…Disclaimer- Stef and Tazz do not own the Texts Jade and Josh visit. Or the characters from them. So if you recognise something, it's probably not ours. But hey, the rest of it is ours- go us! XD…

…TextHoppers…

Jade

It was dark. It was so dark that any light seemed to be absorbed. Suddenly, a flash of light and a girl's pale face. She was too young to be doing this, but at the same time seemed too old. She was scared. There was a muffled noise in the darkness and she crouched, listening for the source of the noise.

But it was too late.

It slammed into her back.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP -

"Murrrphingleh…" Jade gurgled. The stupid alarm had gone off early again. It was still dark out and Jade had been blissfully asleep.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP-

What had she been dreaming about? Jade wished, not for the first time, that she could remember her dreams.

BEEP BEEP BEEP-

CRASH.

Jade's fist smashed into the alarm clock. With a fading Whirr! It slid off the bench.

"Mnmphingfff…" Jade murmured into her pillow. She dragged herself out of bed. Her head was pounding, nose stinging. The latter had been broken yesterday when a thug from Matthew Reilly's 'Ice Station' had put his fist through it. Sometimes you just really, really hate the French, Jade decided. When they break your nose, that is.

"Okay, so it wasn't the ENTIRE French race that crushed my cartilage," Jade muttered, staggering to the mirror in her bathroom. "Just one bozo. And hey, they make good food… the chocolate shop in 'Chocolat' was brilliant. However," She reasoned, "That was a Mayan-based business. Can't really credit it to the French."

The bridge of Jade's nose was a horrible yellowy-blue colour. The skin around her left eye was black and there were cuts all over her chin from falling on ice. Two of her fingers seemed to be broken- her ribs were bruised.

"How long will my body take this abuse?" Jade wondered pleasantly aloud. She fingered the painful part of her nose and braced herself for what was coming next.

With a horrible crunching noise, Jade pushed her battered nose back in place. This was not a new occurrence- she had broken her nose before. It would take only a little while to heal- she always healed fast. Until it had healed, she would keep it out of range of any flailing fists.

She registered that it was still dark out but instead of ducking back into her warm bed like her body firmly instructed, Jade dragged her morning-fresh self into the shower, where she spent a good half-hour trying to avoid her injuries as she washed.

She rubbed the steam off the mirror and appraised herself. An old cut had reopened on her hairline and she brushed antiseptic cream into it, noting that her right ear was recovering nicely. Due to some immense stupidity, she had worn hoop earrings to school one day. Unfortunately school was not where she remained- she was instead dispatched on a mission. Some misguided soul- that Jade was brawling with- took it upon himself to rip the earring out, leaving Jade's ear torn. Needless to say, Jade had shown them the error of their ways.

She ran a brush through her hair. Jade kept her hair short- it was low maintenance and otherwise it was an easy handhold for someone in a fight. Her hair was white blonde with undertones of champagne. Her eyes matched the studs in her left ear- emerald. Bow shaped lips completed the picture- at least they would if Jade was looking at all picturesque. As it was, there wasn't an inch of Jade that hadn't been bruised or abused.

Coffee- that was what she needed. Not the generic instant crap from the cupboard over the sink, but real coffee with sugar and cream. There was one hindrance to Jade's plan- she was only wearing a towel. The solution? Get dressed. Picking an outfit always made Jade happy.

Most of Jade's clothes were carefully chosen for their usefulness in the field. Today, Jade chose a reinforced black vest over an olive coloured long-sleeved shirt. With this went, of course, camouflage army pants. Jade had a 'thing' for leather- vegetarian she was not. She loved its' texture and durability, especially the waterproofing you could get when you went to the right places. Jade grabbed her leather boots, jacket and canvas backpack, making a mental note of the latter's contents. She was no girl scout, but she was always prepared. She had the basic tools of her trade- matches, rope, weapons concealed in secret pockets. And then the perfectly innocent items that could be used for more purposes than their manufacturers had intended- compacts of pressed powder and hairspray for befuddling lasers. A few hairclips that had been carefully modified. A pocket computer. And Lip gloss, because fighting bad guys was a lip-chapping business.

Jade added the things she would need for school- some paper, mobile phone and her wallet. She had a pen that doubled as a flashlight and digital camera already inside her bag.

She grabbed her gloves and left.

