#(also hi i wrote most of this earlier today (thats also when i . drew this lmao) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

burndownthehousetonight · 8 years ago

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((@oxidethehedgehog wanted to do an RP thing over tumblr messanger. He wanted to do something shippy, but also had a cool idea for an 80s au. I think we were shooting above our stations for what we were approaching, but it was a fun one to work on either way! There is a LOT of strong language in this one, so reader beware))

The smell of hairspray hung heavily in Mrs. o'Connel's classroom. It hung heavy in the air daily. Such was the mid eighties. The days of synth pop and frizzed hair, blinding neons and cassettes, and the rise of punk rock. No one in the room embodied a love for the bizarre trends than a student who sat near the door, tenth grader Manic. He had the ridiculous neon body and ridiculous tall hair that were suddenly stylish, and an unending love for the ridiculous music of the time. It didn't matter what genre! The weird synth pop? The deeply controversial punk rock? Anything in between? He was all about it. And there was one other person in the class who liked music. His assigned partner for some math assignment... What was his name, Oxide? A delinquent everyone knew and few people talked to. His black leather jacket formed a stark contrast to his brightly dressed companion. The two were looking at the textbook, leafing through the few problems everyone had been given to finish by the end of class. Manic didn't know how else to break the ice. "Uh... do you know what any of this says?" He asked, completely baffled by what looked like fermilab calculations to him. "Son of a bitch... hold on, lemme look at this." Oxide said, though he didn't look like a person with an IQ of 122. In fact he looked like he had an IQ of 85, but he did indeed have a higher IQ. "Ok, so here's what we do." Oxide said, "This is pretty simple actually now that I'm looking at what we gotta do, these fuckin' teachers make it so damn complicated when you can just do this." Oxide then wrote a very simplified version of the question. "Instead of this," Oxide then wrote down the much more complicated and unnecessary version. The first one he wrote was incredibly simplified, but he did do all the work technically, the other version had a bunch of unnecessary things that didn't need to be there to solve the question Manic looked on, mostly understanding what he was removing... mostly. Even then, he had to be smarmy with how he thanked him. "Okay, but." He started, pointing at the original paragraph and pointing to one of the many unnecessary points Oxide removed. "How are we supposed to know how many miles Andra drove if we DON'T know what kind of dog she has?" Oxide stared at him, Manic looking back unfazed. "Cause you know, then you have to make regular stops to walk them, and you need to make regular stops to pet him because they're good and I love them..." He trailed off, making sillier hand motions as he went. "Are you trying to joke about how fucking retarded these situations are and how they make little to no sense?" He asked, laughing at the silly hand motions Manic was making. "You telling me you don't go to the store and ask some poor kid for an endless curve of tomatoes?" Manic joked again. He wasn't halfway as harsh as he looked. "Come on, it's like the one good thing about this class." Manic ran his finger over the other questions. Now that he'd simplified it a bit for him, he was starting to understand a little more. "The one and only good thing..." He said, his voice growing a bit more grim as he ran his finger over the increasingly complex list of problems they were expected to work on. "I hate this school." Oxide said under his breath, but just then the teacher walked by. "What was that Collins?" She asked, calling him by his real name. "I didn't say anyth-" He was cut off by the teacher pointing to the door. "Office. NOW" She barked. Oxide got out of his desk and walked out, flipping her off behind the closed door so she couldn't see. That was how things went at West Mobotropolis High School, although most people just referred to it as West High. Strict rules and strict punishments, especially for Oxide. The principals office was visited often on any school day, the vice principal usually seeing them instead of the main. Manic had been there plenty, but nowhere near as many times as Oxide had. The teachers just seemed to have a grudge against punks in the school, most people gathered. Manic always noticed he was picked on, but couldn't say anything. Any questions about the faculty tended to lead to suspension, and Manic's siblings wouldn't let him get kicked out of school. So he was forced to watch Oxide as he left, wondering what slap-on-the-wrist punishment the vice principal was going to give him this time around. Detention. Oxide ended up getting detention, 2 hours after school. Of course he could always skip it, he'd done so many times, but that would give him double tomorrow, so it seems like he was going to detention today. He walked out of the office, just as the bell rung. "Time to go to study hall, aka 'PG Auschwitz'" Oxide chuckled to himself, pushing the doors open to the study hall. "Then again, this entire school might as well be a fucking concentration camp..." The study hall 'teacher' was very strict on children speaking. He was very strict on children standing from their seats. He was strict on the only sounds of the room being flipping pages, unzipping bags, and writing utensils. He was also very old with very bad vision, and couldn't tell the difference between the pages of textbooks being turned, and the passing of a slip of paper from student to student. Manic had a few classes with Oxide, but he never spoke to him before today. The few things he'd said indicated he had some angst, but everyone did at that age. He wasn't the violent asshole rumors made him out to be, and Manic wanted to extend his hand. So late in the period, a small slip of paper passed through the back row of students. From the hands of Manic, it went to Jason, a much more blatant punk than Oxide who stayed out of teacher's sights, Portia, a valley girl who was quite beautiful but very brash and outspoken, and flopped onto Oxide's desk. "Thanks for the help earlier," followed by a crude doodle of a smiling face. "Sorry 'bout o'Connel, what an asshole." Oxide smiled, he then wrote down on the same piece of paper, giving it to Portia, then to Jason, then to Manic. "Thats alright dude, you seem like a cool dude, wanna come with me to jam practice and watch my band play?" it read. Manic wrote below Oxide's jagged handwriting, and handed it off. Jason. Portia. Oxide. "You have a band? What kind?" The brief message didn't read with the kinds of excitement Manic would normally feel at this kind of news. "Punk band, we're gonna be playin' the talent show that's coming up soon, we tricked the teacher into thinking that we're a band that covers the beatles and rolling stones, teachers here are fucking stupid." He then drew the XD face only right side up. And the note was back to Oxide again. "Shoulda guessed," followed by a smirking grin. "You trying to get expelled, or something?" Oxide could see Manic glancing now and then, making sure he was reading the notes he was sending. Jason and Portia just shared an unamused glare with one another, but didn't say anything. Everyone passed notes in this study hall, and they couldn't judge, even if their notes were rapid fire. "They won't expel us, we did this before." Oxide said, writing back to Manic, sending it his way. "Tell me the whole story at practice," Manic's note joked. "Where's your band meeting up?" "At Jason's house." Oxide sent back, now all they had to do was just wait for the 2 hours to be over, which was gonna suck. Jason? That kid who was sitting next to him? Again, he should have guessed. The punk population of West High was very, very small. The final bell rung, jolting students awake and making everyone file from their chairs. Manic was slow to grab his stuff and leave... very slow. In fact, he was nearly the last, finally realizing that Oxide wasn't going to be leaving. He only just noticed the pink detention slip he had. He should have figured. Instead, he followed Jason as students crammed their way through the thin halls to the various exits. "Hey, you're Jason, right?" Manic asked amid the white noise of the other students gossiping and clopping their way out of the building. "That kid who gave you all the notes? Uh, Collins asked if I wanted to watch you guys practice." He handed over the note they'd passed, still only knowing him by the name he'd heard teachers yell at him. "You cool with me stopping by? I don't really know where your place is." "If Oxide is cool with it, I'm cool with it," he said. "Come on, he'll probably just skip out on it anyway half way through when the teacher isn't looking. He always manages to do so most of the time without getting caught." Jason said, leading him to the jam space. Was this house even lived in? It was a single-story ranch house, the upper floor seemingly uninhabited. If anyone lived there, they must have never been in the house. The basement was more lively. Despite the slight decay to parts of the walls and the posters hastily taped over ground-level windows, it was more vibrant. A nice shiny drum set, a set of brightly colored guitars, and someone else here tuning his bass guitar. Manic didn't know what to expect, but this still somehow met his expectations of a punk-rock practice space. "Ey," Manic greeted with a lazy wave. "Name's Manic, Oxide said I could watch you guys jam." He wasn't used to calling him Oxide, he'd only just learned that's what he liked to be called. "Hey, uh, where is he, anyways?" "Here I am, skipped out after the teacher didn't show up to watch me at detention." Oxide smiled, walking into the basement. "Hey Manic." he waved at him, he took off his jacket, revealing a shirt that said "skin heads unite" with a hand crushing a swaztika logo, breaking it to bits. He also had suspenders wrapped over his shoulders. He picked up a red, beaten up Fender Jaguar and tuned it, after that, he plugged into an amplifier and cranked it. Just then, Napalm parents came in. The father looked at Manic. "What's this drop outs name?" He asked, pointing to Manic. "Hey! You don't know him, he very well could be a nice boy that just happens to like punk rock music or is a friend of one of the band members." She said, hushing the father, she looked at Manic and gave him a smile. She was a much nicer lady than a lot of other housewives with punk kids. "Uh... Hey, I'm Manic." He was trying to be more polite than normal. Punk rock wasn't exactly a beloved genre. Most people made their hatred very obvious, even if Manic was the least punk fan there was. "Uh, Coll- Oxide," he corrected himself, "he called me over." Manic looked around for a seat, taking some wooden chair instead of the beaten couch that wasn't facing the practice space. "So like, I know I'm in over my head here, but how loud's it gonna be?" He was grinning ear to ear. He'd never heard a live punk performance before. "Pretty damn loud." Oxide said, flipping a switch that, in turn, caused a lot of feedback till he actually played something. It sounded like a buzzsaw, slicing through something at all times with how much distortion was pumped into the amp. Manic wasn't expecting it to be as loud as it was. He was about to ask if this was normal... but they could have just been trying to scare him, or even scare the parents who were there. He didn't even know who was staying to watch, let alone if they were trying to faze them or not. But he was quickly growing used to the noise. Loud and horrible in a wonderful way. Manic was ready to listen to them play. Just as soon as the drummer showed up... Either that, or they were planning on practicing something strangely percussion-free. The drummer then popped in, sitting down at his drum kit and wailing away at it, before stopping and looking at Oxi. Oxide stopped, flipping the switch back to 'stand by' mode. "Alright, so You guys wanna practice a cover or play an original?" He asked. "Let's play 'nazi punks fuck off.'" Napalm suggested. "Alright sure...." Oxi shrugged, taking off his guitar Clearly, the band preferred being blunt with their lyrics. Not that that was a bad thing - The energy of just the guitar feedback was enough to tell him this band wasn't huge on subtlety. The instruments roared to life, assaulting the few spectators with waves of harsh noise. Manic had only listened to records and cassettes of punk music, and he wasn't prepared for just how loud everything was. Most people would have winced and left, unable to handle the sheer volume of noise, like Napalm's parents... although they may have left long beforehand, for all Manic knew. But Manic didn't leave. He wasn't afraid to show that he was getting into it, as he started smiling and headbanging. Not too intensely yet - he really wanted to take in the music - but he couldn't help himself. They played every song they knew, both originals and covers, A lot more covers than originals though. Finally, the band stopped playing, practically every one was deaf from the volume that everything was set at. Manic's ears were still ringing, and his fringe looked as though it had been shoved back. He looked stunned. Then he pumped his fists in the air, with a loud, "WHOOOOOOO!" Manic shot up in his seat, visibly energized. "Dude, I've never heard that kind of music live!" He said. He pointed at the drummer, specifically. "Rad drumwork, dude! Hell, rad everything, guys!" "Thanks mate." Oxi grinned, putting his guitar away. "Anyone wanna go to oki-dogs?" Oxide asked, everyone immediately said yes. "Oki-dogs it is." He was a bit out of place, a dorky technicolor kid with a band of very blatant punk-rock musicians. But hell, he had to ask. "Hey, guys, you mind if I tag along? Y'all seem like cool guys, and I ain't got anything else going on." It seems the band had found themselves a new fan. "Yah sure, come on lets go." Oxide said. They left the house and headed for downtown, going to the Oki-Dogs hot dog stand The band was quick to learn about Manic's love of music. Sure, synthpop and Italo disco wasn't exactly well loved among them, but his enthusiasm for these genres seemed less like low standards and more an appreciation for any kind of music composition. The walk downtown might have worn a bit thin with just the pure enthusiasm he oozed, but it was at least interesting. Manic shouldn't have been so surprised when they reached the stand, but he was. Hell, he thought there was supposed to be a track meet this afternoon, he wasn't expecting to see Sonic lounging around and schmoozing with some fellow track-and-field athletes. Sonic maybe mocked people in jest, but he was never mean. Some of the other runners, though... "Hey look, its those punk rock faggots over there." One of them smirked, some of them walking over to the group of punks. "Hey faggots~" Another said. "Hey Damien, do us a favor and fuck off, wanker." Oxi told them Manic was dumbstruck, frozen in place and unable to do anything as the first punch was thrown... ...and immediately stopped by Sonic, holding his arm mid-swing. "Come on, Dami, do you want to get arrested again? You shouldn't even be on our school team." But that was only more reason to mock them in their eyes. North Neo was a middle-income highschool with good grades and rich alumni, and even a vague connection was enough for him to feel like a student. They only got those good grades because any delinquents were sent to West High when they posed any threat to the school. Despite that, everyone knew Sonic had a brother, and the description matched this green punk kid perfectly. "Manic, what are you doing with them?" Sonic asked. The question wasn't asked with any degree of anger, just confusion. "Uh, I just stopped by to watch them practice," Manic explained. "You know I like music! Probably!" He joked, hoping to lighten the sudden tension a bit. Sonic sized up the band. They definitely looked violent... "We're just wanting to get some food, we don't want trouble." Tristan spoke up for the first time all day. "We aren't looking to start a fight...." He said before going to the counter and ordering the band some food. Sonic watched as he walked to the counter... and did nothing controversial. Sonic looked back at the other track members, who clearly weren't willing to back down so easily. "Alright, call it off, you ain't touching my brother." They reluctantly walked away as Sonic waved them away from the band, most of them still watching the four and joking among themselves. Sonic turned around. "Name's Sonic. Sonic the hedgehog." His usual greeting, complete with smarmy posing, smarmy voice, and smarmy smarm. "And these are Oxide, Jason... Uuuuh, whathisface... and..." Manic fumbled out. "Wait, I know his name...!" He said, closing his eyes and motioning towards Tristan. Sonic turned towards Oxide and spoke seriously. "Make sure no one hurts Manic, got it?" His tone was serious, but not malicious or angry. "We'll make sure, Sargent" Oxide saluted, joking about as the other band members laughed, except for Tristan, who was carrying the food to the table Sonic smirked and patted Manic on the back, jolting him out of his train of thought. "Hey, have fun, kid." Sonic joked, leaving the band with a peace sign and a glare to let them know he was serious. The look of shock on the athlete's faces was very obvious, especially with the few exclamations they could be heard yelling at him. So as the five sat down to finally eat, Sonic tried to get his fellow athlete's to calm down as they tried to glare and throw middle fingers without Sonic noticing. "Oh, yeah, that was my brother," Manic explained. "Don't worry, he's cool. Uh, you guys sure you wanna stick around? Like, they said some messed-up shit." "We're used to it, just gotta be careful if they bring weapons. That's when you leg it in the other direction..." Oxide informed manic. "Yah, once, 20 of them came by, with Bats, pipes, crow bars, to this club we were playing at. Well about 100 punks all jumped their asses and beat the shit outta 'em" Jason told Manic, they all seemed to have stories about jocks trying to fight them. It was frightening to hear how nonchalant he said it. It wasn't spoken with any tinge of remorse or anger, more like he was running through the motions. Maybe Manic wasn't too sure about talking to people that used to violence... but he needed whatever friends he could get. And through his concerned glares and threats, Sonic knew this, too. "But seriously, you're a real impressive drummer, dude." Manic said, looking at Tristan as he ate a small contained of french fries - his only food, strangely enough. "I've been playing for a while, but... man, that's real good. How the hell'd you learn to do all that?" "........" Tristan stayed silent for at least 15 seconds, then just shrugged. He really didn't know and even if he did, he didn't feel like answering. "He's very quiet....." Napalm told Manic. Manic gave a smug glare as he waved a french fry in Napalm's general direction. "You're trying to tell me anything about your band's quiet?" He kept the smug face for a moment longer, before smirking to drop the act and turning to face Tristan. "Well, I mean it. Y'all've got talent." He didn't want to invade his space, so he nodded lightly at him and turned away. