"Whoa," Topaz said as she and Onyx walked into the ballroom where the Prom was being held. The school had rented out a ballroom in a swanky hotel for the juniors and seniors to celebrate Prom in. The theme was something about a mythical forest so there were a lot of glowing lights, flowers, trees, and other things that fit in with the theme. A DJ and stage were in the front with a mass of students dancing on the dance floor. There was a snack table off to the side and other tables and chairs around.
"I'm surprised Hydro hasn't kicked the DJ off." Onyx muttered making Topaz laugh. Topaz was wearing a sparkly purple dress with a slit up her leg and cutouts on the side. It was backless with straps crisscrossing along her back. Her quills were curled and pushed to one side while she and Onyx had violets for their flowers. Onyx was in an all black tuxedo with purple accents and instead of wearing dress shoes, he decided to wear Converse.
"Well they are performing so I think he's going to leave the DJ alone tonight." Topaz shrugged.
"Guys! Stop standing there! Let's dance!" Ebony exclaimed before pulling Topaz onto the dance floor. Onyx looked over at Shawn and they both shrugged their shoulders before following their dates. Joseph, Jared, and Allie walked into the ballroom and Allie sighed heavily. Since they were the only ones technically enrolled in the school and juniors/seniors, they were the only ones allowed to attend the Prom. Cassandra didn't give them any direct orders, other than try to make the group's night miserable, but even though she had no plans for them they still had to attend Prom.
"This is bullshit." Allie scowled and Joseph rolled his eyes.
"Aren't girls usually excited about Prom?" Joseph asked and Allie glared up at him.
"That's pretty sexist of you, Garret." Allie spat and Joseph just shook his head. "I much rather be back at the warehouse, working on my serum." She told him.
"Your little brain juice is done. It doesn't need anymore work done." Joseph said.
"What would you know? You're a bigger idiot than that Storm kid." Allie snorted referring to Flash.
"Listen hear you little—"
"I'll just leave you two at it." Jared mumbled before walking away from the arguing couple. Back at the Solari House, the freshmen and sophomores were all hanging out in the living room watching movies and pigging out on snacks.
"This is way better than Prom." Flash mumbled through some chips in his mouth making Ivy laugh and everyone else look at him grossed out.
"Aw man! Who finished all the Strawberry Soda?" Suzy exclaimed and Flash burped loudly answering her question.
"Don't worry, I'll go grab some more." Shade said kissing her cheek. "Anything else?" He asked the group.
"Can you actually—"
"Nothing? Okay, I'll be back in a few." Shade interrupted Flash before turning on his heel and leaving the house. Everyone laughed except for Flash who pouted. Shade got the strawberry soda from the grocery store and before he could make it out to his car, he was pulled into a dark corner away from any wandering eyes.
"What the hell?" Shade exclaimed ready to attack whoever just grabbed him, but stopped when he saw that it was Cheka. Cheka, who was enrolled in the school, didn't go to Prom because he claimed he was a sophomore even though he's actually twenty-years-old, but what Cassandra doesn't know, the better. "You! You got some kind of death wish, guy?" Shade said glaring at him.
"I need you to listen to me." Cheka told him seriously and Shade narrowed his eyes.
"Why should I?" Shade asked.
"Because as much as you think I am, I'm not working with Cassandra in the way you think I am. I'm undercover for something else—hell, I'm twenty. I'm not even supposed to be in high school." Cheka explained and Shade stared at him confused.
"Undercover? What the hell are you talking about? And you're twenty? Who are you even?" Shade asked and Cheka sighed.
"Look, I can't explain that all now. If you want some confirmation about who I am, ask Renegade. But I don't think he wants everyone to know about me. At least, I don't want everyone to know about me." Cheka said and Shade shook his head in confusion.
"Wait, what? What does Renegade have to do with all this? Is he undercover too?" Shade asked and Cheka sighed loudly.
"No, he's not. We used to…we just used to work together." Cheka told him. "Mira, this is not important right now! I'm only here to give you this," He said holding a the green, stone pendant that was hanging around his neck on a black rope. Cheka pulled it over his head and put it in Shade's hand. Shade looked down to see a symbol in the middle of the stone. It looked like two pieces of rope intertwined together—like a double helix.
