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Archimedes hadn’t slept one bit the night before, and had little sleep the past two weeks prior. He was sure it was something to do with his power surging randomly. It worked like hormones, where they fluxuated and screwed with your mind and body. Since his powers were electricity based, he had a tendency to ‘power surge’. It had never lasted this long before, though. His eyes were blackened because of dark circles, his skin was pallid, and he had a tendency to snap. He just couldn’t fall asleep, no matter what he tried. He’d tried exhausting his power, which only succeeded in causing him to have seizures. He’d tried physically exerting himself, which only made him sore and tired, but not sleepy-tired. Finally resigned to the fact that he wouldn’t be sleeping, he tried to keep himself more alert when he was awake as opposed to being a zombie.

Hence the box of doughnuts clutched in his arm and the giant cup of coffee stuck in one of the corners. It had chocolate frosting all over it, but he didn’t care; it was caffeine, and it was blessed. He had frosting smudges all over his face and mouth and hands, a few on his pant legs where he’d tried wiping them off only to have frosting reapplied as he dug for another doughnut. His stomach would not be kind to him later because of all this sugar, but it was the only thing keeping him from dropping dead. He’d have to figure out how to control these power surges so they didn’t control him.

A bunch of students looked at him like he was a rabid animal (which he probably looked like one, so he couldn’t blame them), and a few asked if he would share the love. Hell no. Of course everyone becomes your best friend if you have food. Or gum. Or drugs. But whatever. They didn’t care about him otherwise, so why should he share? He just snarled at them menacingly (and weirdly) before continuing on, proclaiming, ”Only the king is allowed such delicious morsels. Peons such as yourselves should feel privileged to smell my defecation.” This got him more odd stares, but he was used to those by now.

At this moment he was trying to find his friends. They hadn’t texted him this morning, which was unusual. They usually had breakfast together, but they weren’t in the usual spots. Cadence and Cory were probably together somewhere. It wouldn’t surprise him if they were ignoring him; he’d been kind of a douche to everyone these last couple weeks. But now he had doughnuts in which to make amends with, so everything would be sunshine and rainbows and smiles and stuff again. Okay, so life was never like that. But it would be less ‘Archie hates everyone and everyone thinks Archie is a douchecanoe.’ Yes, that was it. Onward!

…And nothing. Where the hell were they? With an aggravated sigh Archimedes set down his precious doughnuts and fished his cell phone out of his pocket. Nope, no calls or texts. As a last resort, Archimedes sent a text to the both of them.

//Hey where are you gais? I have fried sugary deliciousness in my hands.//

Archimedes had picked up on Cory’s mood as of late, even if he’d been neglecting his friends a bit. He was sure it was still about Mitsukai. Ffff. Stupid bint. He couldn’t help but feel like her mere presence in Cory’s mind had stolen his best friend away from him, even if she wasn’t even around. He practically crapped rainbows and sunshine. It was kind of sickening, actually, that a guy could get so hung up over a girl. What the hell was so special about her anyway? Why couldn't he be just as happy with just Archimedes and Cadence? Of course Mitsukai probably offered sex and love and stuff, but… Archie blushed. Stupid teenagerdom. Sex wasn’t a big deal. It didn’t even matter in life — not to him, anyway. But the fact that it had even crossed his mind caused him to fidget nervously.

The thought of sex made him think of the dance that was coming upon them immediately. Archie didn’t know if he wanted to go yet. It was a social event. He didn’t do social events. He never did, unless it was because he was lighting stink bombs or throwing snakes at people. Somehow he doubted that would be happening this year. He’d been too wired to seriously plan anything devious recently, which was bad for him. Maybe he’d talk to Cory and Cadence about it, see if they had any ideas. That was, if he could friggin find them.

Oi with the poodles already.

“Yea, we should go to the lakes this weekend.” Cory said after a prolonged silence. He hadn’t much need for conversation at the moment, just someone to stop him from jumping to his death. Yes, he was getting that bad, and every moment that passed it seemed to get worse.

His anger had quickly faded away, with nothing to fuel off of. He felt weak and defeated, and hurt. Part of him wanted to crawl in the corner and cry. However, he wouldn’t let that come out. He had spent years crying over this one girl, and he hadn’t any more tears to cry. So instead, he sat there in the silence, letting his thoughts of despair drag on.

Cory looked up at Cadence, and stared up at her face lined with worry. How could he tell her what had truly happened? He had been cheated and used, and there was no way he could face that. Explaining that to them was showing weakness he wasn’t ready to admit. Instead, he wanted to go on blissfully avoiding that conversation. Sadly, there was nothing blissful, even as he kept his mouth shut.