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sonic and some other athlete more or less forcing the entire team to stand up and leave. Seemed like Sonic didn't want a scene, and Manic was fine with that. They were leaving, but Manic knew this wouldn't be the last time anyone gave him those glares. "Man, why do those guys get so mental over punk rock, anyways?" He shrugged. "I get old people are scared of everything, but ain't kids supposed to rebel? What's wrong with them?" "It's because it's something new, and now that it's exploded into something so big, it could become the next cool, hip, whatever thing. They don't like that, cause if you wanna get laid, you gotta be cool, and if punk rock becomes a cool thing, then the 10 years they put into their Led Zepplin collection is no longer cool. Before it was big, they could just laugh it off, but not anymore." Manic nodded along as he spoke. "Guess that makes sense, but like... who really cares about cool or whatever? If it's ain't hurting anyone, do whatever. Hell, if I was a chick, I wouldn't date anyone that... I dunno, judgmental? There a word for that that isn't snobby? I dunno." Manic was now fumbling with his empty french fry holder, bits of grease and salt sticking to his fingers as he spun it around. "People can be real stupid, you know?" The silence hung for a bit too long as he seemed to just be staring at his fingers and fumbling around with the container, deep in thought. "Dude......you look like Tristan when hes on ecstasy." Oxide laughed, seeing him just stare, not moving a muscle besides his fingers that were currently busy playing with the french fry holder. "Huh?" Manic was snapped out of his trance. "Uh, this is gonna sound really dumb... Uh, that's a drug, right?" Given who he was hanging around with, the question seemed almost basic to the point of not even being a real question. "I don't know much. Like, about drugs and all that. Don't have the money, y'know?" He laughed, slightly nervous and confused but in good spirits. "Yah, its a drug." Tristan spoke up, munching on his burger. Then some cops came by. "Hey boys...." one of them said, with a typical mustache and pair of sunglasses on, as both of them stared down at the group. "Hey....." Oxide responded with. "We've been told that you've been causing some trouble here, and threatening those guys over there; that you're gonna beat them up. We need to ask you to leave......" Oxide just kinda stared off into space after taking in all that. "You know that they're lying ri-" He was cut off with the cop pulling him out of his seat and shoving him away. "I said now! So move it!" he barked, oOide sighed and went to get his food. The cop responded with throwing the food onto the ground and stepping onto it. "We said go, so go faggots...." Oxide stared down at the mush that was his food. He looked at the cop, and then just turned around and walked off. He knew that if he did anything, they'd beat him to the ground, cuff him and throw him into the wagon It was one thing to hear that word out of a bunch of underage fuckboys. To hear an actual cop spit it out felt almost terrifying. They weren't doing anything, they should- He wanted to fight back, but Oxide's submissiveness seemed completely out of place. He said he knew when to back down... did he know something about these cops? He was barely on the edge of figuring it out, but he didn't want to stick around. Manic just picked up the empty container and kept walking with the rest of the subtly huddled band. "Come on, my place is..." He stopped himself from finishing. His home was close, but Sonia was also liable to be there, and she wouldn't be happy. "Uh... nevermind. I think I've gotta head back before my sister gets pissy with me. You guys... you sure you're gonna be alright? That was-" "Yah, we're gonna be alright......it happens a lot more than you think....." Tristan said, he knew Oxide didn't feel like saying anything. "See yah later mate...." he added, waving to him as they went a different direction. Manic was happy that Tristan was talking at least a little. Maybe he had trouble warming up to people? He couldn't say. He waved the band off as he walked through the city, approaching a small apartment on the border of a lower income neighborhood. His siblings and him didn't know where their father or mother were, so they lived under the guidance of their uncle, Chuck. He wasn't a bad caretaker at all, but he wasn't a wealthy man, and that meant for some cramped living. There were only two rooms, a main room with a kitchen, and a restroom. Chuck had his own room, while the siblings rotated between the two beds in the spare room and the main couch. Of course, as the closest there was to a black sheep, Manic usually took the sofa, but he didn't mind. He had his drums... even if he could only play them in the basement storage room. Manic stopped in his tracks. Storage... He didn't want to head upstairs, he was feeling a lot of emotion right now. He was excited to have some more friends, but terrified for their well-being. And he needed a place to vent. Manic's drumming carried into the evening, and the exhaustion had him fall asleep unceremoniously on the couch. The passion for his drumming and nervous exhaustion both stemmed from what he'd heard at that stand. Both what that officer said and how the others reacted... Manic could just hope they were safe. Oxide walked through the door of his house, a 2 story, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house. He walked in and his mother was in the kitchen. "About time you got here, you devil..." she told him. "Now get upstairs, wash your hands, supper's about to be ready...." She added. Oxide did what he was told. He knew he probably wouldn't get much. Night fell as usual for the two hedgehogs, and dawn rose just the same. It was too early for most students, but they didn't have a choice when they wanted to go. Manic and his siblings shuffled out of their apartment, Sonic and Sonia driving off in a beaten up old van as Manic waited for the bus, like usual. He couldn't help but shake the feeling that there was something different about the bus ride, but he couldn't place it. Maybe it was just his nerves talking. Still, after all those kids who saw him the previous day, there was no telling what was going to happen. Oxide got on the bus, looking for Manic. Sure enough, he found him, sitting alone. "Hey mate." He greeted with a smirk, he sat down beside Manic. "How's it goin'?" He was still healthy. He didn't know the situation, so maybe he was worrying for nothing. Not that he had the energy to think about it. "'Morning." He yawned, visibly tired, like half the students on the bus. "I just played some drums back home, not really much. Sorry 'bout yesterday, didn't mean to go all momish on you guys. The others all safe?" "I don't know, probably." he shrugged. A couple stops later, some of the jocks got onto the bus. "Hey look guys, it's those punk faggots~" Damien told them. The bus driver looked at them. "Hey, if i hear any more language out of you guys, I'm kicking you off the bus." He barked. They didn't care, they did what they want. They sat directly behind and beside Oxide and Manic. "Hey you punks, hows it goin'?" One of them sneered, playing with Oxides hair. "You have dyed hair? Are you a faggot? Huh? Are you?" One of them asked. "Yes, in fact, I am Pansexual." Oxide said with confidence. If it wasn't so maddening to watch what they were doing, he would have been impressed by how blunt he was. He couldn't get kicked out of school, but he couldn't punch his lights out. Instead, he'd have to be crafty to stop anything. One of them toyed with Manic's fringe. "Look at this," one of them laughed. "What kind of asshole has hair like this?" "I don't want to start anything, dude." Manic said, still sounding very annoyed. "What was that?" The same kid asked, tugging him back by his fringe. "You say you wanna start something?" There was no winning this situation. He just had to accept it for now... When the bus finally pulled up, Manic and Oxide were quick to grab their things and start walking. "You know what homeroom those guys have?" Manic said as they entered. "I just... I wanna be sure we're not in any shit." "I know that they're in 3 of my classes..... I'm gonna have a hard time not killing any of them...." Oxide said, sounding a lot more pissed off than usual. "I know that one of them is in my home room....." Manic crossed his arms as they approached his locker. "And what about... Like, what about your other bandmates? You got a way to check in on them?" There was a fear to his voice that his more desensitized friend didn't seem to have. "They'll be fine, jesus christ...." Oxide was getting annoyed at Manics constant questioning of his friends. "What, you wanna ask one of them out or something~?" he laughed, walking into homeroom. "Shut it!" He joked, stopping briefly at the classroom door before they split. "There's only room for one man in my life, and that's Mayor McCheese." Manic smiled before walking away. "I'll stop asking, mate. Don't get fucked up." His own walk to homeroom was very quick. He'd wasted too much time, he had to get there before the bell rang. Manic did try and stop thinking about it, for Oxide's sake. As soon as some history teacher finished taking attendance, he zoned out to deliver a laundry list of school news, which still managed to be too little for the time he had. There were a few glances, but no one made any moves or insults yet, so Manic kept to himself. That music they played... it was intense. Manic scribbled some basic drum notation on the corners of an already doodle-covered piece of paper. Maybe he could mess around with those kinds of speeds later... but he had to make it through the day for now. And if thinking about music would help, he was gonna continue thinking about music. Then the announcements came on. "Hello boys and girls of West Mobious High, My name is Katey," the speaker said before stopping. "And Maddie, and this is the announcements for November 14th, 1985." A lot of the announcements was the same old talk about sports, events, etc. including the talent show. "On November 16th, at 9AM, there will be a 3 hour long talent show. ending it off with 'The Maddicts!' " That was Oxide's band, only they're actually called "the methematics," they just had to change the name or else they couldn't play. The repetition of the announcements from day to day was almost maddening. It wasn't just that they'd say the same news, that was the point. It was that they always used the same wording. "The Maddicts." Given the name, that was doubtless Oxide's band. Would the teacher's not catch on? Maybe they were desensitized by their previous name. Homeroom droned on, with the same deafening silence in almost every classroom after announcements had ended. Manic felt uncomfortable as the morning classes went by. Through history, through english, there was just something wrong, like a vague creeping threat he couldn't place. Any sneers and jokes didn't happen around him. He just stayed with his papers, scribbling music away and not talking to others much. Despite his personality, he didn't have as many friends as he lead people to believe. Periods came and went as usual, until fifth period finally arrived. The bell rang and it was now lunchtime. Oxi had a little bit of money his mother gave him. Oxide went to the cafeteria and got himself a small lunch, a veggie burger, a cartoon of "choccy" milk and some fries. He sat down way in the corner, away from everyone else. Just as Manic had done the previous lunch period. The difference was that this time, there was some noise coming from the other end of the lunch hall. "Get off of-! Help!" In fact, there was a fight breaking out at the end of the room! That girl from their study hall was trying to hold back some fox dude in a tank top. He couldn't see who it was yet, but from just the way he was kicking at the ground, he could tell Portia was trying to stop some kind of a pummeling. Oxide heard the commotion. He got up and went to see what was happening. Some Jock was trying to beat the hell out of Manic. "Holy shit!" Oxide got in between the both of them. "Hey stop it...stop it!!!" He barked, pushing away the jock and pulling Manic up. That was before a punch came flying in, knocking Oxi to the ground. "For god sake, Anchor, stop!" The girl yelled, finally wrenching her arms around the fox's neck in a headlock. It was enough time for Manic to get on the floor and help Oxide up. A bruised cheek was the worst of it. Some security officer came running in, restraining the fox... and Oxide. "Hey, both of you, to the office now!" The orders were barked, and the two marched to the office with the other two stunned. Manic hadn't even gotten to give Oxide the news he'd heard before he'd already been escorted to the office. Of course, the fox boy just got sent to the vice principal, while Oxide had to face the main woman herself. "Care to explain?" "What happened was I sat down at the lunch table, and I was about to eat when I heard something going on. It sounded like a fight, so I got up, and went to see what was up. I saw Manic and another guy, who I don't know his name. Manic was on the ground, and the guy, who's about twice the size of Manic, is towering over him, with someone trying to stop him from pummeling Manic into the ground. I pushed him away and helped Manic up, thats when security grabbed me and the guy and brought us to the office...." He said, she looked at him, then she pushed down a button on her phone. "Excuse me, could you please send Manic down so he can explain the situation?" she said into the phone. "Could I also get my lunch? It's still in the cafeteria and I don't have anything else to eat." Oxide asked, the principle thankfully nodded in response. Oxide got up and luckily his food was still there, he grabbed the tray and went back down to the office. By the time he got back to the office, the door to the principal's office was closed. Manic was inside, quite anxious about explaining why he was there. "Look, I- I told you, I felt like I had to tell him!" Manic begged. "I didn't have a choice." "You know our school has a zero tolerance policy for skipping class, Manic." She explained. "No matter what happened. And as for your friend... we have a zero tolerance policy regarding any kind of violence." She tapped her pen on the desk. The vice principal gave light punishments. The few people who made their way to the principal's office weren't so lucky, and Manic had to hope he wouldn't be expelled. "You will have four days of after-school detention." She eventually decided. "I understand your friend is set to play at the talent show? Tell him that he will no longer be allowed to play." Oxides expression then when blank. He just stared straight ahead. "No..no please, set my punishment for 4 days suspension, just don't kick me out of the talent show." The principle wasn't having it, but, after about an hour of begging, she finally said, "Alright! Alright.....You can be in the talent show, However! I am telling your parents, hiss parents, and you will be required for four days of detention and a week long in-school suspension," she finished off with. Manic looked down, and winced at how tedious Oxide's punishment must have been. He didn't deserve a punishment that severe, but he wasn't in charge. "Yes, ma'am." Manic eventually submitted, turning towards Oxide and watching for his reaction. "Ok." Oxide shrugged, he didn't care, he was playing that talent show and he was happy with it. "You may both go now." She said, pointing to the door. "WOOHOO!" Oxide cheered once he was out of the office, some people looked at him funny. Why was he cheering after just coming out of the office? Oh well, Oxide walked down the hall and to his class, he had nothing else better to do. "Hey, dude, uh-" But he couldn't finish telling him what happened. They knew they were already halfway through the period, and o'Connel was going to point it out no matter what they did. They rushed to their joined algebra class, lunch having ended long before the period. But they couldn't get away with any kind of note passing yet, so Manic still had to wait. He waited for their study hall to start before delivering the news to him... ...But as they entered the imposingly quiet study hall, he didn't say a word, or prepare another note. He didn't even acknowledge Oxide. He wasn't going to need to deliver the bad news. Jason finally entered the classroom, Manic looking away and biting at his finger nails. Everyone else had to stare, as he trapsed in with slight bruising to his face and a gauzed, broken left arm. Oxide noticed the gauze on his arm, he then quickly switched seats. "Hey dood, whats with your arm?" he asked, passing the note to him. Manic just rubbed his hands together, and waited for Oxide's reaction. He'd heard all about what happened that previous night. "Jason....what happened man?" Oxide asked, he looked at Jason, and Jason looked at Oxide. "Some jocks jumped me." Jason said. "Don't worry, I'll be able to play," he assured Oxide. Oxide didn't know what to say. He was gonna be beating up some jocks later though, he knew that. "Those fucking assholes....." Oxide cussed, wanting to storm out of the study hall and beat up the first jock he saw. "HEY!" The elderly teacher barked. "No talking!" The two would have to continue their conversation in notes, which Manic was quick to start again. "Shit, dude, you get any names? You sure you're alright to play?" Maybe he'd be fumbling a bit with his strumming, but if he insisted... He supposed he couldn't judge. Manic had done the same thing with his drums many times before. Jason passed a note. "One of them was a cyan blue fox, and yellow fox with 2 tails. I think there was also a blue hedgehog too that jumped me, though he didn't do much....." Oxide read the note, and passed it too Manic. A blue hedgehog and yellow- No, it wasn't Sonic and tails. When Sonia introduced the family to her girlfriend, he was more than willing to protect them. He was willing to protect Manic yesterday! And that tails kid was too nice to beat someone up. Either he'd seen something wrong, or there was someone out there posing as them. "Woah." He didn't put his thought process into the note. He didn't want them to have a problem with his family. "Dude, my apartment's near that stand we went to yesterday. 