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Princess and Punches
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Welcome to Yen Sid's Institute for the Gifted, where superpowers are like belly buttons. Everyone has one. Here, when you fail an exam, chances are good you'll wind up in the infirmary with a few cracked ribs and your eyebrows missing. Here, extracurricular activities include running fast enough to break the sound barrier and shooting a moving target the size of a kumquat from over two miles away with nothing but a bow and arrow that are positively primeval. Here, the class clown flies, the Phys Ed instructor can bench press an aircraft carrier, and if the prom queen told you to jump off a bridge, you'd do so with a smile on your face and the warm fuzzies in your heart. Here, earth, wind and fire is not just the name of some oldies band you were conceived to. It's raw, physical power leaping from the fingertips of prepubescents.

In short, it's enough to make any comic book obsessed neckbeard fuckboy piss his Wonder Woman underoos like an overexcited chihuahua.

But mutant abilities aside, we're not really all that different from any other educational establishment. Sure, that girl over there might be in a constant state of falling apart - literally... don't even get me started on the time I found her frigging thumb in my morning bowl of Fruit Loops. She was super apologetic about it afterwards, but still… ick.

Anyway, strip away the powers and really all you're left with is just a bunch of unruly minors running on nothing but hormones, stress, and triple mocha latte frappuccinos. And what happens when said teenagers are all crammed together into a tight space like a pack of sardines? Same thing that'd happen anywhere else: highschool drama bullshit.

And with the bullshit comes the cliques.

Settle in, kiddos, we've got a lot of ground to cover. It's all too much to digest in one sitting, so I'm going to break it down into bite size chunks for you so as not to overwhelm you.

Might as well start at the top. The crème de la crème. The fairest of the fair. The It Girls. The upper crust. The campus royalty. The Princesses. If the student body was a living, breathing organism, then these chicks would make up the heart, the thriving, pumping core controlling the flow of life's blood throughout the system.

First of all, you have Anne. Her full name is actually Snoanna Whitman, but if anyone asks, you didn't hear it from me. She hates it with passion. Wouldn't you if your parents had cursed you with such a ridiculous name? She has seven brothers and from what I hear, all their names are just as dopey.

You would think being raised around so much testosterone would have turned her into a tomboy. On the contrary, she had those boys wearing makeup and playing tea party with her on a daily basis. Yeah, her powers of persuasion are legendary. They are also her actual power. She says jump, you don't even ask how high, you just do it before you even know what's happening. With the wave of a hand, she once forced the whole institute to reenact a live performance of High School Musical just because she was bored. There's two hours of my life I'd rather forget. The school administration must have tightened her leash afterwards because she hasn't tried anything like it since.

Then there's Cindy. She's a total clean nut. Like, "oh no, there's a loose strand of hair on my sweater, better pull out the lint roller and swipe it over my whole outfit… twice" type of nut. When throwing stuff away in the trash, I've purposely missed while she's around just to see if she'd pop a blood vessel. She supposedly gets it from her stepmom, who I hear is a major control freak. You know the type of stuff. Cook the food, do the dishes, vacuum the floor, finish your AP homework, tutor your sisters, maintain a perfect four-point-freaking-oh grade average… trust me, the girl was long overdue for a nervous breakdown.

Luckily for her, help arrived just in the nick of time, and that help was of the fluffy woodland creature variety. That's right, my friends, she has the ability to control animals. And what's the first thing she did when she discovered her power? Put those little critters to work. Within the hour, she had her own personal rodent sweatshop up and running in her bedroom, sewing together the dress she needed to get done for her Home Ec assignment while she snuck out to a party. If she had stopped there, she might have gotten away with it too with none the wiser. But then she just had to go and get greedy. Having a few mice stitch together a frock is one thing, but having two squirrels and a chipmunk do your Trig homework? Now that was just asking to get caught.

Next up is Aurora. She's a child of the system, like me. That's actually not all that uncommon for us superfreaks. When we're born into this strange new world, we have one job: to be happy, healthy, normal bouncing bundles of joy. And boy howdy, did we royally screw the pooch when we skimped on the normal part of that agreement. Once the parents discover they wound up with way more than they ever bargained for, I almost don't blame them for getting out while the getting's good. Almost.

Back to Aurora's little tale, she grew up in a convent orphanage, raised by three nuns. She has no idea who her real parents are. Not sure if that's a bummer or a blessing. I'm inclined to think the latter, given I know exactly what a pair of deadbeat fuckups my own folks are. Anyway, one day Mother Superior realized little Aurora was not quite like the other kids and shipped her off to the institute. Now, she may not exactly sound like Princess material, but the other girls must have saw something in her for they quickly took her under their wing, elevating her to the higher echelons of juvenescent society. As for what her ability is, I haven't got the foggiest. Beyond what I've shared already, I really don't know much about the girl. Besides the fact that chick likes to sleep. Like, a lot. She spends more time catching Z's than I do, and that's saying something. Perhaps she just really buys into that whole beauty rest spiel.

