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So, tonight was going to be the definition of fantastic. Who cares if he’d probably have no service tonight (since bars typically sucked with phone service), and wouldn’t hear from Mitsukai. Not that she’d call anyway. So, Joseph would spend a night not worrying about Kai (seriously, had he had one of those nights in the past month?) and instead, having fun. This is exactly what Joseph needed.

“Sure, sounds great.”

Joseph smiled down at Allison, and gave her a small squeeze. Then, he noticed her checking the time. “Darnnn, its that time already?” Joseph asked, feeling rather bummed out. This was by far the best lunch he had all week. Typically, he was sitting with just one person (Nikky or L), but only one. It seemed that L and Nikky had been seriously avoiding each other, but Joe had no idea why.

With L gone most of the time, Adam stayed away. With Adam gone, Diana stayed away. With Nikky gone, Cadence stayed away. (though, she seemed gone no matter what now a days…) The crew had somehow split up, and Joseph couldn’t help but to wonder if it was Mitsukai’s fault. Mitsukai had pretty much loved everyone at their table. She invited Kyuubi (who typically sat with people Joe didn’t know when Mitsukai wasn’t around). She flirted with Adam, and gossiped with Diana. She talked about boys with Nikky and even schemed with L. Mitsukai was the party planner and the ultimate b***h when anyone messed with their clique. However, once Mitsukai found herself spiraling under depression, their group slowly fanned out. Eventually, even the wanna be’s that always sat a table near them left. It was odd, and it was unfair. Joseph missed his friends. Well, at least Allison was back in working function. He was quite tired of boring lunches.

“Well, I guess I gotta go. All my books are in my dorm. Bye guys.” Joe said and gave each of the ladies a kiss on their cheeks.

Joseph walked out of the room then towards his dorm. It took him just a few short moments to get his books and head to class. The whole walk to class, he kept thinking about tonight. Maybe it’d be like all the other times they used to be together. Just a load of fun and no cares in the world. Joe was tired of everyone keeping to their lonesome. Tonight was going to be fun, for everyone.

Kyuubi walked out of the training room and quickly changed and went to his next class. He took the route that led him outside for a minute so he could wash himself off. The water in the air formed and fell on him. He quickly got the water out of his clothes but he couldn't get all of it before he was inside. He was slightly wet when he entered his class and no one asked what happened. He was glad.

“Yea, that would just be splendid,”

Caleb remarked wryly before grinning and reaching out a hand to Cory so he could help pull him out of the metal contraption of doom. Seriously, whose idea was it to make metal chairs? He should sue for physical and psychological trauma. Who knew what precious brain cells were destroyed from him crashing into the obstruction. Just at that moment he caught the eye of a dainty girl about his age, and he grinned back at her as if they shared an inside joke before turning his attention back to Cory’s offer of help.

Assuming Cory was strong enough to lift Caleb to his feet, which was likely seeing as Caleb was a stick, Caleb would get up awkwardly trying to balance with his feet clumsily crossed in the metal supports of the chair. After getting his bearings he would slowly attempt to remove his foot from the chair. However, even this simple action seemed too much for the graceless teen as his foot hooked under the metal support causing him to stumble out of the chair and do a sort of hop-spin to keep his balance. He somehow managed to stay on his feet, and with an exhale of relief Caleb, turned back to face Cory. But not before he mentally taunted the chair, Take that, stupid piece of rubbish and gave it a good kick moving it a couple inches but at the expense of severe pain in his right toe.

Biting his lower lip against the pain, he looked at Cory and burst out laughing at his expression. Caleb knew he was acting weird (he could tell by Cory’s expression), but he couldn’t help it. He seriously believed that it was the chair’s fault for being in the way of his short airborne flight. He felt that all things whether living or otherwise should know to get out of the way of his trajectory, and that if the thing was incapable of moving that someone should move it out Caleb’s path. It would just make life a lot less painful for everyone involved. However, that rarely worked out and Caleb spent a large amount of time nursing wounds caused by his various collisions and apologizing to random strangers who were unfortunate enough to be near Caleb.

Finally getting around to answering Cory’s question, Caleb rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Oh ya know, I mentioned to my ‘rents that you transferred here and they jumped all over it. My mom and my sister wanted me closer to home, so here I am.” Caleb paused and then a sly look came over his face as he slowly started, “…you know Clarice was really interested when she heard that you went here.” He grinned mischievously at his friend; it had been common knowledge in their group of friends that his younger sister who was just a year younger than him had a huge crush on Cory. “She even asked if I could…” Caleb whipped out his phone and took a picture sending it to Clarice before Cory could even think about trying to steal his phone to delete it, “…get a picture.”