135, Aspen Hills housing. If any of y'all need somewhere to hide, you can stop by, aight?" Oxide received the note and looked at Manic, smiling as he showed Jason the note. They wrote down onto it with 2 different styles of hand writing, both of them saying "thank you." One of them was much messier, as Jason's writing arm was the one that was broken. "Don't worry about it, y'all'd do the same." There was a winking smiley face after that. "Now, you guys practicing after school still? 'Cause we've got detention, and I wanna know if we're gonna sneak out or not." "Yah, we're practicing..." Oxide said in note form. The hours went by slowly, but eventually they ended, and Oxide and Jason were allowed to get the hell outta there and go to practice. Manic hopped up from his seat as soon as detention had ended, and started following the confused duo. "Hey, uh, you mind if I tag along again?" He sounded slightly awkward as he asked. "I just... I just got a paper I don't want to work on." He punctuated the sentence with a laugh. "Yah sure, and you don't have to ask, dude, you can just tag along." Oxide said with a smirk. They got to Napalms house and Napalm and Tristan were downstairs. "What took you so long?" Napalm asked. "Detention....." Oxide responded with. "That would explain it." Tristan was in the corner, sitting by himself. While the band grabbed their instruments and got ready, Manic was certainly excited. But his focus was on Jason, and his broken arm. There were twitches and tiny fumbles as his left hand practiced a bit before playing, but it was his arm that was broken, not his hand. While he seemed a bit strained on moving down the neck, his right arm was doing all the heavy work. Thankfully, the show would go on. Manic just smirked at the waves of feedback, letting the energy flow through as he waited for their practice... and hoped it wouldn't be too intense for Napalm. "1, 2, 3, 4!" Tristan clacked his sticks together, in time with Napalms rapid fire "1, 2, 3, 4" as they began to play, once again the room was filled with noise. You couldn't hear yourself think, it was so loud! They could all clearly see Manic enjoying the show, but he wasn't just mindlessly headbanging along. He played close attention to their playing, Jason especially, given his condition. The way their fingers moved, the ways they strummed, they all reflected different influences, different practice, different lives. Even Tristan, despite not playing guitar, he could compare to his own playing. It was fascinating to watch on amateur artists where influences were blatant, moreso than professionals who had time to work their influences into styles all their own. Manic was enthralled with his little analysis, but didn't just pay attention to their playing styles. The song choices, the lyrics, he could watch musical preferences and topic trends crop up as they went along. Everything they did reflected some part of who they were well beyond just being musicians. As their practice drew to a close, Manic found himself just a little more comfortable with the ringing in his ears. Not comfortable yet, but a little bit closer. "Y'all never disappoint, do you?" Manic asked, brushing his bangs with his hand. "Wicked." "Well, we're probably gonna get hated on when we play the talent show." Oxide smirked, unplugging his guitar. "Come on, lets go to Oki-dogs and find the asshole that jumped Jason." Oxide said. They all nodded and left for the stand. Manic wasn't as sure about putting himself in that much danger again, but he wasn't even certain they would be there. Although, they might make it a point of pride now... As the walked, Manic had to ask. "Like, is it just those guys that screw with you guys?" He asked. "Cause all the teachers seem like they've got problems with Oxide, too." "Yah, everyone hates us. We're punks, people hate punks, and punks hate people, so fuck 'em." Oxide said before disappearing out the front door. He wasn't denying that he'd seen more glares since he started talking with Oxide. Maybe even just being associated with a punk was enough to be hated, but as grim as it was, at least he had some answer. "Well, come on, can't hate everyone on an empty stomach," he joked. Were the questions annoying? He couldn't tell, but the influences in their playing styles were fascinating to him. It was only a few questions, and he even managed to get a line out of Tristan, but he couldn't help but feel it got annoying. He was relieved to reach the stand, and more relieved to see that the jocks weren't there. Just Sonic and that Tails kid that he always went on drives and adventures with. Funny, he could have sworn he'd already heard about them once that day... "Hey Jason, weren't those guys involved in jumping you?" Oxide asked, looking down at at Tristan, who was quite smaller than he was. "Yah, The yellow fox guy and blue guy!" He said, pointing at them. Tails already seemed slightly on edge at seeing guys dressed so harshly. Hearing the sudden accusation was enough to visibly startle them. "Wait, guys, it couldn't have been-" Manic tried to explain, but he already told them Sonic was his brother. Although with how quick they were to believe, he started to worry that they did know that... Sonic immediately stood up at the accusations from across the lot, holding his arms out and standing protectively in front of Tails. "What are you- We didn't touch you, bro, what happened?" Concern didn't come through Sonic's voice, overpowered by the shock of the moment. "You didn't look that grody yesterday!" "You and your friend, along with another guy fuckin' jumped me yesterday." Jason barked at Sonic. "Fucking jocks...." Napalm cussed, looking tails dead in the eye, trying his best to freak him out with his look. He was wearing a long-sleeve fishnet shirt along with ripped black jeans and combat boots. He looked terrifying. "We don't know-" Despite being about Sonic's age, Tails was still pretty bashful, and didn't mind them seeing him shaken. He was just some book nerd, he didn't look violent, at least. Sonic stood between their shared line of sight, now angry. "Hey, that's mental, but that wasn't us." He said gravely. "We didn't touch you." "Guys, he's my bro!" Manic shouted out, certain they didn't do a thing. "C'mon, you guys believe me, right?" He faced the other band members, his eyes pleading through the anger. Just then, some more jocks came by. "Hey look, its the squirt that we jumped yesterday...." One of them snickered, the one in the front was a much buffer looking blue hedgehog, only a much darker shade, and then there was another buff orange fox. "Hey there faggots, hows it goin'?" One of them walked up to Jason, pushing him to the ground. "HEY!" Oxide pushed the other jock but was then met with a punch straight to the face, knocking him straight to the ground. The sudden violence shocked Manic, but not as much as the dark blue hedgehog and his friend. Especially with the utterance of 'faggot.' "Wh- What are you doing, Scourge?" Everyone seemed equally surprised at the exclamation. Despite what happened with the other track members, they clearly weren't actual track members. They were fit, sure, but as bodybuilders, not runners. Their uniforms were slightly misfitting, purchased from a thrift store years prior. But all anyone noticed was the thousand-yard stare on the blue hedgehog's face. "Woah, woah, hang on!" Sonic said, butting in as soon as he realized the blue hedgehog was clearly wearing some kind of blue costume make-up. A few broken flecks on his hands gave away his natural green skin. "Stay out of it, kid." Scourge shot out at Sonic. The other atheletes seemed surprised. Did they... did they think he really was Sonic "Manic, what're you doing with these chucklefucks?! I thought you were cooler than this crap!" "I could say the same." Manic said, sizing up his uniform. He even had shoes similar to Sonic's... Him and that Miles guy were trying to frame Sonic and Tails, no question. "Oh, boys!" Manic said, waving to the other jocks. "I don't think you know me yet. I'm Manic?" He clutched to Scourge's arm. "I'm Scourge's boyfriend... well, his ex, now." This was the first anyone else had heard of this. "He's gay?" One of them spat. "You're a Fag?!" One of the cussed at Scourge, pushing him away. All the aggression was soon focused on Scourge and, for some reason, the tails impersonator, but he managed to get away. "BACK OFF." Manic's vocal training wasn't negligable. His voice could carry a distance, and if he wanted, further shock the already shocked onlookers. Manic walked forward, towards Scourge through the crowd of jocks growing angrier and angrier by the second. "You know, when we started dating..." He toyed with his fake uniform sleeve. "You remember what you said? You remember when you told me that I didn't deserve being called a fag? How you said I was better than that? And how you and that fox guy- Miles, right? That unimportant little freak? How you'd protect me?" Scourge was visibly uncomfortable, darting his eyes around in anger at Sonic, Oxide, the other jocks, anyone other than Manic. "And remember when you told me you'd stop hurting my friends?" He said. "Well, why'd you do this? Did you just want to fuck over Sonic for... what did he do to you again? Right, not a god damn thing. Did you just want to stop me from hanging out with anyone else, was this possessive bullshit? You know I don't have many friends." "I did it 'cause-" "CAN IT." Manic screamed again, pulling his face close to his own by his shirt collar. "If you don't want me to be called a faggot, you don't call anyone a faggot. Especially not my friends. Got it... fag?" Manic gave him a firm blow to the solar plexus, knocking the breath out of him and sending him toppling to the ground. "C'mon, guys, he can get fucked." Manic turned around and started walking away. He motioned for the band to follow him, as well as Sonic and Tails, who seemed completely shocked and confused. "This fag's got stuff to do." They left Scourge where he was, and let fate did what it wanted. They walked off to another near by oki-dogs. It was more in town but it was better than the other one. Once there, while ordering their food, Tristan pulled Manic aside. "You're gay?" He asked. He didn't seem threatening, he didn't seem like he was gonna tease him, he seemed like he was just asking a simple question. The glares he'd gotten from everyone else made it clear that the question was on everyone's minds. He knew Sonic was accepting, and Oxide clearly wasn't going to judge, but he wasn't sure about anyone else... "Uh, yeah." He said, obviously slightly nervous. "That's- That's not gonna be a problem or anything, right?" "No no, it's not gonna be a problem, it's just....Oxi is gay as well, but he won't admit it to anyone, except the band...... Maybe you two could be a thing?.... It would probably make him happier than he is now....." Tristan tried to explain. Manic thought hard. "I mean..." The other were still standing around and talking, glancing over at Tristan and Manic from time to time. "Hey, I'm glad you came to me for advice, but... romance isn't gonna fix him." Manic rubbed the back of his head. "Friendship's just as meaningful, you know? He's gonna need people he can rely on, and he can rely on you guys. Dating someone out of pity... I mean, if he found out, that'd be real painful, you know?" "Unless... You mean just having a friend who's also been there?" He asked, completely incorrect. "I think we could help each other out a lot. Yeah... Yeah, I think that's a real good idea, dude." He gave Tristan a pat on his shoulder, and smiled. "You ain't half bad." He said, although he clearly meant it as a compliment, not an off-handed insult. The two walked back towards the band. "Besides," he whispered out of his mouth and blatantly joking, "I've already got one man in my sights, and Mayor McCheese is gonna be falling for me soon." Tristan chuckled, then turned his head to the stand again. They all got their food and sat down, with Oxide having a plate of fries and a veggie burger. He immediately began to eat again. "...and so my buddy here learned how guitars are wired just to fix it!" It looked like Sonic was in the middle of telling some kind of story to the others as the two drummers spoke. "It wasn't hard," Tails explained. "There were just some faulty connections." "See what I mean?" Sonic said, between bites of a chili dog, as usual. "What's a 'connection,' anyways? What's this nerd speak?" He ruffled Tail's hair, despite being barely two or so inches taller than him. "Yeah, this nerd also knows something about music." Manic just laughed, at the comment, drawing everyone's attention. "Dude... Dude, you're in way over you head." He said. "If you hate the stuff I listen to, you'd HATE their music." "You guys totally would, our music is shit." Oxi chuckled, eating some of his fries. "Our music is a combination of explosives, buzzsaws, and buildings falling down constantly." "Why not just say loud?" Sonic joked. "You give everyone dumb nicknames, why not just use their names?" Manic teased back. "Mean Green's a great name!" "'Rad red'?" "That too!" It was easy to tell where Manic got all his enthusiasm from. "Hey, actually... You know, they'd probably hate that band we had, too." "Ah, come on, that was years ago!" "Still!" Manic said, facing the others. "We had this band a while back, but it was mostly pop-rockish kind of stuff. Just him, me, and our sister, against all laws of taste and reason!" "Soooooo you were a shitty techno band?" Tristan asked, speaking up for the first time since speaking with Manic. "Please." Manic said, affecting an offended tone. "We were a marginally-subpar techno band, thank you very much? I mean, none of us stopped playing, but we don't play together anymore." "We should!" Sonic said, excited. "We can make time." Manic gave him a glare that read, "we absolutely cannot make the time and you are fully aware of this." "Come on, Mean Green!" Sonic said, pronouncing that nickname Manic was endlessly annoyed by. "We can jam sometime!" "Oooooh no!" Manic said, laughing the whole time. "Like, you don't hate each other, but you'd HATE your playing styles, trust me!" "We're gonna be playing at the talent show if you wanna come see." Oxide said, munching on his veggie burger "I don't go to the same school... Uh-" "Friday at nine." Manic said. "We ain't got school that day, so they made up some kind of barf to make kids come anyways." "That's not how barf's supposed to be used." Tails informed them. "This ain't how hair's supposed to be used, but it looks great, don't it?" Manic said, avoiding the point completely and brushing his bangs a bit. There was a long pause that eventually broke with Manic taking a smug slurp from his cup. After taking that sentance seriously for too long, Tails eventually got the sarcasm, and made an embarrassed grin as Sonic ruffled his hair again. "Don't tease my favorite nerd!" Tails pushed his hand away smiling, clearly taking 'nerd' as some term of endearment. "So are you gonna come or not?" Napalm asked, the other band members looked at Sonic and Tails, waiting for an answer "Sure!" Tails piped up. "We haven't heard them, so maybe we will like their music!" Of course, Manic was absolutely right, but he didn't know that yet. "Alright, if you insist," Manic said. "And y'all know I'm going, but first... Ugh, I got thre more days of detention and Oxide's got like a week of I.S.S." "What did you do?!" Sonic said, shocked, before immediately looking not even half as shocked. "Who'd you rob this time?" "I stole Mayor McCheese's heart-" "Why's it always Mayor McCheese? Four armed grimace is way cooler!" Sonic interjected again. "Because McCheese is an elected official and a good husband. Grimace is just some grape-flavored blob of bad decisions." If it wasn't for the joking way they talked, their stare at one another