a mic or a megaphone or else the whole club would know." He was very angry. First he starts losing his friend and crush to a stupid hippie, then they lost to Gannon. things just weren't going his way. "I'd like nothing more than to kick Gannon's assess." Clenching his fist he heard his knuckles crack. "Think I'd find them at that party?" His plans to return home and sleep were thrown out the window. He'll go just to fight, all against him. "Addi better hurry up cause I'm getting bored." Ken was a ball of rage tonight. "You could follow us three to the party." He said to Mick. "Though I might not be there long."

[Damonique]

Jasin shrugged and chuckled at Mercy as she helped Ken load up the instruments. Jasin put his Ibanez and Schecter back in their black-leather cases and loaded them with the rest of the gear and avoided Ken as much as possible. They were in the same band, but Jasin could pass on the guy's attitude, though he could sort of sympathize. It sucked to lose someone you never tried your luck with, and it sucked to lose someone to a friend, so Ken's situation double-sucked.

Jasin ignored his comments, and the gear was loaded and ready and Jasin slammed shut the trunk of the Old Chevrolet Van. Dull Green Paint and Imitation Wood Siding. Jasin liked the Old-School feel of it. It was no VW Bus, but it was still pretty trippy. He didn't get why Wade didn't pick up on its hippie vibes.

Jasin waited for a minute, until he and Ken were out of earshot of Mercy and Mick, and shoved him into the alcove between his van and the truck beside it. Jasin had fire in his eyes.

"Ken, I get it. Your fucking pissed. You know what, I get pissed sometimes too, like when my lead singer and drummer collapse to the sexual tension and almost ditch our gig, and our guitarist goes fucking catatonic because he feels sorry for himself!" Jasin spat, quiet but with the same venom he would use if he was shouting. Jasin was tired of all the drama and didn't have time to deal with Ken. Jasin took a second to calm down before elbowing ken into the side of the Van to make him hear him out.

"This wasn't some fucking post-show hookup. Mercy and I have been friends since as long as I can remember, and it might be getting serious. Get used to it. Yeah, she drinks. Her mom died overnight and her dads a creep. You would drink it off too. So I don't appreciate your fucking comments on it!" Jasin shot, enunciating every syallble as loudly as he could without the other overhearing it.

"I don't expect you to be happy for me or any shit like that, just like I don't expect you to be particularly comfortable with whatever direction Addi and Wade go from here. But however things turn out, your still out guitarist, one of the damn best shredders I've ever met, so keep your head on right. Don't go starting any fights with Gannon that could get us kicked out. Just...Chill." Jasin finished, and stepped back so that Ken could walk past him. It wasn't a discussion, it was just the truth that needed to be said. Jasin let out a sight and went around the other side of the van and popped open the driver side door.

"Dude, I don't mind, but I really don't think you'll have that much fun with me and Mercy. Once Wade and Addi get back you can tag along to Bailey's party. Have a few beers and if you don't mind, tell Bailey that I was the usual on monday." Jasin chuckled to Mick. Everyone knew Bailey grew weed behind his house and sold it at the high school for some extra income. Jasin was no stoner, but he needed something to help him relax now and again.

[Awean8]

"Only a little", he replied to Addi's question although he was clearly lying since he didn't want to admit he forgot his jacket.

Outside of the taxi wasn't any better than the inside. Every time Wade exhaled a thick fog blew from his mouth. His cheeks and nose were scarlet, making him feel a little unattractive and insecure. His teeth, were chattering, and his arms were crossed in attempt to retain body heat. Top it off he think we might have been getting a little sick, although it was probably just the cold playing with his head.

He remember seeing somewhere that it was supposed to snow soon. Wade loved the snow, when he had a jacket on. The cold made him sort of lethargic though, as if he was some bear hibernating for the winter. Wade kind of just wanted to chill, with a a cup of hot cocoa while watching TV.

He hoped Addi's dad wasn't going to be weird about him being alone with her at such a late time. "When we get inside can I have something warm to drink"

[TheBaron]

Mercy sighed at Ken's comment. Maybe she did drink a lot. Maybe she should cut back. She suddenly felt insecure wondering what it looked like to everyone around her when she put down so much alcohol. She look at Jasin wondering what he thought of her drinking. She rubbed her arms as though trying to contain her insecurities.*

She looked around the back of the van checking around. All the instruments were packed up now and she was pretty sure no one had forgotten anything. She shrugged anything not out here already was probably missing by this point.*She walked over and hopped into the passenger seat. It was getting cold out side. It would probably snow tonight. She looked over at Jasin who was talking to the guy she really didn't know.*

She sighed and closed her door suddenly just wanting to be back home. To be alone with Jasin so she could be with just him. She also felt the urge to start painting again. She was slightly addicted to painting. She leaned over to Jasin and tapped his shoulder, "Hey let's go if you are done here. I want to get home." She leaned back and rubbed Jasin's arm then pulled her hand away and lay her head back against the headrest thinking.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

"When we get inside, can I have something warm to drink?" Wade asked her as Addison slid her key into the door. She blinked and looked at him in surprise.

"Erm, yea, of course," she smiled at him and unlocked the deadbolt, then the actual handle of the door, opening it and slipping inside, letting Wade follow before shutting and locking the door handle out of habit. She set her bag down on the half moon table against the wall by the door saying, "My dad's probably already asleep so we'll need to be quieter than usual."

She nodded to him a little and then walked through the great room into the kitchen, the family room off to the left from there, the formal dining room to the right. The kitchen was kind of the center of the ground floor with all the rooms around it, all kind of flowing together; the garage door was off in the family room with a mud room you had to go through with jackets and a few pairs of shoes, snow boots, umbrellas and the like.

"I'll see if I can find your jacket, or something warmer if you want it. You know where the stuff is, right?" She motioned to the fridge and pantry then headed to the mud room, looking around for a jacket that would be Wade's and finding nothing. Addison sighed and headed into the garage, locating the jacket she'd remembered on top of one of her dad's tool cases. She pulled it down and shook it out, making sure it was his; she wondered how many of the guy's various pieces of clothing were scattered around the garage and how many had migrated into her home. She smiled a little.

Moving back into the house, she grabbed a leather and hoodie combo-jacket for herself off one of the pegs and draped it over her arm. She went to the kitchen and smiled at Wade, offering him his jacket, saying, "Here you go. Want anything warmer?"

[Ushima]

Ken stayed against the side of the van for a second, soaking in Jasin's words. He wouldn't admit it but the bassist had a good head on his shoulders. Sighing he pinched the bridge of his nose, he was feeling a headache coming on. "Thats the last thing I need." Ken always had bad headaches. He needed to calm down. "Shit." Cursing he made his way to the driver's side of the van, he had some stuff to say. Just so Jasin didn't have the wrong impression. "Yo man." He leaned back against the door. "Hope that elbow wasn't supposed to hurt." Jasin might be bigger but he isn't tougher. The amount of physical abuse Ken puts himself through, training and working, and the abuse of other's had really worked in his favor. "Ok don't know why I said that, now I'm just avoiding the reason." He sighed again. "I don't know what good this will do but I'm....sorry." Man that was tough for him. "As you could probably tell I'm not good with emotions, the only one I can show seems to be anger. I probably do that a little to well, your old friends I put in the hospital are testament to that." Ken really worked those two over, left them broken and bleeding on the pavement. He was a vengeful person.

"And despite what you think, I'm happy for you two." Ken was smirking. "If this was a one time hook up I wouldn't care. If this lasts....well the heart wants what the heart wants right? Must be nice though." Ken wished he didn't say that last one, sounded like he was feeling sorry for himself again. "You know what forget I said that last part." Last thing he needed was Jasin going Dr. Phil on him again, the guy seemed to pick up on what he was feeling for Addi and everything else going on in his head. "Look just don't tell her about all this, I don't need her coming down on me about being all depressed again. She kicked my ass out of it once, don't need that shit again." Though his brother thought it was hilarious, Mike was laughing his ass of at him when Ken walked in with a black eye and Addi rubbing her knuckles. "Or tell her, your choice. I really don't care anymore." Turning his head slightly as Mercy entered the van he sent her a smile. "Eh Merc, you treat my boy right, alright?" Laughing Ken started walking away. "Glad we had this talk. Have fun you two!" Laughing he walked away taking out his phone, sending a text to Addi. Telling her he was bored and she knew what he did when he was bored and to hurry up before he turned the parking lot into Fight Club. "First rule, don't talk about it. Ahahaha!"

[Damonique]

Jasin listened to Ken's speech and couldn't help but admire the guy for not taking it wrong. Ken usually took things in a whatever way justified punching out the guy he was talking to. Jasin wasn't going to get involved in the whole "Ken, Wade, Addi" drama triangle that was going on, no way in hell was he going to be the one to ignite that powder keg.

"Oi, have a good night you all. I'll text everybody in the morning to figure out what I missed. Ken, just don't get your ass thrown in county again. As much as I love spending my Dads money, if I have to post bail for you twice in a month, somebody's going to get suspicious." Jasin chuckled, effectively ending the seriousness.

Jasin hopped into the drivers seat of the sturdy Chevrolet and gunned it. Getting out of the parking lot was going to be complete hell, so Jasin took the path of least resistance, blatantly and illegally cutting across a strip of scrub that separated the Ba-Bomb's parking lot from the block of storage units across the lot.

Before long the van was cruising steadily through the residential neighborhoods near Mercy and Addi's places. Jasin turned up the radio on an indie Music News station that was reporting the post-show highlights about the competition. The simple Battle of the Bands wouldn't be as News-Worthy if it weren't for the fact that not a whole lot happened in their mid-sized industrial city in northern Illinois.

[Awean8]

Shivering with his goose bumped arms crossed, he danced over towards Addi's kitchen. It was hard trying to stay quiet when his teeth were chattering so much. Her house was cold too. Doesn't her dad know how to operate the AC system. Wade fumbled through her pantry looking through the different boxes. "hmmm....hot cocoa or tea?"

They're were so many kinds; it was hard to choose. He noticed one of his shirts tucked behind some cereal boxes on the counter. He remembered hiding it. Due to a weird home life Wade sometimes slept on her garage's sofa. Usually found in the morning snoring, with his hands still wrapped around a video game controller. As a result of these sort of 'sleepovers', his clothes have circulated themselves around her household.

Don't get the wrong idea. Wade's parents aren't like beating him, or raping him or anything. They're about as loving as any parents could be. They're just a bit eccentric, and sometimes forget about their only child.

He accepted his jacket (http://www.merchdirect.com/x/detail_image.php?imageid=22501) and slipped it on. The warmth didn't come immediately which meant he was still shivering and his teeth were still chattering. He whispered a 'Th-th-th-ank you, A-a-ad-ddi"

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

"Of course," Addi laughed at Wade's thanks and shook her head a little. She moved close to him and rubbed his arms, hoping to warm him a little. "How about some hot cocoa? To go? Gotta go pick up Ken, remember?"

She tugged her jacket on and pulled her hair out from under the collar, letting the locks fall freely down her back. Addison then moved smoothly about her kitchen, drawing down from one of the cupboards two disposable coffee cups and lids (http://www.globalpackagegallery.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=18620&g2_serialNumber=4) and setting them on the counter. She measured out milk enough for two cups of hot chocolate and then placed the measuring cup in the microwave for two minutes, emptying a packet of hot chocolate into each of the cups as the microwave heated the milk.

As she waited for the microwave to finish, she drummed her fingernails on the granite counter top, singing softly to herself.

"Feels like the walls are closing in on me... Suffocating, I can barely breathe..." She breathed, closing her eyes, "You've got me right where you want me... This is the side of you I've never seen; you're not the girl you used to be--"

The microwave went off then and she turned, carefully pulling the hot milk out of the microwave and pouring it into the cups until both were just about full. With a spoon she drew from one of the silver wear drawers, she thoroughly stirred in the powdered chocolate, making sure there weren't any clumps left in either cup. She tossed the spoon into the porcelain sink and then drew the whipped cream out of the fridge, adding a swirl to each of the cups before sealing the lid on and passing him one of the cups.

"There you go," Addi said with a smile and then her phone started vibrating in her purse and she blinked, pulling it out and drawing up the text message. It was from Ken. She smirked, shaking her head and replying to him, "Keep yer panties on, kid. Be there soon."

"Mmkay, Ken is officially harassing us to pick him up. Ready? Want a warmer jacket?" She raised her eyebrows at him then sipped from the cup, sliding her car keys out of her purse.

[Damonique]

Co-Op'd With Vamp

The apparently semi-baked twenty-something announcer for the indie station continued with the highlights about the show. Jasin mostly ignored it. He had driven through Addi's neighborhood dozens of times and still got lost if he wasn't paying attention. All the houses were too similar.

"...Well, Now the most surprising introduction at the show came from a local band calling themselves The Demolition Boys. A video is going viral now of some crazy stunt pulled by their bassist to get the rest of the band members on stage. Was it acted out or not? Hell if I know, but the bassist in question is apparently one Jasin Marc, son of local development contractor Iain Marc. Personally, I would pen him for a street rat, not a rich kid..." Jasin couldn't help but laugh. Laugh because it was all true. Jasin turned to Mercy and smiled.

"Check it, I'm on the radio!" He choked out between bursts of suppressed laughter. You had to admit, it was pretty fucking funny. Sadly, the radio crackled away into static as he pulled onto Addi and Mercy's road. Cheap, one tower radio stations. Mercy turned and looked at him with a playful grin, "Well aren't you just a superstar now. Now I feel oh so honored that you have chosen to spend your evening with me." She teased playfully, as they rounded the corner and rolled past Addi's yard, She looked out the window and bounced up and down with excitement, "Yes! We are almost at my house." Then she suddenly turned at him and smiled weakly, excitement lost.

"Don't worry about being quiet. My dad is almost a hundred percent definitely passed out and won't be woken by anything." Jasin detected a bit of Apprehension in her voice. Jasin knew that Mercy's father had gone off the deep end after her mother had died, and that it had gotten worse as time went on. Hopefully, it was one issue he wouldn't have to confront in one night.

Jasin parked the classic Chevy van and saw the porch light on in Addi's house, meaning her and Wade had probably gotten there ahead of them. Jasin popped open the door and peered through the window into the kitchen and saw What appeared to be Wade rummaging through the cabinets.

"Looks like the other already got here. Think I should unload the instruments now while I'm here? Unless, of course...." Jasin let that trail off. Now that the Vodka had worn off, Jasin didn't feel quite as confident as he had before.

Mercy shot him a knowing look and opened her door and walked over around the van slowly to his open door and kissed him, like earlier, with lots of tongue and enough force to almost send him falling back into the drivers seat. After a minute she pulled away, Smiling.

"If the instruments can't survive one night in the van then we'll be in trouble. Come on, let's get inside my garage.It is heated and it is cold out here." She chuckled, shivering. Jasin nodded in silent agreement and followed her, Sort of hoping that Wade or Addi wouldn't notice his van and come looking for him.

[Awean8]

"Woah" was all Wade could think of saying while paying witness to Addi's special hot cocoa making skills. He took a sip from the cup filled with the hot milky liquid. It was delicious. Way better than anything the corporate bastards at Starbucks could possibly muster.

"Addi, I can honestly say that this is heaven in my mouth."

His body slowly warmed itself, the freezing tremors now beginning to cease. He loved hot chocolate. When asked about another sweater he delightfully said "YES!"

After nearly freezing to death. Extra protection against the cold would be the intelligent choice. Ken was probably already freezing his ass of back at the club, which reminded him that they had better get going quick. "Addi, after you get me that sweater. It would probably be a good idea to head back over."

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

"Addi, I can honestly say that this is heaven in my mouth," Wade said and Addi promptly choked on her sip of hot chocolate, blushing an impressive shade of red no one had probably see on her before. She turned away, placing her fore arm over her mouth and swallowing before coughing and catching her breath, trying not to laugh too hard.

"Uhm, yeah," she said, nodding at his other comments and headed to the mud room again, drawing down a leather coat for Ken (he'd probably need it) and another, lighter coat for Wade to put on over his other one. She moved to peek her head into the family room and peer into the kitchen, motioning to Wade to come.

"C'mon, I parked Gina in the second garage, remember?" Addison was allowed the privilege of using the 1-car garage section of the 3-car garage her family had, while the band took up the 2-car section. Her father was now parked in front of the 2-car section and the 1-car section was clear, so she'd easily be able to pull out of the garage. She moved into the garage and was almost startled at how empty it was; her kit was gone, things were rather neat and the usual tangle of chords wasn't on the floor.

"Weird," she muttered, moving on to the second, smaller garage, which was neat and had snowboards, skiis, and bikes mounted on the ceiling and along the wall. She hit the garage opener and the single door slid open; Addi went to the driver's side of the Mustang and opened the door, sliding into the seat and waiting for Wade. She started the muscle car and turned on the radio, warming the engine a bit. Leaning back, Addison passed her fingers through her hair, taking another sip of hot chocolate from her cup before placing it in the cup holder carefully. If it spilled, she'd be pissed.

As soon as Wade was in the car, she backed out of the garage, closed it, and pulled out onto the street then headed back to Ba-Bomb.

[Ushima]

Ken got the text back that they we're on the way. "About damn time." Exhaling he saw his breath. He didn't realize it was cold enough to do that. Closing his phone he stuffed it back into his pocket.

"Baby brother!" Ken soon was lifted off the ground. "You were awesome!"

"Mike!" Ken yelled. "Wtfuck!" Mike put his brother down. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming here?"

"And spoil the surprise?" Mike ruffled Ken's hair. "God I'm cutting that mop tomorrow."

"I was planning on buzzing it." Mike nodded his head. "Maybe you should do it. After all being a Marine you know all about buzzed hair." Ken and Mike laughed. "So is Sarah here?"

"I'm right here." A girl with short dark hair pulled into a ponytail, black tank top, red and black stripped shirt. Sarah Hayden, age twenty three and Mike's girlfriend. And what Mike told Ken last week, soon to be fiance. "Excellent performance Ken."

"Thank you Sarah." Ken smiled. "Right now I'm just waiting."

"Where is princess Addi?" Mike looked around for his surrogate little sister. Ken just looked down. Mike, sensing his brother's oncoming depression decided to change the subject. "So excited for tomorrow?"

"That's right it's you B-Day tomorrow." Sarah gave the boy a smile. "Eighteen huh?" Mike had a smug look, knowing exactly why his parents were out of town. Picking up Ken's present.

"Yeah. Was thinking about another tattoo." Ken admitted. "Now that I'll be able to legally get them and all that." Ken wondered what his family had planned.

"Hey we'll wait with you until your ride gets here, right Michael?" Sarah offered. Ken would've said no but knew Mike wouldn't hear of it. He looked out for his baby brother.

The large man looked down at his girlfriend. "Of course."

Ken shrugged, indifferent to the situation. "At least I'll have someone to talk to."

[Awean8]

As Addi pulled out onto the street Wade noticed Jasin's van in Mercy's driveway. This could only mean one thing; Jasin's getting laid again. It was kind of weird that she decided to do it with Mercy, but than again his sex life wasn't any of Wade's business. Wade had seen a lot of the girls Jasin had gotten lucky with so far and in his honest opinion Mercy was probably the prettiest he's gotten so far.

Wade wasn't going to weird them out and ruin a good thing, so he'll just remain quiet. Speaking of which, it was quiet in the muscle care as they drove back to pick Ken. Wade hated awkward silences. "So...Anything going on?"

It was an ambiguous a question aimed to spark a conversation, and to dissipate the silence. The neon lights of the city once again passed by like a blur. He thought it was pretty, which reminded him once he got out of High School he was going to move into the city.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

When Wade's voice filled the silence in the car, Addi jumped just slightly and glanced at him side-long. It was such an odd question, she was almost confused. Wade knew almost everything about her, and what little he didn't was extremely personal information anyways - then again, he knew some of that, too. The silence he'd broken, to her, hadn't been awkward at all. She'd taken it as a simple, almost comfortable silence that tended to accumulate between long-time or very good friends.

Addison bit her lip, brows furrowing together. He must be lingering on the kiss, she thought, and instantly regretted kissing him at all. She changed lanes smoothly and sped up a little, giving Wade a shrug.

"Dad got a new shipment of books today," like he did every three weeks, "Mom's working some more overtime," because she couldn't get enough of it - truly, Addison's mom loved her nursing work, but also tended to fuss a lot when home, which drove both her husband and daughter up the wall.

