A New Generation is Born

by A-LionGleek

It's the first official week of glee club sessions for the 13 newest members of the New Directions, and they are more than ready to get the show on the road. But with drama popping up at every turn, the beginning of their time in glee club will be far from easy. Can the 13 brand new gleeks handle it all and show that they have what it takes to be a worthy new generation of gleeks?

6. A Budding Bromance in the Making

Hey everybody! Hope you're ready for more Glee-ful work! Cuz here's a new chapter! In this new installment to my latest work in the GWAFU, Diana undergoes a unique mental peptalk, Daniel decides to make an effort at better getting to know his newly appointed 2nd in command, and Calvin finds himself (much to his delight and surprise) well on the way to making a new friend or two far earlier then he expected. Sound worth reading? I certainly hope so!

A/N: But first, just so you're warned, I do not own Glee. I also do not own the song featured in this chapter. And for that matter, I also do not own Teen Titans, Naruto, or Spyro the Dragon/Legend of Spyro either. All I own are my OCs. Get that? Got that? Good. Onward with the fic people!

Chapter 6:

A Budding Bromance in the Making

The very next day, Diana was walking slowly through the hallways of McKinley High, thinking to herself as she attempted to get to where her locker was located. At the same time, however, her mind was far more focused now on a certain especially close friend of hers and the very complicated situation she now found herself in because of some half much desired and half inconveniently timed feelings she felt for him.

She sighed, and placed her fist up against her chest, thinking dreamily about the moment she was certain had been the time in which she'd finally recognized the feelings in question for what they were. In moments like this, she felt as if it were only yesterday that she and Daniel had undergone that fateful moment. At the time, they had chosen to hang out with their families at the local Italian restaurant Breadstix to celebrate their upcoming first day at McKinley High as high school freshmen. At first, things had seemingly unfolded quite normally for the pair, with no element of the outing seeming at all out of the ordinary between the two of them. However, later in the outing, all the way from the middle of it to the end when it had come time for them to leave with their families and go home, Diana remembered quite clearly how she had slowly found herself feeling surprisingly very warm, strange, and almost nervous around Daniel. In fact, she had found herself feeling this way around Daniel increasingly often over the course of the entirety of their time in middle school and the summer between 8th grade year and 9th grade year. But of course, it had, naturally, not been until that fateful outing at Breadstix that Diana finally came to realize the exact nature of those feelings for what they truly were. She'd read enough books and seen enough movies and likewise been exposed to enough media to understand it. She'd even gone so far as to ask her parents about the feelings in question to make extra certain, and their answers had only further confirmed her suspicions. She was in love with Daniel; of that she was positive.

Diana lifted her head, lowered her fist, and stared dreamily at nothing in particular, seemingly in her own little world. She could remember now how, over the course of the first week of high school she'd ever experienced, she had felt so on top of the world and unstoppable after coming to realize that she was in fact in love with her best friend. She had now known how all the lucky in love girls she'd seen in the fictional stories felt, and she'd been so happy having finally gotten the chance to undergo the experience herself.

However, one week later, Diana had finally managed to come down from the emotional high that her realization had placed her in. And in the process, she'd come to notice two factors that had made her feel considerably less confident about her situation. As far as she could tell, Daniel had not at all shown any signs, at least that she knew of anyway, that he had at all undergone any similar effects or felt any similar way towards her that she now felt towards him. Furthermore, around that point, she'd come to notice how Charlotte Thornton, who had spent virtually all middle and elementary school hardly paying any attention to Daniel at all, had now somehow come to view him as an object of her own affections and started trying to make moves on him herself. Naturally, over time, Diana had come to become noticeably less and less confident about herself and her own worthiness of being anything but a close friend of Daniel's to the point that she even now couldn't help but feel as if she were mentally torturing herself over the whole business 24/7. "It's not fair," she thought to herself.

Diana hung her head, sighing in a rather defeated sounding tone. "Why did she have to get involved? She never had that kind of interest in him before high school. What made her change her mind in the summer after middle school graduation? Why did I have to wait till Freshman year to understand how I felt about Daniel? Why does she, as mean and hateful as she is, have to be so much prettier and more deserving of him then me?

"You're not the only one whose thought that way you know."

Diana's eyes widened, and she quickly looked around the area. Her eyes then narrowed in confusion, as there appeared to be no one else present in the hallway with her. Then she heard a chuckle, and her eyes narrowed further. The chuckling had sounded somewhat lower and raspier then the one that she'd heard speaking prior.

"Who's there?" she asked.

"Come now," said a third disembodied voice. "Surely you know better than that."

At that moment, Diana realized what was going on, and she shook her head side to side with a bemused look on her face. "I get it now," she thought to herself. She turned her head to her right. Sure enough, the very area she was now looking at, an area that she knew had been empty when she'd looked there not too long before reaching her current thoughts, was now occupied by three very distinctive figures that could only have been present there under very specific circumstances.

In that instant, Diana sighed, and shook her head side to side once more. "Yep," she thought to herself. "Just as I thought." She gazed back at the three figures. "This is one of my little mental pep talks that my mind tends to often subject me to when I experience situations like this."