would look like the kind reserved for blood feuds. "Manic was getting his ass kicked by some asshole jock. I tried to step in and the bitch of a fucking principal we have slapped me with no talent show. I practically had to beg her to not do that, the skank finally allowed me to play in the talent show, but she slapped me with 4 days of detention. Fuckin' hate that old bag, I would say shes a whore but with her attitude it sounds like she hasn't fucked in 50 years." Oxide chuckled, finishing his burger. "Come on lets get outta here," Oxi got up and dusted himself off, throwing away his garbage before leaving along with his band. "Hey, see ya, guys!" Manic gave a two-finger salute, as Manic turned around to look at his companions, who seemed very surprised by Oxide's tirade. Tails seemed particularly taken back. "Woah, that's- That was a lot of swears." Tails eventually stumbled out. "Eh, sorry about that." Manic blushed. "He's- well, he's got a lot of personality, you know? You guys just heading back to the apartment?" "No, but we can drop you off." Sonic said, hopping into his beaten up car with Tails in tow. "Hop in." "Ain't you supposed to be the fastest thing alive..." Manic sassed at Sonic, happily getting into the car. The drive started out slightly awkward, before Sonic piped up. "So, uh, you're gay, bro?" Manic didn't immediately respond, with Sonic taking the cue to talk. "I'm always here for you, alright? Tails, too, and Sonia and Chuck. We ain't judging." He kept driving, still confused as to why he'd date Scourge, but that was a topic for another time. "I know, you guys're cool." Manic said. "But thanks, dudes." It was nice to have somewhere where he could be openly gay without worrying about being mocked. Although things had gotten better, gays still weren't exactly welcomed at their school. He could just hope Oxide and any of the band members who were similarly inclined had some kind of place they could be safe. Thursday droned by, a dreadfully boring day for both hedgehog, but the sheer lack of anything to do must have been maddening for Oxide. But they survived the day, for once eager to get up Friday morning. It was the day of the talent show, and the kids were still expected to show up. Oxide and the band packed up their instruments, and left for the school. They set up in the lunch room, were there was a stage and a large curtain. They plugged everything in and moved it all to the back, so that way the others could do their thing before Oxide's band came on. "Yo! Yoooo!" Manic ran across the lunch hall, looking excited. "Sonic and Tails are still showing up later. You sure you're gonna go through with this?" His enjoyment was offset but just a bit of nervousness for the four. "Don't wanna see you guys get suspended." He didn't need his answer. "Well... how bad's your set gonna be?" "People will probably be leaving halfway through the first song." Oxide laughed, he knew that people were gonna hate it. "Well, try at least, no one's allowed to leave the place unless they need to go to the bathroom." Napalm said, pushing the amplifier over to the left side of the stage in the back "Mmmmm, something tells me they'll make an exception." Manic teased. "Hey, break a leg, guys." He looked over the other people who showed up. Plenty of other musicians, those two 'comedians' from his calc class last semester, some theater kids, a pretty good collection. It even looked like some art kids showed up. Time ticked forward, as Manic sat, eager for the show to begin and see exactly who this school let perform... and eager for whenever Sonic and Tails would show up. Which was very soon. "Hey, bud." Sonic said, taking the seat next to him. Tails nodded and smiled as his hello. "I hope the band does well," He said. And the show did carry on well. Most of the performers were decent, although a few theater kids tried to do some improv street-performer thing, and those kids from calc were just as bad as always, but things seemed to go smoothly. And then it was the final performance. Now it was time for Oxide's band. The curtain was raised and there they were, the Maddicts. "Hello everyone, we're the Maddicts. This song's called Slow death." The music they played was practically an assault on the ears of all the students. A lot of them trying to leave, but the teachers wouldn't allow them. Sonic and Tails couldn't help but wince in the noise as they looked back at Manic, who was somehow enjoying what seemed to them like a rhythmless cacophany exploding wildly. "This what they're usually like?!" Manic just turned his head amid the chaos of the crowd, grinning a devilish smile, focusing on the composition and instruments through the distortion, something these two clearly couldn't do. It didn't take long for teacher to begin to let up on their policy, as they seemed to not turn their heads at letting audience members go. But it seemed like still had quite a few people trapped in by the sheer force of trying to be polite, a self-held captive audience. Oxide, Jason, and Napalm were jumping about, while Tristan was wailing away on the drums, every hit of the kit sounded like an explosion going off in the room, it was so loud, and the band had everything set to ten on their amps and guitars. It was almost deafeningly loud, though about 5-10 people seemed to enjoy it.... out of the 50 left, when there was usually 400 students in the entire school. The crowd phased out more and more, silently agreeing to leave without the usual closing formalities, with only a few delinquents left in the end enjoying the music. But the band didn't stop playing, not even for a moment. Manic and the few straggling audience members watched on excitedly, with Sonic, Tails, and a few loose parents awkwardly clinging to their manners and sitting by as the show went on. Sonic and Tails didn't make it subtle that they weren't enjoying the show, with their hands pressed against their ears, but they would probably understand. Probably. The show closed to a few students' feverent applause in an almost deserted show area. The remaining parent's were quick to bolt, and Sonic and Tails just sat where they were in disbelief. Manic shot up, letting out a single loud, "Whooooo!" Their ears still ringing, Sonic and Tails weren't so amused. "Hahaha, where did everyone go?" Napalm asked, speaking into the mic. "I think they ran away cause we aren't playing free bird or purple haze." Oxide responded. "Nah man, they're hiding behind their Beatles and Rolling Stones records." Jason finished off with, the band laughed their asses off, packed up and were outta there. "You guys need some space?" Manic teased. It looked like the two had seen a ghost. "Is this a migraine?" Tails asked sincerely. "Probably, little man." Sonic retorted. "Yeah, give us some space." Sonic and Tails stumbled out of the building back to their car, as Manic rushed down the hallway following the band members, though the hall doors. He was completely expecting to see the band members with instruments in tow, save for Tristan. He wasn't expecting to see Scourge's fox friend again. The fox guy was heckling some of the band members, they just kept pushing their stuff to the van, not wanting any confrontation. "Faggots with your faggot music and your faggot friends," The fox smirked. He then turned to Manic. "Oh, speaking of faggot friends, how's your faggot friend doing over here, yah fags?" He seemed to love that word, but it wasn't really affecting the others that much. "Cute." Manic said, a bit more stupid than the band members and not too worried about confrontation. "You just learned those big boy words, didn't you. You trying to look tough now that Scourge won't protect you? Did he teach you that word when I wasn't fucking his brains out?" "Man, shut the fuck up, asshole, I won't believe any of that shit, faggot." Miles said, pushing him down to the ground. "Hey, get off him!" Oxide yelled, pulling the fox away. "Get the fuck outta here man! We won't stand for your homophobic attitude, asshole! Now fuck off wanker!" Oxide cussed him out. The fox eventually left. "Come on guys, lets load this stuff in and get outta here. You comin' Manic?" "That even a question?" Manic asked. He didn't even know where they were going, he just knew he was coming along for the ride. "Shit, how often does that stuff happen to you guys?" The van grew a bit uncomfortable before Manic spoke again. "Ugh, sorry, my bad. But like, no one even knows that... Like, that's not THAT common, right?" The pause was just a second too long before Manic got the obvious answer. "It is pretty common to be honest...." Tristan said, driving into a parking lot near a club called "The cuckoos nest" nest to a club called "zubies". "Oh yah, we also have an actual show at an actual club today"

"T-Those do not sound like club names." Manic sputtered out the joke in his usual tone, ignoring the fear of that last statement. Was that really the standard now? He'd heard horror stories, but seeing it in person- No, he'd survived being gay this long, he could handle himself. He could do this, even if he had no idea how it would affect him... or any of the band members, really. "So, wait, which one are y'all going to?" He asked, just realizing he had no idea. "The cuckoos nest, Zubies is a red neck cowboy bar. All the homophobes and general assholes go there," Oxide said, getting out of the van and loading the gear into the back of the venue. Normally, Manic would have waved them off and looked around the club area, but he didn't. He had to pretend like he was looking for something while they got ready so he could wait for his chance... any minute now... Oxide stepped out of the club once more, likely to lock the van. Manic hopped out, and finally asked. "Hey, dude, I was talking with Tristan a little bit ago." He rubbed the back of his head. "He said you've been dealing with a lot of shit... You want someone to talk about it with sometime? My place ain't too far, we could head there after the show if you want." "....Sure...." oxide smiled, locked the van and handed him a piece of paper inside a plastic case. "Fake ID, don't worry, it'll get you in." He smirked, leading him to the club. They both showed their fake ID and were allowed in. It wasn't much of a club - more of a bar with a stage, really, but it was homely. It looked like they were getting prepared for some kind of an afternoon show for the four. And judging by the dress of the various club goers, they knew what kind of music was going to be played. At least it wouldn't be as much of a shock to them as it was at that talent show. "You sure you're old enough to be here, kid?" A bouncer asked suspiciously as Manic looked at the club from the entrance. Manic just raised his hands and made a silly smirk. "Yeeeeah, I get that a ton!" He said. The whole club seemed strange to him... but maybe it was because it didn't even look like a club at all. Why'd they chosen here, of all places? Maybe it was some weird punk-specific club, or something. There wasn't even a door, you just walked in and that was it. You could hear the music blasting whenever someone would play. That was definitely a problem for the punkers, as the cowboys at Zubies would often hassle them, and there would often be a lot of fights in the parking lot after and in-between shows. "Hey boys!" The manager called them over. "You're the Methematics right?" He asked. The band nodded in response. "Alright, this is the line up." He handed them a piece of paper. It read; "The methematics : 30 mins The Minutemen : 30 mins Circle jerks : 45 mins Black flag : 1 hour" Manic just shrugged off the strange feeling of the place as the band practices their soundcheck. Manic hung out near the stage in case they needed any help, but the band was completely capable, as he quickly remembered. So he more stayed where he was and watched as various degrees of punks began entering. Leather, black, spikes, all the stereotypical punk fashions were on display in many different styles. Manic didn't exactly blend in with technicolor clothes in already-dated 80s patterns, but he didn't particularly care, either. What he was curious about was the sheet of paper the four band members were looking over. "Alright, we can play about.....10-13 songs." Oxide said, plugging in his guitar. "Now it's time for soundcheck." Oxi added, everyone got their instruments hooked up and played a single song, so the sound guy could do whatever he had to do to make the band not sound like TOTAL garbage. Most of the club goers realized that it was just a soundcheck, and didn't let themselves get too into the music. A few were enjoying the show, but they weren't playing too seriously as they got set up. The techie fumbled and fiddled with the levels and reverb, finally getting a good balance around a minute into the song. Even the audience members who were watching the performance only gave mild applause by their standards. This wasn't the show yet. The feeling that Manic was getting about this night was grim, but he couldn't explain why. All he could hope was that the night wouldn't go horrible for the band as their set time slowly approached. At around 8PM, it was time, the band was set up, and the lights were fixated onto them. "Hey everyone, we're the Methematics....and I just wanna be LEFT THE FUCK ALONE!" Oxide screeched into the mic before they began to play. The band was just as energized as before, as though the show before hadn't even happened. And the sheer energy of the audience filled the room with various kinds of thrill that Manic was loving more and more. Even if he was some technicolor vomit in a crowd of leather, that just made him more distinct. And wasn't separating yourself from the rest of any kind of normality a major part of being a punk? So Oxide was surprised when he looked back at the crowd, and Manic's bizarre, out-of-place appearances were nowhere to be seen. He found himself pulled into a small employee hallway against his will, struggling with an unknown captor. He turned to face them... "What the hell do you want, Scourge?!" His former boyfriend had broken into the show and pulled Manic aside... although he had no idea what was going to happen to him. "Fuck corporatism! Fuck the greedy pigs! Fuck corporatism! working oil rigs! Fuck Corporatism Workers on machines! Fuck Corporatism Their wealth and their greed!" Oxide screeched, his hand strumming away at the guitar, as if he was trying to rip out the strings with each strum. "I don't CARE!" Manic shoved Scourge back just as hard as Oxide strummed. "That's not love, that's greed! That's not protection, that's mindless violence!" Scourge tried to open his mouth, but was instantly shut up by Manic. "SHUT IT!" His stance was wide, as though he was willing to pounce and hurt his partner at a moment's notice. "You wanna sleep with me, you don't just stop calling me a fag, you don't call ANYONE a fag! You say that to anyone, it hurts everyone." He walked up and ran a finger under his nervous chin. "Even your gay ass... got it?" Manic walked away, silent. "Have a nice life." He was eager to see some people who could actually act as friends, and get a good view of their admittedly short performance. They finished the last song. The crowd cheered. "Thank you, thank you!" Oxide said to the crowd. They packed up so that way the Minutemen could play. Manic finally approached the stage, looking excited but emotionally exhausted. "Hey, dudes, great job." The sentiment was genuine, but the emotion wasn't as there as it was before. "Sorry, I'm just a little - Guess I'm just feeling kinda messed up." He laughed, playing it off as a joke. "Y'all need any help?" "Nah, we're good..." Oxide smiled, loading everything in. "Hey guys, can you drop me and Manic off at Manic's place?" he asked, getting into the van with Manic. "Yah sure..." Tristan said, putting the keys in and driving off. The drive back was fairly short, and the two found themselves waving off the band members soon enough, Oxide lugging his guitar along. "Eh, sorry, my place is pretty small, but we're all good people, don't worry." When they opened the door, Sonia was in the main room, pouring over some notes with Tails. They both looked up, equally shocked to see Manic there with Oxide. "Oh, hey, Sonia. Uh, this is Oxide. He's that guy from school." "Oh..." Sonia was clearly not sure what to think, but tried to be polite. "Hello. Uh, Manic, could you..." "Eh, don't worry about moving. Sonic ain't here, right? We can just use the bedroom." He put his hand over his mouth. "That sounded wrong. But nah, we're just gonna talk for a while." "Hello." Oxide smiled, he definitely looked like a punk, and he probably did freak out Sonia a little. "My real name is actually Collins, but my friends call me Oxide, or Oxi for short." He said, still with a big goofy smile on his face. Sonia still seemed wary. "It's alright, he shouldn't be too bad." Tails didn't mean for it to be pointed, but he was still rather frightened of Oxide himself. Sonia faced him. "Just don't get into any trouble." She said, presenting it as a joke but meaning every syllable. Both of Manic's siblings were very protective of him, it seemed. "Yooooou got it." Manic gave a lazy two finger salute and walked over to the door to their bedroom. The room was more Sonia and Sonic's shared bedroom than a rotating bedroom. Of course, Sonia's bed was well kept and Sonic's was a mess. Instead, Manic just took a small couch between the two. There was a piled of messy notebooks on Sonic's side of the room - Manic's composition and writing pages. "Hey, thanks for getting me outta there." Manic said, smiling and amused. "Scourge showed up again, and he wanted to patch things up... Think he'll finally get it?" "Just call me, I'll be over with a broken bottle that'll go into his head~" He smirked, he COULD be violent at times, he wasn't always a goody two shoes. "No, no, not like that!" Manic said, laughing along. "I don't wanna beat him up, I