"What is this?" Shade asked looking back up at Cheka.
"It's yours." Cheka told him solemnly and Shade just stared back at him baffled.
"No it's not, I've never seen this before." Shade said.
"It's now yours." Cheka clarified. "It's very, very important. I don't know how much I can emphasize that. Don't lose it. When the time comes, you'll know. For now, just keep it with you." He told Shade who just looked back at the stone.
"What—"Shade stopped when he saw that Cheka was no longer in front of him. Rationally, he should take this immediately to Tails and have him examine it. For all he knows it could be something to trap him later or hurt him. But he had a gut feeling that Cheka was telling the truth—no matter how vague it may have been. Shade pocketed the necklace and walked over to his car to head back to Bolt's house. Cheka watched from a tree line, where he was covered, and sighed.
"So that's it then?" Cheka turned to see Arianna standing behind him. Arianna was a pale pink fox with shiny gray eyes. Her hair was straight and long, flowing down her back. She was wearing a gray, long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves pushed up to her elbows and dark jeans. She had on some black combat boots and was currently looking over at Cheka sadly.
"You said it yourself, our days are numbered." Cheka told her and Arianna sighed. "Cassandra's final confrontation is going to happen soon. I won't be able to stay undercover when that goes off. She'll know I'm with them if she doesn't already know." He explained.
"Cheka, Angelica—"
"Angelica is under watch, I know. But it's only you, Erica, and I now, Arianna. She's making these moves and we don't know how. Devin, Gabe, Isaac…Rosa, they've all been taken out." Cheka sighed deeply. "It's best that he has it now than later. Renegade isn't going to help them when they need it and Shade having some idea will be the best thing for them." He told her.
"So you're going to become his Hermi immediately?" She asked.
"Aren't you?" He asked back and Arianna sighed.
"She's really lost right now. I'll be there for her, but that won't help until she let's go of her anger." Arianna explained and Cheka nodded. "The others are going to wait." She told him.
"I know. I just think that there needs to be someone who understands what's going on and who better than Amistad?" He grinned and Arianna smiled softly at him. Back at the Prom, Bold & Pure were getting ready to take the stage. They just had to wait until the whole Prom Queen and King were done being announced.
"You ready?" Hydro asked looking at the rest of his band.
"Born ready!" Roddy exclaimed and Andrew just rolled his eyes while twirling his drumstick.
"Why does no one in our group ever get nominated for these kinds of things?" Lauren asked as she watched the principal announce the winner for Prom Queen.
"Ruby technically won Homecoming Princess or whatever." Andrew said.
"Yeah, but c'mon. I say we're all pretty popular and well-liked." Lauren shrugged and Hydro chuckled.
"I don't think anyone really bothers voting for these things anyone. I certainly don't." Hydro said and Lauren looked up at him.
"True." She said as the Prom King was announced. "Finally!" She smiled. The Prom King and Queen took their dance together before the principal came back out and announced Bold & Pure to the stage. Everybody cheered while they took the stage…well Shawn grumbled angrily that the majority of his band wasn't here. Andrew started on the drums as Hydro and Roddy slowly came in before Lauren took the microphone in her hands and brought it to her lips.
I don't mind
Letting you down easy but just give it time
If it don't hurt now, but just wait, just wait a while
You're not the big fish in the pond no more
You are what they're feeding on
So what are you gonna do
When the world don't orbit around you
So what are you gonna do
When the world don't orbit around you
Everybody was dancing to the fun and upbeat song while the band themselves sang and dance around stage—that was mostly on Lauren's part. Shawn was dancing with Ruby when he was suddenly slammed in the head by a vision. In it he saw Chrissy standing somewhere where it was snowing with a unfamiliar brown fox kneeling in front of her.
"Chrissy, will you marry me?"
"Yes."
Shawn snapped back into reality and realized that he had a vision of Chrissy getting engaged to someone that was definitely not Bolt. Ruby having noticed that her boyfriend stopped dancing looked up at him confused.
"Are you okay?" She asked him over the music.
"Uh, yeah, fine." Shawn smiled at her and continued to dance, but was in a full blown panic about what he just saw.