Diana was not crazy, or similarly mentally challenged. Not at all. However, when she found herself in situations where she had particularly high difficulty in thinking about what to do, her subconscious and mental voice of reason tended to somehow take on the form of imaginary characters from media she recognized that she believed could relate to her best regarding the situations in question. Why this happened, even she didn't really know. But regardless, she was not afraid to mentally admit that these situations had always proven plenty helpful more than once in the past. But even so, she wasn't about to let this information go any further then herself, her parents, or Daniel just yet.

At that moment, the figure standing in the center of the trio chuckled, revealing herself to be responsible for the first of the three voices Diana had heard in her head. The imaginary girl in question, a fair skinned beauty who looked to be about either still a teenager or her early 20s, was clearly the most human-like of the trio. She was dressed in blue-gray sweatpants, sandals that reached all the way up to her ankles, and what looked like a white and lavender hoodie. The hood was lowered behind the girl's head, allowing Diana to catch sight of a small top portion of what looked like a shirt made from a fishnet-like material underneath the jacket, as well as a headband around her neck with a metal plate on the front portion inscribed with a very foreign looking symbol. Attached to her right hip and around the upper area of her right thigh was a small kit that looked as if it could contain a walkie-talkie. Incidentally, the exact same area touched by the strap connecting the packet to her leg was what looked like a small series of white bandages coiled around the girl's thigh. The girl's lowered hood also allowed Diana to get a good look at her hair, which was mostly a very dark indigo aside from a bright horizontal light blue streak across the center of her bangs.

However, the one feature that allowed Diana to easily recognize the girl without any doubt was her eyes. They were a very opaque and milky white in color, with the exception of small, just barely noticeable, light violet rings around the outermost areas of her eyes. Diana smiled, for she could easily tell from the distinctive eye color combined with the distinctive hair color and outfit that this particular member of her current mental pep talk squad was Hinata Hyuga from the Naruto franchise; and in her Shippuden style no less.

Hinata chuckled, her pale eyes very noticeably bright considering how unbelievably shy she'd been during the time in her story in which she'd been consistently drawn in the style Diana was now seeing her in. "I see you've finally managed to realize the exact nature of what's currently going on."

Diana couldn't help but let out a mental chuckle of her own. "You could definitely say that," she responded.

"It certainly took you long enough," the imaginary girl standing to Hinata's right commented dryly.

Diana took a close look at the girl in question. This girl, like Hinata, had an outfit that came with a hood. The girl lifted her hands and lowered her hood, incidentally allowing her dark blue cloak to open sufficiently enough to allow Diana to get a good look at the rest of her outfit and body. Without the concealment of the cloak, Diana could easily see that the girl was wearing a long-sleeved black leotard underneath, with a light gold colored belt around her waist with a string of rubies attached to it on the front, and a pair of slipper-like slip on shoes that were the exact same color as the cloak on her feet. The rubies on the belt, as well as a similar pendant allowing for the formation of the hood on her cloak and two others on the back of her gloves, had what looked like a raven's head embossed on them. Furthermore, Diana could also notice how, despite looking believably enough like a human in shape, there were also elements of her appearance that hinted at a more nonhuman nature. For starters, the girl's skin was a very pale gray. Her hair was a dark lilac purple. Her eyes, much like her hair, were also purple, but in a shade more reminiscent of the color violet than of lilac. These elements, combined with the small, red, diamond-shaped gem stone on the center of her forehead, allowed her to be instantly recognizable to Diana as the character Raven, from Teen Titans.

Diana chuckled, and shook her head. "Nice to see you to Raven."

Raven snorted, but not without a slight gleam of happiness showing in her eyes.

The figure standing to Hinata's left chuckled. "Talkative as ever I see."

Diana examined the third figure. Unlike Hinata and Raven, this character was definitely not a human. Rather, as even an idiot could tell from one look at her, she was a dragoness. And one look at the dragoness's black scales, pinkish-red underbelly and wing membranes, emerald green eyes, impressive bony white horns and claws, and her shiny metallic neck collar, foreleg and tail bracelets, and tail barb sheath allowed Diana to instantly recognize her as Cynder from the Legend of Spyro video game saga.

The dragoness chuckled, and looked over towards the Konoha kunoichi and DC half demoness superhero standing to her right. "I do believe we'd best not take too long with our little talk with her today."

"Indeed," said Hinata, who nodded her head up and down. "Wouldn't want Diana to be late for class."

"Ain't that the truth?" Raven asked dryly, folding her arms across her chest and directing her attention towards Diana. Hinata and Cynder followed her gaze. "So?" said Raven. "Another one of those days, huh?"

Diana blushed, and hung her head. "That obvious huh?"

"Well for starters," said Cynder, "we're technically visual manifestations of your own thoughts and other mental elements. I'd daresay that being in your mind would allow us to have a pretty good idea about what's going on with you in there."

"Indeed," said Hinata. "Not to mention," the kunoichi continued with a lifted left index finger, "this has most certainly not been the first time we've manifested in your mind to give you a pep talk on the matter of your romantic dilemma, let alone the first time any character you feel yourself capable of identifying with in this kind of regard either."

"No kidding," Raven agreed. The sorceress looked back at Diana. "Really Diana, did you truly expect us to be surprised anymore about the reasons behind these pep talks?"