Jade was in her tenth year of schooling. The work was easy- it always had been, though she had help. Rare was it for Jade to actually make it to school, however. At fifteen years of age, Jade surpassed her teachers in every class. It amazed everyone but Jade but she could understand why it was so amazing. After all, every time Jade actually made it to school she promptly fell asleep. Not to mention the discomfort caused by her constant injuries. She'd been sent to the school counsellor more times than she could remember. Sometimes she even went! But the conversation always went the same way. The counsellor would act very understanding and ask Jade if she had problems at home- perhaps her parents hit her? Jade always laughed at the absurdity of that. After all, her parents were never home- when would THEY get a chance to beat her?

The air was crisp as Jade stepped out of her apartment building, nodding at the doorman as she went. Jade sniffed- she felt secure with the familiar smell of the city. Exhaust fumes, garbage, coffee, the perfume of people walking past- yeah, this was home. She felt herself enwrapped by the familiar din of the city as she made her way across the city to school. Lucky for her, there were a few coffee shops along the way. Jade had no favourite- she picked one at random and went in. It was filled with business suit-types ingesting their caffeine fix in their rush to work and glazed-eyed people who seemed to be in no rush to be anywhere- there were a lot of these people in the city. Jade thought of them as people without a purpose.

As usual, it was a struggle for Jade to get what she wanted. She knew she looked younger than she was, being short and blonde. Generally the sight of her battered face was enough to incite a certain amount of nurturing instinct in people and they tried, unsuccessfully, to care for her. Jade cared for herself. She did not need the waitress to try to deny her coffee on the basis that it would stunt her growth.

"All I want is coffee with cream and sugar. Coffee is what I want." Jade rubbed her temples. What was WRONG with these people?

"You're really a bit young for coffee, Hon," Said the scraggly waitress for the millionth time.

"Please," Jade growled through clenched teeth, "Can I just get a cup of coffee?"

"Caffeine is really bad for your heart, especially when you're young. Are you sure you don't want a nice hot chocolate? Or a milkshake? We have five flavours…"

"NO I do not want a MILKSHAKE, I WANT a cup of COFFEE! Do I HAVE to speak with the MANAGER? BRING ME COFFEE!" Jade cried in a strangled voice, shocking several people sitting nearby but apparently not perturbing the waitress one tiny bit.

"We're out of cream," The waitress announced indifferently.

"Arrrrrggghhh!" Jade cried, anguished. "Fine! Milk! BRING IT TO ME." She growled in what she hoped was a threatening manner.

"That will be two dollars."

With a caffeine fix circulating her veins, Jade finally felt alive. She arrived at school feeling fresh and content. She went into the library and immediately fell asleep, waking only to the sound of the 'shark warning' siren that was the school bell.

Her teachers hadn't expected to see her but then, they never did. It threw them off their lesson plans to see Jade lounging in the back seats. By morning break, word had spread- Jade Maguire was present. Disturb her at your own cost. You see, Jade was somewhat a legend at her school. The teachers called her kind 'diamond in the rough' as there was no denying her potential under her apathetic attitude. The students were a little bit scared, a little bit curious- Jade seemed tough enough to cut glass. Of course Jade wasn't as tough as her reputation. She just had an inability to tolerate bullshit or ########, that was all.

There were none that Jade called friends, but plenty ready to call her enemy. In her first week at the school, Jade had taken out of action the biggest, strongest bullies. Since then, bullies looked twice before they picked on someone to make sure Jade wasn't around. Jade had fought seasoned soldiers and martial arts experts- High School dropkicks were nothing.

It was morning break. Jade was walking to the cafeteria when, suddenly, WHOOSH! She went hurtling through the grey void, coming to rest on her favourite squishy chair.

"Oh, no. Not now! I was just about to get a Mars Bar!" Jade yelled at no-one in particular.

"There will be plenty of time for Mars Bars later," Drawled a dreamy voice.

"Although you really shouldn't… Getting a little pudgier around the middle, aren't we?" sneered a snide voice.

"Well, you might be, but I most certainly am not." Jade snapped, covertly prodding her belly. Dear God! Was she getting fat? She'd be a disgrace!

That's it, she decided. No more cream in MY coffee.

Apart from the chair Jade was sitting on, Jade could see very little. The floor, the walls, the roof- they were all covered in a kind of heavy mist. Jade was not sure why it was misty but in her line of work it was better to just accept the circumstances instead of questioning how and why.

