This is Not High School Musical

By Samurai-Nashie

Disclaimer: Hey, I didn't own them in the first seven chapters, what makes you think I own them now? Yup, didn't think so.

oOo

Revised: 3 April 2007

oOo

A few years ago, a couple of really, really, really evil people met during the annual Villains United conference held in Santa Barbara to discuss future plans for world domination through conquering various governments, uprooting the economic system, and finally putting a Starbucks with mind-controlling coffee on every known New York City block. During this conference, as per usual, some new items are added to the list of most evil things in the known universe.

Since the list's foundation back in the Middle Ages (where the plague was the first thing to be added onto the list, followed by potatoes and by this dude named Christopher Columbus who insisted he found the West Indies, and was intent on telling everyone within shouting difference that he was a genius for not falling off the face of the planet – even though many people wish he had), many different things have been added onto it.

Strangely enough, calculus was not one of them.

The cousins of calculus, namely physics (which was taken off the list after Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children came out, because hey, physics got a severe beating into oblivion in that movie) and algebra, held prominent positions on the list. But calculus, despite the argument of many of the villains at the conference, remained off the list, often given an honorable mention plaque instead.

After sitting through ten minutes of said calculus though, Marluxia was intent on not only getting the stupid subject on the list, but making it number one.

The scene had been shot late (due to some sort of disturbance in the floor above…something to do with a camera), so Larxene and Roxas were getting glared at by many of the extras as the Calculus Teacher Nobody prattled on about derivatives and exponentials and integrals. Neither of the two blondes seemed to care that many of the extras' animosity had turned towards them. Roxas simply glared at the chalkboard while Larxene twirled her (pink) pen in her hands, a decidedly curious, vengeful look in her eyes.

That did not bode well at all.

As the Calculus Teacher Nobody turned back towards the board to write down an equation, a slow grin spread across Larxene's face and she leaned over the lab table towards Roxas. "Hey, Roxas. About you and Axel…?"

Roxas frowned, glancing down at his notebook. "What about me and Axel?"

Larxene smirked. "Well…I just wanted to say, you two were looking awfully friendly earlier at the sign-up sheet." Roxas glared at her, but Larxene continued on. "Is there something you'd like to say?"

"He was just showing me around the school," came the distracted reply, as the blonde boy took one look at his calculus notes and one look at the board and then looked completely perplexed.

"He doesn't usually do that with new students," Larxene said off-handedly, that plotting look still in her eye. "You know…captain of the basketball team doesn't usually have time for things like that. You must be something else to be the exception."

"Not now, Larxene…" Roxas murmured, staring at his notebook. He looked back up again. "Um…am I still supposed to say something if the equation on the board is right?"

Behind the cameras, Ralph, who was pouring himself a nice size glass of whiskey, blinked. "Eh?"

"The equation on the board is right. Exactly what am I supposed to say?"

Ralph and the various members of the crew shared looks. Marluxia tapped the edge of his pencil against the desk in muted annoyance as they quickly stopped the cameras, walked over to the chalkboard, and erased the "right" part of equation, filling in a "wrong" answer instead. Ralph took a look at the crew's handiwork and gave a wan smile. "There you go. Now it's wrong. Go ahead and condemn away." Roxas sighed as the cameras began to roll again. He took once last glance down at his notebook, and then back up at the chalkboard.

"Then…it should say sixteen over pi."

The Calculus Teacher Nobody turned around, frowning. "Pardon?"

"The second equation is wrong…it should be sixteen over pi. It says…" Roxas trailed off as he stared at the chalkboard. "Are you serious? Did you guys actually write that?"

Silence on the set as all eyes turned towards the chalkboard.

Marluxia raised an eyebrow. "X over pi? Don't we already have a variable in this?"

"The 'n'?"

"Wait, are we trying to find out 'x' or 'n'?"

"If we have an 'x', shouldn't we have 'y' too?"

"Why?"

"Yeah."

"No, I mean, why?"

