Chapter 25

At the Dragon's keep.

He kept going over the costume. Yuuma started in the mirror and nodded his head to it. "This should work, a little dumpy but it should do…" he said, until a gentle knock came to his door. "Come on in."

His sister peered in. Athena smiled as she came into the room, but paused. "What the hell is that?!" she demanded.

"Band costume… why?"

"You're wearing a rug!"

"I am not!"

"You look like you are! What are you suppose to be a bath mat monster?"

He glared at her. "It was all we had at the time, the band is name raised by wolves, so we are trying to look…"

"You look like you were raised by a dumpster" she protested with her arms crossed. With a sigh she stormed out of the room. Yuuma didn't think much of it so he took the costume off for now. Yet the more he looked at it the more he realized she was right. It looked trashy to say the least, but what more could be done? It was all they had that would go with the wolf mask Yuki made for them. He decided to forget about it for now.

He ventured out of his room and saw Snek's kids at the kitchen table, he smiled as they were in their human forms and getting use to the concept of it. Pythan was rather excited since he said they would be going out to the mall again today. "This is getting to be fun, but we should we do at the mall today?" he asked.

"Shop, what else!" Conna explained. "But let's try and avoid the creepy looking people."

"We can handle it," said Bo.

The four were going to go with their father, Snek. He promised to get them new clothing to wear and insisted that they can pick it out themselves. Since then, they couldn't wait! As he entered the room, the four paused and smiled to him. "Yuuma! Wanna go to the mall!?" they asked.

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass. I get too crowded by people." He explained.

The Mall leaves a sour taste in his mouth. He went out a while ago, just wanting to get out of the house and try something new. Snek spoke of a coffee bar that served sweet drinks, Yuuma loves sweet things and was curious to try. Yet when he went there and got his drink, the moment he sat down, people began to stop and whisper. Perhaps wearing a mask in public wasn't the best idea either. It made him appear more 'mysterious' to those around him.

"Who is he?"

"Some sort of rebel"

"He's dreamy!"

"Look at his face though, so stern and stoic… My God he's hot!"

"If you quint, he looks like Amai Mask!"

"How can you tell? He's wearing a mask… then again…"

That's want did it in for him. The moment they mention his name he leaves. He hates it when people compare him to such a man. Still, as he walked the streets, people stopped and stared at him. Girls approached him fearlessly, some took out their cell phones to catch photos of him as he walked by. He resented those the most. Not to mention they have appeared on a website. Identify the hunk, it's called, and his photos are plastered all over it!

"Yuuma?"

He snapped out of his train of thoughts. "Sorry, thank you for the invite, but, I will pass for now. You have fun with your father." He insisted.

They appeared slightly disappointed, but nodded. Snek emerged from his room, stretching himself out however he paused. Turning around, his skin looked all flakey. "Damn it, not again!" he protested.

"Shedding?" asked Yuuma.

"Yeah… you think being fifty feet long isn't enough?"

"That is very impressive though, dad said before you were twenty when you first became that…"

"Don't remind me…" he said in a begrudging tone. He sighed aloud and excused himself to go outside. There's an industrial shower out there, but with a feature Alley added on for those who are serpent, at the push of a button there's a device that gently goes over the body, and takes the skin off in one quick swoop! Yuuma has used it a few times already and it's like getting a massage!

"So, what are you going to get at the mall?" he asked the four.

They shrugged their shoulders to it all. "Really, we just want to spend time with Papa" whispered Angie.

He smiled and nodded to the notion, Snek returned and called for the kids to join him. "Let's get going!" but he then turned to Yuuma. "Wanna come too?"

He politely turned him down, when they left though. Yuuma sighed aloud. Despite his hatred of Amai Mask, he couldn't help but wonder what kind of a father he would have been. He has seen Drax leave on weekends but never says where he goes, until he found out that he goes to see Amai.

Drax is more of a son to him than his own children.

That's what bothered him the most; it's what made him angry about the whole thing. Yuuma gets jealous at times, Drax gets to spend time with the man who should be raising him and his siblings. He still loves his mother and father, yet a part of him still wonders…

"Yuuma!"

He snapped out of his trance, Athena waved him over. Curious though, what was she smiling about?

He followed her down the hallway towards her room. Yuuma has never really been in before, yet he froze when he saw her walk in closet and the sewing materials that lined it! "Whoa… your room is bigger than mine!" he protested.

"For good reason! You think I could make all that stuff for you guys in a cramped space?!" she demanded. Then she tossed him two articles of clothing. "Try them" she demanded.

"Huh? Uh… Okay…"

He took off his shirt and put on what Athena threw at him. He paused when he realized the material was course fur, and she made it into a rather nice looking vest! "Wait… you got this off of…"

"That poor excuse of a so called costume was not going to see the light of day on my watch!" she protested. "How does it feel? Does it fit well?" she asked.

He looked himself over in the mirror and nodded his head to it. "Perfectly"

"Good, here's the pants that go with it." The pants were made of a rough leather, however they looked well warn in and moveable. He shamelessly took off his pants and tried them on. "In your own room next time!" she protested.

Yuuma smirked. "Come on, when we're snakes I'm naked, you do know that right?"

"Yeah, but I don't see an ass crack or your junk!" she snapped back. But it was too late. He put on the pants and marveled at the outfit. It was perfect!

"This is amazing sis!"

"I got everyone else's made too."

"Wait, how?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Somehow I can make measurements by looking at someone. So far I have everything down perfectly!" she said proudly. "I made Tempest his mawashi belt and his robes, but according to him I can't use any of my fancy material since he's just starting and sumo wrestlers have to earn it." She said and sighed. "Seems stupid to me."