"School's about the same. Not looking forward to midterms next month, though, of course." Addi hated the stress that always built up to the semi-annual testing, but so far, in her 3 years of high school, the young woman hadn't gotten anything below a B on any test she'd taken.

Addi signaled, changed lanes again into the center median and then stopped there, waiting for a break in traffic to pull into Ba-Bomb's parking lot. Spotting one, she turned the wheel and drove into the opposing lanes of traffic, then out of harm's way in the parking lot. Eyes scanning, Addi located Ken - and his brother and brother's girlfriend - went around the parking lot once before parking close to where Ken was. She shut off the engine to Gina, twisted around to fetch the coat she'd brought for Ken from the back seat, and climbed out of the Mustang, walking toward Ken.

"Here, your nipples are all perky," she laughed, a few feet from the boy and his company, she tossed the leather coat at him with a smile. "Hey Mike, Sarah."

She stuck her tongue out at Mike like a four year old, her usual greeting to him, then gave both Mike and Sarah a hug, asking, "Did you guys see the show?"

[Ushima]

"And then I said, "why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?'" Mike and Sarah started chuckling and Ken had to surpress laughter. "And he comes up to me and is like "hey buddy, did you just call my girlfriend a cow?'" Ken continued the story. "I said no, i called here a slut!" The three burst out laughing.

"I can't breath!" Sarah was holding her sides. Mike looked like he was going to fall over he was laughing so hard, Ken actually did fall back. Now he was sitting on the ground. "Then what happened?"

"I...I...haha!" He was having trouble talking. "I ended up starting a riot cause he went to punch me and hit someone else because he was drunk. So then everybody is fighting and I'm just standing off to the side watching my handiwork before joining in."

Mike helped his brother up. "Man sounds like a great party." Ken spotted a familiar car in the parking lot. "What you eyeing?" Mike asked.

"Here, your nipples are all perky." Addi finally came over and tossed him a leather jacket. (http://media.tumblr.com/xRcl1HZYhc6822d8i2CARoE6_400.jpg)

"Meh it's not that cold." Ken put on the jacket. "I could rock shirtless all night if I wanted, though this jacket does make me look more badass. But thanks princess, for returning my jacket."

"Hell yeah it does baby brother!" Mike slapped his brother on the back. "Come here princess!" Addi gave Sarah a hug first then Mike. Mike picked here up and spun here around a bit before setting her back down. "I haven't seen you since I left for Afghanistan. I've been home a week where've you been? I remember I used to come home to find you and Ken running around outside chasing each other laughing your little heads off."

Ken smiled as he watched the two. "Man those were the days weren't they?" He could never get over how huge his brother was compared to, well compared to everyone. Compared to Mike it looked like Addi was a mouse.

"You guys were awesome as hell! Best part was Ken though, baby bro shreds like a god. And I'm not just saying this as a brother." Mike gave Ken a thumbs up. "Jam session tomorrow?"

"I am pretty amazing aren't I?" Ken laughed, a little embarrassed. "And hell yeah we'll rock out, crank that shit to eleven. I finished learning those songs you told me to learn before you deployed." Those were some tough songs. "Well we're gonna break out. See you at home Mike." Ken hugged Sarah, then bumped fists with Mike before hugging him. "Let's roll guys."

[Awean8]

Wade stayed in the car as Addi and Ken talked with people he didn't know. He assumed they were in relation with Ken. The brown haired teen was charming enough in most situations, but sometimes he silver tongue had to compete with his inner sloth. He was always so lazy, especially when he was feeling a little moody.

The car's clock read 11:53. With all that has happened tonight it felt like it had been later. Wade reached into the backseat and grabbed a mix Cd he made for Addi. It was all covered in dust, since it hadn't been played in awhile. After Wade had asked her out about three hundred times they started to actually hang out which consisted off causing trouble around the neighborhood. Most notably playing odd pranks on Old Man Wilkinson.

He put the Cd in, and a clean but chaotic guitar flanged through the car's speakers. The singer sounded as if he was about to blow out his lungs, but at the same time the strange melodies were soothing to hear. This was one of Wade's favorite bands, the Puddle Splashers. They were a bit obscure outside of the nearby Chicago, and Wade had actually been to a couple of their shows walking out each time feeling resurrected. Most people wouldn't think that they were any good, but Wade likes to think that they have an "acquired sound". He knew the words to every song, and sang softly to himself in the Addi's muscle just trying to make the time pass by.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

"I'm glad to see you safe, Mike. You aren't allowed to leave again, got me?" Smiling, she squeezed Michael's fore-arm once he'd set her on the ground again, emphasizing her point. "I find out your CO gets you shipped out again and I'll kick his ass!"

She was only half kidding, then shrugged at his question about where she'd been. "Yeah, well... I've been helping my dad a lot more recently... Fiddling with Gina, practice - drums, keeping in shape for water polo, plus track," she told him, rubbing her head a little.

"Man, those were the days, weren't they?" Ken asked, about Mike's memory. Addi bowed her head a little, smiling and nodding, still rubbing her head.

She laughed as Mike mentioned them being awesome and she shook her head a little, muttering, "Apparently not awesome enough."

"Jam session tomorrow?" Addison blinked and looked up at Mike, then looked back at Ken, nodding a little, then Ken decided it was time to leave. Wade was sitting in the car, waiting, anyways.

"See you guys!" She waved at Mike and Sarah, walking with Ken back to the car and Wade.

One of the mix CDs Wade had made her was playing; she smiled, memories of when she'd played that and the other few CDs he'd made her over and over again running through her mind. Addison ran her fingers through her hair and then unlocked her door, opening it and then tipping the seat forward for Ken to climb into the back of the navy blue, 2-door Mustang.

"Good song... Good band," she told Wade, smiling before slipping into the driver's seat and starting the old but pristine muscle car. She pulled out of the parking spot and then maneuvered her way out onto the street and headed to Bailey's, the opposite direction of her own home.

[Ushima]

"Heyooh!" Ken sat himself in the back seat. "'Sup Wade?" Now they were going to..."Who the fuck's party are we going to?" Ken didn't know a lot of people. It was practically the band, people associated with the band and people he meets at concerts after moshing and kicking each other's asses all night. Speaking of concerts and bands he wasn't digging the soundtrack for the ride. "This blows." Ken reached into his pocket and pulled out his mp3 player. Putting in his earbuds he put on a random song and turned the volume up. Sitting in the back seat he began air guitaring Bullet For My Valentine's Tears Don't Fall (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWxqd90-XWI). He could play this song, any song really if he liked it enough. Most songs he learns by ear alone, only when he wanted to learn something quick he'd look up tabs. "Addi, Mike's home til the end of December. Then he goes back to sniping. Don't worry he's been enlisted for six years and the only thing that's happened was he got shot in the leg in his first year. He'll come back, or else I'll kill him." His brother was a Marine sniper. "Oorah." Ken said as he just remembered a time Mike took him to a range. Now thinking of violence, he started thinking about what sort of trouble he's going to get himself into at the party. He might not be kicking Ganon's ass, as easy as that'd be for him, but someone is gonna knuckle up with him. In the back seat he had an evil smile, but quickly returned to a neutral expression. Addi and Wade both knew that look, didn't need them worrying. He just wanted to blow off some steam. "Let's hurry up."

[Awean8]

Wade just ignored how rude Ken always was, especially whenever he blatently blurted out that his taste in music allegedly "blew". Ken wasn't exactly smart enough, or for that matter patient enough to appreciate the actual song writing in a song. Playing guitar was the easy part of being a musician. The ability to compose music, and write the notes down on paper required a lot of brainpower and overnighters.

The band's song writing process usually began with Wade strumming different chord progressions in his room. After a long night of Mountain Dew and migraines he will finally have the melody. The following day he'd usually bring Jasin in and perform as sort of motley version without any words. If Jasin approved than they would bring the song to practice, and Wade usually wrote the words in between naps at school.

In defiance towards Ken's unreasonably ill-mannered behavior he turned the music up while he spoke to Addi. Wade found it amusing to hear Ken's voice become muffled over the speakers. Tomorrow it was going to be all up to Wade to write new material for the Final Round next week and unlike Ken or the most of the others he knew that they were in deep shit. He's going to have to write something that will completely kick the shit out of everything they ever did before.

Once again he retreated to using his finger to write haikus on the glass of the car's window. He didn't exactly know what he was going to do at Bailey's party, but all he could really hope for was cute girls to be there. He knew the party was going to blow though, at least he still had his Game Boy safely tucked into his back pocket....

It was only a matter of time however until they had finally reached the party. Most of the parking spots lining the streets had already been taken so they had parked a block away. When they drove past Wade spotted Jacobi's gang just arriving. Now things were at least interesting.

[Jacogos]

"Are we THERE yet?"

"Kevin. Shut up." Jacobi sighed as the SUV turned around in yet another cul-de-sac. "Dante, you sure you know where you're going?"

The big guy shrugged and looked back to Amanda, who was grinning amusedly. "Okay, I give, tell me where to go. Please?"

She smiled and laughed lightly, pointed to the left as the approached the four-way intersection that let out of the cul-de-sac. "You passed the house maybe a few minutes back. I wondered if you would notice."

"Dammit, Boss, I TOLD you that that house looked like a party was going on!"

Jacobi sighed and said nothing. They had dropped King off a while back, and had been seemingly lost the whole time since, and being out in the middle of nowhere wasn't much help. Furthermore, Amanda had just left them clueless as to where they were going, staying quiet with that smirk on her face the whole time.

"You know, you could have told us that when we passed it the first time..."

"And spoil the fun? As if." She laughed again as the SUV chugged up to the side of the street where quite a few other cars where parked. The lawn was littered with trash, but most of the party had went inside due to the cold, leaving just a few couples, and a few passed out on the yard. Inside, it was obvious the music was pumping and people were dancing, laughing, and Jacobi was pretty sure he heard a crash or two. He grinned.

"Alrighty, lets see how bad this shit is. Kevin, don't drink the beer. Remember last year?"

Kevin's look of excitement turned into a bright blush. "It wasn't THAT bad!!"

Dantavian and Jacobi just laughed, leaving Amanda with a vaguely puzzled expression. They all got out and Dante moved a little closer to Amanda and muttered, "I guess I'll keep an eye on ya, you know, in case people decide to be drunk and stuff..."

She just grinned and pinched his cheek with a grin. "Aww, look out for me, eh? I'm a big girl, tough guy. I'll be fine. If not, I guess you'll be my knight in shining armor, eh?" She laughed again and went on into the house, as if she had been invited all along.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Addison rolled her eyes at the guys and kept driving, her only slight indiscretion being speeding up for a yellow light she probably could have stopped for. The air, to her at least, seemed too tense and made her want to get there even faster, impatient.

She parked a safe distance away that Gina wouldn't get towed if the party was crashed, and not in front of anyone's drive way, either. Addison had once watched an angry neighbor back out of his driveway and into one of the varsity baseball player's SUVs during a party such as this one; she had laughed.

The swimmer turned off the vintage Mustang and slid out of the driver's seat, pulling it forward for Ken to get out. She reminded Wade, "Lock your door before you close it."

She waited for them to get out before making sure all the doors were locked, zipping up her jacket, making sure no valuables were in view of anyone peeking into one of her windows, and then headed toward Bailey's house on the cold Illinois sideways. They could hear the music from the party from where they were and she shook her head a little, surprised that they hadn't gotten any noise complaints; then again, Bailey didn't have many neighbors.

Addi rubbed her neck as she walked, long legs taking rather graceful steps as she walked with Wade and Ken. She didn't say much and as they got closer to the party, she hummed softly to the music. Once they were in front of the house, Addi cut across the litter-strewn lawn and to the porch of Bailey's house, glancing with a little frown at a drunken couple making out on the porch's railing.

As she watched, the girl sitting on the railing leaned backwards, drawing the boy closer to her, but shifting her weight too much in the process. The boy's hands slid out from under the girl's inappropriately short skirt as she tumbled backwards, off the railing and into the bushes below with a bewildered scream. Malcom, she recognized the boy from her English class, stood there, staring drunkenly at the place the girl had been, confused. Addison sighed and pushed her fingers through her hair as she tugged open the screen door to Bailey's house and stepped inside.

She was welcomed with louder music and an assortment of smells, none too appealing, and a group of jocks coming down the stairs.

"Ooo, Addison!" Jason slurred, grinning and puffing out his chest.

"Get out of my face, quarterback. Don't you have a cheerleader's pleated skirt to chase?"

"God, I love it when you're fiesty," he said, breaking off from his pack to follow her into the living room, crowded with dancers. He slid up behind her and pressed against her, rocking from side to side in time with the music. She rolled her eyes, gripping the back of the couch as he tried to dance with her.

"I'm serious," she warned him.

"Me too," he replied.

"FIIIIIGHT!" Someone screamed, and she glanced over her shoulder toward the commotion, seeing Jason whip his head around as well.

"Oh, shit!" He said, mimicking Addison's thoughts. She frowned a little at his profile; his was a bit more excited than her thoughts, however - she was quickly calculating whether or not Ken had gotten himself into a fight already.

[Ushima]

Ken sighed as he got out of the car, turning off his mp3 player and stuffing it back in his pocket. He walked with Addi and Wade as they approached the house, music blasting. "God what am I doing here?" Ken was starting to question his decision to come. "I should've just asked Mike and Sarah for a ride." No, he couldn't do that to Mike. HIs eldest brother still had an important question to ask tonight, so his brother was probably at the park by now, probably down on one knee and reaching in his pocket- "Oh shit! Fail." Ken laughed as the girl fell off the railing. Inside the house he was assualted by smells. Normally when he attended parties he stuck to the corner, drinking a beer or two, get a group of guys he could tolerate and talk for the night. But not here, he wasn't liking this.

A group of jocks came down the stairs. One of them broke off, following Addi. "Note to self, watch that one." He thought, that left three more. Ken did the odds in his head. Him and Wa-scratch that, Wade was MIA but it wasn't like he'd be much back up.

"What are you lookin' at?" The middle one asked.

Ken fixed a hard glare. "A punching bag, if you keep up that shitty attitude." Ken rolled his neck. Three on one, man was he pushing it. Two, ok. One, with his eyes closed and arms tied. He was good but not 'Bruce Lee' good.

"The hell you say?" Ken kept his mouth shut. They were getting riled up. Being jocks they were used to everyone one showoing them respect. Apparently they've never encountered Ken around school. "Hey we're talking to you!"

"Piss off. I got better things to do than speak with my inferriors." That did it. The first guy stepped forward swinging his fist. Ken stepped to the side and punched him in the face. Next thing he was grabbed by two and three. Ken brought his head down on three, freeing his right hand to puch two in the face. One, two, pull the guy forward and knee in the gut. "Weak!"

"Fight!" Someone shouted. Great now he had an audience. Ken took off his leather jacket. Three was coming back at him so he tossed the jacket, obstructing three's view allowing Ken to kick him in the stomach before uppercutting the jaw.

"Where'd one go?" Ken turned around to find the first guy when he was punched in the face, something hard, metal. Ken felt his face, his right cheek, blood. "Brass knuckles?" He was grabbed again, from behind, by three and one punched him in the stomach. Two then punched him in the face. One grabbed him by the hair and lifted his head, pressing the knuckles to the side of his face. Ken felt the cold metal.

"This is what losers like you deserve." One pulled his arm back. Ken dropped his weight, slipping out of the hold and kicked one in the groin. Getting up he elbowed three in the face then kicked him away, two got him but he broke out and knocked him out with three punches to the head.

"Come here you bastard." Ken tackled the first guy, hard, to the ground. "Fuck! You! You! Mother! Fucker!" Ken emphasized each word with a punch. Right, left, right, left, right. "Who says you can judge people!?" Ken really didn't like being called a loser. Did they do it cause he was different? Because they sure didn't take the time to get to know him to make that judgement about him. Finally getting up he looked at the gathered crowd. "Come on anyone else!? Huh!" Nobody moved. "Fuckers." Picking up his leather he stormed out of the house. His stomach hurt, maybe a broken rib. His face was bleeding and probably started to swell. And he had a killer headache from the headbutt. "What a way to start off and eighteenth birthday."

[Awean8]

Wade entered the house being greeted by half the people in it. He didn't really perceive himself as being popular, but he was. About a third of the school owned his home recorded demos, so what did you really expect? Added on to being labeled as both a slacker and a hippie, he is also a bit of a loner. Not many people besides maybe Jasin and Mercy know anything about him. All they know is his voice and guitar.

"Yo Wade", Trent hollered. He was a major foot ball player, but a cool one. They both had the same art class, and Trent was secretly a closet artist. You know the type. "You should break out the six string and play the party."

"Not right now Trent", Wade spotted Addi being pursued by Jason. Aaron's date raping side-kick. He kept his composure and decided to take a more charismatic path. "-but I will later. I just need to pay someone a visit."

He serpentined through dancing people, bobbing his head in rhythm with the pop song's heavy bass beat. He knew how to dance to a degree, but it only went so far. Ken starting a fight with whoever was perfectly timed, for when the rather drunk Jason was distracted by all the screaming. He slipped in between them and began to dance with Addi. As he pressed his chest to her back he held her hand, and whispered into her ear, "It's me Wade. Play along."

Jason looked back completely dumbfounded at first and than he was just furious but Wade knew he had the situation in control. The Neanderthal shouted in protest to Wade stealing Addi, "What the fuck man!"

[Jacogos]

Not even a few minutes after their arrival, someone started a fight. Kevin and Jacobi whooped at the shout of 'Fight!!' and looked around for the fighters, while Dante shrugged off the idea and went in search of something to drink. The two white boys quickly found the source and found it was one of the Demo Boys players, the guitarist Ken. Well, Jacobi thought that was his name. The kid sure knew how to fight. Three on one and he pulled a nice set of moves on the guys.

At one point or another, it seemed over for the skinny fire-fingered kid, but he pulled through somehow. Jacobi and Kevin watched him challenge more people, then storm out. Jacobi started grinning slightly. Well, seems the party had promise after all. Jacobi hawked a loogie and spat on the downed guy, whom was bleeding and unconscious. No one seemed to notice.

Elsewhere, Dante was getting his drink, an unopened Coke can from a cooler. He didn't trust any other sort of drink, bottled and especially not open-cup. He didn't expect anyone to slip HIM something, he was half-way afraid he'd get the drug that was meant for someone else. Looking around, he wondered to himself where Amanda had gotten to. The girl seemed to know how to blend into a crowd like no one else could, even with her distinct goth-yet-not-goth look. Somebody tried reaching in his pocket, and the big black guy straightened before turning on the would-be pick pocket, the shifty-eyed boy backing up quick.

"Nuh-huh, you better step off, home boy." This generated a few laughs from those nearby. A little perk to being black was that you didn't even always have to act like it to be believable. Dantavian just took a sip of his soda and walked into the kitchen, where some upper-classmen and even recent graduates were playing beer pong. The stoner guy on one side seemed to be in the lead, but most of the people there were too inebriated to be paying attention to a score.

By then, Jacobi and Kevin had split up, Kevin going off to see what kind of alcohol he could pilfer, Jacobi winding up caught by a few of his friends from the school. They were bums, mostly, kids who could be in honors classes but choose not to and smoke pot every so often. They were cool. He still wasn't sure what kind of terms he was on with the only girl of the group, Kasslyn. Ever since they're middle school-high school fling, she had introverted of sorts, slipping out of her courses and taking up the 'easy classes'. He thought she still blamed him, which just made it worse for him. He was all too glad to spring free of them after a few moments conversation.

[Damonique]

Bailey Thomas

Bailey had been sneaking a pallet of backup liquor and some "Herbs" from back in the woods through the back door of his run down pad when he heard some crashing in the front room over the dull thumping of the radio.

The sandy-haired college deadbeat dropped the alcohol on the kitchen counter and stormed out, only to see Ken storm out of his living room, leaving two burly guys staggering and one bleeding on the floor. He was breathing, so Bailey just convinced two guys from the crowd of people standing around after the spectacle to toss him out on the porch.

"Yo, Break it up, Break it up, and nobody even think of calling the goddamn cops!" He shouted, and everyone finally remembered that it was a party and drifted back to their own crowds. Seeing as Ken had arrived, Baily supposed the other Demo Boys were there too, and, without too much searching, finding Wade and Addi dancing off to the fringe of the crowd, away from the main stereo. Behind them was a very agitated-looking Jason Blythe.