Now we come to Jasmine, a lovely exotic wildflower from the middle east. Rumor has it she's an honest to god Arabian princess, but dunno how much stock you should put into that. One thing's for certain though, the chick was sheltered with a capital S. If she is actual royalty, then girl needed to get outside them palace walls more often. You should have seen the way her face lit up the first time she ate a curly fry, you'd think she'd just witnessed Elvis Presley stepping into the building… er, if she even knew who that was.

It's not all sunshine and rainbows however. You gotta mind your P's and Q's around this one, because if you piss her off, the claws come out. They come out four inches long and sharp enough to strip the meat clean off your bones. See, her power is… well, it's kind of hard to describe, but just imagine she's a Super Saiyan and going all "fusion ha!" with a tiger, then you'll get the picture. Basically, all the perks that come with being one of nature's deadliest predators, neatly wrapped into one nice compact human-shaped package. Boosted strength, speed and agility? Check. Night vision and stealthier than a ninja's shadow? Check. Retractable claws and fangs capable of shredding a gazelle into confetti in under two seconds flat? Check, check, and double fucking check. She claims that she's not like the rest of us superfreaks, that she was gifted her powers by some benevolent tiger spirit called Rajah. Whatever. If it prowls like a mutant and growls like a mutant, it's probably a freaking mutant.

Last but most certainly not least, there's Kairi Atigi. Kairi is your textbook case of the feisty redhead. Trust me, I'd know, being a fiery (heh) ginger myself. Takes one to know one and all that jazz. Oldest of three sisters, daughter to the mayor of some insignificant speck of an island out there in the big blue, you could say she's the black sheep of the family. She has a rebellious streak about a mile long and back at home, she was a bit of a serial runaway. She pulled her little disappearing act so often that her old man gave up on calling the police after a while. He knew where she'd always turn up sooner or later anyway: hiding in her boyfriend's bedroom.

Kairi likes to put up a tough front, but deep down she's a total sweetie pie. She's loyal to a fault and can't stand the sight of her friends hurt. Fortunately for her, it's never a sight she has to stand for long, not with her powers of healing. With Kairi around, gone are the days of rubbing alcohol and TMNT-print band-aids. Kairi scoffs in the face of injury. Scrapes, cuts, bruises, broken bones, disease, you name it. None of them stand a chance against her. Word is if you were to bite the big one, she'd even be able to yank you from death's door and back into the land of the living. Not sure how true that is, but I try to stay on her good side. If there's a chance someone's a walking, talking rolodex of get-out-of-Hades-free cards, then you should make damn well sure that person will want to use one of those cards on you.

On the downside, it's a total bitch trying to fake sick with someone like Kairi around. No more groaning about your tummy hurting so you can just flop in bed and play Candy Crush on your phone all day. Ah, it's always the little things you take for granted.

Anyway, there you have it. The fancy-shmancy, hoity-toity Princesses in a nutshell. Okay, some of them may have had more humble beginnings than the others, and sure, they can be sweethearts when they want to be. Still, these are the type of girls that if your path crosses theirs in the halls, you step aside and give them the right of way. There's also more to them than that, a lot of history that I left out, but we'll get to that later.

You gotta keep in mind that the institute is vast and its students diverse. Why zero in on only one group of this eccentric little academy we call home?

After all, this is just the proverbial tip of the superfreak iceberg.

Honesty is the best policy. It is in my book at least. Sure, I may stretch the truth a bit here, bend it a little there, and it might come out looking kind of like a crazy straw by the end of it all. But it is still the truth, pure and shining. I say this because I like to be upfront and avoid misunderstandings wherever possible. So, cards on the table. Let's get something straight, right here, right now:

"I'm not a good guy."

The scratching of pen on paper stopped as the blue haired beauty sitting across from me looked up from the notepad in her lap to fix me with a pointed look, one eyebrow arched. "So you believe," she said slowly, "that the university building harbors animosity towards you because you're… not a good guy?"

Meet Aqua, the institute therapist. Or Doc Aq for short, if you prefer.

She doesn't.

I shrugged. "More or less."

Her brow furrowed and she crossed her legs. "Okay. Let's set aside for now the notion that our school is a self aware entity capable of forming thoughts and opinions about its students. We can come back to that later."

"Whatever floats your boat, doc," I muttered, scratching a finger behind my ear.