"Yeah. 'Y'."

Before the very bad, ill-placed Abbott-and-Costello joke could go any further, the teacher through its hands in the air, and quickly erased the 'x' putting the number '8' in its place. "There. Satisfied?"

Roxas blinked. "It's still not right. It should be sixteen over pi."

"Argh!" More frantic erasing. "There! Are you happy!? It's sixteen now!"

Roxas shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. I'm just following the script. For all I know, you could have been right." And with that, he turned back to his notebook, where he had been conveniently hiding his Nintendo DS. The Calculus Teacher Nobody gritted its teeth and turned its attention back to the board, muttering something under its breath about little blonde upstarts. Marluxia shook his head in annoyance and turned back to his own notebook, while Larxene, who had once again returned to her thoughtful pose, smiled and sat back up, that Cheshire cat smile still dancing across her lips.

Behind the cameras, Ralph reached for another glass of whiskey.

Thank goodness for him that the bell decided to ring at the exact moment. It took approximately 3.14 seconds for the classroom to be deserted of all Organization members and extras. And yes…that was a pun.

The crew began to clear out of the room too to head over to shoot the next scene – after all, they were behind schedule. They packed up their equipment as quickly as possible (meaning that it still took the better part of the hour) and headed towards the high school's main atrium, leaving Ralph in the room by himself, nursing his drink.

While he contemplated returning to the edge of the World That Never Was with the other Executive Nobodies, his phone began to ring.

"Hmm, an incoming call, you have! Answer it, you should! Hmm, an incoming call, you-" Ralph groaned and flipped open his nifty camera phone without checking the caller ID. "What do you want?"

Silence, and then, "Is that any way to talk to your Boss?"

Ralph turned an unhealthy shade of white, and if he hadn't been sitting down or somewhat fortified by liquor at that point, he would most likely have sprawled ungracefully onto the floor. Rather, he was still sitting in his (somewhat) comfortable director chair, and that saved him the embarrassment of collapsing on the floor. "Oh…hey. I didn't know…I didn't check…uh…"

"How's the project coming along?"

"Uh…it's coming…um…we're a bit behind schedule…there was an incident of sorts earlier…"

"Ralph, as the director, I have placed a lot of trust in your ability to complete this project on time and within budget." A heavy and very weight silence ensued (for those curious, the call had not been dropped – this was one of those dramatic, heart-pounding silences that were used to make a point). "I hope my faith was not misplaced."

Ralph was beginning to sweat. "No, no, no. Of course not! Nothing of the sort! We're going to be on schedule by tonight!"

"How is the cast doing? Are they aware of the true purpose of this project?"

Ready to kill me at the drop of the hat, sir. But, Ralph, being the courteous Executive Nobody that he was, simply said, "Fantastic. And, no."

More silence. "That's very good. I want to be posted on any changes in schedule. We're having our own problems over here with the lack of cooperation of–"

"Oh, right!" Ralph cut in, thankful that the subject had been changed. "How are the contract negotiations coming?"

"Not very well. They ran out on us. We called someone who may know their location, but he said he hadn't seen them either." A deep laugh on the other end of the phone. "But they'll come back. Nobody can escape us. Very soon, we'll take the Organization."

Ralph would have whimpered, but he was too busy chugging down the rest of his bottle of whiskey.

oOo

On the other side of the school (very far away from a soon-to-be drunk Executive Nobody), the extras milled around the hallway, in an aimless search of classes they didn't really have to go to. The Organization members were nowhere to be found…well, except for Numbers VIII and IX, who probably were still simmering over the events of last chapter.

But considering that the camera was now in Zexion's hands, they really had nothing to worry about.

Well, except for bad karaoke singers.

And Larxene.

But, hey, the world isn't all xenophobic spider monkeys and radioactive Twinkies.