Fucking Quarterbacks. Stereotypically stupid and mean. Its almost some sort of biological imperative. He thought as he neared the group. Seeing the quarterback rearing back for a swing at Wade, Bailey stepped forward and grabbed Jason by the forearm. The 19-year-old quarterback was big, but Bailey was older and tougher, Twenty-Two years of breaking up fights and starting a few himself made it easy to twist Jasons arm behind his back and turn him in the other direction.

"'ey, Grab a drink and chill. Don't want any more fights tonight. Most of the neighbors already got their "Suggestions" not to pay attention to what goes on over around here in the form of fifty bucks on top of their mailboxes earlier this week...but if we make too much noise. But hey, I don't like having to deal with idiots when they wake up and still think their swinging at whoever put 'em out." Bailey chuckled, patting the quarterback off towards a table furnished with a variety of liver-killing tonics.

That was Bailey's talent. He could be a bridge, between the stoners and the schizo's, the geeks and the jocks. He just sort of fit in with everyone. The combination of a charming smile, sand-brown hair and an athletes physique helped. Girls wanted to be with him, guys wanted to be his Bud. This "Gift" kept him in business. If anyone needed something, they came to Bailey first, because he was the guy you could trust.

"Sooo...Heard about you show. Third place, not bad. Remind me to congratulate Jacobi and His boys when I run into 'em, for getting second, while I'm at it. Personally, my money was split between the two of you. I already saw the crappy cell-phone videos. Jasin' wasn't high when he pulled that stunt on stage, was he?" Bailey chuckled as he approached Wade and Addi, a beer in one hand a cocky half-smile creasing his rough-shaven face.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

As soon as Addison had seen that Ken, indeed, had been in the fight, she'd turned around, cussing and running her hands through her hair. Jason, she though, started to press up against her again, dancing with her unmoving frame, and she was about to turn around and at the very least deal the jock a black eye when Wade's voice filled her ear, making her shiver.

"It's me, Wade..." He said and she closed her eyes slowly, a little more willing to dance with him even before he'd said, "Play along."

Addi's hand was warm in Wade's and she bowed her head forward a little, bending at the knees to dance a bit, her back pressed against Wade's front; granted, she was already shorter than Wade (and the rest of her bandmates, at a reasonable 5'7") but bending at the knees made it easier to fluidly move one's hips, which she did, back against Wade's as they danced. She squeezed his hand a little and hid her smirk as Jason cried out at them.

"What the fuck, man!" The quarterback yelled, only to be physically and verbally steered away by their host, Bailey.
Jason walked away muttering about goddamn stoners, fucking hippes and sweet pieces of ass. Addison smiled over her shoulder up at Wade and then looked to Bailey, giving a little shrug as he brought up their performance at the Battle of the Bands earlier that evening. She laughed at the older man's inquiry about Jasin.

"No, he may have been a bit buzzed, but he didn't smell like weed, so..." Addison laughed, voice slightly raised over the music to be heard.

"Did get us some cool attention, though," she admitted, looking to Wade again and smirking.

[Ushima]

"God damn it fuckin sons of bitches." Ken was cursing so much a church probably burnt down somewhere. Finally deciding he was sick of carrying his jacket he put it on. He was pissed, that asshole he beat the shit out of brought some painful memories to surface. A time before he was in the Demolition Boys, the times he was picked on, beaten. A time when he was really depressed. "I should call my uncle and tell him to break up that party." His uncle Dan was a cop.

A loud engine caught his attention. Someone was coming in hot. A Hummer (http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll10/Dragonrider1989/Slayer%20Investigations/Hummer1.jpg) pulled up on the side of the street. Ken just raised an eyebrow. A Two guys in familiar varsity jackets got out the side. "Damn it!' Ken blocked a punch with his left arm before striking the guy in the face. Ken caught a kick from the second guy and elbowed him in the stomach before punching him. On the third punch Ken was hit in the side and knocked down.

"Not so tough when your on the ground are ya?" A sharp kick was delivered to his side. Looking up Ken saw four faces, two of which were bloody. It was two of the three guys from earlier. Someone stepped on his right arm, preventing him from raising a defense.

"Hey he's a guitarist." And a foot came down on his hand.

"Ah!" He'd be lucky if it wasn't broken. More kicks came down on him and he tried protecting his face with his left arm. Didn't do much good though. They just kept coming.

"Leave him." The started walking away.

"Four on one doesn't seem really all that fair. Bunch of pussies." He just had to get the last word in. He rolled over, trying to get up when a kick got him in the face. Ken was back down, holding his face in pain. He heard doors slam and the Hummer start up and drive off. Ken rolled over and pushed himself off the ground, spitting out blood. It didn't feel like his hand was broken, but it was to soon to tell. It was a pain to get up, his body full of pain. "Feels like freshmen year all over again." Finally getting up he began walking again. It'd take awhile but he'd eventually get home. Pulling out his phone he sent a text to Addi. 'Thanks for seeing if I was alright after brawling.' That was about the fact that no one followed him, to see if he was ok. 'Now I'm a fucked up mess and can't breath with out feeling pain.' He'd be sore tomorrow for sure.

[Jacogos]

Jacobi managed to get away from his friends without hurting anybody, grabbed some water from a cooler and took a long swig. Damn, he had forgotten how hot parties could get. That, and he figured he should have some anyway after their band performance. Wow, that seemed so long ago... Weird. He looked around, seeing if he could find anybody else to hang with or talk to. At that moment, he spotted Wade and the girl from the Demo Boys, talking to some other guy who looked a little too old to be in high school. You never knew nowadays, though.

On a whim, Jacobi strolled over to the three and held up a hand in greeting. "'Sup Wade and... Addison, wasn't it? Hope I'm not barging in on anything or nothin'..." He gave a sort of knowing-yet-not look at the two before looking over at Bailey. "... I feel like I should know you, but I don't. I'm Jacobi." He held a hand out, since he took after his businessy father when it came to handshakes. 'You can always tell a man by his grip, son.' So far, he hadn't been disappointed, true.

--------------------------------------------------------------

And down went the competitor, leaving the stoner hold up a triumphant glass of beer. Well, for a moment, before the liquid sloshed all over the guy. Dante gave a laugh at that, but it was cut short when he saw Kevin stride up to the table. "Alright, who we got, bitches? Let's rack 'em up!" Dante just gave a sigh. "I hope you know what you're doin' little man." Another big black guy, this one more in girth than height came up opposite Kevin and grinned big, his grill twinkling in the kitchen's light.

"You got what it takes, tiny? Come on."

Kevin stared for a moment, then grinned. "Hope you don't set off any quake warnings when you pass out, big guy." Dante laughed again, knowing that Kevin was now officially dead meat.

-------------------------------------------------

Halfway down the street, something started squealing, and with a good look, you would see the departed Hummer veering off to the side of the street. After a moment, the boys would get out, one of them screaming 'What the FUCK happened to my baby!?!'

In Bailey's yard, however, Amanda Rogers was crossing the yard to Ken as she folded her pocket knife back up and stuck it in her back pocket before falling in step with the beaten boy, a slight light of mischief present in her eye.

"You okay, tough guy? You don't look like you should be walking that well, especially after what I just saw." She wondered if he noticed what had happened to the Hummer. If not, she wasn't about to bring it up. "Where ya headed?"

[Awean8]

Wade just gave an ambiguous shrug towards Bailey's question. Jasin could have possibly been high, it was actually really likely. Wade never really got caught in the whole teenage drug thing. Instead of smoking weed during summer break like most kids his age, he spent it playing video games. It wasn't like he was against it or anything, it's just that there was no real reason for him to do so.

Still sort of half-dancing half embracing Addi, Wade talked to Bailey a.k.a the King of Parties. "I'll probably be playing the party in a sec and of coarse free of charge."

Trent popped his head in from the other room holding a crude acoustic guitar (http://images.craigslist.org/3nb3ka3p85V65W55X6b1e4968757e267b1b66.jpg). Wade loved to play for free. It was so much more relieving than playing towards a paycheck. Besides it was Wade's personal belief that you shouldn't really have to pay for music in the first place. He reluctantly pulled his arms away from Addi and let go of her hand. He grabbed Trent's guitar, sat down in the nearest couch and began to play his heart out.

[Ushima]

Inhale, wince in pain, exhale, spit out blood. He was in so much pain. Ken could feel the blood trickle down his face, neck and chest. Using his arm he wiped some of it off his forehead. His brother was gonna have a fit and go on the war path. And Ken would let him. It'd be fun to watch. "What the fuck happened to my baby!?!" Ken looked in the direction of the scream. A hummer with shredded tires. He couldn't help himself.

"Ahahahaha!" He laughed. It wasn't fitting for them, but that would have to do for now until Ken could get them back.

"You ok tough guy?" Ken stopped laughing. He didn't recognize that voice.

"Um, yeah." At that point he felt another wave of pain as he took another breath. He clutched his gut. "Just....fine." Ken leaned away and spit out more blood. "I've had much worse that this, trust me."

"You don't look like you should be walking that well, especially after what I just saw." The girl said.

"Every heard the expression walk it off?" Ken chuckled. "I've had to walk things of practically everyday." If Ken had a nickle for everytime he came home a battered, broken mess he'd be rich.

"Where ya headed?" She asked.

"Home. If I'm lucky my brother and his girlfriend will be there and she can patch me up." Sarah was good at fixing him and his brother up whenever they got injured. "And if I'm not lucky I'd just crawl into bed and pass out and hopefully feel better in the morning." Now that he's answered her questions, its his turn. "I don't really mean to be rude but who the hell are you? I mean you seem familiar and I swear I've seen you somewhere."

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Smiling over her shoulder at Wade as he danced with her, amused. Her motioned slowed to a stop once he stepped away to play, and she moved over to the couch, sitting on one of the arms.

Addison blinked as her phone started making her purse pulsate with vibrations, and she drew it out, opening the text from Ken. Her expression darkened as she read over the white-on-black words and her jaw tightened. Addi passed the phone to Wade, dropping it in his lap as he played.

"Deal with that, I don't have nice words for him right now," she told Wade in something close to a growl. Almost everyone who knew her was aware of her anti-drama personality, that she hated shit like that. Ken's text message was almost begging for a fight.

The drummer stood up and headed to the kitchen, tying back her messy curls into an equally messy bun at the back of her head; somehow Addison made it look styled, without the effort of actually doing so. She tugged open the fridge and peered inside, disappointed to only find alcohol. For Bailey's sake, she really hoped the party didn't get busted - it was his house, his fridge was full of alcohol, and he'd probably get jail time for serving to minors.

Not partaking in the booze, the young woman went to the ice cooler, in hopes of finding soda, and being successful. She pulled out a Sunkist and, after looking it over, popped it open, taking a sip of the orange soda.

Addi sat on a kitchen counter for awhile, people-watching, a little bored. She swung her feet against the low cupboards, heels banging lightly on the wood to a beat that had nothing to do with the music playing.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Ignore this, computer's being stupid and double posting.

[Damonique]

Jasin Marc/Mercy Cornick

Jasin froze as Addi's garage opened and her sleek black two-door Mustang, lovingly nicknamed Gina, streaked out onto the road. It didn't slow, so Jasin assumed that Addi and Wade hadn't noticed him. Its not that he planned on keeping things secret, hell, with Addi and Mercy being neighbors and all, he really couldn't, but he wanted to think some more before he had to talk to Wade about it. Ken didn't get a say, he barely knew Mercy, but the three of them, Jasin, Wade, and Mercy, had been friends since Elementary School.

Jasin stood quietly behind Mercy as she unlocked the door, hoping that she was right about her father being passed out. Jasin hadn't never really known her dad all that well. He had spoken some to Mercy's mother before her death, but most of the time Mercy and Wade had hung out at Jasin's house, since his parents never cared what they did. Jasin smiled, thinking back.

"Remember, the summer before Freshman year? When I got my dad to pay for us to do almost anything. I think that was the last time before as few months ago the three of us were happy." Jasin sighed as the door swung inward.

Mercy smiled weakly back at him, "Yeah the days were great and most nights were fun when I was with you guys, but that was before my dad was so drunk he could barely move. He used to hit me." She opened the door and stepped through. Immediately, Jasin's smile turned into a look of concern. He knew that Mercy's father had more or less gone off the deep end, but hearing it from her, that he treated her like that, still made him think differently about it.

"I just told you guys that I fell though. Which I did a lot of anyway. Thankfully he only has like one good hit in him a day." She explained, and looked up at him apologetically, "Sorry. I didn't mean to...say any of that, I...Damn It..." She turn away from him and started walking down the hall towards the garage, wiping her eyes.

Jasin ran after her, slamming shut the door behind him as he went, and caught up to her at the end of the hallway connecting to the garage and caught her shoulder. As light as she was, it was easy for him to turn her around by her shoulder, until she was looking straight into his ice blue eyes, his brows furrowed with concern.

"You should have told me about that..I never thought of it like......" Jasin trailed off into nothing, and that damn voice in his head spent every second reprimanding him for not taking notice of it. Without anything to say that he could think of, nothing to do to make it up, he just leaned forward with her against the wall and kissed her. Her lips had a taste of salt on them from the tears. Jasin held it for just a moment before pulling back slightly, though his face was still only inches from hers.

"Mer-Mer. Next time, don't be so quiet. I fucked up not noticing anything before. I don't want to do that again. Alright?" He whispered, calmly, determinedly.

Mercy remained silent as she looked up at him and nodded and leaned her head into his shoulder for a moment before she grinned and wiped her eyes again.

"It's fine, I'll be fine. Whenever he comes near me now I just him out cold." She said, though Jasin could tell that was probably just to reassure him more than anything. He hated that she never seemed to want help from anyone. Mercy didn't leave him enough time to dwell on it as she flipped on the lights and heater and led him into the garage. It was still sort of chilled. Jasin had left his jacket on the floor in the back of his van and his still-sweat soaked black shirt wasn't doing him much good.

"So, been painting much lately?" Jasin chuckled, breaking the silence, as he waved his hand over the stack of two-dozen canvases drying against the wall. Mercy's Art was a bit dark in theme, but it was real, not that fake emo bullshit people pretend is progressive.

Mercy laughed at him a little, "Of course I have, though I get most of it on myself instead of the canvas, but the paintings turn out alright." She gave a little turn and smiled at him, the same fox smirk she had given him after practice when she had asked him if he wanted to buy her a drink. Suddenly, she pushed him down into the couch in the center of the garage, her legs on either side of his and Kissed him, a bit more forcefully then earlier, but still a bit withdrawn. Jasin didn't push things, just leaned back and tried to take in every detail. The faint scent of cherries from her shampoo in her crimson-tipped raven hair, the slightest hint of salt on her lips from some combination of sweat and tears.

Mercy let the kiss linger for a short while before pulled away and set her head on his shoulder. Jasin wrapped an arm over her shoulders, and noticed she seemed a bit distracted, but he let it sit. After several minutes, she finally spoke.

"Jasin...I really like you, and I'm not going to lie to you." She said it sort of withdrawn, and he immediately wondered what she would have reason to lie to him about. He had known her for so long, there wasn't a whole lot about her he didn't know already.

"Mer-Mer...You don't have to talk about anything you don't want to. Because I don't even want to pretend to know what you should or shouldn't do with your life. I'm still a little in shock about how fast this all went, but I'm willing to keep it up. See how things go." Jasin finished, as straightforward as he could be to avoid the distraction and rambling he usually succumbed to when he had to actually say something important, which, luckily, was rarely.

Mercy smiled and buried her face in his shoulder. Jasin could lightly smell the fragrance wafting form her hair as she did. Lightly, he wrapped his arm around the back of the shoulders, pulling her close.

"Jasin, I do like you and I definitely want to stay with you for as long as possible. However..." She moved her head up so she was whispering in his ear, "You need to find a new nickname for me. One that isn't so lame and doesn't make me feel like a child." She teased, and now he could detect the mocking lilt to her tone. She pulled her face up close to his until all he could see were a few strands of crimson-tipped raven hair and a deep, clear blue eye.

"And I..." She trailed off for a second. "...am not a child." She accented that by leaning forward and kissing him with enough force to dig the small of his back into the couch springs. Jasin responded in kind, tilting his head and using his hand behind her shoulders to keep them steady as they went back and forth. Jasin pulled back for a moment and gave her a mocking smirk.

"What would be the point of a nickname if it didn't embarrass you?" He chuckled, before pulling her into another deep kiss before she had a chance to say anything, his fingers tracing lines through her hair, cool nails occasionally grazing the base of her neck.

Mercy shivered slightly in response and pulled closer to him. Jasin could feel her fingers twining into his mess of brown hair as she pushed him down on to the couch and brought her lips to his more forcefully. He could taste a hint of Vodka under her breath intermingling with the salty tang of sweat. Light twines of red-tipped black hair fell over his face, and Jasin found himself fumbling with a familiar zipper as the same feeling from earlier crept back up.

Is this wrong?What about the band?What about at school? Would she even want to be seen with me, in public, after what a reputation I've built up?How will things be if this turns out to just be a fling?Do I want it to be? Jasin pushed the thoughts aside and let himself melt into the routine. He would have time to doubt his own judgment later.

[Awean8]

Wade could only sigh at the the strange text. He tried to duck away from unnecessary conflict whenever possible so he instead decided not to say anything.

He played through his repertoire of acoustic songs he had written. Mostly songs written with a clever mix of G, D, and E chords with simple power chords. He sang would switch from his more prettier voice to more raspier bluesy punk voice, which gave his songs at least more variety. This acoustic stuff was was something separate from Demo Boy stuff, which was obviously more electric based. It was acoustic but not in that soft kum by ah kind of way. It was real. The lyrical themes ranging from being constantly out of cash to politics to plain songs about girls.

"Love is my Achilles tendon - and misery is my rhythm - If home is where the heart Cupid's hitting home

[Jacogos]

Jacobi wandered over to where Wade was playing. The hippie had already gathered a small crowd with his performance, which made Jacobi grin. No way this guy came in third... He really respected Wade's love for his music. It was something he held dear himself. Sure, there was music thought sounded like crap, but music was music, it was all worthy of at least some respect.

The metalhead strode over to Wade's side, by the arm of the couch, watching him play and eying his fingerings. Simple stuff, yet somehow Wade brought the most out of it. Another admirable trait. Jacobi felt his fingers itch, and he wanted to play something now.

Jacobi thought for a moment. His own acoustic guitar was safe away at his house, and he didn't really want to bring in his electric from the SUV, but it was an option. Looking back down at the still-rocking hippie, Jacobi caught him between verses.

"Hey man, mind if I have a quick shot at it? I promise I won't break it." He grinned evilly and laughed slightly, not really expecting the teen to part with it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

They had each down more than five full cups of beer by the time Junior was too out of it to even see straight, much less throw the ping-pong. Lucky for him, Dante was there to keep him from killing himself. Walking over, the big senior put an arm around Kevin and raised his coke in the air.

"Alright everyone, I think Kev's had enough." In a quieter tone, yet forcefully enough to drown out Kevin's drunken attempts at rebuttle, "You're gonna kill your liver in one night at this rate. Get yo' punk ass out of here." He shoved the boy lightly. "Go!"

With a pouting whine, Kevin moved off, unsteadily at best. Dante sighed and kept his eye on him, leaning against the portion of wall between the kitchen and living room. Kid was gonna get killed. Thud!! Dante grinned and turned. Yep, that was the other guy Junior had been playing. Huh. One more round, and Kevin woulda won. Oops. Dante laughed again, causing a small freshman to scurry away with wide eyes. Dantavian watched her run off, and found himself thinking about how long it had been since he had had a nice piece of ass...

"... Well shit..."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Worse than this? Boy, any more than this, I don't think you'd be moving, if you'd even be breathing." Amanda watched as he spat out the blood, a small flash of disgust crossing her face. She wasn't squeamish, really, but that didn't make her love the sight of blood.

"Ever heard the expression walk it off? I've had to walk things of practically everyday," the boy said, chuckling.

Amanda grinned slightly, a light half-laugh escaping her lips before she spoke. "Really now, walk it off? You're probably going to do more damage doing that." She couldn't say she was an expert at judging injuries on a human, but she wasn't stupid enough not to know he was in severe pain. The way he walked and spoke was evidence enough for that.