He laughed evilly as he saw the green check mark on his screen letting him know that it had sent. Putting his phone back in his pocket, his attitude changed to that of a dramatic actor as he put his hand on Cory’s shoulder and said solemnly with a regretful expression on his face, “I am truly sorry my friend, but I had to do the evil deed. My sister was pining away without an image of you to put above her bed so that she may stare at it longingly.” He kept up the façade for a moment after his words, but couldn’t keep a straight face and a smile forced its way through.

Letting go of Cory, Caleb shrugged and smiled apologetically. He didn’t approve of fostering his sister’s puppy dog crush, but she had just about begged him and he couldn’t stand it when she used the pout on him. It made him feel like he was a bad brother, and just about forced him to give in to her demands. It wasn’t fair when she resorted to dirty tricks like that especially when she knew he couldn’t deny her anything.

________



“….get a picture”

Cory cringed after the picture was taken. “Dude, so not cool…” Cory said, feeling completely and totally violated. Cory was surprised that Caleb was here because of him. Obviously, his parents didn’t know about this school beforehand. Poor Caleb, leaving the best school in the world to go to this lame ol’ place. At least he wasn’t in that school in New York, where they send troubled kids with powers. According to the kids he knew there, that place was hell. Cory almost was sent there himself…

“I am truly sorry my friend, but I had to do the evil deed. My sister was pining away without an image of you to put above her bed so that she may stare at it longingly.”

Oh God, if there was nothing more violating than that. Cory did not want Clarice staring at his picture doing god knows what. Why couldn’t she just get obsessed with someone else? The upcoming parents day was going to be hell. That just wasn’t right….

“Hmm, so I’m guessing there are more people who want you, other than freshmen here?”

Cory turned around and faced the girl who just joined in there conversation. She obviously turned his thoughts away from the earlier conversation with Caleb. This girl could probably make people forgot everything. She had tan skin, gorgeous eyes, and just an overall sexy body. Though, none of that was as sexy as the confidence that seemed to surround her. She wasn’t a Mitsukai, but pretty darn close.

“I haven’t seen you around here before, are you one of those freshmen?” Cory asked with a smirk. Her response was to laugh and reject him. This girl definitively had confidence.

“But you’re obviously a first year.”

Cory pointed out, since from the look of things, she was. Most first years didn’t like that being shoved in their face. Therefore, she shoved it in his face that he was also a freshman. ‘I am, aren’t I?’ Cory thought, totally forgetting he actually was a first year. Goodness, that was a weird though, considering he was a third year and the top of his class when he left his old school Now he came back as a first year, though still at the top of his class, almost. However, unlike his old school, Cory wasn’t popular here. More like hated; by the popular group anyways. Was it only Mitsukai’s group that hated him?


“That I guess I am.” Cory said replying to the girls comment. This girl had a lot of spunk, even if she was new. It reminded him a lot of Mitsukai, not that he was going to tell her that.

“Anyhow, I came over here to introduce myself. I’m Juliette.” She introduced and got up. “Nice to meet y’all two.” She then walked away. Cory watched her go.

Once she walked out of the halls to wherever, Cory turned around to Caleb.
“She’s got spunk doesn’t she?” Cory admired. This girl was pretty chill, and Cory had to talk to her some more.

Shayde Drake Milan

Relishing the shadows which encased him, Shayde slowly began to relax. Leaning back in the chair he slowly exhaled, feeling his tension drop. Maybe this school wouldn't be like other public locations. Maybe he wouldn't be the freak that everyone avoided and stared at. Maybe he could get a semblance of normal again. A flash of white shown from his face as he enjoyed the thought of actually getting a friends who weren't scared of him 'cause of his abilities.

Hearing footsteps he concentrated on the shadows, trying to thicken them around him. The shadows swirled and shifted around the room, concentrating themselves near him. He smiled slightly, this ability, a weak as it was, it was amusing to use on people. The footsteps reached the door, then door swung open piercing some shadows, thickening others. A figure stood silhouetted in the doorway. Confusion echoed in the voice from the silhouette as it exclaimed "Why is it so dark in here?"

As the door closed behind the figure, Shayde pulled on the shadows, twisting them further about himself. Listening to the other person stumble and bumble about, including a sloshing noise, brought another smile and a barely stifled laugh to his lips. The flicked on as the person found the switch. The shadows vanished instantly around the rest of the room, and bled off Shayde, easing the light transition on his eyes.