wanna see him learn!" He hugged his legs, and looked at the floor. "I mean, I thought he was learning to be good... but I ain't putting up with any of that kind of bullshit." Manic laughed a little. "I mean, I still kind of care.. but maybe tell me about that bottle in a few weeks, alright~?" "Sure thing.......you got any video games? i heard about this new game system, called the NES, do you have it?" He asked. He had heard about it and played it a couple of times at Napalms house, but only a couple of times. Manic snorted a bit in laughter. "Does this dumpy apartment dump look like some kinda millionare's mansion?" He paused, before reaching under the cushions of the couch. "No, so I just took one." Sure enough, there was a beaten up box, and a smaller black box labaled 'Duck Hunt.' "And I've got all the best game for it!" He joked. There was a beaten up old CRT TV they plugged the ports into. Soon, the screen buzzed to life in all it's state-of-the-art pixelated glory. "Sweet~" Oxi grabbed a controller. There was a selection screen of Duck hunt and Super Mario bros. "....Let's do super mario bros...." Oxi suggested Manic was not good at Mario. "Yeah, 'buh-nu-nu-nu-nu-nuuu!' to you, too." Manic grumbled out, mocking the opening theme. He wasn't good at going slow! What were these mushroom things and why was this fat, red fat man so deathly allergic that they killed him on contact?! Manic couldn't get past the first stage on numerous tries, while Oxide seemed more natural at it. "Alright, fine, you just put my skills to shame. That's fine." He made an exaggerated pout, teasing Oxide with his lack of skill. "Oh, stop whining!" Oxide got him in a head lock and gave him a noogie, all the while laughing along. "Hey, cut it!" Manic said, not quite hating it himself, either. Hell, he'd given Sonic plenty. Not Sonia, because she would give him another lecture on personal space, but the sentiment was there. He managed to pull free, his terrible fringe of hair looking not even a little different as the two laughed with the dumb humor of the moment. "Why's that even funny?" He asked to no one in particular. Manic managed to sit up and pick up the controller. "Hey, fuck it, you wanna check out that other game or watch me suffer some more?" "I wanna watch you suffer~" He said, in an almost sexual tone, just trying to creep out Manic as he looked deep into his eyes, deep into his own soul. It actually managed to catch Manic off-guard. "Are you- Y'all, I thought Tristan was joking!" Manic said. "You're actually hitting on me, ain't you?" Manic leaned in close, affecting a flirting tone, but clearly sarcastically. "Alright, if you wanna see me suffer... You can watch me suffer good~" "...with a nice, family friendly video game!" He immediately put on a goofy grin and voice and shot back up where he was sitting, starting yet another new game and stumbling through the bricks and enemies once more for Oxide's teasing eyes. "Oh- Come on, how were you supposed to jump on that grumbo?" He joked. "You only saw him halfway across the screen!" "I....I wasn't hitting on you dude....." Oxide was caught off guard, did Tristan seriously tell Manic that he was gay? For fuck sakes, He was gonna kill Tristan. Oxi kinda remained silent except for a few hahas and short one or two word responses. "What, am I making things uncomfortable again?" Manic put down the controller, letting one of the little brown dudes stumble across the screen and kill him unceremoniously. "Sorry, mate. Nah, Tristan said it all off-handed... actually, I'm pretty sure that was meant as a joke now." He said, letting out a laugh as he did. He clearly didn't say what he said as a joke, but anything to make Oxide feel better. He looked at Oxide again, who was still looking rather awkward. "Something bothering you, dude?" "It's nothing, it's..........yes.....I was.......hitting on you........" He put the controller down, looking away as his face lit up a nice shade of red underneath his orange fur, but his muzzle sure as hell didn't hide the blush. Manic gave him a moment to breath, before putting down the controller. "Dude... Dude, you know I'm gay as hell." He said, giving him a gentle smile and a reassuring pat on the back. "Come on, I ain't gonna judge you. No one in this place is homophobic, mate, you're safe here." Was the blush getting deeper? Manic didn't seem sure, but he kept talking. "Hey, I'm flattered, dude. You honestly interested in me? Some dumpy kid who sometimes plays drums?" Oxide wasn't expecting his next question. "Why?" Not said in a joking tone, not said in anger. Presented just as matter-of-factly as when Tristan asked Manic about his sexuality. The sudden bluntness of the question weighted heavy on the room. "Because your the first person that I've met that's.......well....gay.... besides that asshole ex of yours...." he said, giving off a weak laugh. "It's just.....I don't know....." He really didn't know what to say at this point. Manic have him a softer pat on his shoulders. "Like, I don't know if I'm the best person for that, dude." He admitted. "I ain't got anything really going for me." He peeked his head at the door. Still closed. "I know I don't know you that well... but if you want someone to figure this stuff out with, I'm here, alright?" He looked right into his eyes and smiled. "And if you wanna get kind of cuddly to help figure that out, we've got a whole weekend for all that." He still seemed trepidatious. He peeked to the door and back again, before speaking very softly. "Honestly, you're lucky you hit on me tonight, I was planning on asking Tristan out tomorrow." "He's not gay, I'm the only one that's into dudes in the band~ You got a phone? So I can call my parents and ask if i can stay over?" He asked. "Well, I guess we're both lucky, then." Manic joked. "Yeah, sure, there's one in the living room. Knock yourself out." "Thanks." Oxide smiled before getting up and dialing his house number, the phone rang. "Hey mom? Can I stay over at Manic's?" He asked. "Yeah sure, At least I won't have to feed you faggot....." She said, hanging up and not even saying good bye. Oxide put the phone down and went back to Manics room. "I can stay over!" He threw his hands into the air. Manic was unaware of how his conversation with his mother had gone. "Sweet, dude." He had advanced, somehow, getting to the second stage... with one life left. "Hey, you said you write a bunch of your own music, right?" Manic asked. "I mean, you've got original songs anyways. I mean..." He walked over to the dresser, and pulled out a beaten-up paper binder brimming with thick stacks of paper. "I've tried a lot of lyric writing and composition stuff. You got any tips or advice, or anything? I wanna see how it's done." "Here's the only thing I can say; if your gonna start doing this like, a lot, then be ready, to hate about 99% of everything you write, and that 1%, will soon join the 99% after you write another 1% of music that you like, and it'll keep going on and on for practically forever." Oxide laughed, getting to stage 2-3. Manic just nodded along. He knew this in vague, but hearing it put into words this simply helped make it stick. He knew he hated most of his writing, but that was normal, by the sounds of it. He was also coming to hate this Marty-o game now that he was speeding through. Or at least, speeding through compared to Manic's frantic stumble. "Oh, come on, you've played this before!" Manic groaned out as a sore loser. "You couldn't have known you step on that like every other enemy." "It's a tactic called 'better safe than sorry,'" he explained. "Its' the tactic that you should've used before dating Scourge, and by that I mean you should've never have dated him." Manic sighed as he watched Oxide blip and ping his way through the level. "You know... I haven't had a lover as good as him in a long time." He said. "He was always an asshole, but he seemed like he'd changed. He said he'd stop hurting the people I loved... I dunno. I didn't want to think he'd do stuff like that." He started forward rather sternly, before letting out a small laugh. "Dude, we need to stop getting so serious. We're here to make dumb jokes and be bad at Murgy-o!" He was just making up new, more incorrect names intentionally. Oxide joined in on the laughter, which caused him his last life. "God damnit! No! I'm not stopping," He said, pressing play again. He got to world 1-2, and at the end, he stopped, broke some of the blocks at the last pipe and then crouched ontop of the pipe. "What the hell- WHAAAAT THE HELLLLL!" Manic said. "Is that like, a secret? Dude, how much stuff is there in this mess?!" He hadn't seen any kind of an easter egg before. He hadn't even played much of this game before. He usually just played the game where he shot birds. That didn't involve evil turtles. Turtles were good boys to him. "Hey, don't mean to get too serious," he started. "But like, do you just want to talk a bit? You wanna try and figure out what gay means for you, or you just wanna try having a boyfriend and figure it out?" ".....Gay just means.....having a friend only....being a little closer to him, where kissing, hugging and cuddling is acceptable in the relationship.....I don't wanna go out on fancy dates, I just wanna be with the person that i like......." A smile grew across his face, without thinking about it, he just wrapped an arm around Manic and pulled him closer to him, cuddling with him. "Woah, dude, cuddling?" Manic said. Just the way his face turned and his voice sounded made it very clear he had a terrible joke in mind. "Ain't that a little gay?" "Yah, very gay, just like you and me~" He said, smirking as he looked directly into his eyes. Manic was caught off-guard by the sudden stare. He wasn't expecting this so soon, with how bashful he seemed. Maybe it was just acceptance he was worried about? "Hey... Make sure you don't go too far, alright?" He said. "Let's take it slow, dude." He laughed a little, letting Oxide make his move. "Alright......do you think.....do you think your sibs will mind if we cuddled on one of the beds?" he asked, looking to the couch thats barely big enough for one person to lie down on. Manic scratched his head, and laughed nervously. "I think that's be kind of..." He was actually blushing. "Hey, I don't wanna go real far, okay? And I don't want anyone thinking we're doing anything too bad." He joked. "The carpet's kinda soft, dude. We could just toss down a blanket, if you're cool with that." "Sure" Oxi smiled, turning off the game system and getting up to stretch. "Can we just rip off the blanket from one of the beds or the couch or somethin'?" He asked. "This ain't the ritz, this ain't france or something." He joked, pulling a blanket off of the edge of the sofa. "No one's gonna care. Just don't touch anything on Sonia's side of the room, she's..." He shrugged. "I dunno, she's a real neat freak or something." The blanket was now spread over the floor in front of the sofa. "So, you wanna grab another blanket, or... Like, how do you wanna do this?" "I just wanna cuddle." Oxi shrugged, laying down with Manic" It wasn't anything major. Manic laid down on his back, and lead Oxide down, laying his head down on Manic's side. It wasn't that big of a deal - He'd done worse with people he wasn't interested in - but it was comfortable. Nothing grand or showy or anything, just some simple cuddling. "You wanna watch something?" Manic asked, grabbing the remote. "Or do you like it when it's all silent?" "I don't care, you choose~" He smiled again, pulling him closer. "Let's see if there's anything terrible going on..." He said, flipping through the few channels. There was some children's show playing. It was horribly animated. It was horrible all around. There were glam-rockers and magic. It was very strange and very poorly written and very easy to riff on. He just patted Oxide on the back as he riffed along. "Look at that drawing, it's like her arm's half as long as her body! What- Who made this mess?!" "Man, I guess the reason cartoons are targeted to younger kids is because the people that voice act them, draw them and write the scripts are kids themselves." "Hey, that isn't fair!" Manic shouted in jest. "Billy Bungo just graduated the fifth grade and is very good at his job." There was a shot where the background was upside down. Manic let out a very surprised laugh. "Wow, this is... Wow, this is perfect." He said. "I don't know what you mean, it's like the Mona Lisa - Davinchi - Michaelangelo over here." As his laughing slowed down, he pulled Oxide in even closer than already. He was now resting his head on Manic's chest, cuddling very close to one another. Manic smiled. "Hey, you're a real cool dude, Oxi. I wasn't planning on making any moves..." He leaned his head back and closed his eyes in contentment. "But thanks, mate. It's rare to find anyone who's fine with this stuff... Didn't think I'd find another guy who was interested." Oxide chuckled. "Thanks, I'm glad I've found you too." He smiled, going back to watching the cartoon. There was then a point in one of the shots where one of the characters was jumping over a small stream. Just before jumping, they stop, then they appear on the other side of the river. "So far....what we're seein' now....we're lookin' at a perfect 10...." Manic startled and shifted away from Oxide as he heard a shuffle near the door. "No, wait, it's over on the table," they could hear Sonia say. Manic just ruffed his hair back into place and faced Oxide again. "Sorry, I'm- It's still weird for me." He said. "Like, I know they accept it, but after what all those guys screamed at us..." He laid down where he laid before, now without Oxide laying close to him. "I guess I'm still worried. "Oh, stop being worried about it doof~" He laughed, booping his nose. "Don't call me a doof!" Manic pleaded. "I am a doof-US! At least use a proper grammar." He joked. Laughing a bit before... He found himself looking at Oxide after his little chuckle, them facing vaguely eye-to-eye. He blushed again. "Eh, sorry, dude, I just get embarrassed easily." He said. "You're just fun to be-" Manic was interrupted by a surprise kiss by Oxi, holding it for a while before pulling away and looking into Manic's eyes. "Woah..." He said, looking very surprised. Not happy, unhappy, angry, simply surprised. He brushed his hair back, and smirked. "You're real surprising," he added. "I'm kinda glad I didn't ask out Tristan..." But Manic didn't pull him in for a kiss. He shot up and held his partner in a headlock. "'Cause he wouldn't be have as easy to fool as you." And with a silly grin and quick hands, he finally got his revenge on Oxide's noggie with one of his own, ruffling through his multicolor hair with a mischevious grin. "Ack! no!" He laughed, trying to wiggle his way out. He managed to do so, and in turn tackled him onto the couch that Manic would usually sleep on. "Y'all get off me!" He joked, pushing Oxide up by his chest so he could sit up. "Don't you go toying with me!" He propped himself up by putting his hands on the cushion behind him, laughing for seemingly no reason. And laughing. "Man, why's that even funny?!" He said, still giggling for seemingly no reason. Oxide didn't say anything, he wrapped his arms around Manic and dragged him onto the make shift bed, cuddling with him again. It was at that point that Sonia walked in, startling the two. "Oh my-" Sonia said, surprised, before shaking her head. "Sorry, I need to grab something." She embarrasedly scurried across the room, taking some book out from under her bed and rushing back again. Manic didn't budge - Initially out of horror, and soon just to embarrass Sonia more. As soon as she left, he turned to face Oxide again. "Alright, you can stay the night... but we ain't going farther than this, promise?" He teased, before booping his nose as further pointless revenge. "People are gonna mock us already, we can't have everyone knowing we're, uh..." He brushed the back of his head. "This is just going steady, or something? I think? I dunno, is their weird special gay terminology, or something?" He knew Oxide probably didn't have an answer. "I guess we've got no idea what we're doing." "Who cares? Let's just roll with it~" He smirked, he was a pretty laid back dude, mainly because hes never been in a relationship, so he doesn't really know what to do and how they actually work. Even with his experience, Manic didn't either. "Yeah, that sounds better," he admitted. They didn't need any rules, just someone they could be comfortable around. Even if it often seemed like the rest of the world was against them, they had some people to rely on. And even if it wouldn't last long, or crash and burn, or whatever would happen, they has someone they could learn from. No matter what, they at least had one other person who wouldn't judge them. And Oxide was going to need someone like that. The night passed by as the two moved to the main room, continuing their gaming session and eventually crashing around three in the morning. The week passed by, their relationship not quite perfect, but stable enough. Somewhat on and off, but never with any spite between them. Oxide served out the principal's punishments, as well as scattered detentions here and there as usual. Week after week passed, until it was another school day on the week before Christmas break. And despite their new closeness, they weren't completely open, as they tended to avoid mentioning certain details of their personal lives from most people. Even from each other... Oxide was finishing up an assignment. He needed to get this finished before the break, and he had been working on this for two weeks. He finally finished it up and walked to the teachers desk, setting it down as he walked back and sat back in his seat. He turned to Manic. He was pretty cute, and Oxi liked that. No one in the school knew yet that Oxi and Manic were a thing, which was a good thing. Good thing nothing, it was