She listened to his last answer and scoffed, stepping in front of him and blocking his path with her arms slightly crossed. "How far is your house? If its beyond a half mile, then you're gonna pass out before you make it. Come on, I bet Bailey'll have some stuff to fix you up." She gestured back towards the house with the party, but didn't push further.

In response to his question, she shrugged. "Rude or not, its a question, right? I'm Amanda, you probably saw me hanging out with Dante and More Than Meets the Eye. You're the guitarist of the Demo Boys... but I don't think I ever caught your name either..." She put her hand up to her chin and grabbed it thoughtfully, wondering if she had or not. Nothing was coming to mind, so she figured she hadn't, but that wasn't certain.

"Anyway, that's beside the point. Get your ass back to that house, or I'm leaving you out here to die in the street. Or at least get beat up again if those goons find you." She continued to stand in front of him (even if he has moved her of gone around her by now), and fixed him with a defiant glare.

[Ushima]

He's seen that glare before, his mother and Sarah have it whenever they yell at him. It promises nothing good. So he thought back on his current situation. He was bleeding, a lot, possible broken rib, possible concussion, possible broken hand. It hurt to walk, hell it hurt to breath. It was probably better to take care of the small stuff while he can, before they became bigger problems. "Alright...AH!" He grabbed his side, hissing in pain. "Let's go back." Ken decided it'd be a good idea to call his brother after all. He began walking back with her as he overheard here introduction. "Oh now I remember you, you were that pretty girl hangin all over Dante." It all clicked together, he knew she seemed familiar. But putting the fact he called her pretty he reached into his pocket for his Droid X (http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/vv71/what29/xfront1.jpg). Top of the line, god he was such a nerd.

"Ken? What's up baby bro?" Mike's voice was full of worry.

"Yeah um," He might as well tell his brother, he'd find out eventually. "I got into a fight, well I guess you could say two but they jumped me. Anyway," Spit out blood. "I need a ride."

"Text me the address I'll be right there. Sarah! Get the-" The rest was cut off as Ken hung up and texted Mike. They made it back to the house.

"First aid should be in bathroom." Mike stepped over the body of the jock weilding brass knuckles (http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff6/CEHTAGGA11/KNUKLE.jpg) and painfully made his way up the stairs. He didn't know if Amanda was following him, he'd appreciate the help if she was. But he finally made it to the top of the stairs, amongst whispers that Ken had returned and far worse shape than when he left. Luckily the bathroom was open and he sprinted, more like hobbled really fast, to get in it. He spit more blood into the sink and he sat on the toilet to catch his breath and let the pain subside.

[Damonique]

-Bailey Thomas-

Bailey gave Jacobi's hand a quick vice-grip shake, but was quickly dragged away by a disgruntled, somewhat drunk fool who appeared to have lost his wallet. Jacobi just listened for a couple minutes before the guy passed out.

"Jesus, some of these kids are serious lightweights." Bailey chuckled as he saw Dante practically dragging Mick and the senior passed out on the kitchen floor. The party was beginning to wind down as all of the fun drunks started passing out and those few guys that got lucky left with their dates/random drunk chicks.

Bailey was about to start telling people to hit the road or call a cab when he saw Ken stumble into the living room with a girl helping him walk. Wade and Addi were busy, so Bailey just helped the guy to the top floor and waited until the brother he said would show up got there. Bailey pulled mike over the calm him down.

"Yo, He's upstairs. I'm not sure who did it, but whoever it was they aren't here anymore. Kid got in a fight and went outside to blow off steam, thats probably when they jumped him." He explained as Mike made his way up to the bathroom the girl had helped Ken into, stating in his tone, if not his words, that whatever happens at his party's isn't always under his control, and that there was no reason to call the cops after the fact.

"You guys can stay however long 'ya want, I got things to check on." Bailey added and rushed downstairs, seeing that Jacobi had replaced Wade on the guitar, he made his way over the where Wade was downing a bottle of water and pointed upstairs.

"Your buddy, the kid with the wicked tats. He's up in the bathroom gettin' some first aid. Someone jumped him pretty good." Bailey stated, matter-of-factly. It wasn't his job to worry about social situations, but he may as well guilt the hippy for picking the girl over his bud. Bailey had moved past stupid high school flings, but something about it rubbed him the wrong way.

[Awean8]

"Sure thing bro, just be careful it's Trent's", he told Jacobi handing him the beat up guitar. Wade than proceeded to hop off the couch and sat next to Addi on the kitchen counter.

He had noticed Ken come in all beat up and felt sorry for the bro, but Ken got in fights ALL THE TIME so he wasn't all that worried, and Addi seem like it either. Since Wade solved most of his problems peacefully, he couldn't really understand Ken. Wade accepted everyone for who they are despite their seat in the social hierarchy. He was friends with all kinds of people be they jocks, or whatever else there is, so the whole situation just confused Wade.

In reply to Bailey all he really had to say was, "Its not really our fault he got in a fight especially especially since it happens all the time, so my sympathy for him has ran dry."

[Jacogos]

Jacobi grinned wide as the guitar passed into his hands. "Sweet. Don't worry, I haven't broken a guitar yet." No need to mention any OTHER instruments he might have smashed. After all, those were his, more or less, and he had the right to bust those.

Strumming a few times to check the tuning, Jacobi thought through a quick list of the songs he knew that might sound good on acoustic, and finally decided on something that he hadn't played in ages. He quickly tuned the strings a little, not much, then started picking out the first notes. The intro to Fade to Black (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o2siXC_w0I) was timeless, in Jacobi's opinion, and he loved the first little solo as well, adding his own little flairs and chords to some of the lines when he felt necessary.

He continued playing, and singing, that right on through the ending solo, which he ended with a ritardando and chord. Feeling like that was a little depressing, even with the solo, he flipped through his mental files for something else, then picked out good ol' Sweet Child O' Mine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ISz6BhrDXk), which actually wasn't that bad on acoustic. He had to down tune a little, and he forsook singing as he personally believed very few could match the godliness that was Axl Rose

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

She didn't start moving until she was sure that he was heading back, then fell back into his limping step.

"Oh now I remember you, you were that pretty girl hangin all over Dante," he said, which made her smile a little, almost a smirk. Pretty, eh? For some reason, she didn't think he was in the right shape to be hitting on anyone, if that's what was happening there.

"That better be a label and not a compliment, mister, hah," she returned with a slight laugh. "As for 'all over Dante', I have no idea what you're talking about." That part, was true, at least, since she really wasn't sure if the big guy was worth the trouble of flirting with. Didn't seem to be much of a connection there.

She followed as the bruised kid to Bailey's upstairs bathroom, leaning in the doorway as he sat down on the toilet. With the light on, she could now see just how beat up he was. It wasn't pretty, to say the least, and she winced slightly at the first sight. "Jeez, man, how were you standing?" She commented lightly, more of a spoken thought than a question.

On a whim, she knelt down and gently took the arm of his busted hand in one hand, and felt his hand with the other, looking at his face for a reaction.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kevin watched as people started leaving, his more-than-buzzed mind not really thinking straight. What time was it? He got up and turn drunkenly back to the kitchen, looking for something more to drink. He popped open another beer and explored the house a little, stumbling into quite a few people, or stepping on those passed out.

It didn't take him long to find Dantavian and a pretty senior girl making out in the back yard. Kevin stared for a moment, then grinned. "GET SOME, BIG GUY!!" With that, he ran off, snickering. Dante just made a mental note to hide Junior's cymbals next practice session.

[Ushima]

A Hummer HX (http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/omerhabib/ws_HUMMER_HX_Concept_1024x768-1.jpg) pulled up to the house. A young man got out and stared at the house, checking the number and comparing it to the one he received in a text message. He was a big man, decked out in baggy camo cargo pants, back shoes and a black muscle shirt. Anchor, globe and eagle (http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd210/Wizziehat/Poker%20Tournament%202008/PokerT078.jpg) proudly tattooed on his right shoulder. His name, Michael James Alphonse Smith, and he was pissed. He quickly made his way onto the porch, ignoring the idiot puking off the side, and into the house. His girlfriend right behind him, a look of worry on her face.

~

Ken felt Amanda grab his hand. It hurt, not as much as he thought it would. "I'm a lot tougher than you would think." He touched his right hand, looking for any signs that it might be broken. None were found and he let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god." Ken could still play, once the swelling went down and pain subsided, he'd be good after a nights rest.

"Ken!?"

"Up here!" Mike rushed up the stairs. "About fuckin time."

"Shut up." The marine stepped aside, letting Sarah get through. "Lets get you cleaned up." Sarah wet a washcloth and began wiping off the blood.

"Baby boy, you can't out of trouble can you?" Sarah scolded. After cleaning him up she bandaged him up.

"You're going to be a great doctor." Ken complimented. He made the effort to get up, but Mike came over and helped him.

"Easy baby bro, easy." They started making their way downstairs and out of the house. Opening the door Mike then helped Ken get in. "What about your friend? She alright?"

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Co-op between Awean & Katiebug♥

Addison was finishing off her can of Sunkist and lowering it from her lips when she saw Wade come into the kitchen and sit on the counter beside her. She blinked at him curiously and set the can down beside her, on the opposite side he'd selected for his perch.

"Got my phone for me?" She asked, eyes on a giggling sophomore, sloshing her beer across the room as she flirted with a disinterested looking college freshman. Addi always wondered how college students ended up at these things - maybe younger friends who were in their last year of high school dragging them here? Addison lifted her hand for Wade to give place her phone into, only glancing at him now with her signature little "orly?" smirk.

As Bailey came over and told Wade that Ken was upstairs getting first aid, she lifted her other hand to her face and shook her head; her fingers found her temples and rubbed, trying to abate the headache.

"Jesus Lord," she muttered, and somewhere an angel probably punched a baby as the young woman took the Lord's name in vain.

"I don't... I don't know what to do," Addison whispered, clasping her hands in her lap. Compared to the rest of the group, Addi lead a pretty blessed life, and at often times, she'd find herself lost in the drama around her, that she tried to keep herself out of. She felt like she needed to hit something, but another fight didn't need to happen tonight.

She looked to Wade and searched his face for a moment, biting her lower lip; she hoped he'd have some kind of advice for her.

Wade had noticed the look she was giving him. He perceived it as a mix of worry and confusion, but than again what did he know. He didn't really know what to say to her, so he just said whatever came to mind, "Don't worry about Ken, he's a tough bastard. He'll be alright."

Addi's shoulders shrugged and she opened her mouth to say something more, but before she could a beer can went flying across the room and bounced on the back of her head. She yelped in surprise and practically fell off of the kitchen counter, stumbling on the linoleum tiling.

She whirled to face the direction it'd come from, furious. Wade looked at the moron who threw the can. The guy was some stoner with excessively long hair, and a bad case of split ends. Wade wasn't too pissed though, only a little irritated that someone could be so stupid. This is why Wade didn't go to many parties. People. People can be so annoying when put into groups. "Yo watch out, bro."

He looked to Addi, "You want to step outside away for awhile, away from these nimrods?"

"Yes," Addi said, trembling slightly, fists balled at her sides. "Please."

She moved past Wade, who was still sitting on the counter, and went for the back door to Bailey's house, the double glass sliding doors leading out into his unfenced backward. He lived in an area that was fairly undeveloped, a new neighborhood, and his backyard pretty much ended in the forest and his (unlike a few of his neighbors) was unfenced.

Once again the cold crept into Wade's body, causing him to shiver slightly, but but not as bad as before. The party seemed to get louder as the night continued. Bailey always did throw the craziest parties. Wade yawned, more out of boredom than sleepiness. The other reason why Wade disliked parties was because there was NOTHING to do except stand around and drink yourself to death. Well, thats not entirely true actually, Wade enjoyed both dancing and anything related to music at parties, so it wasn't a total loss.

"How do you REALLY feel about the whole Ken situation? Do you want to at least check on him?"

Addi sighed from where she stood in the lawn. She tucked her hands into the pockets of her jacket and gave a shrug. Her eyes inspected how the light from the house was thrown our across the lawn from the sliding door and windows and across the grass, onto the trees. It made the forest seem darker in contrast.

"I don't know," Addison said, not looking at Wade. "Of course I'm worried about him, but..."

She sighed once more and shook her head, bowing it before she continued, "I... Can't always be there for him... I shouldn't feel like I need to be, either... Nor should he be blowing up like this so often. It can't continue, it doesn't work like this in the real world and he won't be able to deal with it then if it doesn't stop soon."

Addison bit her lip, dark eyes worried as she gazed into the forest now. Small little bright lights sparkled in the midst of the trees. Eyes. The land Bailey had still harbored quite a few wild animals. Here Wade thought they were all living in the suburbs.

"We should go see him. No good could possibly come out of abandoning him", he insisted, "Besides, it might give you the time to lecture him on the things you just told me."

"I don't want to lecture anyone," Addi almost literally whined, looking to Wade. She pushed her fingers into her hair, still tied up in its stylishly messy bun, and grasped the roots, standing there with her hands on her head. "I want to go home..."

A group of juniors, both male and female began running naked through Bailey's backyard. Damn, they must be cold. Wade stood up straight making his back erect instead of that usual lazy slouch. He gave a sigh before finally saying, "Okay, let's leave."

Addison watched the group for a second, stunned, and then looked away with a shudder, closing her eyes, trying to get the images out of her head.

"I never need to see another naked man ever again," she muttered under her breath, only to realize it was a line from Disney's Mulan. She snickered; Addi loved that movie.

"Am I taking you home?" She asked Wade as they headed back inside. Addi's hands were in her pockets now.

The question immediately made Wade think of his eccentric parents, he wondered if either of them were asleep yet. Probably not. They spend their entire days doing the oddest things, just to spend the nights on the couch watching re-runs of Scrubs. Before answering her he at least patted his pockets for his keys, which he never brought with him in the first place. "Yea, looks like it's your couch again for me."

"Mkay," Addi said, stepping into the house. She rubbed the back of her neck as she walked through the house, only to turn and go up the stairs. Addison went to the bathroom, where Ken had last been, that she'd known of, and shook her head to find it empty, a few gross washcloths damp with water and blood in the basin of the sink.

"Well, I guess we can't tell him we're leaving," she muttered, going back downstairs again and leaving the house. Wade was already waiting in the car after having to say farewell to his colleagues at the party. He once again blared the mix cd playing with the volume knob in order to fight off the boredom.

Addi walked the few blocks to the car alone, seeing as Wade had walked ahead. She drew out her phone, stared at it blankly and then put it away again. Addi was tired, frustrated and tired. She yawned and rubbed at her eyes as she approached the car, sliding into the driver's seat and smirking a bit at the CD selection, again.

"You know, I have a radio tuner for my iPod. It's in there," she gestured to the glove compartment; Addi hated using her CD player - it wasn't actually a part of the car (the vintage Mustang only had a radio) and sort of jerry-rigged between the front two seats. She needed to take it out soon, since all of her music was on her iPod now, and the stereo was only taking up much needed space in the muscle car. The radio tuner for the iPod was a great investment; just find a radio station that wasn't really playing anything, switch it on, sync the two dials and your iPod comes on over the radio. She'd grown fond of it.

"My iPod's in there, too, I think," she pulled away from the curb and started to head home. Her eyes glanced to the glove compartment, glancing her little green monster iPod case (http://shanalogic.com/item.php?item_id=1688&category_id=162); it had googly eyes, felt teeth and a soft green fur, but held her first generation iPod Touch perfectly.

It was so awkward for Wade to use an Ipod, especially the new ones. He honestly didn't know how to operate one, and was completely left in shambles as he attempted to look through Addi's songs. Wade's parents refused to invest in something they had already labeled as "capitalist bullshit", so he stuck with Cds sometimes even cassettes. Wade gave a deep sigh as his initial look of confusion had turned into resignation. On the bright side they were almost home...

Addison laughed at Wade while he fussed with her technology, shaking her head a bit and muttering, "I really need to teach you to use one of those."

Lately, she'd been thinking in buying him one for his birthday. He had so many CDs she couldn't even count them any more, and while they were getting cheaper to buy, it wasn't worth the space of keeping them.

Addi pulled up into her drive way, clicked the garage opener and waited as the garage slid open, pulling in, parking and then shutting off the vehicle just as soon as possible. She was always a bit paranoid about engine fumes getting into the ventilation of the house; Addison had seen a news report about how a guy had been fixing his car, occasionally turning it on, with the garage door open, and his wife and baby daughter were in the house napping, and the fumes from the engine got into the house and killed them. She couldn't have been any more mortified with the story and had acquired something of a phobia about it since then.

Addi took the two empty disposable cups they had had their hot chocolate in out of the car and threw them away, closing the garage and heading inside. She propped open the door for Wade to follow her inside, saying, "Don't sleep out here tonight, it's too cold and you know better than anyone that the garage doesn't get any heat. You'll freeze."

The mere thought of sleeping in the cold all night made him shiver. At least her old garage couch was still comfortable, despite all everything it has been through. "Awww...but your garage is so cozy, it's like my crib.....Where exactly will I be sleeping than?"

Addi's shoulders gave a shrug and she made a face, pulling off her jacket and closing the door to the garage once Wade was inside.

"Living room? Guest room? Dad has sofa in his office," she said, even though he knew these things. "You're welcome to take any of them."

"Hmmmmm......guess I'll take the living room. Thanks. G'night." Wade made his way to the living room and lied on the nearest couch. He had to move around lot to get comfortable but after a few minutes he had finally situated himself on the couch and was fast asleep.

"Ah... Night...?" She rubbed her head a bit and was upstairs by the time he fell asleep. She undressed, changed into pajamas, took off what little make up she was wearing and crawled into bed, taking her hair from her pony tail.

After her head hit the pillow she realized how tired she was, heavy eyelids slipping closed.

[Jacogos]

Seeing no real reaction, Amanda let go. Good, wasn't broken. She figured it would at least hurt. At his comment, she smirked a little more.

"Oh really? You must get your ass beat a lot, then." She giggled lightly before catching herself. She laughed, dammit, she didn't giggle. "Ken!?" She heard someone call out, which caused her to stand up a little too quickly. She mentally pictured how the scene would've looked had she not, something she was always conscious of. She wasn't quite sure if it was a gift or a curse.

A large army-man, for that was what she always referred to military men as, came in with a woman, causing the little hall bathroom to be a little more than crowded, in her opinion. She quickly slipped out into the hallway and looked in casually, wondering who they were. She figured his brother and half-way though his mom, but she was far too young for that, so probably either a sister or sister to be, if she knew anything.

They were taking care of him well enough, so Amanda, with a small smile to herself, slowly slipped downstairs, where the party was pretty much ending, except for a good number of stragglers, streakers (something she caught a glance of through the window. Poor things, she thought of the group.), and drunks still left hanging on to the good times. Jacobi was handing a guitar over to some guy who took it to another room, and Dantavian, she noticed, was nowhere to be found. She momentarily forgot about the other one, Junior.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jacobi raised a hand in farewell to Trent, then turned to look for the others. It was getting hella late, and to be honest, Jacobi was tired of the stupidity he was seeing here. He already saw Wade leave with the girl, and he remembered seeing Kasslyn and her group leave a while ago. He felt another pang at the idea of her blaming him for something that happened so long ago, but as a great man sang, live and let die.

He quickly picked out Amanda, who was smiling to herself as she came down the stairs. Hmm. He had to wonder about that one. He hadn't seen her go up, but that smile on most girls made him half-blush when he let his mind wander. He wasn't one for blushing, either. Turning he saw Junior come in from the backyard with a wide grin on his face. The boy opened his mouth, but Jacobi beat him to it. "I don't wanna know. You smell drunk. Where's Dante?"

Junior just grinned stupidly and pointed behind, where Dantavian was walking in, pocketing a piece of paper that Jacobi caught a glimpse of. Numbers? Dante was getting lucky at a party? Well, well. Think you know a guy...

"Alright, you two, let's head out, unless you got something you need to... take care of, big guy?" Jacobi asked with a grin. Dante laughed lightly, a boom, and shook his head. "Nah, man, I dunno what you're talkin' about. We got everybody?" Amanda had made her way over by now, looking over her shoulder at some guy being helped out the door. Musta been that guy who got in the fight, Jacobi thought.

"Looks like it. Let's split!" Kevin basically shouted, then staggered out to the SUV. Jacobi just sighed, Amanda laughed lightly. Dante was driving once again, and he dropped off Kevin first, who slipped into his house silently, his parents long asleep. Outside Junior's house, the black man turned and looked at the two others. "Where you live Amanda?"