Diana chuckled sheepishly. "Well, when you put it that way . . ."

The three imaginary figures nodded their heads sagely with their eyes closed, clearly not at all surprised that Diana had agreed with them. They looked back at her, eyes opened and clearly indicative of 'serious mode'.

"Look Diana," said Raven. "I get it that you're afraid and insecure about your chances with Daniel, especially with that Trigon-spawned rival to contend with."

"You think?"

"But even so," said Hinata, clearly not at all phased by Diana's comment. "You can't keep shrinking away on the sidelines." The kunoichi nodded her head. "Believe me Diana, as a figment of your conscience, I know perfectly well that I am telling the truth, and so are Raven and Cynder."

Cynder nodded in agreement. "You are better than you think you are," said the dragoness. "You've known Daniel for practically your entire life. There's no one who could possibly be more worthy of loving and being loved by him than you."

"You can say that again," Raven agreed. She turned her own gaze back to Diana. "And besides, you know perfectly well that Daniel is not at all comfortable with being in Charlotte's presence. He's showcased his discomfort around her clear as day often enough even during the times that she still clearly had no interest in him. Honestly, do you really think there's even the slightest chance that he'd ever be even remotely attracted to someone like her?"

Diana chuckled, feeling very warm and flattered by the admittedly somewhat self-serving flattery. "He's never shown any signs of being romantically attracted to me either."

"That doesn't mean he hasn't," said Hinata. She nodded her head. "I wouldn't be at all surprised if he's shown any signs that you just were either not around to see or likewise failed to notice. Believe me, I'd know." She chuckled. "After all, not only did it take him Kami knows how many years to even understand what I was talking about when I'd confessed my love to him during Pain's attack, but I myself didn't even realize when he'd finally come to understand what romantic love is and realize that he himself felt the same way towards me until he straight out told me himself to my face."

Diana allowed another sheepish chuckle to escape. "True enough I suppose." She hung her head again. "But even so, it's not that simple. . ."

"Of course it's not," said Raven. She nodded her head. "The truly worthwhile stuff rarely ever is."

Cynder nodded her own head in agreement. "The best things in life never come easy."

"Indeed," said Hinata. "Sometimes you have to open yourself up to pain in order to truly gain." She nodded her head. "And as proven time and time again by my dear Naruto kun, hard work truly does pay off in the end, especially if you never go back on your word."

"True," Diana admitted. "But that doesn't change the fact that Charlotte's still in the way . . ."

"I don't see why that should stop you." Raven folded her arms across her chest. "After all, as you know quite well, the three of us had rivals of our own to contend with for our respective boys' hearts; and that didn't stop either of us from winning against those rivals and having our happy endings with our boys."

"Indeed, true Raven san," Hinata agreed. The kunoichi chuckled. "After all, as strong Naruto kun's apparent crush on Sakura san seemed to be, I'm the one in the end who both married him and got to have two children with him. Not to mention, turns out, he was never actually in love with Sakura at all. He just thought he was because he viewed her as a prize to be won as per yet another part of his rivalry with Sasuke."

"Indeed," Raven agreed. "Me? I may not have gotten with Beast Boy romantically in the original first 5 seasons to air on TV, but the live action movies and the brand-new seasons that came along with that Netflix revival sure as Hell did."

"Don't forget your incarnations in Young Justice," said Hinata.

"That to," Raven admitted. "And even without that, he and I were already strongly preferred by most fans compared to him and Terra. The two of us as a couple were so strongly preferred, in fact, that we even managed to become outright endgame canon in the comics." Then her face darkened into a glare. "At least . . . that is . . . until that God awful New 52."

"Which was later rectified by DC Rebirth if I do remember correctly," said Cynder.

"True enough," Raven admitted.

"Pity that your friends Robin and Starfire only got and stayed canonized in the Teen Titans and Young Justice TV show canons," said Hinata.

Raven snorted. "No kidding." She folded her arms across her chest. "Him and Batgirl? So overrated."

Cynder chuckled, and then looked back at Diana. "And as for me," the dragoness began, "long before my creation, Spyro had already gotten a chance at romance with a dragoness named Ember; but not only did he never return her feelings and view her as an annoying and abhorrent admirer, but she also ended up moving on from him with an armadillo named Bandit."

"I thought she ended up with Flame," said Hinata.

"It's a popular idea amongst the fans," said Raven. She seemed to think to herself. "Honestly, as far as I know, Flame never even met her in the games."

"The point is," Cynder continued, "in the end, I won out over Ember. For starters, she got locked out of continuity by never even being included within Legend of Spyro, I was the only female character to show an interest in Spyro whose feelings were reciprocated by him, and we were shown to survive and live happily ever after at the end of Dawn of the Dragon." She then spread her wings and reared up her head, a smile on her face. "And furthermore, between me and Ember, who got to be a character in Skylanders alongside him, and as one of his friends no less? Me. Not Ember."

Diana sighed, and nodded her head. "That is true enough," she admitted. "But still, you guys had it easy. In all your cases, your respective rivals were all out of the picture in some way or other by the time you managed to successfully get your chances."

"That doesn't mean you have no chance at all," Hinata countered.