The kid who had entered was the one who had waved at him earlier. As the kid swore in a very non-cursing manner, he couldn't help but grin. The kid began babbling which made Shayde grin grow even wider. The kid finally introduced himself as Caleb and Shayde extended his hand.

Good after noon Caleb, I'm Shayde. You've seen my power, shadow control. No reason to tell the full truth, keeping the blood control hidden wouldn't hurt anyone, and probably would help him in a tight spot if he needed it.What's your power Caleb? and Yes I am new, don't even know what really goes on here at the school; just that it's a haven for those with strange powers."

Archimedes would be lying if he said caffeine didn’t affect him. Of course he wasn’t some caffeine noob who got super hyper off of one ounce of coffee, but the stuff definitely helped him stay up late when him and Cory were in a particularly hardcore game of L4D. Couldn’t be drowsy AND kill zombie hordes at the same time, now, could you? Of course not. Coffee it was. It tasted better than coke, he had always thought. The stupid carbonation burn annoyed the crap out of him. Besides, coke and stuff didn’t have as much caffeine. There was something wrong about a bubbly, fizzy drink. It was like drinking a potion or something. Things that make you go buuhhh.

It was decided. Archimedes was skipping his first class. He was in too good a mood to have it be killed by English II. Pointless, anyway. It wasn’t like he even cared about literature or grammar or anything. Who needed it? He wasn’t planning on becoming a businessman or a literature… person. Whatever it was called. He wasn’t going to be intellectual in the conventional sense. No, Archimedes’s intellect was better used elsewhere. He’d be able to make plenty of money off of his hacking skills alone, not to mention everything else he could manipulate with his mind. He didn’t really need these bull high school courses; all that really mattered was power control anyway. And lunch. That was important as well.

In theory, Archimedes saw himself as a sort of super hero in the future. Not like Superman or anything, since he was all muscly and ‘for the Alliance’ and whatnot. No. He’d be a vigilante super hero, loyal only to himself and those who meant anything to him — which were few and far between, anyway. He’d be untraceable and untrackable. Once his power had developed more, he could very well crash entire corporations with his technopathing. Of course if he attempted that now, he’d probably have a stroke and explode or die from power failure or something anticlimactic like that. Loath as he was to admit it, to do something like that, he might need help. Buh. He hated asking for help. Luckily his powers enabled him to do most things on his own; and if he couldn’t, then he could alter something to make it seem like he did, ie, cheat. But it was only cheating if you got caught. Otherwise it was just another form of self-help.

Thorne. Right, there had been some word of him disappearing, hadn’t there? That would pose a problem with the whole ‘mess with Thorne’ thing. Ah well. It was still an amusing notion. But this body regeneration thing seemed pretty sweet. Kind of gross, of course, but awesome. Could he regenerate if he got slain? Like, what if someone emptied a clip into his skull? Would he be able to just regenerate the bone and brains and stuff? And if he got severed in half, his body would just schlup back together? It gave him a shiver thinking about it. He didn’t know if the shiver was good or bad. Intriguing. Too bad the kid was gone, apparently. Or rumored to be.

”Ahhh right, if he’s not here, then that does pose a significant problem,” he voiced, stroking his chin in a mockery of thought. Holy crap, where did Cadence go? Ugh! She did it again! It always scared him a little when Cadence disappeared. She could be anywhere! It made him paranoid when he was alone sometimes, that Cadence was just hiding somewhere, invisible, watching him. Luckily they were on the same side, so the chance of that being the case was slim, but it was still unsettling. Besides, she liked to disappear and then reappear behind him and whisper creepy things in his ear to make him scream. It spooked the hell out of him.

”Wah!” he cried as she rematerialized behind him and Cory, arms around their shoulders. ”Cheater. Of course you know the ways of the ninja. Not all of us are worthy.” This was said in jest, of course. He was a tiny bit jealous of her power to disappear, but knew he sort of had to get over that. When she kissed his cheek, he blushed and scrunched his nose up. ”Ewwww, female salivary discharge! I’m burning!” he joked, rubbing his cheek with the sleeve of his hoodie. Kissing was weird. What was such a big deal over rubbing your lips over someone else’s? Of course Cory had done it, since he used to date that tart, Mitsukai. He never got the appeal of that kind of contact with another person. He was sure him and Mitsukai had done other things as well, but he chose not to think about that kind of stuff. Ew.

Apparently Cory wasn’t a big fan of the kiss, either, though, if his speedy escape was anything to judge by. Huh. Well, there he goes. Not much else to be done now. ”Guess it’s just us two, eh?” Archimedes commented to Cadence with a smirk. Unlike Archimedes, Cory was slightly popular. Or at least, he didn’t seem to have trouble connecting with people. Archimedes wasn’t like that at all, so if Cadence left, then he’d have to make it on his own for the rest of the day.