Anyway…

The Organization's resident pyromaniac was standing in front of the audition sheet, peering at it very closely. That is, until some unknown random cast member who was probably part of the basketball team because he was in the gym during the first choreographed dance of the movie but his character doesn't really have a name so it doesn't matter if he was in the gym or not…well, that guy called Axel's named and hence, peeled him away from scrutinizing the audition sheet.

Demyx, who had been so nonchalantly standing near the atrium balcony, frowned, and headed towards the audition sheet. He reached out and grabbed Larxene, who was passing by in an attempt to get to the next scene as soon as possible so she could destroy her stupid pink outfit. The blonde young woman looked anything but pleased at having been halted in her walk, only to realize that she had literally been about to pass right through another scene that was being shot.

"Axel was looking at the audition sheet," Demyx reported.

Larxene frowned. "And what you told me earlier was true?" Demyx nodded with a brief shrug of his shoulder, causing the frown on Larxene's face to deepen. "Well, I guess we're just going to have to something about that. There's something strange about that new kid anyway." With a determined look on her face, she spun on her heel and continued her march to the library.

Demyx blinked. "Hey! Wait up!"

Both musician and crew (minus a now-probably-very-drink Director) had to nearly run after Larxene as she headed towards the library of the high school set. Like earlier in the day, extras (read: frightened students) cleared out of her path as she pushed the double doors of the library open and headed straight towards the computers. Pulling out a chair, she sat down and pulled up the Internet.

Demyx raced in after her only a few seconds later, flushed from his run. He strolled over to where Larxene was sitting and looked over her shoulder at the computer screen. "Did you really have to walk so fast?"

"The faster we get these scenes done, the faster we can get back to the World That Never Was." Underneath her breath, she added, "Xemnas is not going to be getting any sleep for the next two months, I swear."

A few moments later…

"Here we go…just what we needed," Larxene murmured as she pulled up a site so thoughtfully created by the computer graphics portion of the crew. On the site there was an article about how Roxas won some sort of trophy (or something) at some Academic Decathlon thingie (or something). While Demyx wondered exactly how they got Roxas to pose for the picture (though not smile – that would have been the workings of a miracle), Larxene printed out the sheet.

"Why do you think he actually wants to be in our musical?"

"You actually think he does? But, just in case, we have our first bit of blackmail. Now we just need the finishing touches."

And before anyone could stop her, she had already swept out of the library.

Demyx, meanwhile, realizing that the crew was sharing dubious looks at having to run all the way to the auditorium to shoot the next scene, took it upon himself to sit down at the computer and begin to surf YouTube.

A few minutes later, while watching some guy lip sync to some pop song, the phone in his pocket began to ring.

"Aruba, Jamaica – oooh, I wanna take ya to Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty-"

Demyx never did get the whole ringtone thing figured out.

"Hello?"

"Demyx, it's Zexion."

"Hey! What's up!?" Demyx minimized the window on his computer screen, completely ignoring (and probably completely ignorant of the fact) that if this was a real school, his cell phone would be confiscated, especially since they were in the library, and he would be handed over to the FBI, since the fact that he had a cell phone and was using it must mean that he's a a) cheater or b) an underground terrorist bent on taking over the world.

"I was going through the pictures on your camera."

Demyx grinned. "Yeah. Aren't they cool?"

There was a sigh on the other end of the line. "I found out what Axel was so upset about." Another pause. "I deleted those pictures, in case you're wondering."

"What? You're no fun, Zexion. Why?"

"Because I'm going to give the camera back to you after I show Axel all those pictures are gone."

"But–"

"Demyx," Zexion said sternly, and the blonde youth shut his mouth. "We need to make it through this project without the fangirls. Do you really want to a chance if these pictures were leaked to them? Or the Higher-Ups? Or worse – Larxene?"

Demyx groaned. "But it was an accident! I saw it!"

"And who exactly would believe you?"

"Eh…"

"My point exactly."

Demyx sighed, and leaned back in the desk chair, so that it was only balancing on its rear legs. "Okay, okay. I see your point." He then pouted miserably. "But it's so not my fault that those two have such crazy fans."