Cory let his eyes trail the scenery. The water ran speedily, making a beautiful rhythm and delicate rippled. The leaves were all a delicate green, though they were quickly turning brown. The branches were all thin, except the few tall and strong trees high above. Lining the stream were rocks, which were all colored in grey and brown hues. The area was beautiful and serene. He was going to take Mitsukai here, and have her apart of their group. He never got the chance. They’d never spend fall together, or winter. Everything about them was gone, they had been since they day he ended it all 3 years ago. He just had been in denial, telling himself that someday he’d come back and fix the relationship he had broken.

He put head in his hands, taking in the feeling of loss as it crushed him. She had only done this because he was an idiot. He was too available, too vulnerable. She needed to use someone to make her own world okay, not caring about how the other person would feel. She was selfish, and cruel. Cory was no longer sure which feeling was more evident, the feeling of loss or the feeling of betrayal.

Cory sat there for a few moments, letting the silence linger on until he felt as if his mind was put together. Then after he felt like he could breathe, he looked up. His eyes were lined with tears, betraying his attempted façade. Though, he wasted no time wiping them away and looking straight ahead. There was absolutely no reason he would cry over her. Cory wasn’t going to be weak any longer, he was going to be a new and stronger person.

Kyuubi sat in his class. He had been right, he had a test in one of his classes and this was it. Slowly going over the questions in his head he wrote the answers as they came to him. After he was finished he took out a book. It was a book he had never read before but he wasn't reading it. He was thinking about Mitsukai. He was glad to see that she was back. He hoped she was feeling okay after all that happened before she left. He looked at the book again considering reading it. He decided not to and put it away. Again his thoughts turned to Mitsukai. He thought the same thing over and over again. She was back. This had been the happiest day he had since the day he saved Vincent from his brother.

He thought about the Dance that was coming up. Maybe he should ask her. He blushed slightly at the thought. He knew she had feelings for Thorne still. He still wanted to ask her. This was something he had never thought about before. He never asked anyone out. He was the one asked out. He shook his head, he didn't want to think about the people who used him when he was thinking about asking Mitsukai something. If he asked Mitsukai she could decline him and make him embarrassed. If she said yes then that could anger Thorne. He remembered what Thorne had said to him that day Mitsukai was crying in her room and he tried to check on her. He shivered. Thorne wasn't someone he wanted to mess with. He knew the damage that could be done with that power of his. Then again if he had to he might stand a chance.He shook his head. He didn't like the thought of fighting. He didn't want to be involved in all that.

The teacher was collecting the tests and snapped him out of his thoughts. The rest of the class erupted in talking and asking each other if they had a date to the dance. When someone asked him he knew he blushed slightly and said no. They turned away to ask another person. Kyuubi was always embarrassed about things like this. It was pretty much the only thing that made him embarrassed. Again his thoughts went back to the dance issue.

I see you lookin at me
Like I'm some kind of freak
Get up out of your seat
Why dont you do somethin'?
I see you lookin' at me
Like I got what you need
Get up out of your seat,
Why dont you do somethin'?

Archimedes was developing a stomachache. Too many doughnuts. He knew it was true, but didn’t want to admit it. They were so good, though, and gave him so much energy. That paired with coffee was like Archie crack. However, he knew that if he didn’t stop then he’d lose all the energy he’d consumed down the toilet. Hmm. 5 doughnuts left. Two chocolate, two plain, one coconut. Maybe he’d save them for later or something. Or maybe Cory and Cadence would like them? That would be all right, if he could get to them before the doughnuts went bad.

Almost immediately after he’d finished the thought, Archimedes’s phone dinged at him. Hrm. He unlocked it and saw that he had a text from Cadence. Finally! Contact! They didn’t hate him yaaaaay! Wait, ‘previous text’? A little embarrassed, Archie scrolled through his text history. Ah. He DID have a text from Cadence from earlier. How the hell had he missed that? Oh well. He’d just tell them that it didn’t send or something.

Pah ‘something is really bugging him’. ’Something’s really bugging ME too, but at least I know what it is,’ he thought petulantly as he was reminded of Mitsukai. Whatever. Those two probably had some stupid tiff and Cory was all in the dumps about it. Or something. Maybe he’d finally believe that he didn’t need that bint and that Archimedes was enough for him. Er, well, Archimedes and Cadence, of course. Man, that first thought sounded kinda gay. Oops. Whatever. He’d amended it so it was all right. Stupid face, stop blushing!

But anyway, lake, Cory and Cadence, depression, doughnuts. Onwards! As he exited the school, Archie redirected the security cameras a few degrees so they wouldn’t see him leaving before putting them back in their original positions. Couldn’t get caught. Nope, nope, nope. Man, this sugar was really doing a number on him. He suddenly had the urge to run, so run he did, all the way to the stream. It was a bit awkward what with the box of doughnuts, but he managed it, finally finding his two friends slumped by the running water. With one last little hop, Archie landed beside his comrades and smiled.