a miracle. It wasn't as though rumors of students being gay ran rapid. One or two about them spread, but they quickly became lost in the sea of gossip. Ever since coming out to the band, Manic had really began noticing how other gay students hid from certain groups of students. Thankfully, he was still closeted, and didn't have to deal with it firsthand. The teacher was distracted with reading Oxide's assignment, as well as a few others. Manic slid Oxide a note, his assignment almost finished anyways. "How'd you get a book for this mess? Wasn't like the whole cart checked out immediately?" Oxide wrote back. "Nicked it from the cart," He said, giving it to Manic, making sure the teacher didn't notice. "RING RING RING!!!" The bell rang loud, signaling the end of the day. "Finally, come on Manic, lets go, me and the band have another show at the cuckoos nest!" He said, practically dragging Manic out of the school. Of course they got weird stares for how they left the school. But Oxide was dressed like a stereotypical punk and Manic was a technicolor explosion. They always got weird stares. The other band members were already at the van. Manic gave his usual nod in greeting and a fist bump with Tristan. "Oh yeah, Napalm, remember how I said that store had another game for the nimtemdo?" He said, his blatant mispronunciations a sort of running joke between the two. "I managed to take a copy." He pulled the cartridge out of his backpack, and spoke in his normal joking tone. "Do you want a game about donkeys and basic math?" "Sure man, I also got excite bike if you want it." He smirked, holding up the cartridge. "Trade?" He asked, the same smirk on his face. "Wh- You serious?" He said, half surprised he actually wanted to play a maths game. "Alright, your loss!" He joked. He put it in his backpack as the van came to life and starter sputtering it's way down the streets and roads across town. "So y'all know if they're gonna put in something new where that bar next door was, or are they just gonna leave it to rot?" "They're re-opening it, it's gonna have the same name, same everything." Tristan said, he seemed to talk more and more as Manic hung out more and more. "Wow, more than 2 words, this is a new record Tristan," Jason joked. Tristan grinned weakly before turning his attention to the road again. It wasn't a very long drive from the school, but given how polished the club seemed, it felt like it was a completely different part of the city. And sure enough, that Zubies place did have construction tarps here and there. They wouldn't have to deal with anyone from there for a little while, at least. Manic started on his usual assistant. It had only been about a month or so, but he was essentially a roadie at this point. As he carried the bass drum in, the bouncers waved them in, remembering their fake IDs at this point. "Hey, Oxi," he started off as they went in. "We never meet up at your place. You wanna hang out there after this time?" He made a silly grin, not noticing the discomfort in Oxide's eyes. "Chuck's getting tired of me hanging out at home all the time." Oxide went quiet, his house? No way.... "S-Sorry dude, maybe next time" He said, in an almost nervous voice as he tried not to think of his current family life situation. "Alright, mate, don't worry about it." He gave him a pat on the back after putting the drum down on stage. "Don't get all janked up over it, I get it." He left to go back to the van and grab Tristan's cymbals, leaving Oxide with Jason and Napalm. They didn't say much, and they were close enough to hear all of it. They were gonna set up the gear, however, they noticed that another band was setting up. "You guys are gonna be on second," The manager called out to them. The band 'The crucifucks' were playing first. Manic paused as he heard the manager yell at the band, before carrying the cymbals to the rest of the equipment. So he stood in the side hall, watching the other band get ready on stage. "Man, punk bands ain't bit on subtlety," he said, definitely not complaining. "Well, crap. You guys just wanna hang around and watch?" He wasn't too concerned with the other band, though. He kept paying attention to the entrances. Scourge had only run into the place once, but that was enough to keep Manic on edge every time they stopped by. "Yah, we usually hang around till the end of the show anyway.... well, at least me and the others. Oxi at times will leave after we go on or halfway through the show," Jason said, sitting on one of the amps beside the van. "Cool, alright." Manic shrugged and smiled as the band members wandered around, speaking to each other and to other club patrons. The audience was slowly arriving, with a few members Manic was starting to recognize from other shows the band had done. And of course, Scourge didn't show up. He knew he must not be planning to show up again, but he just had to be certain. He walked up on Tristan a minute or two before the first band's set was about to begin. He was the only band member he could find. "Hey, you know where Oxide is? He seemed kinda weird earlier. You know if he's doing alright?" "Hey guys, someones got some pot!" One of the punks called out. Oxi and the band left, going to the car that had weed. "Hey Manic, you comin'?" Oxide asked, turning back a little as he continued to walk to the car. This was pretty normal for the cuckoos nest, people hopping from car to car, getting high as a kite on anything they can get their hands on. "Nah, man, I'm good." Manic waved them off, letting them go off to the car. It wasn't any of the bad stuff, he wasn't going to stop them. So he just waited in the club as the band started playing. It wasn't bad music, but Manic's attention would still shift to the door constantly. There were a few students from North Neo who came in, sure, but Scourge and his friends were nowhere among them. He knew he was being paranoid. Had he finally gotten the message? Oxide and the band, along with many others, were getting stoned out of their little punker minds. Joints were being passed around long with 20oz and cigarettes. And Manic was starting to notice how many people were leaving. This first set was only an hour long, but they were already halfway in and Oxide's band was nowhere to be seen. He soon left the building briefly, somewhat surprised by the large number of people hanging out around someone's car. Manic wandered up, seeing Jason somewhere on the fringes of the group. "Dude, you sure you can play like this?" He asked, half joking. He'd played through a broken arm, he could probably handle this. "Y'all are missing the whole show." "Yah, Owner guy just came over and said we're 3rd on the bill. Black flag needed to haul ass across the continent to get to their next gig." Jason said. "And I'll be fine mate" Jason gave a smirk as he turned back, puffing on a cigarette. Manic waded his way through the crowd, eventually finding his way towards Oxide, who had clearly had his fair share of turns. He sat down next to Oxide, who seemed like he was waiting for his turn. "Hey, dude." He said, putting his arm around Oxide's shoulders. "You wanna watch the music, or you just wanna hang out down here 'til you guys are on?" He spoke a bit quieter for his next question. "I don't really care. You just want to hang out until then?" "I'm goin' into the pit, Come on, let's go!" He said, his brain fried as he tried to drag Manic into the mosh pit, where people were bouncing off each and jumping off the stage into the crowd below. Manic wasn't used to this kind of craziness just yet, but it was growing on him. The music, the lifestyle, the energy, it was slowly building and forming into a more permanent part of him. He let the power chords and screeched lyrics take over as him and Oxide wailed away in the mosh pit. Oxide got on the stage and jumped off, doing a cannonball into the crowd. As the crowd caught him, he got down and went into the pit again. It wasn't just the whole punk lifestyle he was enjoying, he was enjoying just being around punks. He wouldn't call himself one, but there was a kind of excitement to Oxide's antics that Manic was loving. Even if many people did the same thing, it was much more fun to see people he knew doing these kinds of things. He was having a blast. Which was a shame, as they had lost track of time, and the Black Flags were on stage already, and were already up to their final number. "Shit. Gotta grab the rest of the band and drag their asses to the stage, be right back Manic." Oxi said before running off, coming back 10 minutes later. "Alright! Let's haul this shit onstage FAST!" Oxi said, pushing the amps into the stage so they could play Manic was amused, seeing them hurrying as much as they were. They didn't have much time to set up after the previous performance, but they didn't seem too worried. It looked like the highs were starting to wear off on some of them, so at least they wouldn't be TOO screwed up to play. The final bits were put in place, and MAnic was anxious to hear the first of doubtless many power chords. Oxide plugged the cord into his guitar, creating a small boom and some feedback. Feedback continued to screech as he walked up to the mic. "Hey everyone, We're the methematics.....AND I CAN'T FUCKING TAKE IT!" Oxide wailed out, beginning to chunk away at the first few power chords. Soon the band joined in and the crowd began to slam again. Manic had come to know most of their songs by heart, but he wasn't growing tired of listening to them. This was a kind of feeling he wasn't used to, this feeling that vibrations were overpowering every part of his body. Song after song, lyric after lyric, he was thrilled to have been exposed to this type of music. But more importantly, he was having fun just watching his new friends wail away at their instruments, enjoying all the sights, sounds, and feelings. Tristan pounded away at the drum kit. Somehow he never tired out from how much he was playing and how hard he was playing. Same with the rest of the band, who seemed to have unlimited stamina in their skinny punker bodies. But Manic's attention tended to focus on Tristan. He was fascinated by all of the little tricks and playing methods he used. How could he not know how he learned those things? Maybe he was just joking about that, but he didn't care. He loved watching him play... Manic shook the thoughts away. He was in a relationship with Oxide... well, sort of. And he was sure that Tristan was straight... well, mostly sure. He didn't need to be attracted to someone else, so he kept a lot of his attention on Oxide's performance. With his raw energy and passion for music, he could have been a one-man show. Oxide jumped about when he wasn't singing, and even then, while on the mic he'd still be moving about, he couldn't sit still. It was like he did 3 lines of coke before the show. He probably did do some coke, though... Manic had only heard about any drug issues in vague... but he didn't know any details, and didn't know any signs. From what he'd heard, he thought he only had minor problems. All he knew for certain was that Oxide's band was putting on a performance he was loving every second of. Covers, original songs, there was a whole mess of good music coursing through his mind. Maybe he did look like a fool with how he was moshing, but then everyone else here was the same kind of fool, and they certainly didn't seem to mind. The rhythm was addictive, but that only meant it always ended far too soon. The band ended their set.....just in time for the cops to bust the show. The Circle Jerks didn't even get to play. "FUCKING PIGS!!!" A punk shouted out, throwing a bottle at one of the cops. An all-out riot formed outside the club. The band hauled all the gear into the van, but one of the cops stole Oxi's guitar and microphone "HEY!" Oxide gave chase to the cop, but lost him. "SON OF A BITCH!!!" Oxide cussed, running back to the van and getting in. "Let's go." Oxide said, Tristan gunned it and they were off. Halfway to the jam place, Oxide spotted the cop, still running and still with the guitar. Tristan pulled up and Oxi attacked, taking the guitar before diving into the van with Tristan driving off again Manic wasn't used to the chaos. He wasn't used to the energy in the club, how was he supposed to react to all of this? Even as they were driving away, Manci still found himself clutching to anything nearby for some kind of support - In this case, the back of his seat. The nerves slowly faded, and a strange grin found itself across Manic's face. "Man... Man, I shouldn't be so happy right now," he said, letting out a laugh somewhere between genuine enjoyment for the thrill and nervous instinct. "Oh god..." His ears were still ringing from the show, and his heart still racing from the chaos. The other band members were much more used to this stuff, apparently. "You sure they ain't gonna be after us this time?" He asked, knowing that the others knew these cops better than Manic did. "Nah. we covered up the license plate just for this reason." Oxide smirked, making sure it was his guitar. "Besides, if he were a real cop, then he'd probably get into his car and driven off, not run away." "What, so they're not even real cops?" Manic said, half surprised. "God, those guys are messed up." Manic only started to realize they were headed to their jam space after the shock had worn off. "Wait, you're practicing again after that?" He smiled. "You guys are real serious, ain't you? That's awesome." "Nah. We're just droppin' Napalm off at his house." Oxi said. They pulled up and noticed that Scourge and a gang of his friends were waiting outside. "Hey look manic, it's your Ex...." Tristan told Manic, getting out of the car and unloading gear. "Hey look, the punk rock faggots are here." One of them said, pointing to the group. "Shit...." "Stay in the van," Manic said, hopping out of the side door. The windows were rolled down to listen to what they said to one another. Scourge was at the front of the group again... somehow. "So I guess you've given up." Manic said, crossing his arms. "If you can't handle me at my worst, you ain't getting any from me." "And they don't mind you being a fag?" Scourge grabbed Manic by the collar, Manic sinking his claws into Scourge's furious arm. "They don't care, cause I'm gonna fuck up all your friends~" Scourge threw his fist right at Manic's face, sending him stumbling back towards the van. At that moment, the entire band got out. They got into an all out fight with Scourge and his gang. Jason jumped on one and started choking him out, till the jock fell to the ground after blacking out. Oxide threw a mean right hook, turning the head of one of Scourge's friends a full 90 degrees before he hit the deck. However, Tristan, along with Napalm, were getting pummeled into the ground as a bunch of jocks were kicking and punching them. This was quickly fixed with Oxi and Jason throwing themselves at the crowd. The jocks ran off. "We'll be back, with many more of us too!" one of them said, who was met with a bottle being thrown at him. Manic's injuries were minor, at best. Nothing he couldn't play off casually. But Tristan and Napalm clearly needed more help. They just needed to lay down for a while, but they clearly needed some help getting inside. "Holy shit... Are you guys alright?" Manic asked, standing up and looking at the other four. Not all of them, clearly. "I've got Napalm," he said, helping him to his feet. "Guys, help Tristan into the van." The lead Napalm down into the basement, sitting him down on one of the couches in the practice area. "I'll grab your guitar. You sure you're fine with us leaving?" "Yah. I'm alright, my father is an ex Vietnam soldier, he'll kill those bastards if they try to attack again." Napalm said. "I have to drop off the rest of the guys off. come on, let's go." Tristan said, still seeming pretty calm and collected. They piled into the van after unloading their gear and drove off. "So we got another show tomorrow. I'm gonna get a bunch of punks, and we're gonna beat down those jocks." Oxide said with an evil looking smirk. "They hurt my boyfriend, they aren't gonna get away with this....." Boyfriend? He used that word from time to time, but it always stuck out to Manic. It was so serious... but then again, their relationship had been on and off for a while. He wasn't too surprised. "Shit... Fuck." Manic said, brushing his quills back nervously. "God, I thought he was finally done with all that garbage," Manic admitted. This time around, he wasn't objecting to Oxide's threat. "Fuck, you guys shouldn't be getting caught up in this garbage. Sorry, guys." When they finally reached Manic's place, they were relieved that there wasn't anyone waiting outside to jump them. "If anyone's waiting to jump you guys, y'all can jet back here." He gave them a peace sign as he lead Oxide down towards the storage basement again. There were large cages that were supposed to be used as storage, but it was more turned into Manic's makeshift drumming space. He also managed to plug in their NES more permanently to an old TV someone tried to throw out, and found some old mattress he used as a couch. It was essentially Manic's private space. "You think they broke anything?" Manic asked, looking concerned at Oxide as he opened up the gate. "Scourge's crew doesn't fuck around." "Nah. They didn't get anywhere near the van. They were too busy kicking Tristan and Napalms asses." Oxi laughed, sitting down on the mattress, wrapping an arm around Manic after Manic sat down next to him. Manic just threw open his backpack, pulling out the game he'd traded Napalm for. "You ready for some excite bike, I guess?" He said, plopping the cartridge into the old CRT TV. And once again, Manic was not good at Excite Bike. But he didn't need to be. They were comfortable in this old basement, sitting on some crappy mattress next to one another and watching Manic constantly and regularly crash his character. "Hey, Oxide?" He