Zexion let out a long-suffering sigh on the other end of the phone – one could almost see him rubbing his temples in exasperation. "I'll talk to you later, Demyx."

"Yeah. Okay. Bye!"

Demyx hung up the phone, and then hesitated, a thoughtfully curious look appearing on his face. Teal eyes sparkled mischievously as he turned back towards the computer and maximized the YouTube website. With a grin, he began to type in something, and a few seconds later, another screen popped up that looked suspiciously like an Instant Messenger (how he managed something like that on a school computer will be added to on the list of mysteries of the universe).

With a cheerful smile, he began to type out a message.

Then, checking over his shoulder to make sure nobody was watching him, he sent the message and quickly closed the window. With that finished, he picked up his shoulder pack and, whistling his ringtone, strolled out of the library.

oOo

The narrator feels the need to check in on the Destiny Islands, just to make sure last chapter's incident wasn't a glitch…

The sky is still blue. The sand is still white. The kids are still playing. And everything is still disgustingly perfect.

And those four still aren't there.

…next time the narrator encounters Sora, he dies.

oOo

Somewhere else, in a place stuck in perpetual twilight (how's that for a very realistic daylight savings time?), Sora sneezed.

"Someone's talking about you again, Sora."

The unlucky brunette sniffed and rubbed his nose, making a face at his best friend. "Probably the narrator." He sighed, placing his hands on the back of his head. "This'll be the last place the narrator looks for us. Isn't it great?"

His other three friends shared looks, and muttered replies of something along the lines of, "No, not really." Sora sighed and rolled his eyes, leaning forward, his hands on his hips.

"C'mon guys. We can put my awesome plan into motion here! Hayner, Pence, and Olette will most definitely help us out!" At Riku and Kairi's glares, Sora made a face and then sighed, throwing his hands up in the air. "Oh, well, if you two have any ideas that are more brilliant, I'm all ears. But whatever we do, or Roxas will never speak to Naminé again! And that would cause the universe to unravel!"

Riku raised an eyebrow. "The universe as we know it is always unraveling, Sora." As Sora began to pout, Riku crossed his arms and looked towards the orangish-red sky. "But…you do have a point." He glanced over at Naminé. "And you can't just destroy the picture like last time, right?"

The blonde girl shook her head. "No, not this one." She bit her bottom lip. "This one has to stay. For Roxas."

Kairi hesitated, and then said, "But if it's going to be a problem…"

"It's not that it's a problem!" Naminé exclaimed, opening her notebook to the aforementioned page. "It's just if I destroy the picture, I lose any connection I might get with…" She trailed off. "Them." Sora, Riku, and Kairi shared looks. They all knew who 'them' was. How exactly they knew would be divulged into further, but the universe as they know it…well, it might start to unravel, and that would really, really suck.

"So, you can get in contact with both of them because of this picture, right?" Riku asked, as he peered at the sketch. "That's how they're remaining connected to this – through this picture, right?"

Naminé nodded and she held out her picture so that Sora and Kairi could see it too. "We would have been able to get in contact with all of them through the other picture, but…remember the pairings?"

Sora grinned at the reminder. "Yeah. Not going to be forgetting that anytime soon. If there's one thing stranger than me and Roxas, it's me and–"

"Sora!"

Somewhere in the KH fandom, a reader banged their head against a desk.

The keyblade master turned, a wide grin spreading across his face as three familiar figures ran towards them. "Hayner! Pence! Olette! Wow, it's good to see you guys!"

The Twilight Town trio, those three cheerful young kids from the Kingdom Hearts 2 prologue (it was not a three-hour tutorial, no matter what the strategy guide says), and Roxas' pseudo-best friends (hey, what else would you call them?), ran up to the quartet, wide grins on their faces. Well, except for Hayner, because he was too "cool" to smile. Whatever, Hayner.

"What are you guys doing here?" Olette asked curiously. "I thought you all went back home after…" She trailed off, and then grinned in embarrassment. "Well, after."