"Great. Now, what makes you think you're not a good person?"

I slouched down further into my cushy chair, lifting my shoulders again before letting them fall. "If the shoe fits."

My answers may seem to be a bit more on the monosyllabic side than you'd probably expect. Especially from the likes of me, an individual so severely and shamelessly afflicted with the worst case of chronic word vomit you've ever seen. But there was a very good reason for my sudden onset of cat-got-your-tongue syndrome, and it was self inflicted. What we had here was a good ol' fashion game of Spot the Defense Mechanism.

Doc Aq may or may not have been aware of my little game that she was currently participating in.

See, the good doctor here was not entirely a full-fledged member of the therapist community. She was originally hired on as a guidance counselor to help us wayward youths adjust and settle into our new lives as attendees to this absurd little institute. You'd be surprised however at just how much professional help a small army of juvenile superfreaks needs. Then again, maybe you wouldn't. And while there may be some overlap between the roles of a guidance counselor and a therapist, the two are really not one and the same. It did not take Aqua long to realize her credentials were just not going to quite cut it. So she was trying to rectify the situation by taking online courses to earn her Masters in Psychology to become fully certified in the shrink department.

That's where me and my little game came in. Me being the good samaritan that I am, I just wanted to ensure the doc was getting her money's worth. Ya know, putting her through her paces. There's a lotta screwed up basket cases out there, and I'm definitely a far cry from the worst. I was just making sure she was prepared to deal with whatever the big book of mental instability decided to throw at her.

So here we had Round One: Psychological Resistance. The unwillingness or refusal to open up or otherwise discuss anything clinically relevant.

I.E. I ain't saying shit.

"That's not an answer and you know it," she replied coolly. Her pen started to move again as she jotted something down. "Is there something you've done that you feel was immoral, Mr. Moyasu?"

With a snort, I sat up straight once more and removed the cigarette tucked behind my ear. "Must we keep up this charade?"

"And what charade would that be?" she asked, looking up at me once more.

"The one where you act like you're taking notes when we both know you're really just writing my name over and over again and drawing lil hearts around it," I smirked, winking as I twirled the Marlboro between my fingers.

We're going to write off Round One as a draw. On the one hand, she hadn't called me out on what I was doing. On the other, her line of questioning might have actually gotten her somewhere eventually.

So it was time for a new tactic. Welcome to Round Two: Humor.

She closed her eyes with a soft chuckle. "At least your ego is as healthy and inflated as ever. We really need to work on your illusions of grandeur however."

"Grandeur? My my, who has the ego now, hm?" I asked, sticking the cigarette between my teeth and snapping my fingers. The tip lit up like a firefly.

"It's not ego, merely a statement of fact." Her eyes narrowed a fraction at the cancer stick. The tendril of smoke that had barely begun to trickle out of it curled up into a tight ball and just like that, the cigarette hissed and went out. I frowned.

Rude.

If you hadn't guessed already, Doc Aq also has a superpower, just like the rest of us here. What'd I tell ya? Like belly buttons. She can generate force fields. Or as I like to call them, little invisible bubbles of go fuck yourself. They hurt like a bitch if she decides to chuck them at you for target practice. They're also impenetrable little bastards that are really good for defense. Nothing gets in, nothing gets out.

Including oxygen.

Now you're probably putting two and two together as to what caused the untimely demise of my cigarette. Taking it in hand once more, I flicked the tip. A tiny spherical ripple glimmered protectively around it before vanishing from sight once more. Poor thing, snuffed out in the prime of life. If that isn't a blatant misuse of your mutant ability, I don't know what is.

With a sigh, I pocketed it and flashed her a lopsided grin. "Aw shucks, I'm touched, doc. Didn't know ya cared."

"Of course I care," she said, all sugar sweet like. "I care about my office smelling like an ashtray. I would think that would be obvious."

I placed a hand over my chest, fingers splayed. "There you go, breaking my heart. Why you always gotta play so coy with me? Afraid your boyfriend will get jelly?"

Her back stiffened slightly as her face fell neutral. "Terra is not my boyfriend."

Wouldja look at that? Why, I do believe I struck a nerve.

Let's update the scoreboard, shall we? Axel, one. Doc Aq, zero.

"I never said he was. I only used the word boyfriend, you're the one who made the leap to Professor T. Interesting," I hummed, relaxing into my seat a bit and steepling my fingers in front of my face. "So, doc, how does this make you feel?"

She lifted her chin. "Actually, I'd much rather discuss what you were doing out after curfew last night."

She had probably been hoping to catch me off guard by the abrupt question. Well, sorry to disappoint, but I remained as cool as a cucumber. "Who told you that? Your boyfriend?"

