"Dominik, I love you right now" commented Brie as she walked past the Mysterio. He'd joined in with AJ's idea of dressing up as characters from opposite genders, while also fulfilling Maryse's idea of someone dressing as Barbie for the day. Brie was dressed as Thor from the Marvel cinematic universe, whereas Nikki decided to match with Brie, by going as Loki. The pair had passed by several other students, seeing costumes of Disney Princesses, and a few Pixar and Star Wars characters as well. Rhea and Damien had done matching costumes, although they had a little fun with it, deciding against doing characters, but instead going for the simple salt and pepper shakers.
"Barbie would be so jealous of you right now, you look better than her in pink and heels" laughed Nikki, her amusement only grew when Doninik simply twirled, momentarily losing his balance. Damien had been quick enough to catch him before he toppled over. A comment escaped Dominik, as he asked how women walk in heels without breaking an ankle or falling over everything. Brie had simply responded with practice and experience.
At the normal indoor meeting point, Brie and Nikki met up with those already waiting there. Chuckling at some of the costume ideas, Aleister and Cross had done a reverse of the Doctor and one of his companions. Miz and Maryse had also done a couples costume, going as Morticia and Gomez Addams. True to her word, Echo had dressed as Aemond Targaryen, complete with the eye patch. Much like Summer had done with being Nick Fury for the day. Just for the hell of it, Roman had dressed as Black Widow, with Seth messing about and being Bellatrix Lestrange, complete with the wand. Becky had dressed as Mario, whereas Renee had chosen to be Bugs Bunny. The other costumes appeared to be random for the most part, although there were a few horror movie slashers among them. Including Finn being Ghostface, Drew dressing as Jason Voorhees, and Dean as Michael Myers.
Just as the laughter was ringing out, Serenity made herself known walking down the art corridor as if she owned the school, fittingly she was dressed as the Evil Queen from Snow White. Although no one voiced their opinion, for the most part, she was ignored, even when she stood close by and huffed in an effort to gain attention. She hated how things had changed, but more than that, she despised how things hadn't gone in her favor. She wanted to be the Queen Bee of the school, to have the popular girl life. But instead of getting the power she desired, she had somehow fallen even further down the ranks. The Cheerleaders had slowly begun to fall apart, splitting into two groups, those who had stuck by Daniel in his time of need and those who had heartlessly abandoned him.
"So when's the first round of the tournament?" asked Serenity, she had listened to the gossip going around the school, slowly what happened at Homecoming had become old news and forgotten, and now the talk was the sports teams and their individual tournaments. Stephanie, the headmistress had been making arrangements. This year coach Booker T would be sent with the swim teams, whereas Lita would be going with the volleyball and basketball teams. Hunter, on the other hand, would be supervising the wrestling team, as they traveled across the country. Pretty much all the preparations had been made, to the point all those apart of the teams had each been called to the new sports hall, to work on something, although no one knew exactly what that was.
"Next week" kindly replied Miz, as he moved some of the dark strands of his black wig from his face, blowing at it in an attempt to remove the stringy hair. "It will be the first round for all the teams, so the school is going to be a lot quieter" he laughed, trying to imagine the halls of the school vacant of fun and laughter, or at least the younger years trying to fill in for the missing senior students. "What are you, lot on the wrestling team up to anyway?" asked Miz, curious why Hunter kept calling for the members of the wrestling team. Daniel and Cena had since been removed, being replaced with Aleister and Finn, with Brie being added to the team last minute when changes had been made by those who arranged the tournament, whereas Rhea had replaced Sasha upon the Boss breaking her ankle in the days leading up to the Halloween festive.
"Preparing" simply replied Dean, recalling the intensity of everything. Hunter was determined everything was going to be both perfect and organized. The team was made up of those who had shown skills as a team and individuals, those who had their in-ring characters almost perfected and had a set of moves unique to them. But most of all, the wrestling team was made up of those with a passion for the sport. "Hunter is determined we're going to be a force to be reckoned" he added with the smallest of smiles appearing on his lips.
"The team is going to fail, it doesn't have Daniel or me on it. Without Winners, there will only be failures" commented Serenity, sweeping her hair to the side, as she glared at those she felt had stolen her spot on the wrestling team, specifically Echo, who didn't seem to pay her any mind, or even care she was being glared at, instead she simply continued on with what she had been doing before, laughing, joking and taking part in friendly banter and conversation.