Then his phone vibrated.

”Hmmm…” the redhead hummed, pulling his cell phone out. Crap. His alarm was sounding. Someone was trying to hack into his records. s**t, s**t, s**t, this wasn’t good. He couldn’t risk being found out now, of all times! ”Sorry, girlie, but I gotta scram for awhile. Don’t have too much fun without me, kay?” Archimedes called at Cadence before he turned tail and fled back into the school.

Why? Why, why, why? He’d quit that software company last summer! He’d erased all the data from the system of his existence and made sure he wasn’t traceable. He had to get back to his equipment in his dorm room and crash their system and somehow scramble it before they found his location. All that stuff about wanting to be untrackable and whatnot? Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen for awhile. Still hadn’t gotten used to the whole idea or how to execute it quite yet.

His hair bounced about as he sprinted from the front entrance all the way back to his dorm. He didn’t hesitate to push people out of his way and jump over obstacles. Once he was in his sanctum, he was out of breath and his thighs burned like crazy, but he knew where his equipment was. Without missing a beat, the boy plopped to the floor and roughly removed his laptop from his messenger bag, opening it up and plugging it in to the wall. As fast as he could, the boy rummaged under his bed until he found the big, black duffle bag full of electrical doodads. To anyone else it was just a bunch of metal boxes with ports and wires hanging out, but for him it was a vital protective battalion.

One of the shiny metal contraptions, the main security console, was shaped so that it clipped around his laptop, holding it in place as little lasers connected from it to the motherboard. Step one, done. If he didn’t move fast enough, the former company he committed fraud to work for could potentially find out his crime. Next he pulled out a smaller metal box and rifled through the plugs hanging from it to find the right one to go into the right ports of his main security console. Once connected, the little box whirred to life and little lights illuminated it. He flipped a switch on it to activate it, and with that, his data was locked and impenetrable. He sighed in relief. At least now they couldn’t get in and find anything. They’d come up against a computerized wall that showed them a false IP code and fabricated information about the registration. It was linked to an address and a person that didn’t exist.

Last step. Who the hell was trying to track him? The last and final box was removed from his duffle bag, which he connected to his laptop with shaking hands. This box had a joystick on it and a track pad; it was used to weave through the fine strands of security that made up the offender’s firewall. He gingerly manipulated the touch pad with the tips of his fingers to get into the mainframe of their computer, which took some time, but this way he couldn’t be detected. His own little invention, of course. Hm. Yes, they were definitely people from Oz Corp, but who? With a gasp of genius, Archimedes’s fingers danced across the track pad as he tried to access their security camera. Ah ha! A webcam! He activated it with a tap of his finger and smirked.

Assholes. He’d known these people. He worked with them briefly when he’d employed himself at Oz Corp. It was an elite security company that hired people to construct firewalls for big time corporations around the globe. Part of the job, if you were good enough, was to try and hack into someone’s system and see if it was strong enough to withstand such attacks from a malicious criminal. Of course, this was the most difficult part of the job, and not many could do it. Archimedes was one of three in the whole company who could. Due to this, he’d been promoted very, very fast and was making very good money for hacking into banks and military files. Once done, they’d offer to make a more secure firewall to these companies, which the underlings of Oz would do. These two guys on the webcam screen were some of those underlings. Fat, saggy, no life douche bags who were scornful enough at Archimedes to try and find him and expose his deception.

But that wouldn’t do, would it? With a few leisurely commands, Archimedes easily shut down their system and crashed their equipment they used to find him. It was satisfactory to see the looks on their faces before the screen went blank. Problem solved.

Archimedes didn’t reveal this to anyone, but the way he’d gotten a job at a high-time corporation like Oz was by altering his own records. He’d changed his birthday, his last name, and his education records. It showed him having multiple degrees from a prestigious university, making him appear overqualified for the job. He’d gotten it, of course, and had started making money right away. After being exiled from his family, he needed some way to get by. When he left, of course he had to destroy every trace of his existence at the company. He didn’t know how he managed to forget some piece, but he suspected those goons had found someone on the outside to give them the information. As much as a geographic location was enough.

But now the problem was solved. All that stress made him sleepy all of a sudden, and… well, he was skipping his first class anyway. As long as he was awake for his Honors Computers, then it didn’t matter. Leaving his laptop hooked up to all his fancy gadgetry, Archimedes flopped on his side and fell asleep rather quickly.

