Mia Koji walked in the door of her dormitory. As usual, her side was immaculate and her roommate's wasn't. Mia looked down at her mail that she had just picked up. Apparently, juniors had till the end of the month to order their caps and gowns for graduation. She sat on her bed and sighed as she looked down at the single photograph on her night table. It was a group shot of her and all of her friends. She glanced at the calendar excitedly with her blue eyes and looked at the next day, April 4, and its special event. Her friends were flying out to see her over their break. She tied her brown hair up into a ponytail and pulled out her books. Just as she opened her chemistry homework, the door sprang open. An anxious sophomore walked in the door. She flung her mail and bag onto the floor and flopped onto her bed.

     "I can't believe Mr. Lame-o is giving a test tomorrow on all the Greek and Roman gods. There are way too many," she complained, running her hands through her light purple hair.

      "Mr. Layman has been teaching about all of the gods in Greek and Roman Mythology for the past-"

      "-Day. I know. He is a real monster when it comes to Mythology. But you always do so well in his class. Could you help me study for the test?" asked Mia's roommate, pleading with her pale blue eyes. Mia sighed again and smiled.

     "Okay. Only if you promise to meet a few friends of mine tomorrow afternoon."

    "Sounds simple enough, huh? What's this? Oh no, not another bill!" she said, seeing the dreaded four letter word on her cable bill. Mia started to laugh.  "It's not funny!"

    Mia only laughed harder. Her roommate got grunted angrily and threw the nearest pillow at Mia.

    "Hey!"

    "Got ya!" Immediately, Mia threw another pillow back at her and an immense pillow fight started.

                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     Five figures walked off the plane into the airport. They had devised a plan. The blonde and the one with blue hair went to acquire a car while the two brunettes went to get a hotel. The muscular boy was sent to retrieve the luggage.

     The blonde and the blue-haired boy quickly ordered the van they would have to use during their stay here. The blonde prepared to sign the check.

     "You know, it still amazes me that you can see with only one eye visible."

     "Thank you," said the blonde to the attendant as he took the keys. "And you know that I can, Rowen. How long have I known you?"

     "Long time, Sage," said Rowen, locking his blue eyes with Sage's near-violet ones. Sage smiled.

     "Race ya to the meeting point!" With that he took off. Rowen stared after him.

     "No fair!" yelled Rowen as he preceded to catch up.

      The boy with shaggy brown hair thanked the manager over the phone and hung up.

      "Well, mate. We have five joint rooms all at the Holiday Inn. It's about a half hour drive to Mia's college," said the man in a British accent.

     "Great, Sai. I'm sure the guys will be happy to hear it," said the boy with black hair.

      "Ryo, you're sweating."

     "Am not."

     "Sure you're not . . . " said Sai, walking casually away.

       "I'm just a little nervous."

        "One can tell. Let's go help Kento with the luggage."

        "K."

       At that very moment, Kento had collected all five bags. They had color-coded their bags as to not confuse them. He waved to Sage, Rowen, Ryo, and Sai as they nearly walked passed him in the crowd.

      "I see you had no trouble getting all of the luggage, Kento," said his best friend, Sai, happily.

      "Dude, it was a piece of cake. And speaking of cake, when do we eat?" asked Kento, smacking his lips.

       "We'll eat when we get back to the hotel," said Ryo, picking up his bag. The others did the same.

       "C'mon. We'll take you to the car we got for the weekend," said Rowen.

      "Yeah. We got a nice van that'll fit six to seven people plus luggage," said Sage, holding up the keys. "And I'm driving."

                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        The laughing heads were everywhere . . . taunting her with jeers and cracks. The heads began to spin. Faster and faster, until they merged into a giant swirl of faces. The girl opened her eyes and shot up in her bed. She panted deeply and rubbed her hand through her damp green hair.

      "Why do these dreams eat at me like the vermin that they are?" She got up and flipped on her lights. The room flooded with light and she covered her grey eyes with a pale, shaking hand. She quickly put on her crocodile teeth earrings, and her dark-green body suit. She fitted on her shoulder pads and blood red cape. She walked out of her chamber and into a large room. She sat straight, with pose and grace and stared down at her attendants below. She had recruited them over the past 400 years.

       Fox, the one who had been with her the longest, was tall and dashing. He definitely liked to flirt but was a strong warrior and planner. His aqua hair shined dully from the candle light and she could just make out his plum eyes. She had then picked up Ardour, an unintelligent but incredibly strong fighter. She had long fiery red hair and magenta eyes. She added a lot of color to the dull greys and black of the palace. Her most recent addition was a clever, brilliant boy of twelve, named Saffron. Besides his spunky gold hair and grey eyes, he had to be her favorite.