"That's the winning spirit we all know and love" voiced Shayna casually walking past, dressed as the Black Power Ranger. "Can't possibly lose with that attitude. It a wonder Hunter didn't choose you for the team, how could the entitled princess get up possibly fail us" she added as she entered the music room, being met with a freshman student playing the piano terribly, she only winced in response before closing the door to the smaller room the girl was practicing in.
"If we make it to the finals, the entire school gets to find out what we've been up to" spoke Seth, standing behind Echo, his head resting on her shoulder, as his arms snaked around her waist. Her light chuckling brought a grin to his lips, once again the two were in stark contrast to each other. "Rumor has it, finals will be held here, in the new sports hall" he added with confidence, recalling when Hunter had informed them of the snippet of information, at the same time he'd also answered why the newest sports hall, resembled a mini arena, rather than a regular school gym.
With little warning Serenity grabbed hold of Roman's hand, all but yanking him away from the group, and leaving many of them confused. At first, the Samoan teen dressed as Black Widow had been too shell-shocked to really do anything, but the moment he came to his senses, he resisted, putting the breaks on and forcing Serenity to a halt in front of the door leading to the back staircase. By now they were out of view from the rest of the Mix and Match group, only their confused voices could be heard, as a few called for Roman, Dean could be heard saying if he didn't answer they would come searching.
In another attempt to cause drama and achieve her goal of being the talk of the school, Serenity pushed Roman out of her way with a wicked grin, strutting over to the group she had been conversing with before. There she pulled on Drew, kissing him when he was close enough, and slapping Brie when she tried to push Serenity away. Leaving the entire group stunned.
"Hey Roman, that date would be great, pick me up at seven" loudly announced Serenity, as she walked away with a bounce in her step and a sway of her hips, a wide smirk painted on her lips, as she heard the whispers almost instantly. Most were asking what was going on, but the brunette had hoped the theories would begin to spread soon and with it the wild rumors. She liked to think she'd done what no other before had. She had sown uncertainty into the group of mismatched teenagers. At the same time, she had hoped to cause as much trouble with the couples as possible. Now Roman would be explaining to Summer what was happening, or at least try and convince her nothing was going on between himself and Serenity, whereas Drew would have to deal with rumors all day.
"Just what we needed before the big day, more frigging drama" uttered Renee, her voice dripping with annoyance, a sigh escaped her lips. At the same time, the blonde Canadian began to question what the others who still followed Daniel would get up to now. Charlotte surely wouldn't look over being rejected from the wrestling team, even less so now she called herself the Queen. Natalya too wouldn't drop the subject without saying her piece. As for Daniel, it was anyone's guess what he'd do, whether he'd blindly follow Serenity as he had done in recent days or if he would cause havoc on his own. One could hope he would learn from others and change his ways, but his heartbreak seemed to drive him further down his chosen path.
"Maybe we should start preying she and the rest of the dogs follow in Andrade's footsteps" commented Carmella, recalling seeing Andrade putting together the things needed to campaign for Prom King. He'd seem rather happy to ignore the drama for the time being, instead choosing to ignore the school work he was behind on, in favor of designing banners and other things for the prom campaign. There was little doubt he would also campaign for Charlotte to be Prom Queen.
"Please tell me you three will be the Demonic Trio for the tournament?" spoke Rhea, completely changing the subject and finally allowing her curiosity to get the better of her. Everyone apart of the wrestling team knew of the proposition Hunter had made to the three collectively known as the Demonic Trio, along with the advice to think over and consider it. "We already have the hounds and twin magic, why not top it off with you three bringing hell to everyone who crosses our path" she added, her grin growing at the idea. Finn and Aleister simply shared a common glance, before both looking toward Echo, as if she was the one to hold the answer.
"What are you two looking at me for?" asked Echo with confusion, a small nervous chuckle escaping her lips. "It's your decision as much as it's mine" she added, speaking the truth. "Whether we work as a team or as single competitors, we'll all be a force to be reckoned with. The entire team is" finished Echo, recognizing there were benefits to working as a trio for the tournament, but at the same time there were also ups of working individually, and there was a positive side to Aleister and Finn working as a tag team.
"Either way, the dark side will rule this year" laughed Punk
"Cause we have cookies" replied Cross
"And cake, can't forget the cake" added AJ, causing another round of laughter. In an instant, the drama Serenity had been determined to cause was forgotten about. Instead, the group of mismatched friends turned their attention to the future. They had plans for the upcoming weekend, AJ had mentioned the idea of finding a little hangout spot of their own, somewhere they could go to be together outside of school hours and video calls. On top of that they each had to prepare for the coming weeks, some on sports teams, others focusing on the younger students, and all of them preparing for the exams and preparing for the future to come once they graduated from All Star Academy.