asked, starting over yet again. "Uh... you called me your boyfriend." It wasn't the first time he called Manic that, but it never stuck. He didn't seem to say much, but he eventuall leaned over and held Oxide to his chest. "Thanks, mate." "No problem" He said with a smile. He then took that chance to take his controller, unpause and crash Manics character again. "HAHA!!!" "HEY!" Manic yelled, clearly enjoying their stupid moment. "I was going to make it at LEAST five more seconds probably!" He gave Oxide a light shove, and laughed along with their stupid teasing. "You're the worst!" "I know I am." Oxide still had the big goofy on his face. "I'm glad I met you Manic, I really am," he said before turning around to face manic, locking lips with him. This was how most of their evenings went. Joking over music or games or whatever, and eventually just kissing and cuddling up to one another. Even if it was in the storage area of an old apartment building, it was comfortable. Of course, they usually shot up the moment they heard anyone else coming down the stairs. And this was no different, as Manic fumbled to hide their kissing by starting and failing his way through a new game. It was just an elderly man from upstairs. He was gone again in a couple of minutes. "Hey, Oxi," he asked as he let Oxide move closer again. "Is there anyone you're comfortable knowing about us? I know Sonia and your band know, but... I'm guessing you just want me to keep quiet about being boyfriends now?" It was a weirdly serious term, but as he said it more, he was getting a little less uncomfortable with it. "Honestly, I couldn't care less if people knew, as long as we're together, and happy." He smiled, wrapping both arms around Manic as he pulled him into another kiss. Maybe it was a filthy little place to be cuddling in, but it was the perfect place for these two. Well, it would have been. But Manic's kiss was still tinged with worry. He shouldn't feel attraction towards Tristan, but there was still something there he didn't dare think too hard on. And of course, his feelings for Scourge were essentially gone by then, but there were still worries. In all, he had too many interests to feel completely comfortable getting serious with anyone. But he laid back and held onto Oxide. They were safe here. And he didn't want to worry about that now. But soon, their kiss broke, and he didn't have a choice. "I love you Manic." Oxi said after breaking the kiss, looking deep into Manics eyes. Manic's eyes didn't reflect mutual love or happiness. He did care about Oxide, definitely. But there was a fear deep down in Manic's eyes, coursing through his body to the back of his skull and filling him with dread. He didn't respond, he just laid there, with no idea of what to say or do. "Come on doof~ Say something, what? You afraid that Scourge and his gang is gonna go fag hunting if he finds out?" Manic was scared about many things. Of taking things too fast, of anyone else finding out, of his feelings towards Tristan, of Scourge getting jealous... "No," He lied. "You'll protect me."He gave a weak smile, but a warm and genuine one. "That's right." Oxi booped Manics nose, "I'm hungry, wanna go to oki dogs? They're open till 2AM. Plus we don't have school tomorrow." He smiled, bouncing about. "You wanna just pick it up and head back here?" Manic asked as he started to stand up and push the gate open. He seemed genuinely nervous, and was slightly blushing. "I just wanna sit around with you and do nothing, you know?" "Sure, wanna smoke some pot as well~?" he asked, poking Manics chest. "Hey, really, dude, I don't do that stuff," he admitted. "Besides, someone's gonna notice if this place stinks of weed." The two were walking up the stairs to the street entrance. It was already very late, and there weren't any pedestrians in sight. "Don't worry, dude, it's not that far. I know this place, we won't run into anyone." Manic scratched at his arm. "Uh... Dude, were you serious when you said that?" "Yah. You look like a total stoner dude, sound like one as well. That really laid back voice of yours," he said, holding Manic's hand. He was still visibly on edge at holding Oxide's hand, but he wasn't letting go. "Hey, mate, I gotta be honest with you. I think I've still kind of got a thing for Tristan. I mean, like-" He looked down and closed his eyes for a few moments as he spoke. "Like, I've kind of got it bad." The admission was delivered in a swell of emotions that all faded together into an emotionless tone. "I'm not gonna move in on him, but I dunno if it's gonna get stronger or not." He smiled at Oxide, not caring if anyone saw them holding hands for just a few moments. "If it gets worse, I'll tell you, alright? Are you cool with this?" Oxide just stared off, not really knowing how to actually react to this. He wasn't angry or agitated in any way, it just kinda puzzled him that Manic just told him this. "....uhh.....yyyyaaahhhh.....suuuuurrre...." Manic laughed nervously. "Sorry, dude, I just wanna be open about this stuff." He kept smiling, trying to soften the heavy mood a bit. "You've gotta know what's going on if we're gonna work around it, y'know? And I wanna make things work with my new boyfriend." "It's alright mate." Oxide assured him.They got to the oki dogs and ordered their food to go. They waited and as they waited, a cop car pulled up, out comes a huge police officer, overweight, and with a pissed off look on his face. "Hey there boys" He said with a evil looking smirk. "Hey....." Oxi responded with. The officer kept watching them as they got their food and began to leave, the cop began to follow them in his car. The cops certainly knew Manic, but as long as he didn't nick anything, they couldn't do anything to him. "Play it cool," Manic said out of the corner of his mouth. "We're just going to an apartment building, we'll be fine." It wasn't a long walk, maybe six minutes back. But the cops was keeping a close eye on the two, and there were definitely a few people watching the two from their apartments. Manic fished around in their bag of food, and ate a french fry while doing his best to act casual. They turned corners and the car slowly followed, leaving the two on edge the whole time. They got into the apartment building and the cop stayed outside, just watching them. "Won't this fuck head go away?" Oxide asked Manic. "We live here," Manic said quietly again. "That's all he's gotta think." They couldn't risk going down to the basement, so Oxide followed Manic towards his apartment. He didn't seem to be following them inside, at least, so Manic felt better holding Oxide's hand as he lead him through the building. As Manic swung the door open, they walked in to see Manic's uncle sitting at the coffee table, tinkering with some kind of blueprints. Every crease of Chuck's face indicated a lifetime of genuine laughter and joy. "Hello, boys." He greeted, giving Oxide a once-over. "Is this that Oxide friend you've mentioned?" "Yeah." Manic said, rather bluntly. "There's some creepy guy outside, you mind if he crashes here til he goes away?" He turned to look at Oxide. "Uh, that's cool with your folks, right?" "They wouldn't mind, as long as I don't land in jail." Oxide smiled, letting go of Manic's hand. Chuck seemed to notice they were holding hands, but didn't say anything. He started to stand up as he spoke. "Sonic and Sonia are already sleeping," he said, "and I had to make sure YOU weren't in jail." "Come oooon, I'd find a way out!" He teased. "G'night, chuck." "Good night, kiddo." He said, smiling as he walked back to his room, leaving the living room empty. Manic peeked out the window. The cop car was still there, but it looked like he turned the lights on. Maybe he was planning on leaving soon. "So what, you crashing the night again?" He asked, shifting aside the blueprints that more resembled arcane sigils and religious diagrams long forgotten. He took his hot dog out of the bag, as well as the customary extra chili dog to leave in the fridge for Sonic the next morning. "Hey, better than a mattress in a cage in the basement, right?" "Haha, yah....." There was a moment of silence before Oxi turned off the light and kissed Manic, pretty much full blown making out. Of course, there was plenty of scuffling as Manic tried to keep quiet. But Sonic was a heavy sleeper. Chuck was hard of hearing. And Sonia always slept with earplugs, for some reason, so they were in no danger. They just laid where they were, enjoying a tender moment. Soon, they heard the sound of a cop car pulling away from the building and finally driving away. "Guess you're safe, dude." Manic added, speaking quietly. "You wanna head back downstairs, or you too comfy?" "Too comfy~ plus your body is pretty warm too~" He said, going back to kissing him again. The night carried on, but Manic seemed pretty adamant about not going any further. So they eventually fell asleep where they were, Manic's arms around Oxide as sleep descended over them both. By the time Manic woke up, everyone else had seen them cuddled up against one another... and went back into their bedrooms to give them space. He peeked out the window. There were blankets of thick snow, and school was clearly cancelled for the day, just as Oxide predicted. Rather, just as the forecast predicted. And if it continued being right, tomorrow would also be a snowday, giving them a two day start on their Christmas break. "Hey, mate, you up?" He said to his half-conscious partner, still resting against him. "Yah...........I have a feeling like your entire family now knows we're gay for each other....." Oxi snickered. He had been falling asleep and waking back up off and on, so he might have seen some of Manic's family walk in on them. "Who cares?" Manic said, sitting up with his arm around Oxide's shoulders. "They ain't here to judge, they're here to..." "...Steal our food, I guess." Their bag of food from the previous night was missing, and Manic just knew it was Sonic. Like usual. Like always. "I didn't even get to eat any of that!!" Oxi complained. "Asshole," he cussed. He seemed to be genuinely pissed off. "Do I have to like put sour apple spray on my food to keep Sonic from nabbing it?" Manic just laughed, nowhere near as angry as Oxide. "You get used to it," he said sincerely, clearly not broken up about it. "Just keep the chili dogs away from the rest of the food, and you're good." Manic stood up to get something to eat from their kitchenette. As he plopped some bread into their toaster, he saw just how much snow had fallen. "You think you're gonna need a ride back to your place?" "Nah. I'll be able to make it back," he said with a smile, getting up and giving Manic a kiss. Manic tussled Oxide's hair as he got a little kiss on the cheek. "Alright," he shrugged it off. "Now come on, cram some food down your gob, we'll get back at Sonic next time." Sonia peeked through the edge of her door, before happily leaving for what she pretended was the first time that morning. She was already washed up and dressed for her day. "Good morning," she said, getting a two-finger salute from Manic in return. "Oh, Manic, do you know where Sonic is?" "He should be in your room," Manic added, just as confused as her. He grabbed an apple from a produce basket on the counter and started munching away. Sonia shrugged, unsure of what to say. "Oxi, you know anything?" "I know he nabbed my veggie burger....but in all seriousness, no, I actually don't," Oxi replied with. He grabbed some food and ate it as quickly as he nabbed it from the fridge. Sonia ignored the loud, disgusting sounds of them snarfling away at their food, and retreated back into her room again. "You're really angry about that veggie burger, ain't you?" He asked, half serious. "No one's gonna stop you from eating one at ten in the morning. That's why they're open at ten in the morning." He didn't seem to find his usual bad humor funny. "Hey, you really this angry about it? Is something wrong?" "......." Oxide stayed silent before sighing loudly. "Can I talk to you down in the basement? Don't want anyone hearing us." It wasn't the answer Manic expected. "Uh, sure, dude." He popped his toast early, munching on it as they walked towards the door. It wasn't a long walk to the basement, but it was strangely silent for them. They didn't know what to do with the heavy mood. They followed the complex stairs all the way down the building, Oxide eventually finding himself being motioned into Manic's storage unit. He closed the gate behind him, but since it was just a large room with various gates, it didn't provide any privacy. "What's wrong, dude?" Manic asked, sitting down and being certain to give Oxide plenty of space. Oxide seemed kind of shaken up for some reason. "Do you wanna know why......I haven't brought you over to meet my parents? I'll tell you why....They're some of the most abusive assholes on this planet." He looked as of he was about to cry. Manic immediately held up his hand, like he was motioning for him to stop. "Oxide." He said, uncharacteristically gentle. "Don't- don't push yourself too hard, alright?" He leaned over, and held Oxide in his arms to give him emotional support. He was scared out of his mind, but tried not to act on it. "Don't say more than you're comfortable saying, okay?" He rested his head on Oxide's shoulder. "I'm here for you, babe." "The reason I'm so protective with food....is.....is cause usually....I don't get fed very often, and a lot of the times I'll run away from home for an extended period of time. So whatever food I'm able to get....I am very protective of it...." Oxide explained. He seemed to be more comfortable with Manic so close to him, it made him feel safe. "I'll make sure Sonic doesn't pull that crap again," Manic said. He noticed Oxide was shaking slightly. "If you ever need some food, we'll give you some. If you ever need a place to stay, we'll let you stay. I'm not gonna judge." He pulled away to look at Oxide again, smiling despite his shock. "You've survived this long, you're gonna be okay. Besides, now you've got a hot guy to protect you." He joked, giving him a kiss on the forehead to try and lighten the mood. Oxide looked at him for a moment before wrapping his arms around Manic and kissing him madly. It was sudden and passionate, but not happy by any means. He could tell Oxide wanted to cry, and he was completely fearful for him. But they didn't want to let their worreis take over. Manic just laid back, putting more emphasis on holding Oxide close for his comfort than the actual kissing. He probably needed as much support as he could get. "Mmm~" Oxide moaned, he was really loving this. He loved having passionate moments with Manic, especially after just telling him about his family life. "W-wait, dude." Manic stopped him from moving further when his hand started to tease at this shirt. "Uh, if we're being honest with each other here... I haven't done this stuff before. Like, ever. All that stuff I said was just bluffing." He looked away. "Maybe someday, dude, but I just wanna be with you." He pulled him closer again, this time more gently. "No worries or shitty lives or anything, just you, me, and some dumpy storage unit." He was smiling again, pulling Oxide in close for another long kiss. Oxide accepted the kiss happily, kissing back before breaking the kiss after hearing someone come downstairs. The two shot up and acted like they were just talking as the figure slowly approached. "You down there, bro?" Sonic descended the stairs, his face visibly bruised and walking with a limp. Manic ran through the gate, rushing up to him immediately. "Holy shit, dude, what happened?!" "Scourge called and said he wanted to fight you one-on-one," Sonic said. "So I just didn't tell and-" "Dude, don't get beat up for me! You know no one can win against him!" Sonic laughed and smiled his usual smug grin. "What makes you think he won?" "Holy shit.... Hey Manic? Can I use your phone?" Oxide asked. He was gonna call Tristan and tell him to rally up some punks so they could kick Scourge's ass. "Sure," Manic said, tossing his apartment key towards Oxide. "How the hell'd you win against him?" "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog," Oxide could hear him say as he walked upstairs. "No one's gonna beat me. And he's not gonna be beating anyone for a while." Manic let out a laugh at his brother's corny behavior. "Whatever, dude. Hey, I really appreciate it, but don't eat Oxi's food again!" He said, sounding like he was taking everything lightly. "I'm serious, he really doesn't like that stuff." "Oxi?" Sonic asked, still looking at his brother with that smug smile. "So you two're a thing now?" Manic just blushed and smiled a dopey smile as Oxide went to call his friends, and rally against Scourge's friends. He put down the phone and went back down. "Alright. I also got a show with my band today, you guys gonna come? We gotta do sound check, we're the head lining band," Oxide said with a big smile on his face. "You know I'm going," Manic said. "Count me in." They both seemed marginally surprised. "What?" Sonic said. "I gotta make sure Scourge doesn't pull any moves." Manic snorted in laughter. "Thought you said he wouldn't be bothering us?" Sonic have Manic his own smarmy glare, before the three went upstairs, and eventually outside to wait for Tristan to drive up. "So's this going on at the same place again?" "It's at a house party, it was gonna be on a skate ramp but now its gonna be inside the actual house since its now snowing," Oxide explained. Just then, Tristan came ripping down the block, coming to a screeching halt as he waited for Oxi to put his guitar in and for the others to climb in. Tristan and Napalm's stares lingered on Sonic for just a moment, although if it because of him being beaten up or just coming along, they couldn't tell. Manic and Sonic just took the seatless space in the back carrying the equipment, leaving the seats for the band members.