"We did, but…some issues have come up," Sora said with a bright smile. "And we're going to need your help." The trio shared dubious looks and then looked back at Sora, who had a very mischievous look in his eyes. "We need to send Roxas an e-mail. We're going to need to access that computer in that Haunted Mansion."

Hayner blinked. "Say what? Again? Man, you guys love going to that Haunted Mansion…"

"That's where a lot of plot points are at," murmured Riku under his breath, but when Hayner shot him a look, the silver-haired Keyblade master simply looked innocently at the sky.

Pence frowned and then nodded. "I think we can do that. Lets head over!"

"One thing," Hayner interrupted, and then pointed to something behind Riku. "That can't come."

Five heads turned to look at the "ANGST" sign that still hovered behind the tall young man. Sora began to laugh, Kairi giggled, and Naminé simply smiled while Olette and Pence stared.

"I swear," Riku muttered, "I'm selling this thing to Roxas."

oOo

Back on the high school set, it was time for detention.

Now, detention is often thought of to be this über-evil time of the day, where you have to write out "I will not disrupt the class by lighting hydrogen-filled balloons on fire" at least one-hundred times. Printed, not in cursive. On wide-rule paper. While listening to the teacher's Enya CD. Over and over and over again.

Except that's normal detention.

This was detention with Saïx.

Yes, you may run and scream in fear.

The auditorium stage was littered with props and sets and flats and costumes. Random extras both in detention and part of the stage crew wandered around, filling their time with sewing sequins onto costumes or painting a giant moon…from behind (because after all, the audience will definitely tells what the moon looks like from the back). Saïx walked back and forth across the stage, checking the progress of each student (though it looked as if he could care less what they were doing, despite the fact that the minute anyone goofed off, he would fix them with the glare of doom that said "I will go berserker on your sorry hide if you make me").

Roxas sighed, as he continued painting the back of the moon bright orange (after all, who exactly was going to see it?). This was probably the most lousy part of shooting this stupid film…next to shooting the rest of the film in general. Detention, he decided, was no fun.

He was about to get up and leave (where was Axel?) when Marluxia casually approached him, a sheet of paper in his hand. "If you want to join, that's fine."

"Huh?"

Marluxia held out the sheet of paper. "Good thing it's a Scholastic Decathlon and not a speech competition. We have our first competition next week, and there's certainly a spot for you." Roxas glanced at the papers, and then frowned.

"Where did you get those papers?"

"Didn't you put them in my locker?"

Roxas sighed. "This is my first day here – how in the world would I know where your locker is?"

"Touché." Marluxia sighed, and then ran a hand through his hair before giving an eloquent shrug. "Well, if you still want to join, we meet after school. Even though how you're supposed to catch up with our work and research in only a week is still beyond me."

The younger blonde said nothing, though he was probably thinking along the same lines. "I need to catch up on the curriculum here before I join anything."

Of course, Larxene was already on top of the situation. She walked over (from where she had been casually destroying the flood lights by blowing their fuses) and gave the two other Organization members a sly smile. "Well, well, well, Roxas. Doesn't this sound like a great opportunity? What better way to catch up in school than to spend some time with the school's smartest students?"

Roxas furrowed his brow. "What do you care?" Larxene twisted her mouth up, and looked about to say something sharp when Saïx walked past and just glared at the three of them. None of them said anything, but returned to working on…the giant moon and blowing light bulbs out.

Somewhere else, Xaldin realized two certain Nobodies were missing from a certain sports practice (the Choreographer Nobody had shown up and demanded that the team practice all the moves for the great big finale number). Xaldin, as one way have guessed, was none too pleased with this (both the dancing, and the fact that Axel and Luxord were MIA).

Back in the theatre, the cast members neither knew about this emergency rehearsal nor cared.

Axel, who was currently hanging from his knees from one of the lowered battens, was somehow managing to juggle a few tiny fireballs in his hands. Luxord, who was trying very hard to ignore the fire hazard only a few feet away, was resting against one of the painted trees, keeping one eye open on the tiny fireballs.