”Mae govannen, my friends! I bring sustenance and cheer from the Silvan realm!” Archimedes crowed with enthusiasm, presenting the doughnut box. The sweets had rolled around and gotten a bit misshapen in his bounding, but he figured they still tasted the same.

His smile faltered as he took in his friends’ dispositions. It felt like he was walking in on a funeral or something. Cory looked like he might have been crying, which was totally not manly. He kept that to himself, though. It probably wouldn’t have been tactful to point that out. Copping a squat next to Cory, Archimedes fished a chocolate doughnut from its depths and held it up to the boy’s mouth, trying to tempt him to take a bite. Archie probably looked a trifle silly with frosting smudges on his nose and chin and fingers, trying to hand-feed his best friend, but maybe on some level it would amuse the boy and make him feel a little better.

”Fried deliciousness, yes?” Archie lamely tacked on, his little half-smirk-smile thing planted firmly on his face. It just occurred to the redhead that hand-feeding his male friend might seem kinda gay. Damnit! Why did this keep happening to him? All he would do was try to be nice and then his mind would somehow make it gay! Stupid, stupid, stupid! His cheeks flushed a little again, the only thing betraying his façade. He was sure it was due to some fluxuation in his natural and electrical hormones, making his brain misfire and do awkward things around other guys. He’d have to do some self-searching or some s**t later to figure it out. Or just beat the crap out of himself and hope that fixes it too.

”So, uhh…” Archie coughed, trying to shake off the awkward. ”What’s with all the doom n’ gloom stuff, eh? Death and destruction? Lies and deceit?” he guessed, looking Cory dead in his red-rimmed eyes. Maybe Cadence couldn’t get it out of him, but Archie was a dude, and dudes understood dudes better than girls understood dudes, so this logic drove him. Even if it didn’t make much difference in the end. At least he tried. They’d get the reasoning out of him sooner or later, though. Even if Archie had to tune into Cory’s computer, phone, email, anything.

Distraction was a one-way ticket to failure. Archie thought that’s what his dad used to say, but… it had been so long since he’d heard his dad’s voice, he may have just been making that up. Whatever. He didn’t need his parents, and Cory didn’t need Mitsukai. Of this he was positive. Or… mostly positive. It still hurt, but that was how life was. How life is, and what didn’t kill you only made you stronger. And left one hell of a scar.

Rise up and take the power back, it's time that
The fat cats had a heart attack, you know that
Their time is coming to an end, we have to
Unify and watch our flag ascend, so come on
.

Cadence Saline Ivie

Cadence looked up as Archie came into their area. So, he did get her text. Maybe now Cory would spill. She smiled at the box of doughnuts. As the box was sat down, Cadence looked at the bounty. Hmm, a couple of plain glazed doughnuts, one chocolate (since the other was now in Archimedes' hand, trying to be fed to Cory), and one coconut. She'd skip on the coconut, it wasn't her favorite flavor. So, instead, she picked up a glazed one and smiled.
"Thank's Archie, I was beginning to think you'd never show up.." She said the last part teasingly as she held back a small laugh at his effort to cheer Cory up. As she watched, she noticed Archie's face go a few shades of red, to that she raised an eyebrow. It seemed he'd been doing that a lot lately, or was it just her imagination. Nevertheless, it didn't seem that Cory noticed the shading of Archimedes' cheeks, and he took a bite of the doughnut he was offered. She shook the thought from her mind, more focused on the question Cory was asked, hoping for an answer. The question did bring out a reaction in Cory, a grimace. Obviously Archie had hit the issue. However, instead of revealing the problem, he shrugged it off. Moments later, he spoke, and what he said had shocked her.
"What? L?" She asked, confused as heck. Why would Cory do that? Besides, didn't L like Joe? At least, that's what she knew from when she used to hang out with them.
"You aren't thinking of taking Mitsukai?" She asked, after all, he had been speaking of nothing but her the past few days. If he wasn't thinking of taking her, it was most likely something Mitsukai had done that had made him upset. Either way, they were getting close to what was making Cory upset.
"You do know you can tell us what's really bugging you....We are your friends, that is what friends are for..." She reminded, looking hurt. Why is it that he couldn't trust the two of them with his secrets. They were the only two who knew she could go invisible, she'd tell them just about anything they wanted to know. Cadence figured it was just a guy thing, being all stoic and such.
She'd leave it at that. If he didn't go further on the issue, that was up to him. Instead she turned to Archimedes.
"So, you planning to go to the dance?" She asked casually. She was goin to go, already had the dress. Well, she probably wasn't going to go to the actual dance, but the after party that some college students were planning, that'd be more fun. She waited for responses from either of them, taking another bite of her misshaped, tasty doughnut .