Ding ding. Round 3: Deflection.

"It doesn't matter who told me. And I repeat, Terra is not my-"

"Fine then, your booty call, or whatever you want to label it. Unless," pause for dramatic effect, "...you two aren't labeling it. Fascinating. Whose decision was that? Was it his? Does your man have commitment issues? How does that make you feel?"

"Mr. Moyasu, we are not here to discuss my personal-"

"While we're on the subject, doc, did you ever consider you might be shrinking the wrong head here?" I asked as I leaned forward, tapping a finger to my temple. "Have you noticed Professor T acting odd lately?"

That brought her up short. Tipping her head to one side, she asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean as in does he seem to be a few marbles short of a Hungry Hungry Hippos game? Because when I bumped into him last night, there was certainly a screw loose somewhere." Closing my eyes, I shook my head. "He definitely was not alright upstairs."

Aqua frowned at me for a few silent heartbeats, then the scribbling on her notepad started back up. "Your concern is noted."

Meaning, filed away under Z for Zero Fucks Given.

Tch. Typical grownup. Always telling you they're here to listen and help you out, but the minute you try to tell them something important, they brush it off as a bullshit cry for attention or whatever.

"Now," she went on, "stop trying to deflect." Crap. She'd caught on to this one. Score one for Doc Aq. "I understand you weren't alone last night. That a new enrollee was with you. Miss…" she flipped a few pages to locate the name, "...Fryse, was it?"

My muscles tensed for a microsecond, then relaxed again as I smiled. "Shoot. Would you look at the time? Looks like our hour's up."

"Nice try, but we still have-"

I raised my arm, lazily pointing an index finger at the antique clock hanging on the wall just as it chimed noon.

With a sigh, she closed her notepad and said, "We'll pick this up at your next session on Friday."

"Can hardly wait," I said as I launched out of the chair and directly towards the exit. "Laters, Doc Aq." I blew her a kiss and quickly shut the door behind me, cutting off whatever reprimand was surely forming on her tongue for my use of the unsanctioned nickname.

Talk about saved by the bell. Bringing up Snow like that? Now that was cutting dangerously close to feelings-and-shit territory.

...feelings? Psh, like I have any. Especially not for some chick I'd spent a grand total of three hours in the presence of. Man, I got all worked up over nothing.

Shoving my hands into my pockets, I began weaving my way through the labyrinthine corridors that made up the institute. Honestly, this place is big enough to secede and become its own self-declared nation. By all rights, people should be lost for days around here. However, most don't seem to run into any trouble, even the newbies. Then again, most people don't have a long standing spot on this overgrown heap of crumbling bricks' shit list. That is to say, most people aren't me.

I turned one final corner towards the dining hall. Or rather, where the dining hall should have been.

Instead I was met with a dead end.

I stopped just short of a head on collision with the unexpected wall. Squinting at it, I snorted through my nose. "Nice try, you rotten, crusty old roach motel," I grumbled to the empty hallway, which remained stoically silent. I turned back in the direction I had come from, "But you're gonna have to try a lot harder than that if-"

I faceplanted into a wall. A wall that had not been there a moment ago. I would know, given that I had not ten seconds earlier passed through the exact space said wall now currently occupied.

The institute let loose a long, low, distinctly amused creak.

See the shit I have to put up with?

Rubbing my sore nose, I glared up at the ceiling. "If this is what gets your rocks off, pal, you seriously need a hobby. Or to get laid. Yeah, find yourself a nice lady villa, bang one out, and leave me the hell alone already, you termite-infested, asbestos-laced, rickety old piece of-"

"Axel?"

I whipped my head around towards the voice to discover the dead end was a dead end no more. Instead, it had been replaced by the entrance to the bustling dining hall. And standing between me and it were a pair of teens who were staring at me as if I had decided today would be a splendid day to take a pleasant stroll right off the deep end.

Demyx, the guy who had said my name, asked carefully, "Who ya talking to there, buddy?" The girl who was with him, Ariel, just continued to stare at me with a frown and said nothing. But then, she never was much of a talker.

So I returned the favor and stared right back. "The voices in my head," I deadpanned, flicking him right between the eyebrows as I walked passed them towards the dining hall, "duh."

Believe it or not, that answer actually sounded more sane than the truth. At least in a place like this, it did.

Ah, the cafeteria. The great equalizer. Let's face it, superfreak or no, we all gotta eat. And no matter your social status or mutant ability, we're all the same in this room. Thusly, everyone must obey the laws of the land. Here, all shall hath a table and a table shall be hath by all. Here, all must heed the call of the meal bell, lest thee go hungry whilst thee await its chime anew. Here, all will await their turn in line and woe unto the fool who tries to cut, for they shall surely suffer the wrath of the great and terrible Mr. Lunch Lady Remy, blessed be his name.