Suddenly, a figure materialised out of the mist.

It was one of the Muses.

For twelve years, Jade had been jumping uncontrollably through 'Texts'. 'Texts' meant books, movies, television, music and literature. The five Muses, sometimes unsatisfied with their work or even just plain in need of entertainment, would pluck Jade from mid-jump and deposit her in a text of their choosing, instead of the random text she would have ended up in. Jade then had a mission to fix or change the text. The Muses could not do this themselves because all texts, once created, exist in 'real time'. The characters were real, alive- just, perhaps, in parallel realities. Because it was real, the characters had free will. This meant that sometimes things did not go as planned in a text as, basically, the greatest stories write themselves. So, when things were not going accordingly, the only solution was to put someone else with free will into the equation to nudge the story along. Generally, that someone else was Jade.

In exchange for her 'nudging', Jade was paid a handsome wage and was 'Muse-taught'. This meant that the Muses implanted need-to-know information straight into her head. On top of that, they did her homework! It was a win-win situation. And that was why Jade was top of her classes- when you are Muse-taught, you generally retain information extremely well.

Also, Jade was sometimes sent on special missions to different texts to learn Combat skills. She'd spent a lot of time in different texts learning martial arts and so on from people like Lara Croft, Jackie Chan'###### characters and Wolverine. It was a fulfilling life- and Hell, was it fun.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my good buddy Thinker." Jade drawled. She had nicknames for all the Muses, determined by their characteristics. There was Dreamer, Whinger, Chief, Mother and Thinker, who had materialised out of the fog. Literally, as it would seem. The fog made up a 3-D image of what a human torso should look like, with limbs that disappeared into the mist behind. The figure was wearing some kind of robe and its' long hair floated around its' head like a strange halo. The mist was all a pale blue, with pink and purple undertones. It was the colour of a dusk sky. Only the eyes stood out- totally dark and impossibly blue, shining like stars. Over one of these eyes, however, was a raised eyebrow.

"You're off-track, Jade. What happened to all the books you were supposed to read?" Thinker asked, semi-sternly.

"Yeah, well, after yesterday I was kinda beat. I fell asleep." Jade glared. She did NOT feel like making excuses- she had gone to Hell and back yesterday and this was the thanks she got? An interrogation about homework?

"That's not good enough, Jade. There is much you need to learn."

"Then stick it straight to my brain? HELLO? Did you MISS the fact that my nose got broken? I was almost EATEN BY A MUTATED SEAL! Did you not SEE that? Isn't that why I'm doing this? To ENTERTAIN you?" Jade yelled, springing from her seat. Before, she'd been pissed off. Now, she was FURIOUS.

"Look, I don't know how long I can take this! I'm always exhausted, and always in agony. Not even by my choosing, either. How can you sit back and let me do this? The past five years… they've been painful." She looked at the ground, close to tears. "My nose Hurts, and I don't think I can take it… I can't have a normal life! Ever! And I can't have friends, and I'll always be alone." She sniffled and sat down, outburst over. She was kind of shocked she'd said all that- she hadn't even been thinking it; it had all just spilled out of her. And once she-d started, she couldn't stop. It was a horrible lapse in self-control and she was quite upset with herself. It had all just exploded out, like verbal diarrhoea. Gross.

Thinker stood quiet, thoughtful look on Her- His? Its'? Face. Suddenly-

"When was the last time you saw your parents?" Thinker asked. Jade laughed derisively.

"Why? You think they can help me? You know what they're like. The last time I saw them was…" Jade thought back. When had it been? When was the last time her parents went rushing out the door?

It was always the same. Jade raised herself- she always had. Her parents were Very Important People, pillars of the community. They were diplomatic Ambassadors, always rushing off. All Jade's parents were to her was a source of income, empty rooms and a whiff of perfume. They were a peck on the cheek as they rushed past out the door.

They'd bought Jade's apartment when she expressed a desire to live in the city.

"Well, she's intelligent enough to care for herself, so why not?" Her mother had said. There was no, 'dear, the crime rate is skyrocketing and we don't feel comfortable leaving you alone in a strange city' or 'your schoolwork will suffer in moving to a new school'. It was just, 'yes, honey, we won't be there anyway- anything to make you happy!'