"Damn straight," Raven agreed.

Cynder nodded her head. "Believe me," said Cynder. "It may not seem like it to you now, but that hideous equivalent of Ember that's currently got her sights set on your Spyro has higher chances of personally meeting with and getting devoured by Malefor then ever winning him over."

"True that," Raven agreed. "Believe me girl, your chance will come. And when it comes, you're gonna grab it by the horns, get your man, and stay with him."

"Indeed true," said Hinata. She chuckled. "And who knows, if you're lucky, maybe she'll even end up somehow becoming a friend of yours the way Terra did for Raven and Sakura did for me."

"Don't get too optimistic there," said Raven.

"I must agree," said Cynder. "Let's let her worry about actually getting with her personal Naruto first before what fate should befall the Sakura of this equation."

Hinata chuckled once more. "If you say so."

The three figures looked back at Diana. "Well," said Cynder. "I certainly enjoyed our little talk. And I'm quite positive that my two compatriots here likewise had fun."

Hinata giggled, and Raven snorted.

"But I'm afraid now's the time we'd best return to the inner depths of your mind and back into our own worlds," Cynder continued.

In a flash, the dragoness, half demoness, and Konoha kunoichi started to become cloaked in mist and brighten in color shade as if they were about to fade away into nothingness. "Remember," they all said at once right as they were seconds away from vanishing completely. "Your chance will come, just like it did for us. And when it comes, you will win out over your rival and get your happy ending with your man, just like we did with ours." Mere seconds after these final words were spoken, the three figures vanished entirely, effectively ending the mental conversation for good; at least for that moment anyway.

Diana sighed, and checked her watch. Miraculously, despite how long the conversation had seemed, only 3 minutes had passed, and she still had plenty of time to get to her first class for the day. She smiled, now feeling confident and happy once more. She briefly turned around to face the immediate direction she needed to follow to reach her first class. Then she paused, smiled, and turned to head the opposite direction. "Perhaps I should find Daniel or Susan first so that we can enter together." Her smile widened. "Who knows," she then thought to herself. "Maybe we'll even manage to get the chance to walk together with another member of the club that we could end up developing a mutual friendship with."

. . . . .

Daniel Taymor was leaning against the lockers in the area where his own locker was, thinking to himself and trying to decide how to spend the remaining time between the current moment and when his first class began. He'd already gotten all his needed supplies sorted out and ready, and he had nothing else that he absolutely needed to get done in the somewhat considerable time that remained. "What am I going to do?"

He sighed, and checked his watch, grumbling as he once again noticed how much time was left before he absolutely had to go off to the location of his first class. He lowered his right arm, leaned his head back against the locker behind him, and sighed in a half relaxed and half irritated tone. For what seemed like an hour in Daniel's mind, he looked left and right down the hall he was in, completely bored out of his mind. "There's got to be something I can do."

Then Daniel had a thought, and a smile came on his face. "I could always go find Diana and see if there's anything she can think of for us to do to pass the time." In that instant, he started walking down the hall away from his lockers, and incidentally in the same direction that would lead towards his first class the quickest.

He came to a stop. He'd now thought of something else. "Now that I think about it," he thought to himself, "Diana would probably also appreciate it if we were to walk to class together alongside some of the other members of the club." He nodded to himself. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind if Susan were there to walk alongside us." Then his eyes widened. "Or perhaps maybe even Susan's other friend who just happens to now be my 2nd in command in the glee club."

Daniel thought to himself, his gray eyes narrowed in concentration as he thought carefully about the boy in question. "What was his name? What was his name?" he thought to himself. Then it finally reached him. "Calvin!" he thought. "That's right! Calvin! That's his name!"

He came to a stop. "That's it," he thought to himself. "I'm gonna find him, and see if I can properly start getting to know him right now." His smile widened. "Who knows; maybe if I'm lucky, we'll become friends and he'll even join me, Diana, and Susan in a walk together to reach our first classes."

Daniel turned around, ready to start searching for Calvin. Then he paused, his eyes narrowed once more as he realized an important detail. "Just where should I look for him first?"

. . . . .

Calvin Martenson was humming to himself as he sorted out the supplies he currently needed from his locker and his backpack. Hobbes, naturally, was standing right next to him and watching as his master got ready for the day.

Calvin was feeling both happy with himself and confident that today would be another great day. At the same time, though, he was also still somewhat wary about being in Zach's presence today after the stunt the other boy had tried to pull the previous day. But nonetheless, as Calvin thought to himself, today was a new day.

"Good morning punk."

Calvin paused, eyes narrowed as he recognized the voice that had just spoken from his right. He turned his head and looked past his still open locker door, glare on his face. Hobbes looked in the same direction, likewise looking not at all pleased with what he saw. Standing right there by the Autistic boy and his therapy dog, were none other than John Lipoff and Miles Surette, their two least favorite McKinley High Titan linebackers.

Miles couldn't help but let a smug grin come on his face at the sight of the apparent annoyance on Calvin and Hobbes' faces. "Nice to see you to."

Calvin sighed. "You guys again?"

Miles chuckled. "You bet it's us again."

"What he said," John agreed.