...what can I say? Grub is serious business.

As I stepped inside, I stopped for a moment to take in the ambiance of the packed, noisy dining hall. My eyes scanned the crowd, searching for three faces in particular. One was sadly, but not unexpectedly, absent. Zeroing in on the other two, I meandered towards their table.

"Hey squirts," I greeted as I ruffled their hair, first the golden spikes of the boy, then the noir strands of the girl, before plopping down across the table from them. "How's it hanging?"

"Oh, hi Axel!" Roxas beamed at me.

Xion snerked beside him. "H-hey," she said, her voice quivering with barely contained laughter. Snickering, Roxas elbowed her as she covered her mouth with her hands.

And here we have the rugrats. I'll admit, I never exactly pictured myself becoming the foster parent in all but name to a couple of fourteen year olds, and especially not at that ripe old age of seventeen myself. But take just one look at those frigging adorable puppy dog faces of theirs and I dare you not to give a damn. I always did have a tendency for picking up strays.

It was clear the day Roxas checked into the institute that his mind had long since checked out. Him and his brother both. It was like the lights were on, but no one was home. The two of them must have been through some really fucked up shit before they came here, but neither of them remember. Or don't want to remember. Either way, ol' Rox here was a total zombie. As luck would have it though, Shaun of the Dead just so happened to be my favorite movie. So a few zed-word jokes from me and many, many blank stares from him and our legendary friendship was born. Sure, it was slow going at first, but once his vocabulary evolved beyond "gragh" and "brains", we were like two peas in a pod. He still can be somewhat a space cadet from time to time, but he's a lot better than he used to be.

As for Xion, she is the littlest of the Atigi family. That's right, Kairi is her older sister. It would seem that being a freak of nature runs in the family. Then again, it usually does. It's gotta be rough though, living in the shadow of your two older siblings. Especially when everything you do just feels like a rehash of something they've already done long before you came along. Even being a mutant. Oh, you have superpowers you say? Yawn, been there, done that. And when Sister Number One is the cool rebellious one and Sister Number Two is the smart pretty one, well now, that doesn't leave a whole lot for Sister Number Three to be, does it? Except for maybe the one you tend to forget. Is it any wonder then that since day one of her arrival at Yen Sid's school, she constantly had a hood pulled up over her face and her eyes pointed down at her feet? She was so used to fading into the background at home, why should this place to be any different? Answer to that came in the form of three simple little words: Roxas. And. Me. We assimilated her faster than you can say "resistance is futile." And the rest, as they say, was history.

Looking at the chipper lil munchkins before me now, it was easy to see they'd come a long way from the sad, sorry states I'd found them in. You'd hardly even recognize them. It was enough to make the shriveled old heart of a grinch like me grow three sizes bigger.

However, this was a bit... too perky.

I cocked an eyebrow in their direction. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing!" they blurted out at the same time.

My bullshit meter rocketed through the roof, into outer space, and was halfway to Neptune by now.

I frowned and narrowed my eyes at them. They smiled back, the picture of pure innocence. Halos were all but manifesting over their sweet little heads. Oh yeah, something was up. And it took me exactly three-point-two seconds to figure out what it was.

I smirked.

Now I'm about to do a thing. And it's gonna seem like a douchey douchebag thing to do. But just roll with it for a minute. All will be revealed in time. Trust me.

I hunched forward, folding my arms on the table. "So, Xion. You trying something new with your hair?"

"M-" Roxas began, but was silenced as Xion threw a hasty hand over his mouth.

Shooting him a look, she then furrowed her brow at me. "My hair? No… why?"

"Huh," I squinted, tapping a finger to my cheek. "I dunno, you just seem different today… prettier."

Her head rocked back at bit. "I do?" She then paled slightly as she noticed Rox glowering at her and stammered, "I m-mean, I don't. Definitely not. I've looked way better in the past. In fact, today I look like a… an absolute potato."

"Aw, don't be so modest. Tater-ocity aside, you're rocking it today. Hella cute." I rubbed my chin with a low hum. "...have you lost weight? You seem less heavy."

Wait for it.

Roxas's face darkened, doing what I could only logically assume was his best impression of a steamed lobster. Xion squeaked, "What?! N-no, of course not! I'm just as heavy as I've always been!" Even as the last word slipped out, her hands flew up to her own mouth as Roxas's eyes narrowed into slits. She gulped. "Er, rather, I've… never been. Heavy, that is. I've always been, uh…" she struggled for a word momentarily before nervously trying, "perfection?"