They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious, so come on

RINGGGGG
Normally, Meredith would have woken up from her alarm clock, which blared around 6:30am. She didn’t need to be awake at such an early hour, but it worked. She would feast in the school cafeteria, and laugh at all the young drama. Drama she was very much a part of. More so now than ever.

However, lately, Meredith was avoiding the cafeteria like a plague. Every time she went in there, she had to suffer the rumors that spread like wildfire. They were obnoxious, and unnecessary. Of course, they had to involve everyone’s favorite subject, Mitsukai. Allegedly, they were worst enemies. They had their most recent show down a month ago, according to rumors. This show down involved Mitsukai getting her a** kicked in ways that were unimaginable to man, with cuts covering her skin. All of this fight was over the school’s hottie, Thorne. There were no words that would describe how dumb this rumor was. Anyone with a real eye would have known those were burns covering Mitsukai’s arm that sad day. Meredith didn’t burn people; she cut them. Concerning the Meredith and Thorne stunt, it seemed to be predictable. However, it wasn’t true. The night before, there were eyewitnesses that Meredith was flirting her heart out with the very fine Thorne. This was twisted into them cuddling in the hot tub, and later having sex in her room. It hadn’t helped much that Mitsukai had stormed out of the pool room, and the next day had come home with burns coating her arms.

Meredith was the only predictable culprit of this incident.

Rumor claimed that Mitsukai had come storming into Meredith’s room, only to find Meredith and Thorne tangled together, lacking clothes. She had freaked out, her and Meredith had gotten in the worst fight in schools history. Meredith had cut her up, and Mitsukai had run off. This accounted for her 8 hour disappearance.

She had come back around dinner time, covered with scares and bandages. Apparently her damages were so bad the nurse was forced to heal them later on, something everyone knew the nurse only did in extreme emergencies.

Thorne later left the school, to escape from the guilt of what had happened to Mitsukai. Once he came back, Mitsukai was hurt and delusional, and had stormed off.

Of course, this wasn’t the truth. It took some tedious questioning for Meredith to find out the truth, and she hadn’t liked what she found out. Most of it came from the nurse, while the rest came from Kyuubi while he was absolutely wasted. Even with that, he hadn’t wanted to admit to what had happened to Mitsukai. He was blaming himself; though Meredith had a feeling it wasn’t his fault.

Mitsukai had done the normal thing; help Kyuubi. Running off to his dimension, and saving the day. The details had been blurred, since Kyuubi was too swarmed with guilt. Recalling the memory to keep accurate facts wasn’t something Kyuubi was very good at, and Mitsukai had kept the events to herself. Though, from what Meredith had managed to discover, something happened to Mitsukai while she was in Kyuubi’s dimension. She was tortured, and hurt. She managed to get home, and landed in the Nurse’s office where she was bandaged. How Mitsukai was healed is left unknown, since the nurse swore she hadn’t healed her. It was probably one of Mitsukai’s friends, with Diana being the most reasonable person. It was a blurred truth, but enough to calm Meredith. Two things were left unanswered though. Why had Thorne left? And, why had Mitsukai? These were things Meredith had asked and asked, but the only ones who knew wouldn’t tell her. Part of them still believed Thorne and Meredith had had sex, and therefore kept their mouths shut.

With all of the questions swarming in Meredith’s head, she had been twice the party girl than normal. Mitsukai had always been one of Meredith’s best friends, and she was worried about her. Though, no one wanted Meredith to know what was happening to Mitsukai. The only information flying around were rumors, and those who knew the truth weren’t speaking up. They had all assumed Mitsukai and Meredith had become enemies. Maybe they had. Considering Meredith had no way of contacting Mitsukai, she hadn’t known.

Meredith grumbled out of bed, looking at her clock in dismay. She probably would have slept all morning, if it wasn’t for the bell that woke her up. For some reason the school bells had gotten louder, and them waking her up had become a normal occurrence. She wasn’t liking it, not in the least bit. Nonetheless, up was up, and it was time for Meredith to get dressed. First things first, pain killers.

She was probably near the point of stomach bleeding now, since Meredith awoke with a headache every morning and in result, took the drugs every morning. It was a good thing Ibuprofen wasn’t addictive, because if it was Meredith would be hooked. She was fairly certain she was borderline alcoholic by now. She didn’t need a drug addiction added on top of that.

With her headache already going away, she went into her closet and pulled on some clothing. She chose a pair of skin tight skinnies, a white tank top, and a red Hollister hoodie to top it off. She pulled on a pair of black uggs, and threw her long hair up into a ponytale. Then, she walked out to face the blinding sunlight of the cold September morning.