Saïx took one glance around the stage, and frowned. "I hope none of you make this a recurring habit, showing up in detention like this everyday." Someone in the back giggled at a joke, and Saïx shot said person a murderous look. The boy in question 'eeped' and promptly retrograded ten years, whimpering slightly. The blue-haired berserker continued to pace. "And while we're on the subject of detention, lets address this cell phone problem…"

"Let's not," someone said from the audience, and the cast turned their eyes to see a slightly-peeved Xaldin storming down the aisle. Somehow, someway, the crew had managed to talk him into wearing his "coach" outfit – a gray t-shirt, jeans, and whistle hanging from a cord around his neck. Not that anyone who saw Xaldin would believe he was a basketball coach. Especially by the way he had simply magically appeared from a dark portal near the back of the auditorium. "Where's my team, Saïx?"

Saïx frowned. "We're in the middle of something, Xaldin."

"Not anymore. I need those two in rehearsal. Now." Axel blinked, and casually flipped off the batten. Luxord stood, dusted off his pants, and the two made a hasty break for stage left.

The Organization's Number VII raised an eyebrow, and then gave Xaldin a cross look. "Care to explain why you're disrupting?"

"They have rehearsal in the gym."

"I didn't get a notice on that."

"Well, if you had just listening to the PA system, you would have heard that there was an emergency dance rehearsal for the basketball team…"

"That's trivial, Number III."

Xaldin's brows lowered and his sideburns quaked in annoyance. "So, you're saying it's trivial because it's not your scene, am I mistaken?"

On the stage, the extras and the other Organization members were beginning to move towards the exit. This, they realized, could only end very badly. Xaldin was around three seconds from pulling out his lances and Saïx looked quite tempted to go into berserker mode.

Fortunately, a certain principal came waltzing in through one of the black portals at that moment.

"Hey, guys!" Xigbar called, strolling down the aisle towards the stage. "Do you guys know how much longer we have until – oh." He took one look at the scene in front of him, and grinned. "Did I come at a bad time, or right on time?" He received two dark glares for his trouble, and he waved his hands in front of his face nonchalantly. "Oh, don't mind me. I just came to see if you guys had wrapped this scene up yet. Guess not."

"There are conflicts of interest at work here," Saïx said smoothly, golden eyes narrowed at Xaldin, who was currently giving the lower-ranking member the cold shoulder.

"There is a rehearsal in the gym," replied Xaldin. "It started at ten minutes ago, and if you had listened to the announcement, you would have realized–"

"Woah, woah, woah," Xigbar interrupted, waving his finger. "You dudes need to chill. You're getting way into our parts, and that's crazy creepy." He smirked. "I'm pulling ranks on both of you. This scene is obviously done, so Xaldin – you can go and do your dance rehearsal. And Saïx – you can stop being a drama queen."

On stage, Larxene snickered and Roxas choked back a laugh.

Neither Xaldin nor Saïx found the remarks funny.

But their irritation with Xigbar would have to be taken out on his person another day, because someone from the crew meekly called, "Cut?"

Two pairs of very annoyed eyes turned towards the unfortunate crew member who muttered a short 'eep' before swooning, and falling face first onto the floor.

Intimidating? Why in the world would anyone think that?

Since detention was finally over (and the senior Organization members were currently having a test of the wills out in the audience), Roxas dropped his brush into the first bucket he saw and ran out of the auditorium. Larxene watched him leave as Demyx approached her, wiping a fleck of dry paint from his shirt. "What's that look for?"

"I'm just wondering how good they really are," Larxene said thoughtfully. "We might have to raise the bar." Demyx blinked at her.

"You're not serious – you want us to perform for real?"

"I'm not letting Axel get the upper hand on this one."

Demyx continued to stare at her as if she had lost her mind. Larxene smirked at him and then began to head towards the opposite wing Roxas had fled to. "Like I told you before, this script is already going to hell. Might as well help it along by changing one of the major plot points."