Roxas pinched the bridge of his nose.

Alright, it was time to take it up a notch. It was time… to go full dudebro.

I scrutinized a second more, then snapped my fingers, my lips stretching into a grin. "That's it!"

Word to the wise, however. You should never…

"What's it?" Xion flinched, eyes darting about.

...ever…

"You've graduated to C's!" I declared, groping my man boobs for emphasis.

...go full dudebro.

Next thing I knew, the entire right half of my face erupted in pain as a fist connected hard with my jaw. It wasn't enough to knock me out of my chair, but it was pretty damn close.

"Asshole," Roxas growled as he gave his hand a shake, the knuckles turning red after the impact.

Squeezing one eye shut against the sting, I peered out through the other at my assailant. What I saw brought a smug smile to my face. "Hi, Xion. Killer right hook you got there."

"Eh?" he tensed. Then his eyes widened as he spotted his black bangs in his peripheral. You read that right, black. Not blonde. "Oh," Roxas-except-not-really slumped forward slightly with a pout. Then his features began to blur and melt away (it would have been rather disconcerting if I wasn't used to it) before solidifying once more into the shape of Xion.

...sitting right next to Xion.

Confused? Yeah, I wouldn't blame you. Things tend to go the way of an Escher sketch when you're dealing with shapeshifters. That would be what Xion is: a shifter. Doppelganger class. Oh yeah, there's enough shapeshifters 'round these parts to require categorizing, but you'll see that for yourself soon enough.

Anyway, if you hadn't already guessed from my clever classification, Xion is the type that can change into anyone, and I do mean anyone. Living, dead, fictional, or mix and match if she's really feeling adventurous. But she can only do people. Everything else - animal, vegetable, mineral - is off the menu. Don't let yourself be fooled into thinking that's a handicap however, she can still be quite devious given half a chance. Like the time back on her island when she put on her dad's face (i.e. the mayor's) and strolled into his office (a.k.a. city hall). And what did she do with all that newfound legislative power at her fingertips? Established Sea Salt Ice Cream Day as a new and national holiday on her fair isle. Her dad's still trying to unravel that mess. Apparently it's a lot easier creating a holiday on that little archipelago of theirs than it is to take one away.

"You knew," the other Xion mumbled as her form rippled and morphed as well, until Roxas - the real Roxas - sat in front of me.

Now you're probably thinking he has the same power as Xion. Good guess. It'd be a wrong guess, but still a good one, so you get some props. No, his is the ability to mimic the power of other superfreaks. Ever fantasized about flying? Turning invisible? Being able to crush a tank with only the power of your mind? Sure you have. We all have, it's only human nature to want what we don't have, and Rox is no exception to that. The difference between him and the rest of us poor schmucks? He actually gets to do any and all of the above, as long as a mutant with the desired power is within his radar. Some are easier than others, it all just depends. For example, he took to Xion's shapeshifting like a duck to water. My power, on the other hand, he took to more like a dead tree takes to wildfire. Needless to say, it was a good thing he was very familiar with the concept of stop, drop, and roll. He hasn't been too keen on trying it a second time.

"The whole time, you knew," he repeated, scratching the back of his head. "What gave us away?"

I shot up an index finger. "First of all, never play Texas Hold 'Em. Your poker faces are terrible. Second of all," I raised another finger, "last time I checked, Xion did not have a good three inches on you."

Roxas cringed. "Oh. Right. Forgot about height difference."

"Lastly," I went on, "trading faces? Seriously, guys? How lame is that? That's like trying to prank someone by swapping the contents of transparent salt and pepper shakers. Who gives a shit? Come on, I taught you two better than that."

Xion's eyes flashed and there was a sly upward tug to one corner of her lips. Oh, there was no doubt about it. She was going to make me eat those words raw and sans seasoning. Bring it, girlie. While inwardly she plotted something diabolical, outwardly she merely asked, "So if you knew, why didn't you just say so? Maybe could have saved yourself some pain."

"What, this?" I pressed a thumb to the tender spot on my jaw. Yup, that was going to leave a mark. "Worth it. Besides, I deserve a good punch to the face from time to time. Puts me in my place. Keeps me grounded."

Rox snorted. "Your kinks are your own, man, you'll get no judgement from me. But please, I beg of you, keep them to yourself."

"Seriously," Xion nodded, her eyes crinkling. "We don't need to hear about your turn ons."