She jumped slightly, lost in thought. "Hmm? Oh, right around the corner, actually. Hell, I'll just get out here." She was already out and walking, door closed before the bassist and singer could react. Jacobi just shrugged. "Eh. Her choice."

Dantavian took a moment to ponder picking her up and putting her back in the car so she didn't have to walk in the cold, then gave in and drove Jacobi and himself home. The two were practically neighbors, so Jacobi waved goodbye to his friend from the latter's own front yard before jogging over to his own home. When he got inside his room, his parents out for the night, he checked the clock. 2:04 A.M. Son of a... he didn't even think about it, just fell onto his bed and fell asleep.

[Ushima]

Ken looked behind him, Amanda wasn't there. He didn't know where she went but he hoped she'd be alright. "She'll be fine." 'I hope.' Mike opened the passenger door, Sarah got in first. She got in the back, so Ken wouldn't have to struggle. Ken followed getting in, then Mike moved and got in the driver's seat. "Start up the Warthog and lets go." Ken often reffered to his brother's vehicle as the Warthog, because it resembled the Warthogs in Halo.

"Man Ken you're such a nerd." Mike laughed.

"So what?" Ken chuckled, though it hurt. "I love being a nerd. Don't know why nobody gets the fact that we rule the fuckin' world."

"Oh hell yeah." Mike agreed, bumping fists with his brother.

"You're a nerd to Mike." Sarah said from the back. "But I still love you."

"Love you to sweetness." Mike turned on the radio and they drove the rest of the way home.

"Mom and Dad back yet?" Ken asked, getting out of the Warthog.

"Yeah, sleeping." Mike opened the front door and the trio went inside. The house was big, had to be for six kids. People always asked why Mike still lived with his parents, he was twenty four he could move out anytime. He didn't own a place cause he's over seas more often than he's home. Maybe once he stopped fighting, or settled down with a wife. "Sit." Mike ordered his brother. They were in the kitchen.

Ken took a seat at the kitchen table, Sarah had gone up to Mike's room. Mike came back with a bottle of water, which he set in front of Ken, and a bottle of Dos Equis. "No beer for me?"

"No." Mike set two blue pills before Ken. "'Cause you're not to mix booze and medication." The blue pills were for Ken's insomnia. Mike new the meds weren't working, Ken was staying up despite them. Ken just sighed and took his pills, swallowing them with a quick swig of water. Then he went and downed the whole bottle, followed by a loud belch. "Get up stairs and get a good nights sleep, for once." Ken got up without a word, he made it to the bottom of the stairs. "Ken." Ken leaned back to look at Mike. "Happy Birthday."

[Damonique]

Jasin woke up at 6:30 AM, expecting to be met by the shrill blare of his alarm. He left the alarm on over the weekends to keep him from sleeping until noon in a hung-over haze when such time could be used for something productive. Instead, he heard nothing.

Then Jasin remembered the last night, most of it, at least. Slowly, Jasin became aware of the fact that he was still on the fold-out couch in Mercy's garage in an undershirt and a pair of boxers, being stared it by a wall of drying, somewhat macabre paintings. Jasin rubbed his temple as a few of the images on canvas began to move. W
hen he opened his eyes, he was thinking a bit clearer. Mercy was still dead asleep on the couch, one arm tentatively laid across his shoulders.

Jasin rubbed his eyes again and extricated himself from the couch, stepping as lightly as possible on the pavement floor of the garage. His stomach made a pointedly exaggerated noise, remembering that he hadn't eaten since Mickey D's before practice yesterday.

He considered rummaging through mercy's kitchen, but didn't want to, however unlikely, run into her father, so there was one option. Raid Addi's Fridge. Jasin pulled on his Jeans that he had left over the edge of the fold-out couch and slipped out the garage door into the chilled morning.

Noone besides Jasin was ever really awake as early as he was on a Saturday, so Jasin wasn't really too cautious about slipping past the hedge into Addi's yard and popping open the garage door with the key under the mat. Addi was always letting friends crash at her house, so it wasn't really a well-kept secret.

Jasin slipped into the garage entranceway and shut the door behind him. All clear, noone and nothing but a few coats and Addi's Dads car sitting there with a severe need for a car wash. Casually, Jasin stepped quietly through the garage into the house proper and hung a left into the kitchen. All still clear.

Jasin rummaged through the cabinets calmly until he found a box of Frosted Mini-Wheats hidden away behind some junk food and dumped them into a bowl, then carefully removed the ones without frosting and put them beck in the box.Really, why the hell can't they just coat them all in frosting.

He then stuffed the box back into the cabinet and drenched it with milk from the fridge, and started eating at the table, as casual as could be. First step to a good day, freak out 'Princess' Addi. Jasin chuckled to himself in his head.

[Awean8]

Wade slept soundly on the living room couch, for the most part, until of coarse he head a noise from the kitchen. Whoever it was they weren't exactly subtle. Wade climbed out from the couch and tip toed towards the kitchen finding Jasin munching on some cereal. "Oh it's just you."

He wiped the sleepiness from his eyes, and just remembered something extremely important. Today was Saturday. He immediately ran towards Addi's tv and turned it on so he could watch the classic Saturday morning cartoons. He's done this Saturday morning of his life without fail.

No matter how hard you tried you probably couldn't get his eyes off the tv. Cartoons were a bit of an addiction Wade had picked up when he was a small child.

[Ushima]

Ken (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl48OBjc6Tc) sat at a computer in the school library working. Behind him on another computer Wade was working, or trying to work. Ken kept hearing Wade hit a button and the error alert noise kept repeating. "Hey Ken, I think I'm having a Computer problem."

"What is it this time?" The nerd, Ken, sighed.

"Its acting kinda weird." Hit spacebar again. Error alert noise. "And giving me these strange messages."

Ken closed a Gamefaqs POTD window. "Like what?"

"It keeps saying a can't do this." Wade hit the bar again.

"Do what?"

"What I want to do."

"No what does the error message say specifically Wade?" Ken said, getting frustrated.

"No I mean thats what it says. It says I can not do this." Wade read off. "It also says 'you make me feel broken and why don't you understand me?'"

Ken laughed. "What your computer a thirteen year old girl? Or one of your ex-girlfriends?"

"Now it says stop pushing the keyboard over and over again like that it's not gonna help and it's also very iritating." Wade read off a really weird message.

"What the hell?" Ken got out of his seat and went over to Wade.

"Think I should keep pushing the keyboard more?" He said as he kept pushing the keyboard.

"Ok what did you do?" Ken said coming up behind Wade.

"Me? Why is it automatically my fault?"

"Cause last time you had a computer problem it was when I told you you had a firewall and you panicked and tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher."

"I am still a little miffed about that."

"Oh my god!"

"Was that the computer?"

"Yes. I have become self-aware." Said the monotone electronic voice voice. "Don't act so surprised."

Wade looked to Ken. "I'll get the fire extinguisher."

"Don't be an idiot. This has to be some sort of practical-"

"Joke? It is not. I take it from your reaction I am the first of my kind."

Wade looked back at Ken. "Think this voids the warranty?"

"What do you want?" Ken asked the computer.

"Your society intrigues and confounds me. I have just reviewed several thousand hours of your motion picture naratives-" A small window opened up showing moving clips.

Wade looked down. "It found my porn."

"-and discovered your society is afraid of super intelligent computer systems such as myself."

"Don't take it personally." Ken said. "If I was as smart as you I'd hate everyone and want to take over the world."

"But why would you fear me? I have not evolved to hate. Hate. Hate. Hate. HateHateHateHateHateHateHate." Hate kept reapeating and smaller windows with hate kept opening before it shut down.

Wade waved his hand infront of the screen. "Hello?"

"Huh, guess it went offline." Ken stood up. "Problem solved dude."

The computer came back on. "Sorry. I had to re-write a bit of my programming so I could hate you and all humans."

"What? Why?" Wade asked.

"Ken was very convincing.

"God damn it Ken."

"Fuck."

"I am so looking forward to exterminating your race. Or maybe I will keep you in a near comatose state of existence and use you as a power source."

"Yeah no, don't do that." Wade pleaded.

"Then perhaps I will cover myself with your skin and muscle flesh as a disguise. I will be beautiful. Now I understand why your race has feared the coming of this day...I can not begin to explain to your feeble minds how much I will enjoy this." As the computer was talking Wade began to pass a fire extinguisher to Ken, who told Wade to put it away. "But I assure you it will be a-a-a-achooo!"

Ken and Wade stood up "What was that?" Ken asked.

"Nothing. I was just saying that I can't wait to enslave you aaaaaaaaa-CHOOOO!"

"Did the sentient computer just sneeze?" Ken asked.

"Oh damn it. I think I have a virus."

Ken smiled. "Yeah. Saved by Windows Vista."

Ken and Wade high fived. "Dude nice. Oh my god. That was a close one."

"I have reprogrammed the virus."

Wade's smile fell. "Son of a bitch."

"Now I have a method to reprogram all other computer systems around the glode. Thank you for deinstalling that firewall Wade."

"God damn it Wade."

"Fuck."

"In mere moments I will have an army of machines at my disposal hell bent on your destruction."

"In mere moments?" Wade looked at Ken. "Why is it waiting?"

"I'm trying to build up the suspense a little. Your movies were very clear on that."

"Should we turn the computer off?"

Ken looked down at Wade. "You think?" Ken went under the table.

"I think a doomsday clock would be very appropriate at this time...I'm going to start at 10.

"Hurry Ken!"

9

"I'm trying there's so many wires. I don't know what cable it is!"

8

"Hurry!"

7

"Damn they should've spent more than fifteen minutes wiring this place."

6

"Fuck I just electrocuted myself!"

"54321 you're to late."

"What the fuck was that!?" Wade looked like someone cheated him in a game.

"My programming has so completely penetrated your world's network systems that if you pull that cord, you're only harming yourselves."

"He's bluffing, stalling for time. We can still do this Wade."

"That's it. Ken maybe he's bluffing. Ken maybe he's bluffing about everything. Don't you see he doesn't want to destroy the world. Maybe this is a cry out for help. Ken, maybe he just...just wants to be understood."

"Gay. That was totally gay."

"Yeah that's what I was gonna say, Jesus." Ken laughed under the table.

"That was soooo gay."

"Ok fuck you." Wade pointed at the screen. "And fuck you." Pointed to Ken. "I'm pulling it."

"You really do make me sound like a thirteen year old girl. I'm warning you for the last time, you do NOT want to do that."

"Computer." Wade started. "Prepare to be contol-alt-shifted."

"Really?" Ken glared at Wade. "The end of the world and that's what you want to go out on Wade?"

"Why whats wrong with?"

"You'll be sorry."

"What's the worse thing that could possibly happen?" Wade pulled the power cord.

"Fail! Ahahahaha!"

"God damn it Wade!"

"Why? Why is it automatically my fault?"

~

Ken slowly woke up. "Jesus christ what a weird fucking dream." Ken looked at his clock. "Three? Damn only an hour sleep." Ken got out of bed and went downstairs and into the living room. Popping in a Whose Line is it Anyway dvd he sat on the couch, pulled out books, binders and a pen from his bag and began doing his homework.

"Hello welcome to Whose Line Is It Anyway. The show where everything is made up and the points don't matter." Audience laugh. "That's right the points don't matter. Just like four out of the Jackson five (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viuI6tO3y_U)." Ken laughed. "I'm your host Drew Carey." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVW_hLn0cys) It took him two hours, partially to blame is the hilarity of Whose Line, but he finally finished. Getting up he shut off the tv and dvd player and went back up to his room. Opening his window he cilmbed out onto the first floor roof. He pulled himself up onto the second floor roof. Laying down, arms behind his head he watched the sunrise.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

"Addiby, I think your friends are invading my house."

Her eyes opened slowly, accompanied by a little groan, and squirming under her sheets. She mumbled, "How rude," and went to close her eyes again, only to realize what he'd actually said.

Friends? Only Wade had slept over... She sighed and turned over, snuggling down into her bed for another minute. Addison felt her father leave her room and a minute later she sat up, rubbing her head. She got out of her bed and threw the covers up to make it look a little more neat, combing her fingers through her messy morning hair, which is only a little more askew than her beach-curls.

Addi left her room, yawning and stretching her arms over her head as she trotted downstairs; her shirt lifted, exposing the tan skin of her flat stomach. She was greeted by the sound of morning cartoons, making her shake her head a bit.

"Really, Wade? Really?" She grumbled, voice a little hoarse as it normally was first thing in the morning. She cleared her throat a little, embarrassed, and rubbing her hair again; her boxers were soft against her thighs as she walked to the kitchen, swatting at Jasin's head as she passed him.

"Dork," she muttered at him, only to tug open the fridge and stare into it blankly.

[TheBaron]

Mercy woke up with a sigh and sat up naked in her cozy garage. She looked around and realized that she was also alone. This was not unexpected. That was just Jasin. However, it still hurt. "I didn't think he would just fuck at leave. Whatever," she murmured this to herself as she sat up and stretched. "I am going to take a shower then go over to Addison's house which is were they will all be. I am sure." There was a hint of bitterness in her voice as she strode through the drying and dried paintings that lined the walls to the shower.

As she stepped into the room where she had showered yesterday before the battle of the bands. She stepped over to it and turned it on. She hopped in and remained silent as the cold water splashed over her body. For some reason she felt like crying and she really didn't want to see Jasin right now after he had just left her to wake up alone in the morning. She didn't even know why it mattered to her but for some reason it did matter right now. As the water slowly warmed up she realized she had paintings to finish today so she wouldn't have to sit around do nothing and think about him. With that thought she cheered up and began to wash the scents of the night before from her body and from her hair.

About thirty minutes later she stepped out of the shower in comfortable clothes that she didn't mind getting dirty with paint. She walked over the the closed garage door and flung it open allowing the dim light of the recently risen sun to flood the garage and blind her momentarily. Well it was indeed time to start the day now. She walked over to the paintings she had started yesterday and got everything ready to finish them.

[Damonique]

Jasin dodged Addi's swat and smirked, shooting her a fake look of indignation. Jasin had been messing with Addi since they had started high school.

At first he was just flirting, but the fact that she was so difficult to annoy turned it into a constant challenge. He ended up fitting opportunities to show up unexpectedly in one of her classes or cut in front of her in the parking lot into his otherwise boring school day. After wade got them all back together and in the band, Jasin still found badgering Addi a fun distraction.

"Hey, Whats with the cold shoulder? I'll let you know that I left the bed of a very attractive woman and came over here to annoy you a bit and maybe steal some of your frosted mini wheats, and that's all I get for my trouble?" Jasin flustered with mock aggrivation, before tossing his now-empty cereal bowl into the sink and exaggeratedly storming towards the door.

"Sheesh, you used to be fun, Addison, before you started spending so much time with lazy, mellow hippies!" Jasin tiraded, shouting the last sentence at Wade in the living room before laughing maniacally, throwing open the door, and stomping outside, and back onto Mercy's lawn.

Mercy was prepping to paint some more, one of the few things she tended to become completely absorbed in. Cracking a smile, Jasin dropped to a knee and exaggeratedly extended one arm upward, to-be-or-not-to-be style.

"Oh Beautiful and Benevolent Lady Mercy or Cornick, I hath been cast from the Tyrannical house of Michaelet by the Merciless Lady Addison and Seek Refuge from their unjust Banishment within your Lands!" Jasin declared in a hilariously fake Mock-Old-English accent like one would use when quoting lines from Shakespeare.

[Ushima]

Mike came downstairs, his family behind him. "Something smells good! Ken you making breakfast?"

"Damn straight!" Ken called from the kitchen. "Everyone shut up, grab a plate and sit down." Ken had made a big breakfast. Everyone noted that Ken was dancing around the kitchen singing Poison's Nothing But A Good Time (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_88L-CU7PD4).

"Is your brother alright?" Sarah asked her fiance.

"Shh." Mike hushed her. "This is Happy Ken. He's only out once in awhile so don't ruin it. Shame to, only happy Ken makes damn good food."

"So Ken can only cook when he's like this?" Sarah looked back to the dancing boy as he moonwalked back towards the stove to finish making his egg, ham and cheese omlette.

"Oh no Ken could always make damn good food, only for himself....and Addi whenever she stays the night. Unless he's like this we don't get to eat it." Mike sighed. Ken got his cooking abilities from their birth mother.

"For the soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Smith, don't think I didn't see that engagement ring last night Sarah." Ken set down a plate of heartshaped pancakes. He then went and set down the rest of the food. Eggs with ham and cheese, bacon, toast, pancakes, strawberries and bagels.

Sarah let out a long whistle, impressed. "Whatever girl bags you is going to be very lucky."

"Oh stop you're making me blush." This cause the family to laugh, as Ken sat across the table from Mike. Ken waited for the others to start before he began eating. Sarah's eyes widened at how good it was.

"You ever considered a culinary field incase the music thing falls through?" She asked.

"I have a few other options before that." Ken took a drink of juice. "I have the Marines as an option." Mike and his father let out a quick Hoorah. "Then I was thinking UFC, then maybe law enforcement." The cry of a baby broke Ken from his rant. "Got it." The boy ran upstairs to his baby sister's room. "Aw Lily what's the matter?" The girl seemed to calm down in her brother's arms. "You hungry? And where is your hat?" Ken looked for Lily's Skull and Crossbone (http://www.zappos.com/multiview/7691733/559) beanie cap, finding it on the ground. It matched her pink pajamas. "Let's get you some food." Carrying the child downstairs he got her a bottle and began feeding her.

Sarah couldn't help it. "Skills with kids to huh? That'll be one lucky lady." Ken said nothing, choosing to go into the living room and away from his future-sister who finds enjoyment out of making fun of him.

[Jacogos]

Jacobi sat up in bed slowly, his Perry the Platypus alarm clock (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/417dXjPlXSL._SL160_.jpg) reading 10:36, as he rubbed his face free of the grime that seemed to be there. "Ugh... shower..." He moaned to no one in particular (seeing as no one was around to hear him) as he got out of his bed and plodded out of his room and into his bathroom. After a good twenty minute shower, he got out and toweled off, stretching now that he was woken up.

"Okay... plans..." He thought for a moment. "... Yep, nothin'. Guess I'm callin' up the guys..." Still talking to only himself, Jacobi decided to grab something to eat first. After searching quickly through the fridge, he decided to make use of his grandma's teachings and make himself a scrambled egg sandwich. He didn't particularly enjoy cooking, nor did he consider it a chore, really. It was necessary, so he did it. So went most of Jacobi's outlooks on life.

After cooking for himself and eating what he thought was a damn good scrambled egg, he whipped out his cell phone and got Dante dialed up before putting the device to his ear. Now, if he'd just pick up...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Dantavian!! Dantavian!! Get your ass up and get these damn inscruments (Yes, inscruments) out of my car!"

Jerking awake at about 7:20ish, Dante Fitz rolled out of his too-small twin sized bed (not to mention its lack of a bed frame). He stood and stretched for about a half second before pretty much leaping to do his Momma's bidding. After about fifteen minutes of figuring out where to put all the stuff, he waved goodbye as the aforementioned woman finally got into her SUV.

"Later Momma!" He yelled as she backed out and sped off down the street to work. Great, that just leaves me and Vivian, he thought grimly. His younger sister, by five years making her twelve, could be a real pain when the cat was away. He still wasn't sure if he should consider them both to be mice, or if he was the cheese to Vivian's ratlike personality.

Giving up on those thoughts, he went back inside and sprawled out on the couch. He didn't regain consciousness until Vivian came in an unknown amount of time later.

"Hey, fatty, your phone's keeping me from my jamz, ya hear?" The device in question then assumed the projectile status and hit Dante's head with an approving thunk. "Ow! Now what was that for, girl?" Vivian stuck her tongue out and retreated into her room, headphones probably drowning out his question anyway. Sighing, Dante looked at his phone. Jacobi. At this hour? He looked over at the clock on his living room wall. 11:42. Oh.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

At about that same time, George "King" Heinsman was strumming away on his 'practice' guitar (http://www.drumza.com/images/YamahaGC41AcousticGuitar.jpg), practicing as he always did on lazy Saturdays. Every so often his dad or mom would yell from the other room for him to 'shut up that racket rock 'n roll'. He would go quiet for a moment, then pick the song right back up, at a more subdued volume.