Ain't it fun
Living in the real world
Ain't it good
Being all alone
Where you're from
You might be the one who's running things
Well you can ring anybody's bell and get what you want
See it's easy to ignore trouble
When you're living in a bubble
So what are you gonna do
When the world don't orbit around you
So what are you gonna do
When nobody wants to fool with you
Ain't it fun
Living in the real world
Ain't it good
Being all alone
Ain't it good to be on your own
Ain't it fun, you can't count on no one
Ain't good to be on your own
Ain't fun you can't count on no one
Ain't it fun
Living in the real world
Lauren broke it down in the bridge while the guys slowed the beat down a little bit for her to sing. She rocked back and forth with the microphone in her hands and got everybody to start clapping before she got back into the chorus.
Don't go crying to your mama
'Cause you're on your own, in the real world
Don't go crying to your mama
'Cause you're on your own, in the real world
Ain't it fun, ain't it fun
Baby now you're one of us
Ain't it fun, ain't it fun, ain't fun
Ain't it fun
Living in the real world
Ain't good, ain't good
Being all alone
Ain't it fun
Living in the real world
The band finished and were greeted with thunderous applause. They took their bow before hopping off the stage and letting the DJ go back to his job. Hydro was tempted to take his spot, but Lauren grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the dance floor. Tyler and Liecy were dancing to a slow song and smiling at each other.
Liecy was wearing a long pale pink/lavender dress with a v-neckline and loosely wrapped bodice. The skirt was loose and flowed down around her effortlessly while her hair was done in loose curls falling around her shoulders. Tyler was in a gray tuxedo with similarly colored accents and a black beanie on his head with Converse. They both had pink roses for their flowers and Liecy had gray ribbons on her corsage. Liecy moved her head away from Tyler's chest and looked up at him.
"Want to get out of here?" She asked and Tyler grinned.
"Sounds like a plan." Tyler agreed. They both walked over to Onyx and Topaz to tell them that they were leaving before telling Conner and Serenity. They walked out of the ballroom and to the coat check where Liecy's shoes and Tyler's jacket were. The guy who was supposed to be working there wasn't and Tyler decided to just hop over and grab their things. Liecy followed him through the door and found her shoes quickly. They couldn't find his jacket and eventually wandered to the back to look in the closet. They opened the closet and their eyes widened when they saw Joseph and Allie making out inside of it. The two stopped and straightened themselves out looking very embarrassed.
"Uh, don't mind us." Tyler muttered slowly closing the door. Tyler and Liecy rushed back up towards the front and ran into Derek and Ginger when they jumped over the counter.
"Whoa, slow down." Ginger said and Tyler just shook his head.
"You don't want to go back there." Liecy said and the couple looked at her confused.
"Why?" Derek asked slowly.
"Let's just say that Joseph and Allie are on some friendly terms." Tyler told them and Ginger grimaced while Derek rolled his eyes. Tyler looked relieved when the guy who handled the coat check returned. He got his jacket and took Liecy's hand in his before leaving the hotel. Back at the Solari mansion, the group was in the middle of watching a scary movie about ghosts. Everyone was on the edge of their seat as the music heightened and the protagonist headed down a dark hallway.
"We're back!" Lauren announced walking into the living room and flipping on the lights. Everyone screamed and jumped in their seats before looking over to where Hydro, Lauren, Shawn, Ruby, Derek, and Ginger were. "Did I really scare you?" She laughed.
"Your face really does put a freight in me every time I see it." AJ muttered and Lauren glared at him.
"How was it?" Ivy asked excitedly.
"Just like any other dance. Our performance rocked though." Hydro told her while Bolt rolled his eyes and AJ huffed.
"No shit happened?" Lazarus asked.
"Nothing at all!" Shawn exclaimed making everybody look at him confused. "Just saying." He murmured.
"Apparently Tyler and Liecy saw Joseph and Allie making out though." Derek told Lazarus and everyone grimaced visibly.
"Ew." Amber said while scrunching up her nose.
"Yeah, thank God we didn't see that." Ginger said sitting on the couch with Derek next to her.
"I'm just happy it's over." Hydro murmured.
"Can we go back to watching the movie?" Amber asked and everyone looked at her surprised. "What? It was getting good!" She defended.