"Yeah, it does… Is that where he is today? Training with dad?"

"Actually, I think he is registering today to become a sumo wrestler." She stated.

Yuuma didn't quite understand this sport, however, he would support his older brother no matter what! If anything, he has never seen Tempest more driven before. Normally he would stay with the family and refusing to try something new or different. Now, he is exploring on his own and wants to improve himself. "Athena… Thank you for this."

She smiled. "Anytime"

#

"Whoa, your sister made these?!"

Yuuma called for his band mates to meet up and discuss their new look. Thanks to Athena, she made them all matching outfits with different colors. Yuki even reprogramed the wolf glasses as he liked to call them to offer different shades of 'fur' that are to outline their faces. Not to mention another little treat, he gave everyone new hair styles so they stood out and yet didn't look like themselves.

Drax wore an all white fur vest, his hair was long and white as well as was his wolf mask. "We need to confirm our band names. I know before we were just tossing about different titles but let's make it official since we got our look down pact. How about Artic for me? Art for short?" he said.

"Ooo, I like it!" said Jason. "Timber for me," he said as he proudly wore his dark brown wolf 'suit.'

"Whine!" said Luna. As her wolf suit was brown and white.

"Clawdine" said Eclipsa wearing her light brown wolf costume.

"Beta," said Akira. His suit was black with brown shades.

Yuuma thought over his. "How about Alpha for you?" asked Drax. "You are the lead singer right?"

"I don't want to sound too presumptuous… is that okay with everyone that I use the name Alpha?"

Everyone nodded. "It's perfect for you. Now then, we got our look, we got our name and nick names… all we got to do now is enter and play… here's hoping we make it in." Jason said.

"From what I have heard…" Drax said offhandedly. "There are going to be twists and turns every which way, we need to prepare for everything and anything happening and also something we may never see coming."

They nodded, for the rest of the day, they came up with worst case scenarios. Like broken equipment, missing band member, delays, faulty equipment and various songs to carry them through. They have picked out their favorite songs and even found one with their band name in it to use! "We are SO going to stand out!" Luna said proudly. "Thanks to Alley's device and Uncle Knuckle printing the sheet music."

"Here's hoping Alley hasn't released any other bands into the supercontinent besides Disturbed." Said Yuuma.

"Best part is we can modify these songs too" said Drax

"Indeed we can!" Akira said proudly. "We can amend them so they can be more palatable to the ear. You know Amai doesn't like rough or ugly sounding music right?"

"No shit." Said Drax. But then his watch went off. "Damn it, I got to go guys, sorry. Neo hero job, we'll practice tomorrow okay?"

"Sure thing Drax," Yuuma said as he went off. He sighed though.

"You okay?" Akira asked.

He went quite all of a sudden. Yuuma turned to his band mate and said. "I have a jealousy towards Drax." He whispered. "I know none of this is his fault, and it's beyond his control but… he has the love of two fathers. One is his true parent, and the other… that should be mine."

"Oh Yuuma!" Luna pulled him into her arms, at first he didn't return the hug, he merely let her blanket him into it. He needed this right now.

"I still can't stand him, but how it is… that he sounds like a great father to Drax, but not me… his own child… or my brothers and sister for that matter… how is that fair?"

"It's not." Said Jason. "You got screwed over, I get it. But the fact remains is this, you still have a loving mother and father who don't care about who or what you are, they love you no matter what. You at least got a mom and a dad in a sense… I was a test tube baby."

"Huh?" Yuuma asked with great confusion.

"A clone, I am clone from Zombieman, remember?" He explained. "I don't like telling a lot of people about it, but I wasn't the only one either, my sister Misty and brother who you haven't met yet named Gene, all three of us are clones."

"My mother was a clone of Melee… but the real Melee treats me just like her own child… and I see her more like my true mother each and every day. Dad… I don't know if dad still resents us… he was forced to raise us…"

"Dad doesn't." said Eclipsa. "Yes, he was at first, he even told you that, but he loves you as much as he does us. He's spending a lot of time with Tempest though… it's upsetting mom a little bit since she thinks he ought to spread that time around with everyone else."

Yuuma smiled. "I don't mind. Dad comes home and talks to us, he has heard me play and listens when we practice… honestly, that's good for me. Tempest needs his help the most right now." He paused and smiled even wider. "I really should forget about Amai. After all, the dad I have at least wants me around…"

"Shit man, right in the feelings!" protested Jason.

#

Later that day, wearing their band 'uniforms' as it where, they made their way to City R at the record studio. There they had to pick up an application and sign up for the contest. Yet the moment they walked in, people stopped and stared at them. "What the hell is this?"

"Who are they?"

"Are they a band? They look like a pack of wolves!"

Yuuma smiled as he approached the front desk. He also trained himself to lower the pitch of his voice as he talked so he didn't sound like Amai Mask. "We're here to apply for the battle of the bands contest… do we sign up here?" he asked.

The secretary was stunned but nodded her head as she took the application out. "If you are given the call back, you must come to the studio, bring your own equipment and set up accordingly. There are no reschedule dates, you miss it, you are out. Understood?" she asked in a slightly nervous tone.

Yuuma nodded. He took the application and read it over with the others. They needed a home address for contact. "Use mine," said Jason. "They will know otherwise…"

"True, thank you," Yuuma filled out the application, he then had everyone sign it with their band names but also filled in Drax's space on his behalf and passed it back. The secretary read over the application and nodded her approval.

"We will be in contact with you if you are selected."

"Thank you for your time."

As they walked out, there were already whispers about them. The rumors and stories already began to spread, even their photos were taken and soon plastered on the internet.

Last thing Yuuma heard out the door was. "We must tell Amai Mask about them, they are already generating buzz!"