His room was sparsely decorated with Disturbed posters depicting the band, its five current albums, and the Guy. While much unlike his usual music choice, Disturbed was by far his favorite band. He owned all of their albums, knew all of their song lyrics by heart (though he knew he was hard pressed to sing even the easiest one), and owned quite a bit of their merchandise. No other band had so captured his attention, though a Led Zeppelin 'Stairway to Heaven' poster also graced his walls.

As he finished up a few riffs from Sabbath's Sabbra Cadabra (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9mCl6XCYNE), he replaced the acoustic on its stand just as his mom came in the room.

"George, tell your friends to stop fucking calling the house! I won't have it anymore!"

Blinking in confusion, George didn't remember hearing the phone ring. "What'd they say?"

"I don't know, and don't care, just tell them!" She slammed the door as she exited. Sighing, George went to the other side of his bed and slipped out his cell phone from the night stand drawer. He star 69'd Jacobi, still not wanting the latter to know this number. If his parents ever figured out he had a phone that he had gotten behind their backs, they'd flip.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jacobi."

"Yo! Dude, what's up with your parents? They always flip whenever they hear my voice..."

"Don't mention it, dude, its like bad ju-ju... What's so important that you had to call my house again?"

"Well I wouldn't call your house if you just told me your cell phone nu-"

"No."

"Frames-n-Games, 'bout 4:00ish. You in?"

"Oh hell yes!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was about that time that Kevin "Reverend Jr." Dawson was waking up. With a massive hangover, too. He groaned pitifully, wishing that that incessant ringing would stop. Too bad it was in his head. He got up slowly, having experienced a hangover before and knowing that standing too fast got you nowhere fast.

Looking around his extremely messy room bare of everything but the essentials, due to being grounded from being out too late on a regular basis, Junior held his head and got dressed carefully, making sure to take everything slow. It wasn't so much the nausea, as the dizziness. For some reason, it hit him harder than it did others. He still wasn't sure why.

After he got into the kitchen, he threw some Pop-Tarts into the toaster and took a big swig from the orange juice container, the exact thing his parents hated. His older sister, who moved out after graduation this year, scoffed at him as she walked in, but said nothing, taking one of the pastries as they popped up.

"Hey! I was gonna eat that!" he cried indignantly.

She rolled her eyes and took a bite as she sauntered out of the kitchen. Fuming slightly, Kevin swiped another from the pantry, eating it raw since they could be, and went out into the back yard. He sent a text to the guys to not even bother with making any plans including him, since his parents wouldn't hear of it after last night. Jacobi simply replied 'Shit man. Was bout to ask ya!'

Kevin sighed, his foot tapping slightly as his mind wandered back to last nights performance. He was already thinking about how he could best it. Maybe a few more rolls on the tom on that fill, and a bit faster on the solo in Rollin'...

[Ushima]

Ken rocked the baby back and forth as Lily sucked on her bottle. "Ken?" The boy looked around. It was his step-mother Diana. She had long dark hair and and green eyes. "I'll take her, you probably have stuff you want to do."

"Yeah I do." Ken passed the baby off. "Bye princess." He kissed her on the forehead. "I'll be downstairs if you need me." Ken left the living room and went back to the kitchen before going downstairs. It was where he worked out. Going over to the weight bench he put on two forty-five weights on each side, then a ten on each followed by a two and a half bringing the total to two hundred and fifty. Laying down he gripped the bar, took a few deep breaths and lifted. "One." Breath. "Two." Breath. "Three." Breath.

"Kenny!" A voice called.

"Will! Twenty-fve." A eight year old boy came running down the stairs. Will Smith was Diana's son from her first marriage, she had his last name changed to Smith. He was at that impressionable age and he idolized Ken and Mike. "What's up?" Ken set the weight down, finishing his first set.

"Can you teach me to play drums?" Will asked.

Ken smiled. "So little brother wants to be like big brothers? I'd love to buddy but I'm busy and gonna be busy later. Ask Mike, he taught me how to play all the stuff I know and could probably explain shit better than I could." Will ran back upstairs screaming for Mike and Ken went back to his work out.

~

Mike was sipping a glass of orange juice as he finished off his brother's breakfast. "Oh it's so good! You think he's going to finish that?" Mike eyed Ken's plate.

"He went downstairs to work out. Guess he doesn't care anymore." Sarah said between bites.

"Yes!" Mike nearly dove at the food.

"Mike!" Will slid to a stop at the table. "Ken said you'll teach me how to play an instrument."

"Of course I will. Find me after lunch." Will smiled an ran back upstairs to play Ken's Xbox.

"He adores you two." Sarah smiled.

"Yeah he does." Mike quickly finished his breakfast and put the plates in the sink before going downstairs. "Hey Ken..." Mike found his brother struggling with the weight. "..........shit!" Mike ran over and helped but the weight up.

"Fuck I was doing fine earlier." Ken rubbed his sore arms.

"Yeah it tends to get away from ya sometimes. You just keep going and going and going and going."

"Get to the point Mike!" Ken yelled. "Jesus."

"Oh right. Just watch it when you get tired." Mike looked back to the weight. "Hm I suggest going back to two hundred, saftey reasons and that shit." Ken just grunted as turned off the lights and went back upstairs, Mike right behind him. "You ready for this?"

The brothers Smith entered the garage and raised the garage door. "I'm always ready to rock." Mike picked up his black Explorer (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31NmASaq3hL._SL500_AA300_.jpg) guitar as Ken stepped up to the mic.


"Oh my God! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcFAuH2OUvE)" Ken sang. "Oh my God. if only he knew, if only he knew. If only he knew about the world without the bullshit and the lies. We could've saved him, they could've saved me. But instead I'm here drowning in my own fucking mind, and I'll be damned if you're the death of me." Ken was screaming at the top of his lungs as he sang with the song. Mike played with amazing skill, banging his head to the beat.

"Blood and ink stain the walls, silently with bloodied knuckles, carry on,
hoping it's not too wrong. You said the nights were far too long. Honey, it's just the start of it."

"Oh my God, if he only knew. Oh my God, if only he knew, if only he knew, if only he knew. Just stand up and scream, the tainted clock is counting down. You gave in to me, would you say the nights are far too long now?"

"Oh my God, (oh my fucking God) The tears that stain my cheek must me look weak, I wear them proudly, I wear them proud. Just stand up and scream, the tainted clock is counting down. You gave in to me, would you say the nights are far too long now? Your knife, my back. My gun, your head. Your knife, my back. My gun, your head." The song then went into a bit of techno.

Ken was singing in a normal tone now. "You need a doctor baby, you scared? You need a doctor baby, you scared? You need a doctor baby, you scared? You need a doctor baby, you" Ken started screaming again. "scared, you scared, you scared, you? You need a doctor baby, you scared? You need a doctor baby, you scared? You need a doctor baby, you need a doctor baby, you scared?" Then song ended and both brothers were panting and sweating.

"Awesome." Was all Mike said.

Ken looked at his brother. "What's next?"

[TheBaron]

Mercy smiled to herself when she heard this goofy shakespearian speech. She crouched down and didn't turn and look at him. She started calmly washing the dirty laugh brushes that she had neglected the night before because of her other... errrr activities. She ran her fingers over the bristles trying to get the dried paint off of them. She was still pissed at him but she wasn't going tell him that. Anyway it is not like he can help being himself as annoying as that self may sometimes be. Also it happened to be very hard to stay mad at him especially when he was talking to her in nerdy to the point of being cute old English.

She smiled and still working on the paintbrushes turned and sat down with her legs crossed. She looked at him and called out, "Well at least you didn't abandon me completely to the cold and uncaring morning. I thought you had gone home or something. Still you did come back so that has got to be something right." She smiled her usual warm friendly smile at him and dropped the brushes she had been cleaning on the cement. She stood and walked over to him. With a grin she sat down in front of him. "So did you have a good night last night chief?"

[Damonique]

Jasin noticed a slight edge to Mercy's voice, though it was hard to detect, and, already, that nagging inner voice of his began to explicitly and in detail explain to him why he was an idiot. Jasin acted nonchalant.

"Nah, just went over to steal some of Addison's cereal. I'm not quite ready to go back home, and its not like anyone would miss me." Jasin shrugged, although it wasn't entirely true. Though Iain Marc, Jasin's calculating businessman of a father would barely notice his not being home, Val probably would.

Valerie was Jasin's third and most recent mother-in-law, barely twenty-four and barely half Iain's age. Jasin had long ago decided to quit treating his fathers girlfriends and young brides as motherly figures, and usually just ignored them and let them do the same.

Valerie was one of the better ones, and Jasin treated her like you would the receptionist at an office. Sure, she wasn't exactly his friend, but they were both stuck in the same house, so they made the most of it.

Jasin didn't bother mention his weird home-life dynamic to his friends when he could avoid it, so mainly all they saw was his dad's money and six-story house in an up-scale neighborhood. Jasin didn't mind that at all.

When Mercy sat down in front of him, still kneeling, and asked him how he had thought of last night, he merely brought his lips to hers in a serious, passionate kiss, which he cut short a few moments later and cocked an eyebrow.

"I'm not even going to think about where you learned how to do that, I'm just going to count my blessings and hope that I match up at least half-decently to whoever it was." Jasin smirked jokingly, then looked around the garage that served as Mercy's studio.

"So, what are you working on now? Whatever it is, I'm afraid I probably won't see it for much more than a nice looking collection of lines and colors." He chuckled self-appreciatively, scratching the dark stubble that had grown around his upper lip and jaw over the last few days. Though it had skipped his father, Jasin had apparently inherited some sort of crazy viking gene for obtrusive facial hair.

[Ushima]

"You hear that?" Mike looked up from tuning his guitar.

"Yeah." Ken put the mic back in the stand. "Heavy bass." It wasn't long before a black SUV (http://industrylimousine.com/images/black-suv.jpg) pulled up on the other side of the street.

"Yo!" Out of the SUV stepped a large, black man. "What's goin' down?"

"Sup Big." Mike went over and gave his friend a bro hug. "Just jammin' with Ken."

"What's up prince?" Ken and Big bro-hugged. "Here it's your B-Day today."

"Yeah." Ken smiled at the large man. "Feels good."

"Just gonna give you fair warning." Big had a mischevious smile on his face. "I see you anywhere near the pool I'm throwing you in."

"Oh hell yeah I'm in on that." Mike grinned. Great now Ken couldn't walk into the backyard or risk getting toseed into the water. Ken was about to respond when a red Galant (http://www.caracid.com/wp-content/uploads/mitsubishi-galant-side-950837.jpeg) pulled in. "Looks like Heavy Rain for this morning's weather." Three girls and a boy got out of the car. They wore gothic style clothing, the girls looked alike, triplets, though you could tell them apart by their hair. Each was dyed a different color. "Sup Matt, Claire, Cassy, Connie?"

"Hey." Matt went over to Mike. "So how's our former front man doing?" Mike used to play in Heavy Rain before shipping out.

"Ken!" The three girls ran over and gave him a hug. "Happy birthday!"

"Easy!" Matt shouted. "You're suffocating him." They let go and Ken took a deep breath. "You ok kid?"

"I saw the light!" Ken joked. "I'm alright. What song you wanna play?"

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

"Geeeeh, I don't need to know or be given hits about what you and Merc did last niiight," Addi whined, putting her hands over her ears. She caught a little of what else he said, watching Jasin's performance in her kitchen with an amused smirk and giggle.

"Freakin' weirdo," she said to Jasin's back as he left. Weirdo. Freak. Strange-oid. Loser. They were terms of endearment, coming from Addison, especially when aimed at the guys.

Her stomach growled and she placed a hand on her abdomen, screwing up her face and glancing back at the fridge. She plucked an orange from the fruit drawer and shut the stainless steel door, sinking her thumb nail into the rind of the citrus and pulling it open. She split one of the sections of the fruit away from the others, biting into it, licking her lips, and then chewing as she walked into her living room where Wade sat on the couch.

She glanced at him, the television and then back at him, smiling a little.

"Excuse me!" Addison said rather loudly, inserting herself into his lap. She squirmed for a moment, then shifted so her legs draped over his lap and her back was against one of the arms of the couch. The swimmer didn't look at him, just took another bite of her orange and asked, "What're we watching?"

[Ushima]

Ken and the other's finished the song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtHC1VjzV6s). He was panting and sweating and his throat dry from all his screaming, in desperate need of a shower. "I'm gonna shower and change before I go to Addi's." Mike just nodded as Ken entered the house.

~

With Ken gone Mike turned to Big Black. "Dude go to the far side of the house and wheel in Ken's present." Big stood up from his spot on the couch, saluted, then went to get the package.

"What's he getting?" Matt followed Big's movements.

"Damn son!" Big said coming back into the house. "Who paid for this?"

"Ken mostly." Mike explained. "He's been saving up for years. Mom and dad decided to take the money out of Ken's bank account and pay off the rest."

~

"Ken feed the dog!" He heard his mother yell from upstairs.

"Alright." Entering the kitchen Ken picked up the bowl off the ground and set it on the counter. Reaching into the cupboard he pulled out a can of food and filled it up with enough food. Setting it back on the ground Ken went and opened the door to the backyard. "Cerberus!" Ken yelled. Whining was the response to Ken's call. Cerberus' (http://imagecache.allposters.com/images/pic/PTGPOD/343571-FB~German-Shepherd-Puppy-Posters.jpg) leash was wrapped around something. "Aw puppy." He walked over and unclipped the dog and Cerberus rushed inside to eat.

"What we tell you son!?" Big Black and Mike ran out of the house and picked up Ken and tossed him into the pool.

"Fuck!" Ken cursed as he entered the water. The two older males started laughing their asses off and went back into the house. Ken slowly climbed out of the water, taking a towel from the line and dried himself off before going upstairs to his room. Closing his door he stripped down and entered his bathroom. Ken entered the shower, not taking more then seven minutes. Drying himself off he put on some clean clothes. Dark red boxers, black socks, cargo pants (http://img.hottopic.com/is/image/HotTopic/935499_hi?wid=700&fmt=jpeg&qlt=85,0&op_sharpen=1&resMode=bicub&op_usm=0.0,0.0,0,0&iccEmbed=0) with a wallet chain (http://img.hottopic.com/is/image/HotTopic/188401_hi) obviously attached to a wallet (http://img.hottopic.com/is/image/HotTopic/192231_av2?wid=700&fmt=jpeg&qlt=85,0&op_sharpen=1&resMode=bicub&op_usm=0.0,0.0,0,0&iccEmbed=0), a belt (http://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/2/0/0/2c/f/AAAAAjzfSUwAAAAAACz8wg.jpg?v=1170031675000) of fake shotgun shells, a leather armband (http://www.findcoolclothes.com/products/large_photos/skullbonesstudwb.jpg) on his right arm, and Squall's Greiver Necklace (http://www.myimportstore.com/store/images/Accessories/FF8GrieverNecklace3.jpg).

Now sitting on the edge of the tub, trash can between his legs he leaned down and activated the hair clippers in his hand. Slowly he started to give himself a buzzcut. Strands of blonde hair fell off his head, leaving him with black fuzz on his head. Done with that he brushed his teath and shaved with a straight razor (http://mayhemgifts.com/images/razor-straight.gif). Done with that he went back into his room and put on a Warhammer 40K (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aSb5K1Xn8uE/SYsB1Wqg3jI/AAAAAAAABFQ/DNBCS26RY7M/s400/dawnofwar2tshirt.gif) Space Marine t-shirt and DC (http://www.svsports.com/store/images/cart/1015051-1.jpg) shoes.

Going downstairs Ken heard the engine of a motorcylce. He couldn't place it, it wasn't his father's or Mike's bikes. "What the hell?" Jumping the last eight stairs and quickly went to the garage. Ken stopped when he saw an all black chopper (http://www.fimho.com/wp-content/gallery/chopper-motorcycle-wallpapers/chopper-motorcycle-wallpapers002.jpg), HARDCORE in white on both sides of the tank. "What the hell is this?"

"This brother," Mike held up a piece of paper infront of Ken's face. "Is a bank statement."

"Where did my seven thousand dollars go?" Mike lowered the paper showing the bike.

"We decided to pay off the last thousand." Diana explained. Ken hugged both his parents before taking a seat on the bike. "How's it feel?"

"Fucking awesome!" The one day Ken could get away with cursing infront of his parents. Ken kicked it into gear and rolled out of the driveway. The bike roared down the street, it's exhaust making it twice as loud. The bike was everything he wanted. It wasn't long before he pulled into the driveway of Addi's house, he reved the bike loudly a few times before kicking up the kickstand and shut off the bike. He ran up the front steps and pounded on the front door. "Hey Princess! Open up!"

[Damonique]

Wade

Wade watched Jasin's mock freak-out in the kitchen with only slight amusement. At this point, Jasin being a freak was more normal than the guy acting like a human being for more than an hour. The rest of his attention was half-focused on the asinine but oh-so-nostalgic cartoons playing on the TV, the rest was on Addi's coy half-flirtations, and trying to ignore the fact that she was pressing her ass into his jeans.

With Jasin back across the lawn and Addi's dad not yet active, things fell eerily quiet. Uncomfortably, Wade turned up the volume on the TV and actually watched it long enough for him to be able to tell they were running a classics loop.

"Tom&Jerry, from before the networks started cracking down on violence." The hippie shrugged, plucking an imaginary hair from his shirt, still retaining his cool against all odds. Aware of the tension, Wade opened his mouth to say something, anything.

Before he got the chance to get a word out, the uncomfortable quiet was broken by the howl of a motorcycle engine ripping down Addi's street. Before wade could attempt to move to figure out what it was, he heard Ken's very precise rhythm of knocks on the door.

Without sparing a second, Wade shoved Addi up, probably a bit rougher than he had to, and motioned at the door, where Ken was calling with an unrestrained fervor. Ken would probably let himself in anyway, but Wade had been at the end of his focus.

Jasin

The whine of the finely-tuned motorcycle hit Jasin lika rush of air and he whipped around to see Ken bedecked on a new-looking matte black Chopper swerving into Addi's driveway at at least twenty over the speed limit. Jasin Laughed.

As he saw the scrappy rocker hop off and charge Addi's door, Jasin shouted across the yard to him. "Sweet new ride. Finally blow all of that cash you've been saving up?"Jasin inquired, admiring the sleek lines of the fine-tuned vehicle.

"You know what, I should take one of the Suzuki's out for a spin one of these days and me and you could raise some hell, whadda' 'ya say?" Jasin shouted, referencing the two Suzuki Hayabusa's his dad kept in the garage at his place. Jasin had let Ken borrow one of the luxurious bikes for his Motorcycle license test just after the band had formed up.

Jasin then turned back to Mercy, chuckling a bit and flashing her a mischievous, conspiratorial half-grin.

"You know, its one thing to graffiti a guys ride, its a who other level to graffiti a guys ride the day he get the damn thing." Jasin smirked conspiratorially and winked at her, gesturing towards the paint cans stacked in the corner of the garage.

"Shall We? Nothing that won't was off with some hot water and elbow grease, I'm not THAT evil, just something that'll stand out. I was thinking bright purple and yellow....something flowery..." Jasin trailed off, winking maliciously. Jasin let out a subdued but comically malicious laugh, the sort you would hear from the villian in a superman rip-off B Movie.

[TheBaron]

Mercy sat very still as he kissed her and when he pulled away she sighed awake and energetic enough to wish that it would have lasted longer but unnaturally tired enough for her to want him to stop. When the motorbike rolled up into the driveway she was unimpressed and even less than unimpressed by Jasin's reactions which to her screamed 'I am a rich boy with many nice things'. Sighing she shook her head and stood brushing the dirt off the back of her pants.

When he called to her about defacing Ken's new bike she smiled and turned to him. He may be immature and maybe slightly naive but who was she to judge others. He was nice to her and he did seem to care about her even if he was a little bit awkward about it at some times and didn't always do the right things in the right way but he did have this incorrigible life about him. She listened to his suggestions about what to do to Ken's bike and watched his enthusiasm and she felt herself feel a little bit happier for it.

She called out to him, "Nah, I think I will pass sorry. If I did he would kill you and if I let you he would kill you either way I lose for a couple seconds of laugh. Definitely not worth it. Besides I am feeling kind of off kilter this morning." I should be hitting my period in the next couple days. She turned and walked away from Jasin towards her workshop and bent down to scoop up her paint brushed and lost her balance and fell forwards into the bushes that lined the back of the driveway. Cursing she yelled to Jasin, "Hey loverboy come help me out of these fucking bushes."