"So are you actually gonna stick around to hear 'em play again?" Sonic just shrugged. "Fifty-fifty. I'm just going to make sure Scourge's crew doesn't come back again." "Come on, you've gotta like their music at least a little!" Sonic gave Manic a look that indicated he, in fact, did not like their music. They picked up Jason and headed for the house. They pulled up and didn't see anyone except for one person that was standing at the front door. "Hey guys, glad you could make it!" He said, going down to meet the band. "Glad you could also show up early and set up." He added. They went into the living room. "Alright, so you guys can set up here." He said, pointing to where a small, makeshift stage was set up It was barely big enough for the drum kit, so most of the band would be playing off the stage. Manic would have said this set-up seemed fishy, but he didn't know band stuff too well for an honorary roadie. Once more, Manic helped the four carry their instruments in, as Scourge waited by the front door, talking with the guy who brought them in, essentially as a guard. The small stage only served to put about as much emphasis on Tristan as the rest of the band, rather than being relegated to the background - a nice touch in Manic's opinion, as a fellow drummer. Something still felt... off. They'd only arrived at noon, why was there a house party this early in the afternoon? But they'd played at far stranger times. All he could do was watch them set up as the actual party goers actually started to arrive. Nothing sketchy did go down though, at least not before the show, that is. As everyone soon came streaming into the house, waiting for the band to begin playing. Scourge wasn't anywhere to be seen, not yet that is. In fact, Manic wasn't anywhere to be seen, either. He would usually be standing near the stage, or schmoozing around for new friends. In fact, most of the band members scattered before the show, but Manic's disappearance was particularly out-of-character. But eventually, Oxide would run into Manic again, hanging out by the van talking with Tristan. They didn't notice Oxide standing nearby. In fact, it seemed like they were having a very heavy discussion. "I ain't trying to..." Manic laughed nervously, scratching the side of his head. "I'm not trying to make a move or nothing. I'm just trying to be loyal to him, y'know? Promise me, if I ever try that shit with you..." He looked up, sticking his tongue out of a goofy grin. "...smack me in the face, alright?" he asked. Despite his goofy grin and joking tone with the last few words, his sentiment was obvious. "Yah yah.....now come on, show's about to start...." Tristan said in his normal monotone voice that had very little emotion behind it. The band members made their way to the stage, getting plugged in and making a bit of noise, trying to get the crowd to come into the living room. Of course, Manic went outside and told people to come in. The living room was pretty large, but not large enough for all the party goers. There was plenty of overflow into other rooms, and most of the large windows were flung open to let people watch and listen from outside, if they didn't mind standing in the snow. The amp feedback was barely audible over the sound of the crowd, but Manic knew they'd be plenty loud when they started playing. It seemed like it was just his nerves. This place wasn't that sketchy, and no one seemed to be out to hurt them. Even if the opposite was true, he'd still get to enjoy the show, and enjoy watching unsuspecting students suddenly learn about punk rock. "Alright everyone, this songs called 'Conformity Factory', its by the Fuckers! 1 2 3 4!" The band began to play It was awesome, most of the party goers seemed to like it too. "in training to be The next Ken and Barbie Learn conformity Spitting out preppies CONFORMITY! FACTORY! FUCK YOUR IZOD AND FUCK YOUR TEAM! CONFORMITY! FACTORY! FUCK YOUR IZOD AND FUCK YOUR TEAM! Teach False history! Of a perfect country Ignoring atrocities Blinded Citizenry! CONFORMITY! FACTORY! FUCK YOUR IZOD AND FUCK YOUR TEAM! CONFORMITY! FACTORY! FUCK YOUR IZOD AND FUCK YOUR TEAM!" Oxides screeching was relentless. This time he wasn't playing guitar, there was no need to so he was able to go even crazier. Manic was surprised by the amount of people enjoying the show. Sure, there were plenty of punks who were inevitably getting into the show, but there were also a good number of seemingly normal party-goers. Maybe there were more secretive fans of the genre? Or maybe they were just newly-found fans. But the energy brewed and bellowed through the room. Of course there were some people like Sonic who were doing their best not to listen, but hell, they were staying out of the way. Manic just fell into the rhythm of the crowd's excitement, most of his attention falling on Oxide. The bands set was intense, a full hour of taw, loud, music by a bunch of angry teenagers. All fuck this and fuck that, fuck that cunt and fuck her fucking brat basically. The band finished up and began to pack, but before that. Oxi grabbed the mic and said... "Hey guys, there were some jackoff redneck jocks that beat up me and my friends, who wants to beat them up too?" He asked the crowd. They all cheered. "Alright~" Oxi smirked. They packed up and drove off. Everyone piled into the cars and drove off with them, following them to find Scourge and his gang. "You sure about this?" Manic was on edge, but clearly, the others were all used to this. Hands were bandaged in preparation, everyone's eyes glaring at the road in search for Scourge's grunts. Sonic patted Manic's shoulder. "Scourge probably won't be out fighting, trust me. He's only got ten or twelve kids left with him." In fact, they would soon find Scourge and his crew, right in the parking lot of the club Oxide's band tended to play. But it seemed Sonic was wrong about his friends. There were about twelve of them left, sure, but they were clearly all ganging up to pummel Scourge into the pavement. "Woah....whats going on there?" Oxide wondered, getting out of the car along with the rest of the punks. "Hey looks guys, its the redneck jocks!" A punker called out. Everyone's attention was focused on 12 people. 50 punks vs 12 jocks. They didn't have a chance. They'd already ganged up on the one person among them who was strong enough to fight back against Sonic, let alone Sonic and fifty others. Most of them scattered through trees or down the various streets, pursued by different bands of punks to their uncertain fates. The band didn't even bother thinking on who they'd zone in on - the one tall kid who'd screwed with Napalm was one of four kids left in the lot. "G-get offa me, faggots!" He screamed, still clinging to that rallying cry. Napalm took the chance to knee him in the face, causing him to finally stumble to the ground and groan in pain. It was over before it started. Almost... anti-climactic. But it was finally over. Scourge's grunts were outnumbered and weak, there was no way they were going to try again. They could finally, finally try and forget about them- "Holy shit...!" Manic's gaze fell on Scourge' fallen body, most of the band members following in suit. The band beat the jocks up, sure, but they didn't leave lasting damage. Clearly, they didn't share the same sentiment. Scourge's right calf appeared to have been snapped and fractured, one of his leg bones piercing through his own flesh. Oxide walked up to Scourge, staring him down as he got closer and closer to him, he could see him scared, helpless as he shook and almost cried from fear. Oxide kept staring him down. "......That's what you get for calling me faggot............you faggot....." A smirk spread across his face, but then he went to his normal stare as he turned around and walked away. "Hey!" It wasn't Scourge or any of his gang shouting at Oxide. It was Manic. "He's still got a bone through his leg, Oxi, don't be psycho!" He yelled. "Sonic, help me get him in the van." Everyone seemed shocked at this reaction. Even Scourge. "What the fuck are you doing?!" Scourge grunted out through his pain, trying to swat Manic's hands away. "Alright, those chucklefucks ain't coming back for you. Did they fuck you up for being some fag, too? Realize you were some asshole who couldn't even fight off one other kid?" Manic asked, standing over Scourge and staring him down. "Now you want to get to a hospital, or you wanna bleed out alone in a parking lot?" Scourge didn't respond, just angry staring and visceral shuddering. Manic picked him up by his left leg and lower chest, Sonic begrudgingly carrying him by the shoulders. "Oxi, grab the door." "For fucks sake....." Oxide cussed, pulling the door open for Scourge. "Faggots first~" He chuckled. They loaded Scourge into the back of the van, laying Scourge down in the back. While Tristan started the car up, Manic removed Scourge's jacket, using it as an improvised bandage for his leg. "Aaah! Stop, that jacket's expens- Mmmph!" Scourge tried to swat him off, but the pain was too much. "He's trying to save your life," Sonic said, holding him down by the shoulders to Manic could finish bandaging his leg. "I'm not gonna-" Scourge grunted again. "I'm not getting back with you, kid!" "You punched me in the face." Manic said. "You tried to mess with all of us, you think I'm still interested? Now shut up and let me help." "Remind me, why did we rescue this asshole if he's still gonna put up a fight about it?" Oxide asked, he was still not on the best of terms with Scourge. "Cause he's an asshole with a broken leg." Manic finished tying the bandage, himself and Sonic shifting back to give him space to lay. "And if we don't get him to a hospital, no one's gonna." Scourge was breathing heavily, but he wasn't hunched over in pain anymore. "Don't you mean, cause no one can resist~?" "You wanna be an asshole with a broken arm, too?" Scourge shut up, Manic leaned back and exhaled, and Sonic turned to speak to Manic. "So that wasn't just a trick, you actually dated him?" Manic looked out the window. "For like two months, nothing major." Sonic seemed shocked at the number Manic took nonchalantly. "Manic.....why did you date him?" Oxi asked Manic. How could he date an asshole like this? Given the glares from everyone else, it seemed like he wasn't alone in that thought. Manic shifted in his spot. "You wanna know? You sure?" He sighed again, and wrapped one of his arms around his left leg, now propped against his chest. "Uh, last summer, I..." He swallowed hard. "Well, I came out to some friends for the first time, and they weren't really friends." He was grinning and nervously laughing here and there, but there was plainly no joy. "They were... relentless. It was- I transferred from north just to get away, but they kept going. It just kept going, and going, and...!" He swallowed again. "I tried to put an end to it with a moving car... but the driver stopped. You wanna know who was driving that?" He barely needed to give an answer. "And you wanna know who smashed their faces in? And you wanna know who taught me about self care and all that crap, and who took me on some of the most exciting dates I've ever had?" Manic glowered at Scourge. "And I guess, who thought calling my friends faggots was gonna help? What, did you think that was a smart idea?" Scourge said nothing. From the way Manic shifted around, it seemed he was reliving a lot of harsh memories. "I care about you a ton, Oxide. But he saved my life. And trust me, when you'd kissing your man with stolen loot in the car and the cops seconds behind you..." He laughed, and looked nostalgically at the floor. "I'd be surprised if most people could make me that happy." "Why did you dump him then? If he made you so happy, then why did you leave him?" Oxide questioned. "What do you mean, why?!" Manic didn't even give Scourge time to agree with Oxide's point. "I didn't know his squad was the asshole-brigade, why the fuck would I stay with that?!" He pulled the sunglasses off of Scourge's forehead, pointing at him with the ends. "I don't care if you saved my life or not, you don't fuck with anyone I hang with." His hand dropped the glasses, and tugged on Scourge's scalp. "ESPECIALLY not Oxi. Got it?" "Yeah, whatever." "And you DON'T," He started up again, tugging him closer by his head. Sonic moved closer to try and motion for Manic to ease off. "let the whole circus of ass clowns scream faggot for any reason. Got it?" "Yeah, yeah, I get it!" Scourge shouted, Manic finally pulling away. "You know we hate each other," Sonic butted in. "Well, I'm not you," Manic added. "And you ain't me, so don't tell me how I should've felt." Oxide stayed quiet, the rest of the band did too. They soon reached the hospital and got Scourge on a stretcher. It was oddly silent outside of the hospital. Manic turned towards Oxide before he could enter the van. "Dude, just cause he did all that for me doesn't mean I don't care about you." He smiled at him, though clearly torn up inside. "I'm still your boyfriend, dude. Even Scourge won't change that." "Thanks mate." Oxi smiled, turning back to the hospital. "Still......we could've left him there for a little while longer." Oxi smirked. "Mmmmmaybe," Manic joked along. "Let's try not to piss him off next time." He sighed, as the six loaded back into the van. "But come on, it's finally done, babe, he's not gonna bother us. We don't need to worry about any of those other fucks, either." He gave Sonic a smarmy glare. "We've just gotta worry about keeping your food safe," he said very pointedly. "If you want to nab my food, at least wake me up asking if you can have it." Oxide laughed, falling backwards. "Oh shi-" Thud. Manic moved over and picked up Oxide off the floor, laughing. "Dude, you okay?" He was clearly okay. "So what, we gonna get more food and have this blue bungo pay for it?" "Alright," Sonic conceded, keeping that smarmy grin 'til the end. "I'll pay you back, happy?" "Sure. HEY TRISTAN! WE'RE GOIN' TO OKI DOGS! SONIC'S PAYING!" The van exploded with cheers. There was a sudden speed in the driving. It seemed like the love for this one hotdog stand was universal, even across the borders of musical taste. Sonic didn't seem to mind too much, and Manic certainly wasn't complaining. He gave Oxide a playful slap on the shoulder. "You're the best, you doof, even if you don't want me to see your place," he said, stealing the term from Oxide. "Hey, that's my word~" Oxi laughed. "Doof~ oh, and Tristan, Me and Jason are street punks, besides Napalm, who still lives with his parents." "Alright, so what? Ain't we all?" Manic said, not quite getting what he was saying. "I thought that's what being a punk meant!" As the car finally pulled up, there was a slightly awkward feeling in the air, especially from Sonic. "Uh, bro, street punk means..." Sonic whispered the definition to Oxide, who gradually grew more concerned as he heard. "W-Wait, woah." Manic sat up in shock. "All three of you are- You're homeless? I though... How long have you been-?" He didn't finish the question, at risk of saying something stupid. "Its my choice, I don't like hanging around preppy, Reagan loving 40 year olds, and my parents just happen to fit that description." Jason said. "I live in this van...." Tristan said in his normal monotone voice. Manic and Sonic seemed shocked. Sonic seemed to be more comfortable with the idea. "That's alright, guys, we're friends. We won't judge." Manic seemed very concerned. He leaned forward and spoke reverently to Oxide. He had an idea, but he had to be sure. "Did you come out, and they...?" Oxide was confused. "Huh? What are you talking about?" "Your parents, dude. Did they kick you out?" He sounded like he was scared for him. "Yah...." He said, looking straight ahead. The van was very quiet. "I had no idea, dude." Manic said. "I mean, you could- nah, that wouldn't work." He scratched the back of his head. "You mean the basement?" Sonic added. He turned around and faced Oxide and Jason. "They couldn't sleep there, they'd get kicked out." "We don't even have the space at home," Manic added. Four people into that small space was already a stretch. He wrenched his hands and looked to them both. "You don't just- do you just sleep in here?" "Yah, we at times will crash at Napalms, but most of the time it's just Jason. I'm a 17 year old punk, while Jason is a 13 year old punk. Plus I think Napalm's dad is a little bit on the racist side," Tristan said. Manic was going to ask Sonic, but he already knew what he wanted to say. "You guys all know where our place is, if you need to crash, we can try and make room," Sonic said. "We can talk Chuck into letting you in." "Besides, if you've survived this long, you're gonna be fine." Manic followed that by giving Oxide that same smug grin he loved. "Especially now that you've got Sonic and a green cabbage man to help you out," he said, making a contorted face to try and lighten the mood. "Well, your hair does look like someone put gel into dry lettuce," Oxi joked. They pulled into the parking lot of the Oki dogs and went inside, lining up to grab a bite. Sonic slammed his fist on the counter. "I need six chili dogs." Running built an appetite, it seemed. The stream of band members made their way to the counter, placing their various orders. As they waited for Sonic to pay, Manic turned towards Oxide, and smiled. "You've got a ton to deal with, don't you?" He darted his head to the side. No one who'd care was watching. He grabbed Oxide's hand. "I'm here to help, alright?" "I know babe~" He said, before kissing him there on the spot.

#Show's Over #There's A Melody Playing #oxidethehedgehog #strong language

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