A/N: Okay, so there's been some swearing going on in this fic and I would like to apologize for that. It happens a little bit more in this chapter, but it's only because I feel like it's fitting given what is currently happening. Everything is lil freaky right now, yknow?

Also, thank you FlightFeathers for your lovely review! I tried my best to make Aster and Jackson's friendship both realistic and bearable, haha. And I had to reread this fic, too, because it's been awhile since I've looked at it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Here, have some shenanigans everyone!

Her back was itching.

That was Tooth's first thought as she stared bleary-eyed at her nightstand, where her phone rang.

It was her alarm and it was already 6:30 in the morning.

The night before was a long one, but she'd managed to make it home in time to see her parents and act like everything was normal. She'd went upstairs, changed into her pajamas, and passed out on her bed very promptly after. For once, she couldn't bring herself to brush her teeth before the exhaustion took her over.

When she remembered her unclean teeth, she gasped and sat straight up in bed.

"Oh, no…" She mumbled, rubbing her eyes as she grabbed her phone and turned off her alarm.

The sound of her parents prepping for a new day of work followed her as she stepped into the hallway and into her bathroom.

She turned on the sink, not minding a single glance at her reflection, and got her toothbrush from it's holder. She ran the bristles underneath the water and shut it off before getting her toothpaste next. As she squeezed the toothpaste, her back twitched again, the same itchy feeling crawling along her shoulders. She did her best to ignore it as she began scrubbing at her teeth and gums, keeping in mind that she shouldn't do it too roughly.

As she made her way back to her molars, the itchy feeling came back, much more intensely this time.

She groaned, bringing her toothbrush away and reaching behind her back, trying to get to the source of the-

Her fingers brushed against something.

It felt strange, like a knot beneath her skin.

She froze, fingers hovering over the knot, before bending over and spitting into the sink.

Her other arm reached up from behind, trying to find the knot from there. Instead, it found something that twitched from the contact her hand made.

She bit back a scream, keeping in mind that her parents were downstairs, but her thoughts raced without any sign of calming down.

Whatever twitched- she couldn't explain it but…

She could feel it.

She felt her hand when it brushed against it.

Tooth gathered herself enough the take a deep breath.

Look in the mirror in three…

Two…

One…

She brought her eyes to her reflection and immediately spotted something that made her want to shed her skin.

Behind her, sticking out just below the angle of her arms, was a pair of iridescent wings on either side.

Tooth sucked in a sharp breath and the wings twitched along with her in agitation.

She quickly turned around, eyes never leaving herself in the mirror and saw what had caused the knot.

Right in the center of her back, between her shoulder blades, was where the wings had grown out.

Tooth felt her head swim for a moment and she grabbed her bathroom counter to steady herself.

Her breathing became panicked as one thought settled in her head: She had wings.

I have freaking wings.

Nic stood over his crushed nightstand, eyes wide and jaw ajar.

Half of him was shocked and impressed, the other half scared and saddened.

He'd made the nightstand with his father many years ago, right after they'd moved to Burgess. He was upset about the move and his father offered to teach him the craft of woodworking in order to help him overcome his sadness. The nightstand was the very first thing he'd ever created.

And now it was nothing but splinters held up by a mess of snapped legs after he'd only tried to shut off his alarm.

His phone buzzed in his hand and, for once, Nic was glad that he had to use an actual alarm clock to wake himself up. Phones weren't nearly loud enough, apparently, and he was thankful that that was the case this particular morning. He eyed the screen, moving away from the pile of wood next to his bed.

He had a group text from Tooth that read:

OKAY PLEASE TELL ME I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE HAVING A VERY MESSED UP MORNING.

I AM BEGGING YOU.

No one had responded yet, so Nic shrugged and took a picture of his ruined nightstand, captioning it with "You will never believe." before he hit send.

He knew he was a strong fellow, but this…

This was ridiculous.

Aster couldn't help the scream that escaped his mouth.

Quickly, he clamped a hand over his mouth as he heard his mom yell downstairs.

"Aster? You all right?"

"Yes, Mum! Just saw a spider! Haha, little bugger…" His voice trailed off as he forced another laugh, grabbing the door and slamming it shut.

He couldn't take his eyes off of the mirror on his door.

His hair- it wasn't blond anymore.

It was gray.

And not just any gray, like you'd see on an old person, strung with silver and white, blinking highlights and lowlights in the sun.

It was a flat shade, matte and plain.

He ran his hand through his new and strange hair, trying to find his natural golden roots. But there was only gray, gray, gray.

His phone buzzed on top of his dresser for the second time in the past five minutes and he shot it a look of desperation, as if it held all the answers to the multitude of questions racing through his mind.

He snatched it without a second thought.

Whatever was going on, it was incredible.

Sandy watched as the sand twirled between his fingers, a bright, pure shade of gold.