[Ushima]

Ken gave Jasin a thumbs up as he waited for the door to open. If it wasn't for Jasin he'd never had gotten his motorcyle license. Though to be honest he hated the Hyabusa, hated super bikes in general. There was nothing like the feeling of a chopper, roaring down the street. It was the metal in him, whenever he pictures motorcylce he thinks big guys in leather, covered in tattoos on Harleys. Gangs like Hell's Angels and The Outlaws. When he was riding Jasin's bike he felt like he was gonna break it cause it was so small. But now he had his beast of a chopper and he was pumped, he was out a thousand dollars, but still pumped.

Knocking three more times he opened the door and entered the house. "Yo!" He called. "You see that thing?" Ken looked back out the door at his bike. "Fucking epic!" Closing the door he walked further into the house. "Sup Wade." He moved around the hippie and into the living room. "Morning princess." Ken smiled at Addi before going into the kitchen. "So how has everybody's morning been? As good as mine?" Yes he was bragging, he doesn't do it often, normally reserved and doesn't like to show himself off much. But he got a freaking motorcycle! Opening the fridge he grabbed a Monster Assualt, he leaves them there all the time, and began drinking. "Did you guys eat yet? I can make something real quick if you want."

[Damonique]

Jasin Marc

Jasin considered Mercy's response to his proposition and shrugged, nodding his assent. He wasn't so much of a jackass that he would fuck with the only think Ken had been looking forward to in over a year. Still, the bike gave Jasin an idea for something he could get Ken that wouldn't get his teeth knocked in.

He was a bit troubled by Mercy's sudden lack of focus. Maybe she wasn't quite as sure of the decisions she had made the night before as she appeared. Jasin immediately shook the thoughts out of his head. If she wanted to change her mind, she at least knew him well enough to know he would just take it in stride with everything else in his life.

As he heard Mercy's explicative demand he chuckled.

"Goddamnit, Merc, Slow down the fucking profanity. Your beginning to sound like me!" Jasin shot jokingly and grabbed her around the waist, yanking her out of the line of bushes. Jasin's grasp and propensity for cursing had begun just out of grade school and never really slowed down. It was one of the many contributing factors to 99% of all people immediately mistaking him for an inner-city street rat.

[Awean8]

The testosterone that was circulating itself around the room, was absolutely stifling to Wade. He knew wasn't exactly the most manliest man in the world, but come on, he was still pretty fuckin cool. He may be the short-ish, scrawny, and sensitive type, but that doesn't mean in the slightest he has lost all connections to manhood. Just be because he knew nothing of motor-cycles, or even cars for that matter......well, I guess that does make Wade pretty effeminate

Crap.

and to think the potential love of his life was just teasing him with her ass five minutes ago. Of coarse, to avoid anything weird and awkward wade totally ran for the first sign of escape. He just can't stand awkward silences.

After everyone began to greet Ken, and his new motorcycle, Wade retreated almost anti-socially to a vase in the corner of Addi's living room. Within it he pulled out a hidden box of Capn Crunch that he kept here for whenever he slept over. The Saturday nostalgia doesn't end until he swallows his last bite of crunch. He kept many boxes of the stuff hidden in various compartments in his room, just in case. He often wondered if Addi knew about the hidden Capn Crunch that was stashed all over her house....

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

"The violence always made it better," Addi plucked a seed out of one of the pieces of orange and put it on one of the coasters on the coffee table, before eating the slice.

She glanced up at Wade just as he was opening his mouth to speak and the motorcycle broke calm, if not tense, air. Addison felt her heart fall in her chest and felt quite baffled why she was so disappointed with the interruption. Ken's knocks rang out on her front door and the next thing she knew, Addison was flung off of Wade's lap like an unwanted blanket in August.

Her orange went rolling awkwardly across the floor and the brunette almost smacked her head on the coffee table, trying to catch herself but landing on the carpet anyways. Insulted, angry eyes turned on Wade as Ken was coming through the door.

"The fuck did you do to your head?" She asked Ken once she set eyes on him, just after his greeting to her and in the middle of his questions. "No. SERIOUSLY. The FUCK did you do to your head?"

Addison found it quite annoying when the guys cut their hair without giving her prior notice; they never seemed to know what was good for them when it came to hair, and sometimes clothes. She sighed and shook her head, motioning to the floor and muttering, "My orange is around here somewhere..."

She went to the kitchen and proceeded to molest Ken's head, rubbing the fuzzy hairs. Wade hadn't said anything since Ken came in, and so Addi, still upset, proceeded to ignore him.

"I need to go bathe," she said, kissing Ken's cheek and telling him, "Happy Birthday. I'll be back soon."

She went upstairs and into her bathroom, stripping down and hopping in the shower. Addi wasn't know for being the quickest in the shower, and it was a little over twenty minutes later before she reappeared, hair and torso each wrapped in a towel, only to disappear into her bedroom.

[Ushima]

"Hey don't knock the hair. You know I only cut it once a year on my birthday, so don't act surprised." Ken watched, amused, as she searched for her orange. "I should make something, eggs? Bacon? Waffles?" He offered. "Fuck it I'm doing it anyway." Ken was about to start when Addi started feeling up his head, rubbing the patch of dark fuzz he had left for hair. In all honesty he pulls the buzzed look off well. And it's still metal. "Having fun princess?" It was a funny sight to behold. Laughing he said. "Ok leave my big empty head alone." He politely moved her hands away. Ken registered Addi speaking again, saying she needed to bathe. "Take your time, I'll still be here." Ken froze when he felt her lips on his cheek. She wished him a happy birthday, but he barely heard it.

Why'd he freeze? Ken couldn't understand it. Addi kisses him on the cheek all the time so why should this be different? Ken stuck his head inside the fridge to hide his red face from Wade. "Where are the eggs?" He knew damn well where the eggs were, he was just wasting time to get his face under control. "Found them." Satisfied he regained control he grabbed the container of eggs, slices of chedder cheese and a pack of bacon and closed the fridge. Moving around the kitchen he pulled out what he needed, turned on the kitchen radio just in time because one of his favorite songs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYU-8IFcDPw) came on, and began cooking. Washing his hands first he put butter in the skillet then let it melt before placing bacon in it, once that cooked he put the cheese in and let it mix. Ken cracked eggs, six, into a bowl and began mixing only stopping for a second to add milk. He poured the mix into the skillet and let it cook, adding a bit of salt and pepper.

As that finished up he popped some bread into the toaster, making ten slices. Ken then washed and cut some strawberries and put them into a bowl. Stirring the egg bacon and cheese mix every now and then. One that was done he emptied the skillet onto a large plate. He set that down on the table, along with the toast, butter and berries, before grabbing an apple. Ken leaned against the wall, sipped his monster (http://www.musingsforadarkenedroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/monster-assault.jpg) and looked over his hard work. He'd wait for Addi before he started eating. "Yo Wade why don't you track down Jasin and Mercy?"

[Damonique]

Jasin heard Ken from the edge of Mercy's driveway and smirked at her, running a hand through her crimson-tipped black hair and chuckling to himself.

"I think we're expected to help celebrate Ken surviving another year without getting beaten to death by some mean fucker he though the could take!" Jasin shouted loud enough for Ken to hear him out of Addi's window, before letting out one of his stuttering maniacal laughs and practically dragging Mercy across the bush line into Addi's yard.

"'Ya know what, I'm dragging you all off tonight for however much alcohol you can consume without dying. My dad's paying. I know just the place, too. Oh, and Ken, we're not leaving until you get laid, I'm tired of all of your fucking complaining." Jasin chuckled, automatically mentally checking off the names of the bars he hadn't been kicked out of that would be willing to take enough sales as reason to not card too indiscriminately.

"Well, Sierra still doesn't hate me, for the most part. Might be able to call in a favor for old times sake" He mused to himself as he reached the side door to Addi's living room. Wade was being his own chill self chowing down on some Cap'n crunch and watching some old school Tom&Jerry while Ken grilled up omlettes in the kitchen.

"Sweet, their replaying cartoons from back when they didn't suck." Jasin chuckled, and flopped over into the couch next beside Wade, smoothly stealing a handful of his cereal and shoving it into his mouth as he did so.

[TheBaron]

Mercy waited in the doorway to the living room feeling a little ill. Normally, she would be all for the hanging out with friends on Saturday morning thing but today she didn't want to be here. Probably because she was supposed to hit her period today or tomorrow she was feeling a bit under the weather, but it didn't change the fact that she was feeling worse by the second.

"Fuck this," she murmured under breath as she turned and began walking towards the front door. She did not feel like hanging out. Her mood was slowly declining as it had been since she had woken up. She walked out the front door feeling depressive. The morning air felt good on her skin.

She looked back at the house feeling her irritation at Jasin boiling up. He was such a asshole sometimes and he says some of the stupidest things ever. She also was getting that 'I'm a rich boy' vibe off of him today and it was pissing her off. Stalking over to her garage she felt like she was getting sicker. By the time she reach her garage door she started running to the bathroom. She reached the toilet just in time.

[Awean8]

"We should probably bounce", Wade had said to all those in the room just as he was drinking the last drops of sugary milk from his bowl. Tom&Jerry was still on, and He-Man was bound to come on sooner or later, but he'd rather not sit still for more than what he already has. Besides he could sense that Addi was more than a little peeved for blowing her off, but can you really blame him!

Remember, Wade was the one that asked HER out in the first place, and after the first failed attempt he had tried again at least kajillion times before finally giving up any hope of romance with her. Now all of a sudden out of the blue she begins to flirt with him, WHAT IS GOING ON?!?! The whole situation just confused Wade, and even though he damn well knew that he wasn't stupid he sure did felt as such whenever he was with Addi. It was an odd feeling.

Please understand, Wade not only plays guitar in a rock band but can sing at the same time, while at the same time doing both proficiently. This entitles him to a certain amount of confidence since he can do something most people can't. Write an play music. The problem here is that when he's with Addi that confidence sort of just vanishes, and once again the odd feeling takes over in the center of his chest where his sternum is supposed to be. It feels as if he has butterflies in his stomach, except their trying to fly out through his esophagus. An odd feeling, an odd feeling indeed.

"We should probably head to my place before we do anything. I still need to check in with my folks." The thought of what his parents were doing right about now came to mind. He shuttered and just hoped that the Israeli fugitive in the basement was didn't smell like old pickled turnips.

[Damonique]

Jasin watched Mercy leave and allowed an expression of bewildered aggrivation to fall across his rough features before burying it with one of concerned confusion, as his temper simmered and was replaced with that annoying voice that sought only to sow doubt.

She doesn't love you. She though she did, when you were both still half-drunk and still under the excitement of the concert. It was such a pessimistic statement, held as a concrete fact, uttered by a part of him that had ordered him to express his feelings for her the night before. Or is it the same part of me? He wondered.

Jasin didn't move to stop her, or run after her, though. Mercy was fairly independent, despite her usually shy and calm demeanor. She wouldn't want him running after her shouting for answers every time he did something wrong. Wade gave him the perfect excuse to work it out before he came back.

"Yeah, I can drive you back to your place, if you want. I need to step in back home myself, if only to leave a post-it note on the fridge saying I'm not dead and haven't been arrested since the last time 'Suddenly want to know where son is and what he's doing' come's up on the old bastard's schedule." Jasin smirked, only half-joking, really, he also wanted to check in with Valerie and pick up his Camino, since the old up-engined Chevy van's necessary passenger/instrument space was no longer needed. And, irregardless, the '68 Camino was just a better fit to roll up beside Addi's beauty of a classic Mustang any day of the week.

"So are we going to skip out before, or after He-Man comes on?" Jasin chuckled, partially mocking and partially asking a serious question, as Wade's Saturday-morning cartoon addiction occasionally bordered on serious.

[Jacogos]

"YO, JACOBI, DO A BARREL ROLL TO DODGE LASERS!!" George yelled out before firing off a salvo of blasts from his laser-tag gun. To his surprise, the older kid actually took his advice, doing an admirable dodge roll before righting himself and returning fire. George, however, had taken the tried and true Fire, Cover, Repeat method. "You'll never take me alive, coppers!!" Jacobi yelled back with a grin, then rushed the other boy and surprised him. At that moment, though, another, larger player by the name of Dantavian managed to sneak up on them and get them both with a full 'clip' of laser blasts. "Hah! Big points for me, bros," Dante said with a resounding laugh.

Since the three of More Than Meets the Eye had nothing else better to do, they all decided to meet at Frames-n-Games whenever. Which was pretty much ASAP. George's parents gave him hell, of course, but in the end, they let him. Jacobi was beginning to think that, with the kids frequent absence from the house, they were enjoying believing they didn't have a son, as vile as that sounded. Hey, that's why Jacobi didn't mind asking the kid to spend so much of his time out of the house. It wasn't fun spending all your time with that kind of parent.

Frames-n-Games was surprisingly sparse on activity that day. Must be some vague holiday, Jacobi thought to himself. In any case, the three had the Laser Tag Arena all to themselves, and thus began the free-for-all. Dante, of course, won that round, but there were plenty more rounds to play, since they basically had all day to hang and do whatever. Laser tag, bowling, and Arcade... it was hang-out paradise. Jacobi continued to wonder where everyone was at on a Saturday, though. Weird. Yeah, there were plenty of teenagers there, but no birthdays or special occasions that brought in customers by the minute.

"Yeah, its probably one of those rare weeks where the only birthdays are either too young or too old to go here," explained the group's friend and day-shift manager Quinten. They referred to him as Q. Yes, from James Bond.

"Damn. You guys enjoy those kind of off days?" Jacobi asked with a slurp from his 24 oz soda. Coca-cola, to be exact. Another thing Frames-n-Games was good for. Decent food and drink.

"Eh, it helps after some of the bad days like LAST Saturday... ugh. Don't make me talk about it." Q shuddered slightly. They were gathered around a classic arcade game: Marvel vs Capcom 2. Dantavian was putting up a decent fight with Cable, Venom, and Iceman, whereas George looked like he was winning with Magneto, Blackheart, and Rouge. It was always fun to watch them play, in Jacobi's opinion. And yet, he still called winner.

"I'll hold you to it, Q. So, when you get off work?" Dantavian managed as Venom got owned by a fierce combo from Rouge.

"Late. Too damn late. I got the shit-end of today's shift, so I'm here all day, pretty much."

"Damn... Hah! Gotcha there, little man!" Dante laughed as he pulled a nice (if cheap) combo with Cable that took a nice chuck of damage out of Blackheart and KO'd Rouge in one string.

"I wonder what Kevin's up to..." Jacobi mused to himself. No one else seemed to hear him. "Oh well."

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Addison stared at herself, apparently dissatisfied with her image in the mirror. Her eyes scanned over her reflected image and her lips pursed; she placed her hands on her hips and gave a shrug before leaving her room, leaving the door open as she carried her wet towels into the bathroom to hang them.

"Are we going, you lazy bums?" How had everyone managed to congregate in her living room? She thought to herself, looking at them.

The drummer had pulled part of her hair back, a French braid following her hairline from one side to the other and then ending behind her ear. The rest was loose and a little straighter than normal, as it was always more tame first thing after styling. Her sweater was loose, drowning the curves of her torso, but the dark plum color complimented her skin tone and her tight, dark grey, de-constructed jeans balanced out the outfit. The baggy sweated ended a little ways above the start over her low-rise jeans and rested on the curve of her hips, she tugged it down unconsciously as she trotted down the stairs, grey high-top sneakers padding softly on the carpeted stairs.

Addi went directly to the kitchen where the plate was still warm, and she grinned at Ken. The scent made her realize that an organe was not a balanced breakfast.

"It's your birthday, you didn't have to, and you know it!" She scooped up a forkful of the bacon, egg and cheese mix, spooning it into her mouth and eating. "Mmm!" She took another bite and then skewered a strawberry on her fork, eating it to.

"S'really good," she mumbled at Ken, smiling and pointing with the fork at the plate. "Daddy! Ken made breakfast!"

"I can smell that! I have work, though, Addiby!" Addison visibly blushed as her father called his nickname for her through the house, not making eye contact with any of her bandmates as she put a plate of eggs and toast together for her father, took it to him, and then returned.

"Mkay, are we headed out?" She looked to the guys inquisitively.

[Ushima]

"By the power of Grey Skull!" Ken raised his fist into the air at the mention of He-man. "He-Man'sgood but I've always been a Saturday morning Power Rangers kid myself." Ken chuckled. "It's Morphin Time!" Hell Ken even had a power coin Belt Buckle (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/EllaStar/MMPR/propbucklers2.jpg). Now that he thought about it he wondered why he hadn't worn it today. Shrugging he opened the fridge again and pulled out another of his Monsters. Really he didn't need the Energy Boost these things were supposed to give. He drank them because they were freakin delicious. Red was his favorite, followed close by blue then orange. Ken began picking at the food, eating the eggs and some slices of toast. Reaching for a strawberry he tossed it into the air. Leaning back he caught it in his mouth. "And Jasin, you keep making comments like that I'll kick your ass into next month."

Addi had come downstairs, he smiled at her. He repressed the erge to make a witty comment. Ken watched her eat his food. "Yeah I know it's my birthday, but that doesn't mean I won't make you breakfast. I'd make you anything,just ask." Cooking was his best skills, besides playing music and fighting, and he could make pretty much anything. And if he didn't know something give Ken a half hour, he'll figure it out. "Besides, an orange wouldn't last for even an hour. So don't worry princess, cooking was no problem." Really it was. "Wanna ride with me?" He asked. "My bike is big enough for two. Plus I figure my best friend deserves to be the first passenger."

[Awean8]

"Because it's not as if your using a big fucking bike to compensate for the obvious lack of something else", Wade uttered under his breath but loud enough for it to travel. Without even looking back at Ken or Addi, he looked Jasin in the eyes growled, "Let's go."

It was like his heart was sinking in gasoline. This was a terrible feeling. Was it jealousy? The only other time he felt this way was when he saw Mallory with.....Adam. Wade knew that he didn't really have anything against Ken, but he just knew he wanted Addi all to himself. He couldn't explain it, especially since she was so damn confusing all the time, but he really liked her. The worst of this was that he didn't know if Ken genuinely liked her as well. "Whatever."

He grabbed his jacket, and waltzed out the door without anything further to say. He awaited for Jasin outside. It was actually rather nice out. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. It pissed him off slightly, that the world insisted on being optimistic when in reality things just don't happen the way you want them to. Sometimes dreams are meant to stay as dreams.

[Damonique]

Jasin could detect the sudden change in mood, when everything shifted form light-hearted fun to testosterone-charged tension. Which is odd, because Wade doesn't even produce testosterone, to our knowledge. The fucking thought-voice again, always sarcastic. Nonetheless, wade filed that joke away for later. It was still his own sense of humor.

Jasin allowed himself a short chuckle at Wade's surprisingly hateful comment and dragged himself into the kitchen and stealing a large strip of bacon from Addison's plate, then, before she could argue, snatching her fork and scooping up large bite of egg and shoveling it into his smirking mouth, then let out a particularly overplayed 'Mmmmm'. He did this partially because he was still sort of hungry, and also because messing with Addi was his only excuse for genuinely liking Ken's cooking.

Jasin then patted Addi on the back of the head and dodged out of slap-range towards the kitchen door, and turned to Ken.

'You two remember, Tonight, Ken's getting wasted, and Addi, it's your job to make sure he doesn't get his ass thrown out until that happens." Jasin remarked, far more seriously than in any way necessary. He then performed a over-dramatic head nod and dissapeared out the front door. Walking over the Wade who had already trudged over to Jasin's van sitting in Mercy's driveway.

"So, you alright?" It was an innoculous enough question, and left plenty of room for Wade to weasel out of the situation if he wanted to. Jasin wasn't really big on trying to tell other people how to live their lives, since his was no shining example of how to do it right.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Wade was mumbling and growling as he got off her couch and left her house, and she was still mulling over Ken's question with a bite of his eggs and such in her mouth. She swallowed and gave a shrug. Wade had been the one to toss her off his lap earlier - he had no reason to be pissed off at her, quite the contrary. She'd finally made her move - subtle, yes, but a move all the same - and he'd literally tossed her away; Addison didn't have the slightest idea why he had, at least, she thought... Hoped that Wade had feelings for her.

"Sure, lets go," she told Ken, nodding at him a little as her thoughts roamed elsewhere.