      "How is the first phase going?" she asked.

       "Well, we have de, um detech, um found a high source of that grey stuff you wanted," said Ardour with a smile.

       "Please, I retrieved you for your strength, not your brains."

      "What my lovely partner is trying to say, is that we have located a large source of the element you wanted," said Fox, winking at Ardour.

     "Excellent."

      "Yes, we have found the location to be near a small college. I calculate, that Fox will only need a few short hours to remove the required amount," said Saffron, bowing lowly.

       "Perfect, my son. Now, Fox, complete the mission. Ardour, wait at the portal to move the shipment."

      "Yes. All hail Master Arashi!" With that, Fox and Ardour teleported to their locations. Saffron stood there and said with regret,

    "When will I be able to go out and fight like the others, mother?"

     "Later," said Arashi as she rose from her chair and walked back to her chamber. Saffron sighed sadly and walked back to his room.

     "I might as well finish that atomic bomb I was working on anyway," he grumbled as he shut the door to his room.

               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     Mia parked her jeep in a vacant space at the park. She jumped out and shut the door. She wore jeans, a white tank, and a yellow scarf around her neck. She put on her sunglasses to block the April sun and pulled out the picnic basket. Her roommate got out of the jeep slowly. She wore jeans and a dark blue tank with a light grey jacket. She had pulled back her hair into a ponytail through the hole in the back of her baseball cap.

     "So, when are your friends arriving?" asked her roommate.

      "In a few minutes. Can you help me set up?" asked Mia as she pulled the blanket from the basket. As they flattened the blanket on the soft ground, a large van pulled into the parking lot on the other side. Five boys jumped out.

     "You didn't tell me they were boys," hissed her roommate.

    "I didn't think it mattered. They're great guys, really," said Mia as she waved to them. Her roommate pulled the jacket tighter and zipped it tight as all five boys approached. The roommate stood as the five boys approached.

       "Hey Mia. Who's this?" asked the black haired boy.

      "Guys, this is Zelda Misora. She's my roommate and we share the same major. Zell, this is Ryo, Sage, Sai, Rowen, and Kento," introduced Mia as the boys acknowledged their name. Zell, as she was called, smiled in embarrassment.

      "What's for lunch?" asked Kento as he tried to open the picnic basket. Sai slapped his hand.

        "It's not time to eat. Besides, I just cooked you a five-course breakfast," said Sai sternly. Kento rubbed his hand and frowned.

      "C'mon, Kento. We'll go shoot some hoops till lunch is set up," suggested Rowen. Kento jumped at the prospect. Sage and Sai joined in. Ryo stayed behind to chat with Mia and help set up. As Zell started setting up the plates, Ryo whispered to Mia,

        "Does she know . . . "

        "No. Only the legend like she was taught in class," said Mia, reassuringly.

        "So, Zell, what made you decide to go here, to an all girl college?" asked Ryo, trying to get a conversation started. Zell jumped and dropped the silverware she was holding on the middle of the blanket.

        "It, I, well, the price was cheap and it had a great department for my major," said Zell, stumbling. Mia raised an eyebrow and quickly asked Ryo,

        "So, what have you guys been doing. I mean, you're 19 now. Where are you going to college?"

      "Well, we all started at the local university together. You?"

      "Doing fine. Zell, could you get the guys?" asked Mia kindly.

        "I guess." Zell rose slowly and walked over to the basketball court. She waited patiently for them to pause in play to tell them. Sage, playing guard, saw she was standing there, and missed the block.

      "Sage, you just let the winning basket in," complained Kento, his partner.

       "Nice shooting, Sai," said Rowen, high-fiving his partner.

       "Lunch is ready," said Zell, turning away and walking back to the picnic.

     "She's really shy, mates. I wonder," said Sai, mostly to himself. They all sat down and in moments, Kento had finished his portion. Zell just stared, having barely eaten any of her food, which consisted of a fish sandwich, cauliflower, and fries. She nibbled on her fries, staring at the checkered blanket in thought.

      "Hey, you going to eat that sandwich?" Zell's head shot up, and she shook her head no. Kento grabbed the sandwich and Zell went back to her thinking. Suddenly, a great explosion occurred to the left of them. Everyone stood up.

     "What's over there?" asked Sage.

     "Only the scrap yard for the titanium not used by the government," answered Zell quickly. The five boys ran off toward the explosion. "Where are they going?"

    "To help out, I guess," said Mia slowly.

     "You're hiding something."

     "What? No, I'm not," stuttered Mia.

    "Yes you are. And I'm going to find out what," said Zell. With that, she ran after them. Mia ran after her.