It stuck to his hand after he'd grabbed his shoes from the closet, the same pair he'd worn the night before. As soon as it had touched his palms, it began to glow.

He flexed his palm, stretching his fingers out as he turned his hand over, towards the ground. The sand floated out, collecting in small bunches at his fingertips.

A knock at his door, just a moment before it swung open, caused him to jump and lose his focus. The sand dropped from his control, pattering to the wooden floor.

His mother looked in and saw him, exhaling in obvious relief. "Oh, Sanderson, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I can't find the cat, is he in here?"

Sandy shook his head. His door had been shut all morning. He hadn't even stepped out to brush his teeth yet (something Tooth would surely look down upon).

His mother made a face as she crossed the room to him. She bent over and gave him a quick kiss on the head. "Well, I hope he's happy, wherever he is. He's about to drive me crazy with all the hiding. I told you he pounced on me a couple of nights ago, right? He was on the fridge and I didn't even see him." She mused, running a hand along the side of his face and smiling warmly.

Sandy let out an amused breath, mirroring her smile.

"I'm off to work now. I love you, Sanderson."

Sandy placed his hand over the one his mother held to his face and signed on top of it, "I love you, too."

She patted him on the cheek before turning and going to his door. "Be good." She watched him, the same warm expression on her face, as she closed the door.

Sandy let his eyes fall to the tiny pellets of sand, although they were barely visible.

His phone dinged, but he couldn't pry himself away just yet.

"Oh. Oh, sweet God. Why, why, why, why?" Jackson paced around his bedroom, hands caught in fistfuls of white hair- no, his hair.

He breathed out, looking frantically around his room at the thin layer of frost that seemed to cover every surface. Delicate swirls encased his bookshelf, his backpack, his door, even the comforter on his bed.

His bare feet padded on the carpet, unfazed by the low temperature of his room.

He wanted to look in the mirror on the inside of his closet door, but couldn't bring himself to. He thought of the chilling ice blue and tried to shrug the disturbed roll of nerves off of his back.

His eyes were not blue.

They were brown.

So, whoever's eyes were currently residing inside of his skull needed to pack up and leave.

They weren't Jackson's. They didn't belong there, just as much as the white hair on his head didn't either. It wasn't him, whoever this was.

It wasn't him.

"Jackson, is Tooth picking us up?" His sister's voice suddenly sounded right outside of his door.

It took him a moment to answer, caught in the middle of a crisis he didn't know how to fix. "Wha- uh, no. No! We're taking the, uh, bus. It's a bus day!"

"Then hurry up! I don't want to walk like we had to last week!" She told him.

"Just, um, uh, go down without me, okay? Just go!" He replied.

"Okay, jeez, I'll go! You don't have to yell."

"Sorry, Em! Kinda freaked out. Can't find my… pants?" Jackson made a face at his answer, rolling his eyes and smacking himself in the head.

"... You're… gross, Jackson."

And then he heard her walk down the hallway, making her way to the stairs and padding down.

Jackson thought about his winter hat, making the instant decision to track it down.

He might not be able to get rid of the white hair covering his head, but he could hide it for the time being. Maybe grab some sunglasses to shield not-his-eyes from the world too.

As he dug through his drawers, he mumbled to himself, "I'm somethin'. That's for sure."

Aster could see Tooth as she paced around the bus entrance.

She was mumbling something over and over again to herself, arms crossed tightly, and eyes wide as she stared at the ground.

He pulled the hood he wore over his head, making sure his hair couldn't peek out.

His bangs stuck out when he first put on the jacket, his stubborn cowlick pushing them to the front of his head no matter what. So, frustrated with how his entire morning was going, he grabbed his father's hair clippers.

And sheared his head.

Okay, shear was a strong word. He clipped it down to a length that allowed his cowlick to stand up, rather than flop forward. All of the hair that once swept across his neck and fell around his ears and eyes was now gone and he was left with a hairstyle he hadn't had since middle school. It was only an inch long for the first time in a very long time. Somehow, the length of his hair seemed to be just as embarrassing as the color.

He huffed out a breath as he stepped up to Tooth.

She looked up and saw him as he practically barreled towards her.

Instead of moving out of the way, like she might have otherwise, she stopped dead in her tracks, a wild look on her face. "AsterohmyGodyouwon'tbelieve-"

Aster merely grabbed her hand and led her away from the entrance, tugging her to the other side of the building, where no one seemed to mill around in the morning chaos.

"Aster? Aster, are you okay?" Tooth worried aloud as Aster pulled her around.

"I don't know what exactly you meant when you said messed up, but tell me if this qualifies." Aster shot a quick look around, making sure the coast was clear, before reaching up and yanking down his hood.

Tooth's face dropped and her eyes widened even more.

She sucked in a breath, "Oh my GOD, Aster!" Without thinking, she reached up to touch the ends of his hair.