I opened my mouth to retort, but came up short when a flash of platinum blonde caught my eye from across the room. Whatever I had been about to say slipped my mind and instead I muttered, "Speaking of which…"

Snow stood at the threshold leading into the dining hall. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, absently tugging at her gloves as she stared wide eyed out into the sea of noisy teens. She was quite clearly torn, unsure of whether she should face the terrifying monstrosity that was the cafeteria or if she should turn tail. On the precipice of nopety nope and ah screw it. She worried her lower lip between her teeth, gaze darting about.

"Axel?" Roxas voice pierced my consciousness, his hand waving in front of my face.

Crap. Was I staring? Oops. Creeper alert.

Xion turned in her seat to follow my gaze. "What are you-"

"Sorry, kiddos, gotta run," I cut in, springing to my feet. "I'll catch you two later. You know the place."

Xion tried again, "But-"

Too late. I was already halfway across the lunchroom.

Which, mind you, was no easy feat. Did I mention it was packed? Because it was packed. We're talking wall-to-wall acne and hormones. As I half ran, half jostled my way through the crowd, my focus never left Snow. She hadn't spotted me yet. The internal tug of war between fight or flight was plain on her face, and flight was winning. I saw her feet edging back towards the exit. No no no! I wasn't moving fast enough. I needed a shortcut. Looking ahead, I saw that there was still a table between me and her. And not just any table.

The Princesses' table.

How does that saying go again? The one about the devil driving? Ah well, you know the gist.

"Ladies," I chirped, flashing them my pearly whites as I vaulted straight across their table. Plates rattled, food spattered, Aurora gasped, Jasmine swore. So, clearly, all in all good times. I thought so anyway. The Princesses didn't seem to share my opinion however, not if the choice words and names they called after me as I took off once more were any indication.

Just as Snow turned to leave, I came to a skidding, stumbling stop in her path, blocking her hasty retreat. "Hey," I panted, attempting to casually prop myself against the doorframe, missing, almost falling, catching myself, and finally leaning a shoulder against it successfully on the second try.

Like I said. No feelings here. None whatsoever. Nope.

Surprise dashed across her face, with relief hot on its heels. Someone was happy to see me. She tried to mask it though, fighting the smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Clasping her hands behind her back, she said, "Hi… Urkel was it?"

I huffed a snort through my nose. "Tch. That one's not even close."

Now the grin broke through. "I- oh!" her eyes grew round as they shifted from my face to a spot directly above my left ear. She frowned, tilting her head slightly, before pointing just north her own ear and saying, "You have, er… in your hair, there's a-"

"Shit, did something get caught in it again?" My hand snapped up, fingers dragging through my scalp. "I swear, this mane has its own orbit. NASA should be classifying it any day now." I probed my locks until I felt it. It was plump, fuzzy, and chittered.

...um?

Quirking an eyebrow, I took hold of whatever it was and gently pulled it from my hair. Bringing it around to take a look, I came nose to nose with a squirrel. That's right. A freaking squirrel. I'm used to my spikes snagging things all the time, like leaves and cobwebs. But woodland creatures? This a was new one, even for me. It seemed the mane's gravitational pull only grew stronger with each passing day.

I blinked down at it. It blinked back up at me. Heh, the little fellah was kinda cute act-

Chomp!

"Motherfu-" The fluffy little bastard bit me! Stifling my curse, I yanked the monster out of my flesh and scowled. Where had it even come from? It wasn't li-

Then it clicked. Like reindeer hooves on a rooftop. My head whipped around back towards the Princesses' table. Sure enough, one of the ladies seated there was shooting me a look with some serious daggers. I gave her a crooked smirk.

"Yo Cindy! I believe this belongs to you!" With that, I fastball specialed the vermin right at her.

Oh cram it, PETA people, don't get your panties in a pretzel. No animals were harmed in the making of this epic yarn.

The Princess in question froze momentarily, eyes wide, mouth agape, before snapping out of it just in time to catch the squirrel. Hitting me with a glare, she then gave the critter a quick once over. It merely twitched its snout and proceeded to groom its whiskers. What'd I tell you? The little furball was fine.

As for Snow, she had fixed me with a blank stare, one eyebrow raised. I gave a weak chuckle, scratching the tip of my nose, and shrugged. "Just another day in our lil slice o' heaven here at Yen Sid's Institute for the Gifted."

She hesitated before raising an uncertain hand and gesturing between Cindy and me. "...so that kind of thing is a daily occurrence?"

"Nah. Well, actually… the general insanity, yes. But the squirrel-chucking, not specifically, no. We save that for special occasions."

Her head turned as she side eyed me. "Today's a special occasion?"

"Of course! A certain someone has finally decided to descend from her Fortress of Solitude and grace us lowly commoners with her radiant presence," I said with a mock bow and a wink.