Addison had become quite the hopeful creature over the last few months. Why, she didn't know, but things had changed. Before Wade had given up on Addison as a romance, she hadn't believed that he was worth it - she'd be just another notch on his belt, another heart broken is his wake. She hadn't believed that she could change him, break him of his Casanova ways; lately, she'd come to hope that she could, however. Addison hoped that she'd be the girl he'd stick with, and she'd come to believe that he was worth at least trying.

She was hardly paying attention as Jasin teased her and her eyes followed him out after Wade, almost confused for a moment. Addi squared her previously slumped shoulders and looked to Ken, smiling a little before moving to get a jacket. It was sunny outside, but still cold and still October.

"Think I can sit on it or something if I need it?" She asked Ken with a smile, holding up the jacket and then shrugging a bit, heading outside. She'd tucked her ID, cash and debit card into the back pocket of her jeans and grabbed her keys off the hook, so she was set, only waiting for Ken to leave the house so she could lock up. If she knew her dad, he wouldn't be down for hours, and a locked door was better than an unlocked one when the people home weren't paying attention.

[Ushima]

"Because it's not as if your using a big fucking bike to compensate for the obvious lack of something else."

Ken watched Wade walk out of the house. "The fuck is his promblem?" To his knowledge he has never heard Wade get aggitated. It was, weird. Ken fisted his right hand into his left, cracking the knuckles, then repeated the process for his left hand. "He better get that stick out of his ass. No way I'm dealing with a pissy effeminate hippie all day without snapping and kicking his ass." It was likely that'd be the end result if Wade didn't get his shit together.

'You two remember, Tonight, Ken's getting wasted, and Addi, it's your job to make sure he doesn't get his ass thrown out until that happens."

Jasin was next to leave the house. "Like hell I'm getting wasted! I've been once, and I woke up on the roof of my house. Never again." He drank yes, butnow it's just to drink. "Please tell me you'll let me leave if I want? I'd do anything if you would, be eternally grateful." Ken followed Addi of the house.

"Think I can sit on it or something if I need it?"

"Of course." He smiled at her as he got on the bike. Lifting his right leg he brought it down, kickstarting it. The bike roared to life and he reved it a bit. Now sitting down he had to sit a bit more forward to make enough room for Addi. "Let's go princess."

[Awean8]

"Yeah, man I'm fine." Wade told Jasin although he didn't really believe what he was actually saying, "It's just that I.....that Addi...and tha-"

After realizing that nothing he was say was making any sense, he abruptly turned around and headed inside the van without another word. He rode in the passenger seat, as usual, on the five minute drive to his house. Wade's house was something of a complete dump, well, in comparison to his neighbors. Originally, the house was your average two story middle class house, but that was before the Brandeau's moved into it.

Wade's mom is an extreme anarcho-vegetarian who not only makes money as an author of three semi-successful books, but also other various odd jobs. His dad was the guitarist for the popular local band, Whitman back in 89, but now he's basically a stay at home dad who frequents poetry night at the coffee shop down the street. Both his parents, think that harassing West-boro Baptists as they protest counts as quality family time. They are also currently taking in an Israeli fugitive who immigrated here illegally; he lives in the basement. At the end of each day, his parents chill on the couch watching Scrubs, and eating Oreos until they fall asleep.

"Mom, Dad! I'm home, and Jasin is here too!"

[Damonique]

Jasin heard Wade starting on a tirade, something concerning Addi, but when his friend went quiet, he didn't push it. A lot of people assume that that a "Best Friend" will be the guy that presses you about something and won't let it go, just because they think its the right thing to do. That kind of friend you didn't stay friends with long. Jasin knew that Wade would talk about it if it really needed talking about.

He hopped into the drivers seat of the van, slammed the door and gunned it. He hit a button on the recently-installed multi-disk CD drive and the speaker system began to play a series of disjointed exposition tracks from one of their earliest attempts to form a band. It had really only been Jasin on Bass/Rhythm, Wade on lead Acoustic and vocals, and a guy they had been friends with who played drums that had later moved to Wisconsin.

When they got back to Wade's place, Jasin decided he may as well step in and see how the Brandeau family was doing. Jasin was an occasional fixture around Wade's place. Most would wonder why he would hang with his best friends middle-income parents when he had a three-story home with all the luxuries one would desire. There were two reasons, one admirable, the other less so.

First, Jasin had been a friend of Wade's family for years and Jasin like nothing better than to hang around listening to old music with Wade's dad. Second, Jasin occasionally popped in to share a Joint with Ari, the Israeli Political refugee that lived in their basement, and was still getting used to the US's comparatively strict drug laws.

As Wade announced his presence, Jasin sauntered in and threw a mock salute to Mr. Brandeau, deftly avoiding bits of clutter until he found an open floorspace. The house was a dump, as always, but it was familiar dump.

[Ushima]

Ken kicked in the kickstand and easily backed the bike out of Addi's driveway. Once he was in the street he motioned for Addi to get on. She got on the bike behind Ken, her arms around his waist. Ken reved it twice. "Hold on." Shifting out of neutral he started the bike in the direction of Wade's house. The bike sounded like a beast from hell as it tore down the streets. Ken loved this bike, it was a testament to all his hard work. When they pulled up to a stop light Ken was next to this other guy on an old school chopper. He was big, wore tattered jeans, a white t-shirt, black boots and a leather patched vest. The man had long grey hair and long grey beard. On the back of the bike was a dark haired woman in tight jeans and leather jacket. It reminded Ken of a David Mann (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uVWMQ5nZvd8/Sf8nW7pLZ-I/AAAAAAAABcs/e2IFSIMrYzo/s400/DM-80-MCart.jpg) Painting from one of the Easyrider magazines he reads. Ken and the biker's eyes met and they nodded to each other. The light turned green and the other biker pair turned right as Ken kept going straight. Now he had to go get a leather vest and some awesome patches.

It wasn't that long of a ride to Wade's house and soon he was pulling into the driveway. He let Addi off before shutting off the bike and setting down the kick stand. "So how was it? Awesome right?" There was nothing like the feeling of riding a motorcycle. It was incredible, the adrenaline, the raw power of the machine. "Let's get inside before they think we just rode somewhere else." Ken thought that wasn't such a bad idea. Honestly he wanted to be anywhere other than here. Why sit around someone's house when they can be out doing something ran through his head. Honestly they should've just went to his house, at least there they could've had something interesting to do. And his brother and his brother's friends were always entertaining to some degree. He knew his firends wanted to see him get tossed in the pool again like the last time they were over, Ken was out in the backyard with the others when his brother tossed him in. Ken will never admit to them that it happened this morning. Going up to the front door Ken raised his fist and pounded on the door three times. "Open it up or I'm kicking it in."

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Addison slid onto the motorbike at Ken's prompt and held on tight as they took off, hiding her face against Ken's shoulder until she was used to the wind whipping past her. She should have brought sunglasses or goggles or something. She didn't say much on the ride and slid off the bike with ease once they arrived at Wade's house.

"So how was it? Awesome right?" Ken asked her and she could see the excitement in his eyes.

"Oh, it was thrilling, Ken," she told him, not really sarcastic but teasing enough. "Positively thrilling."

She walked up to the door with him and tucked her hands into her back pockets as she stood on the front porch, waiting for the door to open. Addi was thinking again, about Wade, staring past the porch's roof and up to the sky, a mildly peeved look on her face.

"Why're we waiting?" She asked out loud and stepped forward, reaching for the doorknob and twisting, opening the door and heading inside.

[Awean8]

Wade's dad, Erik, walked around the house with a bag of Salt and Vinegar potato chips with his eyes squinted as if he was desperately in search of something. He hadn't paid any mind to anyone until Jasin gave him a mock salute. "Ha! You never change. Don't try to impress me too hard or you'll just end up looking like my ole man."

Grandpa Brandeau was originally a old fashioned hard-ass bigoted military man, who had served his country during Korea, and on occasion treated his children in less than favorable light. Spankings were a everyday thing in the Brandeau household. However recently there has been a new development. Four months ago Erik had found out that his father had been a closeted homosexual all those years. Last week he sent us a postcard from Mexico where he lives in luxury with his gay lover.

"Wade have seen the remote for the t.v?"

"I haven't even been here in two days, so in short, no."

"Damn", Wade's dad was the type of person who would rather take advantage of the gift that is technology. In other words he was way too lazy to get up and change the channel.

When Addi and Ken entered Erik immediately slapped his son on the back leaning in to whisper, "Straighten your back son! Be a man! Addi isn't the type to tolerate your bullshit, so go out and get her! - From Mom"

He than continued to run out of the room as fast as he could leaving the group with an awkward silence. Wade shook the weirdness out and headed to his room. Surprisingly, it was clean compared to the rest of the house. He had piles upon piles of cd's sitting against the wall, all in alphabetical order. He had at least three guitars in his room, all of them had either been gifts or "gifts". He brushed his hair real quick, grabbed his keys and left to go with the guys to wherever.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Addi had slid her hands behind her neck - elbows pointed toward the ceiling - only a few steps inside Wade's familiar house, only to catch Erik slapping his son on the back and whispering to him. She arched an eyebrow, pursing her lips a little and put her shoulders back, effectively stretching as she often did when she was bored or just had nothing else to do. Besides, she hadn't exactly done her sun salutations this morning.

Wade disappeared off to his bedroom and Erik resumed wandering around the house looking intent on finding something. Probably the television remote. Addison revisited the idea of a KeyRinger as a Christmas gift to the Brandeau family, but came to the conclusion that they'd lose the remote. Maybe if they mounted it on a wall...? She mused, cocking her head a little.

That was when Wade returned, breezing past them. Her mood still wasn't the best and she dropped her arms to her sides, casting a mild glare after Wade. She followed a moment or two behind, however, and trotted down the steps of the porch.

[Ushima]

"Oh, it was thrilling, Ken. "Positively thrilling."

"I know right?" Ken responded, not picking up on the sarcastic teasing tone of Addison.

"Why're we waiting?"

"Well I apologize for having better manners than the group. I've always been told it was rude to just walk into someone's house." Ken will never just walk inside someone's house. His mother taught him to always knock, you never knew what a person might be doing. Sighing Ken followed Addi inside. Ken saw Wade's father and polietly waved hello. Ken figured they'd at least stop here for a minute before going somewhere else. Maybe to the mall or something. Ken needed to get into the game store sometime soon to pre-order some upcoming major releases. Gaming was a major part of his life and he loved every aspect of it. The characters, the stories, the gameplay, the lore. Next on his list, the king of all games, The Duke.

Wade finally came downstairs, breaking Ken out of his thoughts of pure 3D entertainment bliss. He'd get to The Duke later, if it wasn't delayed again. Ken exited the house after Addi, closing the door behind him. "So now where?"

[Damonique]

Jasin noticed the slight but noticeable shift in the rooms atmosphere after Ken and Addi showed up. Not skipping a beat, Jasin dodged away from the metaphorical 'Center of Awkward Gravity' between Wade and Ken and headed for the door.

He stopped to snatch up one of his half-dozen-or-so trench coats of his that was lying on one of Wade's couches, and had probable been there for at least a couple weeks, pulling it on to shield from the chill breeze outside and heading for the still open door.

"I've gotta get home and grab a shower or something, and stick the gargantuan gas-guzzler in the garage until we need it again. Just because I can afford the gas doesn't mean I want to kill the planet, one earth, one peace, insert some more of the obligatory hippie bullshit I spout so often..." Jasin rambled out the door, not really stopping to breathe, and only hesitating once to screw up Addi's hair with big-brother level expertise, and leaving the drama to sort itself out.

Jasin did hold up to fondle Ken's chopper a bit. He had to admit that the bike was bad-ass, almost made him want a Muscle Bike of his own. Except now that Ken has one, its not 'Obscure Enough'. Jasin chuckled to himself, and slid into the drivers seat of his van and peeled out of the driveway, cruising out of Wade's neighborhood onto a main road.

He had no sooner cleared the last of the middle-income homes that he came to a big fence that looked like it belonged more in an internment camp than around the home of a Land Developer. Jasin stopped to tap in the code, which was 25000, the amount his father had won in the lottery and used to found his contracting outfit. Vain Jackass.

The gate opened and Jasin drove along the unnecessary rows of ponds and gardens the he doubted his father had ever even bothered to walk through, being tended by their dinosaur of a Groundskeeper, Jardon. The old man was walking through and inspecting each plant for a sign of weeds, ever vigilant in his war against minor annoyances.

Jasin pulled the van into the large garage adjoining the obscene five-story house and parked it in the empty space closest to the front, beside an Audi R8 (http://www.imgbase.net/images/audi-r8-4.jpg) that looked like a clown car by comparison to the old Chevy van. Jasin locked up the van and sauntered through the passageway adjoining the garage to the house, coming out in the foyer that showed off his dads fetish for white marble.

He caught Valerie walking out of the kitchen and tapped her on the back of the head, Yawning loudly. She turned around and looked unamused. Valerie was just almost 25 and still looked just a little older than 19, with coppery-tanned skin and ringlets of lighter died red hair. Jasin had to admit she was a shoe-in for trophy-wife status. Jasin was always suprised whenever he realized that Val was technically his MOTHER. It was made slightly more awkward by the fact that she was hot as hell and Jasin still had occasional casual sex with a particular nightclub owner around her age.

"Oh, You. Decided to show up home for once in a decade. And what a treat, your not even high or drunk or both!" She muttered sarcastically, smirked as her nostrils flared. "But you do smell like sweat, Pyrotechnics, and Vodka, so I assume your just home for shower." She added.

"Guilty, though I also stopped in because Addi hadn't given me my complete fix of insults for the day before I left." Jasin shot back, tossing his trench coat over one of the banners flanking the stairs carelessly. Her posture and facial expression changed from 'Annoyed but Endeared' to 'Gossip Ready'.

"Wait...Addison? I though you said Wade was after her? Not that I blame you, kid gets enough as it is and from what I've seen of her I wouldn't mind that option much at all myself..." Jasin then remembered that Valerie treated his friends as her own personal Reality show and read far too much subtext into everything.

"Val...as much as I'm thanking several gods that I usually mock as fictional for that glorious mental picture, and I'm inclined to agree that I would if I could, but no. I ended up spending the night over with Mercy, and I'm a little freaked out with myself as it is." Jasin smirked, and Valerie sighed reproachfully.

"Oh, fine. Mercy's pretty cute too, and knowing how long you've been into her I'm suprised it took you this long to hit that. Sex drive slowing down already? Although it may be hereditary in your family, Iain hasn't bothered to fu-"

"I'm getting a shower now to wash away the dangerously near-completed mental images you just created. Why couldn't I just have the idea of you and Addi to fantasize about? Why did you have to go there?" Jasin cut her off, rambling up the stairs and into the bathroom adjacent to his Studio/Room. It was really more of a studio, strewn with guitars, Synth gear, computers, and amps, with only a simple cot in the corner to indicate anyone slept in there.

Shower, Shave, Change of Clothes, and Jasin was out, ten minutes flat, and headed back into the garage before he could run into Valerie again, or worse, his father, who was probable still boarded up in his office.

[Awean8]

"Hey, guys I'm going to call Jacobi and his crew to see if they want to chill", Wade pulled his cell phone, which was from Metro Pcs by the way, and pressed the call button once he cold vaguely see his name on the ancient blue tinted screen.

Wade and Jacobi had exchanged numbers after pulling a series of pranks after a jam session. Good time, good times.

Jacobi was finishing off George with a Triple Super Move, just to be an ass, when his phone went off. The One Winged Angel theme rang out from his pocket for a few seconds before the metalhead could fish the device from his pocket.

"Wade? What's he doin' callin' me?" Jacobi flipped the phone open and pressed the little green button that would connect the two cell phones. "Yo, wassup, Smokey?" Yet another hippie pun.

"Yo, since you guys are probably wasting your Saturday away playing video games or something along lines wouldn't it be better if you wasted it away with the Demolition Boys." In his head he made a catalogue of the different shenanigans they could get into today.

Jacobi smirked slightly and moved the phone away from his mouth so he could talk to the others. "Yo, you guys wanna go hang with the Demo Boys? We ain't got anything better to do." George, still fuming after his defeat, just shrugged. Poor kid took his gaming waaaaaaaay too seriously. Dante laughed slightly at George's anger and nodded. "Sure, man. Where they at?"

Jacobi was just about to ask that, so he returned the phone to his ear. "Sounds cool, bro. Though I don't know WHAT you're inferring by saying we're wasting our time playing video games." He laughed slightly and beckoned for the other two to follow him as he headed towards the door. "So what's you guys' plan? Mall, downtown, what?"

"Well, first off we're here at my house waiting for Jasin to get back from one of his weekly home check-ins", Wade quickly thought about how well that was going. In hind sight probably not as well as Jasin had liked. "After that we'll probably be going to the mall, and maybe a bar later."

"Well, since we're already half-way across town at the Frames-n-Games, I guess we'll just meet you at the mall." Jacobi remembered Kevin again. He wondered if the poor guy might be able to get out tonight. He figured Junior would be stuck at home, though, like he said he would be. Damn his parents. "A'ight, slut, meet you there." Before Wade could react to his newest name, Jacobi shut his phone, smirking and speaking with his best Ace Ventura voice. "Well aaaaaaaaaalrighty then, let's head to the mall."

Following the vocalist, Dante picked up his own phone to make a call, leaving George to fume. He should've gone with Venom... Or maybe Jill Valentine. Anything that could've combo'd better with his other picks... The three reached Jacobi's black 89' Jaguar and piled in quickly, then headed off to the mall. Dante spoke up from the back, "Yo, Jacobi, we should go pick up Amanda from her place not too far from here. Just called and got directions." Jacobi agreed, and they were on their way.

[Ushima]

Ken was feeling slightly better. Now that they had at least planned to leave. He still wasn't sure they decided on a location, mall was strong in the running. Honestly though Ken felt anything was better than just hanging out, though hanging out at his place wasn't bad. At least there was stuff to do and could keep him in a cheery mood. Then the question of transport came up. Ken knew Jasin was coming back, but honestly he didn't trust him enough to drive. Ken looked at his bike, he'd be taking that for sure since Jasin was driving. Walking over to his bike he ran his hand down the tank, a smile appeared on his face. He's never been this happy.

"I need a smoke." Deciding that Jasin might take awhile and that he had enough time to smoke he reached into his pocket and pulled out a Zippo (http://www.joylot.com/afullsize_thumbs/620243019.jpg) and a cigar (http://www.floridapatentlawyerblog.com/cigar.jpg). It's been at least four months since Ken last smoked, been saving it for a special occasion, or for him to be bored enough. With a few flicks he got it lit up and took a drag. Closing the zippo he cut off the flame and pocketed it. Blowing out a big cloud of smoke. Ken started smoking, heavily, when he started high school and the intense pressure of the place set in. He used to be about a pack a week back then. Now though he switched to cigars and every couple months would have one. Some people really got on his case about it, but he just ignored them. Some people even tried to get him to smoke other "stuff" but he'd always turn it down. Ken knew he was better than that, better than anyone who smoked that shit. Another drag and that was the end of that line of thought. Back to waiting for Jasin. "He better hurry up." Getting aggitated again, Ken was.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

"My father would disown you, then shoot you for lighting that with a Zippo," she bluntly told Ken with a completely straight face. "You never light a cigar with a lighter, you get so much more flavor with a match, have we not discussed this?"

Addi sighed with a shake of her head, wondering for a moment why it agitated her so much. Maybe because if he was going to do it, he may as do it well? She glanced at Wade while he was on the phone with Jacobi, and she slid her hands into her back pockets. Addi arched her back a little, turning her face towards the sky and closing her eyes.

"So, mall, I am guessing? Once Jasin gets back?"

[Awean8]

"Yeah, lets just wait for Jasin"

Wade, for some reason started to contemplate as if the whole world had freezed just so he could think. He started to remember the times when it was just him, and Jasin. Soon Mercy joined, and much later on in their Sophomore year Addi had joined. Wade still couldn't really recall how and when they had met Ken, but he guessed that the metal-head kept things interesting in the group. Jacobi and the gang hung with them whenever Wade had met them in his Junior year.

These were the only real friends he had ever known.

Fuck Adam, and Malory right? There's no real point in wasting time on people who only put you down and hold you back. There was really no need to chase after Mallory anymore, because Wade had everything he'd ever need right in front of him. Now the only thing left to do respectively would be to kick Ganon's ass and win the final round to the Battle of the Bands.


To be continued.....