It was a dark and stormy night.

Jim never could sleep on such nights. The wind and rain crashed against the newly built Benbow Inn, threatening to destroy it once more. It had only been one month since he had returned from his adventure on the R.L.S. Legacy, and already he was beginning to fall back into his old habits. He was rarely ever at home anymore, seeing as he spent most of his time solar surfing or exploring various parts of Montressor's main metropolis, Carito. In that time he had made friends with a few people whom his mother would never have approved of even if they had cleaned up their act. They were the high school drop outs, the druggies, and the most relaxed bunch of rebel teens he had ever met.

Jim new his mother worried about him. Everyone was worried about him, it seemed. They had thought his space adventure had straightened him out when, in truth, it had made him long for freedom even more.

I wanna get off this hunk-of-rock planet, he thought in frustration, sitting up in his bed and throwing off the covers. I'm not gonna come to any good here.

He pulled on a pair of baggy, olive green trousers which he stuffed into his combat boots, an old white beater, and his jacket so he would keep warm. Carefully, opening his window as to not wake his mother, he slipped out into the storm and leapt down from the roof. He ran down the pathway, using his jacket as a make-shift umbrella, and came to the cluster of bushes where he'd been hiding his solar board, since he knew that if anyone had found it they would have taken it from him. He untangled it from the leaves and jumped on it, pressing a button on the bottom that created a force field around him so he'd be protected from the weather. He stepped back and then zoomed off towards Carito.

Lori sighed in nervousness and contempt. She stared at her feet as she walked down the sidewalk, head bent in thought and hands stuffed into the pockets of her baggy grey capris. This was going to be interesting. Max wouldn't be too happy, that was for sure. He usually wanted her home by midnight at the latest, and it was now 1:30 in the morning. Atleast it had stopped raining.

I hope he's passed out drunk, she thought bitterly.

Max was her foster father, if you could even call him that. He was a drunken lowlife who worked part time at a packaging plant and loved to blame everything on other people. He couldn't afford to rent an apartment for the two of them, so most of the time they just lived with whichever woman he was with at the time. She reached their current residence, a dingy apartment in the worst part of town. Loud, sensual music pounded from inside Max's bedroom and she groaned inwardly.

Him and that woman are like fucking rabbits, she thought, turning around and walking back the way she came, only stopping once at a payphone. She put in her fifty cents and dialed a number. It rang twice before someone picked up.

"Hey Blake, its Lori," she said into the receiver. "You mind if I come over? Max is gettin' his freak on with the whore again. Alright. I'll be there in like twenty minutes. Yeah. Bye."

She hung up the phone and started walking again.

Jim soared down the streets on his solar board. His lengthy brown hair was tied back in its usual pony tail to keep it from blowing in his face, and his face had a look of utmost joy on it. He loved Carito; especially at night. It was so much better than the small port town where he lived. Even at night there was a blaze of activity, though most of it was a little more illegal than daytime city life. He took a sharp turn down an alley and stopped in front of a small set of stairs that went below ground level to a padlocked wooden door. He grinned, and took out a small silver key, which fit easily into the keyhole. As soon as the lock clicked open, the brick wall behind him started moving, sliding away to reveal another door. This one, however, was made of metal and had no lock or knob. Jim knocked quietly on the rusted metal surface and a small panel slid back. A pair of bright silver eyes stared into his.

"What up, Jim?" the owner of the eyes said, unlocking the door from the inside and letting him in. "I haven't seen you in a while…where ya been kid?"

The boy was a tall one, with shaggy black hair and those piercing silver eyes. He was clad in a black beater and baggy jeans with sneakers, and there was a lit cigarette between his index and middle finger.

"Around," Jim responded. "My mom is freaking out about the Academy thing. She keeps telling me that I should be home studying instead of 'solar surfing around like a lunatic'. Those were her exact words, too."

"Man that sucks," the boy said. "But here…come on in. Tay and Zander are over. You want a beer or anything?"

"Yeah," Jim sighed. 'A beer would be great."

He followed the boy (whose name was Blake) into a small living room with an odd assortment of furniture in it. Two boys sat in the room; one on a green beanbag chair, and the other stretched out across one of the beat up old couches.

"Jimmay!" Tay cried when he saw him. "Take a seat, my friend!"

"Hey," Jim said, nodding to both of the boys. Tay laughed and gave him the thumbs up, while Zander just dipped his head briefly in acknowledgement.

It was funny how Tay and Zander were best friends, for there could never have been two boys with as many differences as they had. Tay was a loud party boy, with shaggy dyed green hair and a lip piercing. His life was all about friends and partying and having a good time. Zander, on the other hand, was the quiet, shy type. He didn't talk much…only when he was talked to or if he was trying to illustrate a point. His dirty blonde hair was cut short and he only had one piercing in his left ear.

Jim took a seat in a broken reclining chair by the television and grabbed a beer from the cooler filled with ice next to him. He cracked it open and took a long swig of the brownish-gold liquid. He loved this place. From the other room he could hear Tristan's voice talking on the phone. He polished off his beer and reached for another one.