Calvin grumbled, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Should have seen this coming," he mumbled to himself. He looked back at Miles and John, closing his locker door in the process. "Alright. What do you two want this time? If it's another fight you want, then you're really wasting your time considering how very much unlikely you still are to beat me after all the other fights we've been through."

"We don't want to fight you this time," said Miles. A wolf-like grin came on his face. "At least . . . not yet."

Calvin raised his eyebrow, and Hobbes snarled in suspicion. "Yet?" Calvin asked. "What do you mean yet?"

Miles chuckled. "According to what he heard a bunch of those airhead worshipers of the basketball team captain saying not too long ago, you apparently tore that blowhard lothario a serious new one."

The linebacker gave Calvin a thumbs-up. "And for that matter, kudos to you for preventing Mr. Skinner from raping Susan. I will admit, we may be rivals in her regard, but I sure as heck ain't gonna try to force myself on her like that overrated casanova was apparently planning. I'm respectful like that."

Calvin snorted, but not without mentally agreeing with the other boy.

"That being said," Miles continued.

"Here it comes," said John.

"I might be willing now to make you a deal."

"Totally called it," John grumbled. In truth, he himself was more than a little annoyed with Miles's insistence on continuing his personal quest as well as his equally strong insistence on always getting him involved alongside him. Quite frankly, John himself was starting to get sick of Miles' constant failures, dealing with Miles's very real temper that tended to get very easily triggered during these times, and of the painful ass kickings that tended to ensue at his and Miles's expense.

Calvin raised his eyebrow. "A deal?"

Miles nodded. "A deal."

Calvin thought to himself. "I'm listening."

Miles chuckled, and pointed his finger back behind him at nothing in particular. "Here's this; I get Susan, and in exchange," he pointed at Calvin, "you serve as my bouncer to keep Zach and any other dumb turds who get the crazy idea in their heads of trying to force themselves on her or similarly steal her away."

Miles nodded his head as if giving himself yet more assurance on how well thought out he believed his idea to be. "I mean, clearly, you've got some serious skill if you can take out Zach freaking Skinner with a single wallop to the head. If you can do that, I daresay the odds could yet be pretty dang high in your favor if you got into an actual full-on fight with him." He looked back at Calvin. "And if you did fight him and won, then that would be seriously good news. After all, as far as I know, if you were to defeat him in a fight, then you'd be basically the only guy I know of here who'd have ever managed to defeat that sucker. Believe me, we all know just how many boys in this school he's fought and defeated. Hell, I myself fought him once on a dare last year, and he beat me in literally 10 seconds flat. And if you turn out to be the one boy in this student body who can actually beat him, then it's really no wonder the other guys and I have never been able to defeat you."

Miles folded his arms across his chest. "Suffice it to say, I daresay it would be quite beneficial for both of us if you were to agree to this little deal I'm offering."

Calvin thought to himself. Truth be told, he did see some appeal in about one half of the deal. After all, he certainly wasn't all that keen at all on Zach potentially continuing to make himself a nuisance in Susan's regard the way he had the previous day, and also felt that a fight between him and Zach (if it ever came to that) would potentially be a good proper challenge for him after all the fights that occurred nowadays between him and virtually every other jock he ended up having to fight had become so easy, swift, and rather boring. Even Hobbes seemed to be nodding his head up and down with a canine 'he's actually got a pretty good point there' look on his face. But then Calvin thought once again about what he'd have to let Miles have in exchange, and his decision was made in a heartbeat.

"While I do appreciate having a common enemy with you in regards to Mr. Skinner," Calvin began. He folded his arms across his chest. "But I'm afraid I'm gonna have to say no to letting you having Susan that easily."

Miles's eyes narrowed and his shoulders slumped. John closed his eyes and nodded his head in a resigned manner.

Miles took a deep breath, and then exhaled, clearly fighting to keep himself from losing his temper. "Must. You. Be. So. Difficult?" he asked.

Calvin chuckled, much to Miles's consternation. "Sorry pal," he responded, hardly sounding even the slightest bit sorry, "but regardless of current relationship status, Susan's my girl." He folded his arms across his chest once more. "And you can't have her."

Miles snarled briefly, then took another deep breath, exhaling heavily with closed eyes. He opened his eyes. "Well if that's the way you want it." He took on a clear fighting stance. "Plan B then."

"Here we go," John grumbled.

"Well this oughta be finished quickly," Calvin muttered as he got into a fighting stance of his own. Hobbes, meanwhile, crouched as if preparing to pounce while John took on a fighting stance of his own that was very similar to the one taken up by Miles.

"Back off."

Caught off guard, the four would-be combatants looked in the direction the voice had come from in time to see none other than Daniel Taymor standing nearby with an annoyed look on his face, gray eyes narrowed in a threatening glare, and his fists clenched.

Miles slumped. "Oh, for crying out loud," he grumbled.

"I said back off."

"Or what?" asked John. The black boy folded his arms across his chest. "You'll go crying foul to Mr. Schuester? Please, he doesn't have the spine for bringing down the hammer on us, and you know it."

"Well good thing he's not the one I'd be blowing the whistle to on you guys."