"We can't do that," protested Demyx, following her.

"Says who?" Larxene spun around and fixed the taller blonde with a sharp glare. "If those Higher-Ups think that they can stuff us into these tacky characters with their stupid dance moves and silly clichéd feelings about how believing in yourself will overcome all odds, well, they've got another thing coming! I am not going to sit here and go along with every little piece of crap they feed to us."

Demyx sighed. "But, Larxene–"

A glare from the lithe young woman shut him up.

After a moment, she crossed her arms and frowned at him. "Well? Are you going to do this with me or not? Let me remind you that if you choose the latter, it will not be a pleasant shoot for you."

Demyx scratched the back of his head at the unsubtle threat, and then let out a groan. "Fine, fine. I'm in."

Larxene grinned at him. "Perfect."

oOo

Out in the front of the school, Roxas, who had not managed to escape the clutches of the camera crew fast enough, was wondering who thought it would be a bright idea to make him and Marluxia best friends in the movie. After all, this was the same pink-haired assassin who had attempted to use his Somebody as a pawn to take over the Organization…

Roxas then paused, wondering if he was supposed to know that bit of information.

Probably not, he mused, as he and the taller Organization member walked on the edge of the grassy campus, amongst random yellow school buses and of course, the extras, who were relieved that the day of filming was finally, finally drawing to a close. Along with a lot of other things I'm not supposed to know…ah well.

It wasn't that he didn't like Marluxia. It was just that, except for the Axel (who was undeniably his best friend – the friend part should be emphasized) and Demyx (who Roxas looked at with a sort of exasperated sibling-like fondness), Roxas was pretty much indifferent to all the other Organization members. Well, except for Vexen and Saïx – they were both scary. And Xemnas…but the Superior was just strange, with his fanatical devotion to a non-solid door to light.

"Our team…doesn't exactly produce the desired results that we're looking for," Marluxia said nonchalantly. "We study all the material for the meet, but still haven't managed to reach our goals."

"You guys suck, in other words," said Roxas, ignoring the dark look Marluxia shot his way. "Well, it's true."

The Organization's assassin muttered something under his breath (something that sounded a lot like an insult that Roxas was willingly to ignore for the sake of getting the stupid scene over and done with), and then said. "You could help us out this year. Like you so adequately stated, we could use the help."

"I don't know," Roxas shrugged. "I told Larxene that I really need to catch up on the work here. I don't think I'm up to joining anything." He hesitated for a moment, and then added, "What do you know about Axel? The captain of the basketball team?"

Marluxia gave him a long look. "Why do you want to know?"

"Curiosity."

"Well, I personally don't hang out with that clique." He waved his hand towards the gaggle (flock?) of cheerleaders practicing their moves a few yards away. "You should ask them." Roxas took one look at the cheerleaders, who looked to be the ultimate type of fangirl, and decided, in fear of his own future mental health, that he would just pass that little scene by.

"Uh…no thanks."

"Here in high school, subcultures are strong. You either fit in one or you don't."

"So this is why you guys hated high school?" He smiled at the taller Organization member. "Exactly what clique were you in?" Again, Marluxia glared and muttered something that was probably an insult under his breath. Roxas simply looked towards the sky, and wondered exactly how much trouble he would get into if he and Axel would blow up the Higher-Ups offices.

It was a very tempting thought indeed.

oOo

Zexion was unpleased.

No, that would have been an understatement. Zexion was as annoyed as he could possibly get while maintaining the fact that he was a Nobody, and…well, you know the spiel.

He had just managed to cut out of the dance rehearsal earlier, completely convinced that it would take a lot more than the Higher-Ups' threats for him to actually dance in the finale. Not only was the song too goody-goody (which set his nerves on end), but the dance moves were a little too energetic, a little too happy, and a little too irritating to make him stay in a relatively good mood.

So, yeah. Zexion was unhappy.