Aster gently smacked her hand away, berating her, "Tooth, come on now!"

"I'm sorry!" She blurted, hiding her hands behind herself. "I'm sorry, I just… It's so… It's just… It's gray!" Tooth tilted her head to the side, eyebrows furrowing and eyes narrowing. "And… short."

"I cut it this morning." Aster replied, hand hovering over the edge of his hood. "Had to. Couldn't hide it otherwise."

"Looks like you're doing better than me, Kangaroo."

Tooth whipped around and Aster yanked the hood over his head as Jackson made his way over.

"Now is not the time, Overland." Aster growled.

"Is it ever?" Jackson smirked.

Tooth eyed the blue beanie tugged over Jackson's head, pulled so low that it covered his neck and eyebrows. And what was with the sunglasses? It was pretty cloudy that morning. "Jackson, what are you wearing?"

"Oh, that." Jackson immediately pulled it off of his head to reveal…

His brown hair.

"So, I woke up with this situation going on this morning." Jackson told them, as Tooth and Aster looked at him, confused as ever. "Oh, not to mention, I now have blue eyes for some reason. So be thankful that, while you might have old man hair, Aster, at least you still have the same eyeballs." At that, he whipped the sunglasses off…

Of his brown eyes.

"Uh…" Tooth muttered, shooting Aster a look that said do you see anything? "Jackson…?"

Aster took the beanie out of Jackson's hand. "This isn't a joke!"

"I'm not joking! Does my hair look like a joke?" Jackson shot back, grabbing the beanie.

"Not anymore than usual!" Aster spat.

"What?" Jackson stepped back, now looking just as confused as Aster and Tooth.

"Your hair is brown." Tooth made a gesture at the sunglasses. "So are your eyes."

Jackson looked up at his bangs, grabbing them and pulling them so he could see. Surely enough, he saw his normal brown hair. "You've gotta be shitting me."

Tooth began to dig around her small purse, pulling her compact mirror out. She handed it to Jackson, who took it eagerly and began to examine his reflection. "Are you saying you had different hair and blue eyes this morning?"

"Yeah, my hair was white and my eyes were blue. Also, my entire room is covered in ice right now." Jackson added the last part as he brought the mirror close to his eyes, trying to see if any cool shades had stuck around.

"Ice?" Tooth asked. "What do you m-"

She cut off sharply as something glittery snaked it's way into her vision.

"Uh, anyone else seein' this?" Aster mumbled as he watched the glittery substance twist and shape itself into things without form.

"What…" Jackson began, his voice trailing off as he stepped closer to the glitter. He reached up to touch it, but it seemed to shy away from him before darting off in the direction of the entrance to the school.

Jackson, Aster, and Tooth watched as it zipped back to the corner, where Sandy leaned against the wall.

The small teenager simply held his hand out and the glitter swirled into the air above it. Sandy watched it for a moment, smiling, before he looked up at his friends.

Tooth felt like passing out.

Aster immediately wanted to know how it was happening.

Jackson was amazed.

"Whoa, Sandy." Jackson mumbled, a grin working its way across his face. "That's- that's incredible!"

Sandy jogged over, excited to show off to his friends.

"No, it's impossible." Aster corrected, eyeing the glitter as it bounced along with Sandy.

"What is happening?" Tooth breathed, turning away and trying to keep herself from hyperventilating. "First the wings, then all the stuff about hair, and now this-"

"Wait, what?" Jackson asked, immediately shifting his attention back to Tooth.

Sandy froze and the "glitter" fell to the ground.

Aster crossed his arms.

Tooth stared back at all of them before forcing a laugh. "Ha, well… Um. I woke up with wings."

They all gaped at her in stunned silence.

"AH, FRIENDS, THERE YOU ARE! I HAVE DESTROYED MY NIGHTSTAND! WITHOUT INTENTION, OF COURSE!" Nic appeared from around the corner, holding one of the snapped legs from his nightstand, baring his teeth with pride.

He stopped as the group all turned to look at him collectively.

"What, what happened?" He asked, feeling his excitement die down instantly.

Aster looked up at the side of the building, finding the window to Mr. Moon's classroom.

He could tell by the double-sided rock poster tacked to it.

Moon had been exactly where they had. He had to know something.

But he'd told him to stay away from Dr. Pitchiner, too. And, although he didn't confront Dr. Pitchiner directly about the caverns, he still snuck around his office.

Even if Aster could care less about Dr. Pitchiner, he still respected and looked up to Mr. Moon very much.

He couldn't tell him what he and the group had done. He'd been disappointed beyond belief.

At least if he believed them.

Otherwise, Mr. Moon would think they were all nutcases.

Jackson walked over, clapped a hand down on Nic's shoulder. "Just wait until you hear everything, buddy." He sighed.