Miles raised his eyebrow. "Well who else would you be threatening to blow the whistle on us to?" He pointed his finger at Calvin. "You and that dweeb are in the same club directed by him." Calvin and Hobbes narrowed their eyes upon hearing Miles call Calvin a dweeb, but otherwise didn't react.

Daniel chuckled, and folded his own arms across his chest. "You do remember how Coach Bieste put you on her watch list last Friday after you came to practice late with pepper spray residue near your eyes."

"Oh, for the love of God," Miles growled. "It's not our fault that that loser in the science club brought pepper spray with him last week!"

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," Daniel said noncommittally. He pointed at the two linebackers, serious look once more on his face. "But nonetheless, you have this entire week to prove yourself worthy of being taken off the watch list and still being allowed to remain on the team. And unless you put a stop to this current bit of tenseness with my newly appointed 2nd in command in the glee club and get as far away from this current area as possible within the next few seconds, I will be more than willing to tell Coach Bieste and guarantee your expulsion from the Titans."

That got the linebackers' attention. "You wouldn't," said Miles.

Daniel grinned like a wolf. "Would I?" he asked.

Miles and John gulped, looked each other in the face nervously, and then promptly made their decision.

Miles turned to face Calvin, glare back on his face. "You got lucky this time pal," he growled, pointing his finger at the autistic boy for good measure. "But this ain't over. As soon as this week's over and John and I are off Coach Beiste's watch list, we'll be back for more."

Calvin chuckled. "Wouldn't have it any other way."

"Good." Miles turned his head back to John. "Let's go."

John did not need to be told twice, and the two linebackers made their way back down the hall the way they'd come.

Calvin turned his head to face Daniel. "I could have handled them," he said.

Daniel chuckled. "I know." He looked at Calvin. "That's what makes me so nice."

Calvin thought to himself. "True enough." He looked back at Daniel. "And, for that matter, thank you."

"You're welcome." Daniel extended his right hand. "Happy to have helped."

"Indeed." Calvin directed an awkward sidelong glance, clearly confused.

Daniel noticed. "Is something wrong?"

Calvin was briefly caught off guard by the question. "Well," he began. "I don't know; maybe there is. Maybe there isn't?"

"Do clarify."

Calvin took a deep breath, and then exhaled. Hobbes, meanwhile, remained standing where he was, ready to react in the appropriate fashion if necessary. Calvin looked up to face Daniel.

"Why?"

Daniel raised his eyebrow. "Why what?"

"Why now?" Calvin clarified. He sighed. "Look, don't get me wrong. I appreciate you getting those two punks to leave me alone, and likewise appreciate your efforts at making friends with me. But still . . ." He shook his head side to side. "You had at least two years before now. You barely know me, and I barely know you." He took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "And the fact that you're now suddenly getting involved in my fights and trying to befriend me a mere two days after the beginning of the current school year? Color me suspicious, but something's not adding up here."

Daniel sighed, and nodded his head. Calvin did have a point. "Look," said the quarterback. "I get it, I had plenty of time before now to make an effort at befriending you; and it is indeed very odd that I should start making such an effort now under such admittedly quite short notice."

"You think?"

"But nonetheless," Daniel continued, "now's as good a time as any. Better late than never you know?" He smiled. "Besides," he placed his hands on his hips. "As of yesterday, and as I just informed two of the more irritating linebackers on the football team, you are my 2nd in command in the glee club." He extended out his hand. "I daresay it would be quite wise for us to get to know each other a little better."

Calvin thought to himself. "I suppose you have a point there," he admitted. He tentatively allowed himself to shake hands with Daniel. "I guess it's worth giving a shot."

"Perfect," said Daniel. He ended the handshake, chuckling happily. "I'm sure this will be a great friendship already."

Calvin chuckled halfheartedly. "Well you're certainly optimistic this morning."

Daniel chuckled again. "In circumstances like these, how could I not be?" He placed his hands on the back of his head, relaxing in the iconic way that Sora from the Kingdom Hearts games tended to do. "I mean hey, if this works out as well as I hope, I'll now officially have 3 good friends period, let alone in the glee club, instead of 2." His smile widened. "Heck, considering how that one friend of yours named Susan is an especially good friend of my own close friend Diana, I wouldn't be at all heartbroken if she managed to become a good friend of mine as well."

Calvin raised his eyebrow. "Define. Friend."

Daniel chuckled, and impulsively placed a hand on Calvin's shoulder. Calvin and Hobbes raised their eyebrows, but otherwise didn't react. "Don't worry Calvin," said Daniel. "Susan's all yours. I'm not that kind of guy." He nodded his head. "Besides," he said as he lifted his head once more. "I've got my sights on someone else anyway."

Calvin thought to himself. Then he and Hobbes looked each other in the eyes. Then they both nodded in assent. "Well in that case," Calvin began. He looked back at Daniel, a relieved smile on his face. "I suppose it would be ok for you to see if Susan's willing to be your friend as well." He let a small smile come on his face. "And hey, if this does work out, it would be nice having more than just Susan and Hobbes as my friends."

Daniel chuckled. "That's good." He stretched. "Heck, I could use the extra friends to."

Calvin raised his eyebrow. "Don't you have plenty of friends already?"