He had managed to find a quiet area of the school to sit and brood (read: start reading Hamlet). It was outside, far away from the busy half of the high school set, just on the edges of the grassy area surrounding the school. To make sure no one would find him, he had easily climbed a tree and now sat on one of the thick lower branches, perfectly content with ignoring the shoot schedule for the rest of the day.

Of course, not everyone got the notice that Zexion was to be undisturbed.

Around ten minutes after he had found his peace and quiet, the Organization's Number V (who, if you recall, has been missing since chapter four), approached the tree, and looked up, only to see the smaller Organization member glaring down at him. "What?"

"You do realize that they're wrapping it up for the day," Lexaeus asked, lowering his hood. Unlike the other Nobodies, he had yet to change into his costume – probably because he was the only one who had yet to appear in the movie. "I don't think it's necessary to hide anymore."

"They're not doing that scene with Axel and Xaldin, then?"

"They're finishing that up tonight." The heavily-muscled Organization member shrugged. "I almost feel sorry for them."

Zexion slowly climbed down from the tree, and landed in the grass. "Tomorrow is the auditions, right? That's not going to go over well with anyone. Especially not Larxene or Demyx…" He abruptly trailed off, cupping his chin in his hand. "Oh, dear." Lexaeus gave the shorter man a look as they began to walk back towards the school, but said nothing. It was probably bad news by the way Zexion had ominously trailed off (and when Zexion ominously trails off, you should automatically know that nothing good can come from it).

After a few more silent minutes, Zexion rubbed his left temple. "Have you seen either of them lately?"

Lexaeus shook his head. "Not since earlier today. I passed Demyx on his way to the detention scene. Why?"

"Nothing. Just a sinking feeling I suddenly got."

After another long moment of silence, Lexaeus finally asked, "It's going to be an interesting audition tomorrow, isn't it?"

"That may be the understatement of the year…"

The red-haired Organization member groaned.

"Perfect."

oOo

Hey…whatever happened to Ralph?

The last time the poor, stressed-out Executive-turned-Director Nobody was mentioned, he was currently drowning his sorrows in whiskey.

Hmmm…do you think it's possible for Nobodies to get drunk?

"Naw…" Ralph slurred from some unknown location in the school. "No poshible way…no friggin' way could Nobodies get drunk…ish…ly…" Swoon, faint, collapse…bam.

The narrator guesses that answers that question.

The narrator also supposes that the crew should just let the Director sleep it off…at least until next chapter. Because a Director with a hangover plus four auditioning Organization members is the equivalent of fun.

Or something akin to it.

oOo

Author's Note (11 Mar 07): Hi, readers. This chapter officially marks the longest one yet. Eleven pages of High School Musical goodness (relatively speaking).

Of course, some of you are probably wondering where are the auditions I promised in the last chapter? Well, I underestimated the running time of High School Musical, and completely forgot about the all the little details before the detention scene, plus that little scene afterwards. So, the auditions won't be until next chapter. The next chapter will probably also have "Stick to the Status Quo".

Hehehe…Zexion gets a solo.

Um, random notes? Am I the only one slightly disturbed by the way Marluxia is the only person who is pretty much getting all of his lines right? And as for the ringtones…Ralph's ringtone is Yoda, and Demyx's ringtone is " Kokomo" by The Beach Boys. I think I'm going to have to give Demyx a new ringtone…though that does give me some interesting ideas for future chapters.

And there's actually a real-life story behind the radioactive Twinkie. Sad, but true.

So, I'm off for draw my KH "Royalty" picture (more details on that later), and I'll be back in one or two weeks with the ninth chapter of This is Not High School Musical, because both Somebody, Somewhere, Someday and Please Excuse My French are both whining for attention.

Oh, and almost gave away the identity of one of the six mysterious people, but I decided giving the first letter of their name would gave been too much of a give away. Keep guessing, and thanks for the reviews the hits and the favorites, once again! I love you guys!

- Nashie