So, the four-bedroom penthouse had been purchased and Jade set up. All new furniture and clothes were bought for her- Jade did not bring anything from their country Villa with her. Except her favourite old leather jacket, that was. The one that her mother hated. Jade's apartment was filled with all kinds of random, unnecessary, expensive crap. She had a maid that came while she was at school and a housekeeper to do the shopping and 'take care of her'. Both of which obviously thought Jade was on Crack, or in a gang or something. Not that Jade cared, of course. She was happy being in the city she loved. She had an extensive fund set up to fund her lifestyle which was purely for her private use. Life should have been perfect.

It had been at least four months since Jade had seen her parents. They had been climbing into a taxi at the foot of her apartment building when she got home from school.

"Ciao, Darling!" her mother had called from the cab, blowing kisses as they zoomed away. Jade had just stared. She then spent an hour in silence in her room before finally throwing a priceless antique vase out the window.

She raised her head.

"Two months." Jade said defiantly, glaring at Thinker. Why she was lying, she didn't know. Something in her just didn't want any more pity. "It's been two months since I saw them last."

Thinker looked weary. They both knew Jade was lying.

"Don't act like it doesn't bother you. We know." Mother materialized and stood beside Thinker. All the Muses looked similar but for the colour of their eyes- Mother's were a ######### and sympathetic brown. Jade looked away.

"We can't change them, Jade. But we will always support you. We're-"

"Yeah, yeah. If I ever need to whinge about the lemons life gave me, I'll give you a call." said Jade brusquely. She tried to be strong. These counselling types were all the same- 'let's talk about your parents, Jade.' Hello, she didn't have abandonment issues. She did, however, have an I-want-my-mars-bar issue. And it was kinda taking priority.

"Alright," Mother sighed resignedly.

"Where am I going this time?" Jade asked standing and stretching. The conversation was over- for now.

"A movie- you should like it." Thinker said, and the familiar pulling sensation began and Jade went spinning into the void and out the other side again.

Josh

The misty room gave a slight rumble and a fifteen year old boy was spat out of nowhere and lay sprawled on the floor. As spontaneously as he had landed-

"JOSHUA BARTEZ!"

The bellowed words rang through the mist, throwing it swivelling through the air.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" This voice was different to the first.

"HOW-"

"WHAT?"

"WHO?"

"HOW!?! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?!!"

Joshua lightly shifted his head. It felt like two pieces. A laceration on the right side of his forehead was leaking blood. His whole face looked like it had been run back and forth across a cheese grater. Stains of dried blood were splashed across it. But his injuries were the least of his problems.

Five figures emerged from the mist, their ghostly features twisted by rage. They were the Muses, and they were NOT happy.

Josh pushed up his mangled body and reached for the barker lounger. He sat, poised for the explosion.

"Joshua! What happened?"

"Look…" he said slowly.

"You know the rules!"

"She was being a #####." Josh winced as he shifted in the seat.

"What does THAT matter?"

"Look," He said, temper rising. "You saw what she was doing."

"We DO NOT care!"

"You KILLED LARA CROFT!"

"It was an accident," Josh replied defensively. "I really didn't think she would die…"

"You SHOT HER in the HEAD!!!"

"Okay, so I knew she would die, but-"

"But WHAT? Do you REALISE what you have done?"

Josh looked down dejectedly. He didn't really mean to have killed her, but if he hadn't, the situation would have gotten a lot worse.

"Look, Josh." said Mother, the first rational voice that had spoken since he arrived back. "We realise Lara was aggravating you but you really do need to learn to control your temper. This behaviour is unacceptable."

"Yes. You really do have a bad problem, Josh. We don't understand your strange nature." Chief continued. "You seem to only be able to reach emotional extremities. You are either nicer than the average person or driven mad by your temper. This needs to be sorted out, Josh. That is why…"

"Why what?" Josh asked uneasily.

"We are arranging for you to have anger management classes."

"WHA-" Josh began. But as soon as he had opened his mouth, Whinger had thrown a bunch of papers at him and as he caught them he felt the familiar pulling sensation and was hurtling through the grey void.

The Muses remained, subdued, in the misty room after Josh had gone. They looked at other with a mixture or apprehension and weariness. In the very near future, Jade and Josh would meet. And Jade was going to kill him.

…Howzat for a first installment? Hope you like it. Flame if not. We always love reading fiery reviews… Or just tell us what it needs.