"I wish," said Daniel. "Please, all those other jocks?" He blew a raspberry. "Hardly friends. The closest thing I've got to friends amongst any of the other jocks are the people on the basketball team. And really, out of all of them, Zach's the only one who's truly a person I'd call a friend. All the others are more of acquaintances where I'm concerned. And as for the people on all the other teams around here. . ."

He shook his head side to side. "Bullies. The whole lot of them. Rugby people? Bloodthirsty and rude animals. Soccer people? Brainless airheads. Baseball people? Spineless cowards that can't be bothered to care about anything beyond the tip of their baseball bats. Hockey people? Fat load of assholes. My fellow football players?" He snarled, his eyes narrowed in annoyance. "If I weren't the quarterback, I'd never associate with them in the slightest."

He placed his hand back on Calvin's shoulder. "Believe me," he continued. "You and I, and potentially quite a few of the others in the glee club alongside us, have a lot more in common than you think."

Calvin thought to himself, still slightly stunned. "I suppose so," he agreed.

Daniel chuckled, and nodded his head. Then his eyes brightened, and he lifted his finger. "You know what?" he asked. "I've just got an idea."

Calvin raised his eyebrow, clearly interested. "What's your idea?"

Hobbes looked noticeably interested as well . . . for a dog.

Daniel smiled, and drew out his IPod. "Tell you what," said Daniel. "Since we've still got plenty of time to wait before class begins, I say we get our musical capabilities into gear and get into the glee club spirit early on in our partnership." His smile widened, and he looked straight at Calvin. "And I know just the song that easily applies to the both of us, and in fact for just about anyone else in this club that's truly worthy of being a member of this particular one. Rumor has it, Finn Hudson himself sang it once during a session in his Junior Year." He narrowed his eyes in determination as he continued to search for the song. "And by God, I am going to make sure that I rock this performance."

Calvin raised his eyebrow. Hobbes to looked confused. "People don't typically just randomly burst out into song you know."

"Such is the beauty of glee dude," said Daniel. "You get a song in your heart, and you have just the happiness, joy, strength, and pride needed to let it out without any shame at all." He continued searching for the song he'd chosen. "And if I can pull off a performance at a time like this, then I'll definitely be able to pull off a performance in front of an audience."

Calvin thought to himself. Truth be told, Daniel's logic was certainly sound in this case. "It's still a pretty weird thing to do," he persisted. "And considering the fact that I'm Autistic and you're a neurotypical, that's saying something."

Daniel chuckled. "So what?" He shook his head. "Ain't nothing wrong with being a little weird. If you can get away with a lot of weird, then I sure as Hell can get away with a little weird."

Calvin thought to himself. "Ok," he admitted. "Can't argue with that line of thinking. I certainly do have a lot more weirdness on me; ain't no denying that."

"Exactly," said Daniel. "And besides," he continued. "This is glee were talking about. And by God, I am going to let out every song my heart has to offer . . . starting with this one."

Sure enough, Daniel had finally found the song he'd had in mind to perform. And with a smile on his face, he selected it and pressed play. The performance that ensued as a result went something like this:

(Daniel:)
Whether I'm right or whether I'm wrong
Whether I find a place in this world or never belong
I've gotta be me, I've gotta be me
(Starts walking down the hall alongside Calvin and Hobbes; his right arm is over Calvin's shoulders)

What else can I be but what I am
(Scene Break: Library)
I want to live, not merely survive
And I won't give up this dream of life that keeps me alive
(Calvin lunges onto a table nearby Daniel, and roars like a lion while positioned exactly like a crouching lion)

I've gotta be me, I've gotta be me
(Calvin jumps and bucks around like a horse)

The dream that I see makes me what I am
(Calvin kicks a nearby library cart, sending it barreling right into a wall)

(Scene Break: Bleachers at football field)
That faraway prize, a world of success
Is waiting for me if I heed the call
I won't settle down, won't settle for less
(Daniel and Hobbes walk down the bleachers while Calvin jumps down them one by one like a kangaroo)

As long as there's a chance that I can have it all
(Scene Break: On stage in the auditorium; Daniel is standing tall and proud at the edge of the stage, Calvin is slithering along the stage like a snake, and Hobbes is sitting on his haunches watching from the audience seats area)
I'll go it alone, that's how it must be
I can't be right for somebody else if I'm not right for me

(Calvin rears up and hisses dramatically, before then straightening back onto his feet)
I gotta be free, I've gotta be free
(Calvin does a series of back flips)

Daring to try, to do it or die, I've gotta be me
(Instrumental Break; complete with Calvin pulling an EPIC round of dancing)
That faraway prize, a world of success
Is waiting for me if I heed the call
I won't settle down, won't settle for less
As long as there's a chance that I can have it all
I'll go it alone, (Calvin roars like a T-rex while striking an appropriate pose) that's how it must be
I can't be right for somebody else if I'm not right for me
I gotta be free, I just gotta be free
(Calvin and Daniel start doing a unique 'Egyptian sideways walk' style dance together)

Daring to try, to do it or die
I've gotta ... be me!