________


When people surrounded you, it was easy to forget. Your mind was easily tricked into following conversation. However, once you were alone your troubles attacked you. They would eat at you until you were dead inside. At least, that’s how it was for Cory. As he sat at his now empty table, he could feel the agony of his issues destroying him. He needed something to take his mind away. He needed to forget.

Physical Education was the class where you would forget. It was a class where you exercise until you can’t think. Physical Education in Genius was nothing like it was at public schools. Instead of being forced to play team sports, you spent the whole period training. Many students even had a personal trainer. Corey didn’t have one of those. Instead, he spent his period training on his own. He’d run on he treadmill until he was worn out. He’d lift countless amounts of weights. He’d even go in one of the training rooms and shape shift. Anything that could give him control. Yet, at this moment, anything that would make him forget.

It took him only a few moments to head to his room and change into gym worthy clothes. Then, once he checked in with his instructor, he headed off towards the gym. Today he wanted to shape shift. He found one of the empty training rooms and stripped off his shirt. His pants were specially made to transform when he did. They were a gift from the headmistress at his old school. “Don’t ruin ‘em. Otherwise, it’ll cost you hundreds to replace.” She said when she handed them to him. Supposedly, there were only two shape shifters at the school, both of them gotten the gift. It was a relief, since Cory transformed a lot, which previously resulted in a lot of shredded clothing. Once Cory got these sweats, he never had that problem again.

Cory quickly set up the training room. He placed three punching bags and other similar equipment at one end, and then walked towards the other. After all of that, he was ready to lose himself in exercise.

Cory set off running. During his run, he jumped up into the air and transformed. The few moments where his bones, extended, contracted, multiplied, or reduced were excellent. Most people always asked if it hurt, but to Cory it was a sensation he longed for. The cracks and movements were quick and enjoyable. In the end, his 206 human bones were always transformed into some other number or shape. Cory’s bone number was now 260. The amount found in a lion.

When Cory landed, he let out a loud roar and continued his charge at the punching bags. His moments were quicker and more precise he ran on all fours. Finally, he jumped onto the bags and clawed at the, letting out an intense roar of pleasure. Then he jumped off and ran back, only to transform into another animal and repeat. He did this over and over until he was out of breath and energy. After his intense workout, he transformed into his natural body and collapsed on the floor. Once he had regained some energy, he got up and walked out of the training room.

Cory walked towards the cafeteria so he could find some food to munch on. He got himself a pizza and a couple of waters. He was so busy trying to hold the giant box of pizza and two waters, he barely noticed the few girls in the cafeteria (whom were probably enjoying their free period). Even if their eyes were boring into his shirtless body, he could hardly tell. The fact that girls were even remotely interested in him still blew his mind. Considering he used to be scrawny and useless, this was something that was relatively new to him. He always ignored flirts and everything, saving his heart for Mitsukai. He should probably find someone new to give it away to, but he wasn’t ready for that yet. She was his one and only, always had and always will be. Therefore, even as girls watched him, he just walked by thinking about his angel. The girls only wanted him for his body anyways. His tan skin and rocking abs was what most girls were interested in. If only they saw him about three years ago. They wouldn’t be the least bit interested.

Cory gave the girls a small smile as he walked past and out the door, the whole time trying not to drop his box of pizza and bottles of water. Honestly, it was daring task. Though, in the end he ended up in his room munching on his pizza. Once he was done, he locked the doors and passed out. Cory was avoiding art class like a plague.

Kyuubi walked out of his dorm room. The classes were not all that interesting today. He was thinking abut heading to dinner, but he decided it could wait for now. He walked outside the school. Looking up at the sky he wondered how Mitsukai was doing. He knew she would be fine. He shook it off. His brother took form in his mind. This was happening a lot lately. He didn't know why. He pushed the thought of his brother away. He didn't want that. He wanted to just get away from that. He wanted to be with his friends but they seemed to be all going away for one reason or another.

He walked back into the school and headed to the cafeteria. A nice little dinner was all he needed. He sat down at a table and began eating. He wondered if he should start expanding his friends. A few new students had arrived he noticed and he had a feeling to greet them. He didn't know how though. When he made friends it was usually an accident. He smiled to himself. Finishing his food he walked out of the cafeteria and went to his dimension.

He looked at the sky once again. He was completely alone. It was quiet here. He liked it. He felt himself dozing off. In his dreams he was surrounded by his friends. They laughed and talked. Soon Satori appeared. The dream melted into a nightmare. Fire was everywhere. The school was being destroyed, screaming was everywhere. Kyuubi awoke suddenly. He panted heavily.