She pressed a knuckle to her lips, hiding a tiny smile. "Well, a certain someone is thinking this may have not been such a good idea after all," she said, the frown returning as she glanced around the lively lunchroom once more.

It hadn't escaped my notice that there was an interesting topic we had yet to touch upon. A certain something that was being left unsaid. You know what I'm talking about… an elephant in the room, if you will, whose name started with a K and rhymed with bliss. She hadn't brought it up yet. To be fair, neither had I. It was cool, though. If that's how she wanted to play this, I'd follow her lead. For now.

"You're right, it wasn't a good idea. It was a phenomenal idea." I spread my arms out wide with a flourish, "Now I can give you the grand tour, starting here in the mess hall. Or ye olden noshery, as I like to call it."

Snow bit back a chuckle, fingers idly toying with her braid. "Okay, sure I suppose. I mean, you did toss a squirrel in my honor. It would be a shame for all that effort to go to waste."

"Exactly!" I took her hand and tucked it into the crook of my arm, gently pulling her towards the crowd. "Now, if you'll kindly take a gander to our left, you'll see-"

The soft, but unmistakable sound of a throat clearing interrupted me. "Trying to steal my job, I see," a new voice spoke up. The throng parted ahead of us to reveal a petite blonde in a white dress, arms crossed over her chest, one corner of her mouth turned up.

Here you have it, ladies and germs. The third and final of the sisters you've been hearing so much about. The one, the only: Naminé Atigi.

Author's Note: Oh Em Gee guys! I LIIIIIIIIIVE! Bet you thought I was gone for good, huh? Think again! Can't get rid of me that easily! MUCH praise and MUCH worship to the wonderful and stunning Arisa Kiryuu for being a fantabulous beta for this chapter! Thank you, jujube! Also, special thanks to Spiderfan626, Amarxlen, SoraKairiRikuNamine, and Arisa Kiryuu for being so generous as to take some time to leave their reviews!

Incoming wall of text alert! Apologies, I just can't help myself sometimes!

So good news, everyone! This was the first of three - that's right, count 'em, one, two, THREE chapters that I have written up for Svarog and are ready to post! Hope the length of this chapter wasn't off putting for anyone. I know, long chapters are usually better, but I didn't want it to feel like it was dragging on either! Next chapter is even longer, and the one after that? EVEN LONGER. (that's what she said?) And the best part? The wait between these chapters will be super short, so keep an eye out for them!

Mind you, don't get used to the upcoming quick update schedule. I'm still a snail when it comes to writing, sorry xD But hopefully these three chapters will sustain you until my next update, whenever that shall be. Note, after these 3 chapters, next story to get an update will be Split Ends, so devoted fans of that lil fic, REJOICE!

Anyway, back to specifically this chapter! Hope you liked it and hope it was worth the wait! Hope the twist on Snow White's name wasn't too weird - I changed it, one, because from the background I'm picturing for her, her parents weren't hippy enough to give her a name like Snow White, and two, it's a lil too close to the nickname our fire-loving hero has given his new lady friend, so I wanted to eliminate any possibility of confusion. Didja like the descriptions of the princesses? You may have noticed there's a couple missing… don't worry, out absentees still have a tie in with that group and there are stories behind it, ones you'll get very soon! Side note, each chapter is going to start with a lil blurb like the princesses had for this chapter, introducing a whole new clique and set of characters!

Also, last names are fun in this. With a quick translation, all of them are relevant to the character in some form or another. Some are more obvious than others. I'm particularly happy with the Atigi sisters, I wonder if anyone will be able to puzzle out the punny lil joke behind that surname... :3

And powers! There's a reason behind every power I've given to every character, each reason tied to their canon KH or Disney story! Some are obvious, like Axel and Elsa. Some, less so. I'll admit, coming up with Rox's ability was a bit tough, but trust me, there IS a very good reason for his gift that if you really REALLY think about it, you might be able to piece out a future scene I have in mind. Next couple chapters hold a clue. But if you can't figure it out, no worries, it's not super obvious, and besides it'll be more fun if you're surprised! Anyway, got super sidetracked! The point was, there's a reason behind every power! If you can't figure one out and you're curious, feel free to ask about a character and why I gave them a certain power. Odds are I'll tell you… UNLESS the answer could spoil a future plot point, then sorry but you're outta luck!

Annnnnnnd that about wraps it up! Thank you so so sooooo much for reading, I super duper appreciate it! If you have any comments or friendly feedback, please make my day and leave a review! Catch you at the next update, lovelies, which will be sooner than you think, I swear! Much love, peace out, word to your mothers, and other such phrases that shouldn't be coming out of the likes of lil ol' me!