Mere seconds after Daniel sang those final lines, he and Calvin continued their epic dancing all the way up until they finished in perfect synch with the end of the instrumentals with a dramatic leaning down and abruptly rearing right back up straight. Then Calvin abruptly leaned forward and, without any warning whatsoever, let out a mighty, lion-like "ROAR!"

"AROO!" Hobbes howled in perfect synch with his roaring master.

When Calvin and Hobbes had finished their duel beastly finale call, they both looked at Daniel, who still looked quite surprised and off guard. Calvin chuckled. "Well, looks like someone got it a little hard on the ears."

Daniel snapped out of his stunned trance, and shook his head side to side. Then he glared and pointed at Calvin. "Do. Not. Do. That. Again."

Calvin chuckled, shook his head side to side, and placed his hands on his hips with a clear aura of pride around him. "And why the Hell not?"

"Because it's weird!" Daniel yelled without thinking.

Calvin chuckled. "So what? I'm already weird enough as I am even without roaring after I finish singing." He waved his hand through the air in an almost dismissive fashion. "Besides, as I'm sure you should remember perfectly well from my audition last week, I always roar after every performance."

"You roar all the time, period," said Daniel.

"Well then it would only make sense for me to do exactly that after I finish a singing performance. Now wouldn't it?"

Daniel was left speechless once more at this comeback. "I walked right into that one, didn't I?"

"Shishishi," Calvin chuckled. "You sure did bro."

Daniel thought to himself, and then nodded his head. "I suppose so." He extended his right hand out towards Calvin. "So," he said. "Friends?"

Calvin chuckled, grabbed onto Daniel's hand, and subjected it to an enthusiastic handshake. "Friends."

Right at that moment, clapping and cheering was heard from all the way up at the entrance to the auditorium. Upon hearing this, Daniel, Calvin, and Hobbes turned their heads in that direction just in time to see none other than Diana and Susan standing there clapping.

"Bravo Calvin," said Susan. She stopped clapping, nodding her head up and down. She looked towards him, smile on her face and blue eyes agleam, and placed her hands on her hips. "I see you're making new friends already."

Calvin chuckled, and rubbed the back of his head with his right hand. "You could say that." Hobbes barked twice in agreement with his master.

"True that," said Daniel as he proceeded to drape his left arm over Calvin's shoulders and then give him a playful noogie on the top of his head, chuckling in the process.

"Gah!" Calvin growled, instinctively reaching up and flailing his hands as he tried to get Daniel to cease the noogie. "Quit it!" he shouted. "I mean it buddy! Get your filthy fist off of my head!"

Susan and Diana couldn't help but laugh at the childish antics.

"Don't just stand there laughing!" Calvin yelled at the two laughing girls. He pointed his right finger at Daniel while still flailing his left hand in an attempt to claw Daniel off of him. "Get this bully's fist off my head!"

Hobbes started making his distinctive gurgling snorts that he made whenever he seemed to find something funny.

"Don't you start it to!"

After about a few minutes, Susan and Diana managed to arrive at the scene and get the whole tableau to end. And by that point, it wasn't long before they were all giving each other a group hug and laughing it all off together at once.

Little did they know, however, that they were now being watched. Standing right outside the door, staring right in their direction, was none other than Charlotte Thornton. For what seemed like an eternity to the girl in question, she stared in the direction of the four students on the stage. Then, she turned around, fists clenched, and stormed off in the direction that would lead towards her first class for the day. As of that moment, as evidenced by her clenched fists, narrowed blue eyes, and tense frowning face, she was not pleased with what she'd just seen. Not pleased at all.

And just like that, another chapter done! And by God I hope you enjoy this one because I am on a roll with my work here so far! To start off, I hope you enjoyed that little mental pep talk Diana got in the form of a mental guest starring of those three imaginary characters. I'll admit, this scene is probably something of a 'Big-Lipped-Alligator-Moment' but even so, when I first got the idea in my head, I just thought it was so awesome that i couldn't help BUT include it. And besides, for those of you who are familiar with Naruto, Teen Titans, or Legend of Spyro, you've gotta admit, Diana certainly can relate to Hinata, Raven, and Cynder in regards to romantic issues in dealing with a rival. On another note, I also very much hope you enjoyed the scenes involving Calvin and Daniel. Yep, as of this chapter, these two are well on the way to reaching the almost brother-like friendship they had for the majority of GWAF (and it is glorious already!). And that being said, quick bit of trivia. Originally, I was planning for Daniel to make his entry by frying pan-ning Miles and John unconscious with a frying pan the way Calvin did to Zack in the previous chapter. But in the end, I decided that would be to repetitive. And so you got the different final product presented in this chapter. And that being said, I also hope you all enjoyed the song performance made in this chapter as well. Believe me, I'm STILL having fun writing the song performances here and I sure as Hell hope you're enjoying reading them ^_^. Well, on that note, here's me, eagerly hoping you read, enjoyed, and review this new chapter. Remember, two reviews for this chapter, MINIMUM, are required in order for me to allow you the joy of reading the newest chapter upon its completion. Till then, see ya'll later!

Coming up Next: Daniel receives word from a couple 2nd hand sources about some unsettling news involving Zach. Meanwhile, in the recess session of Glee club for the day, the glee club's resident head cheerio and basketball captain take their turns at fulfilling the week's assignment.