**Rebooted**

[Serenla the Cat]

((I'm so back and forth on this s**t it ain't even funny.))  

[WritingWithLove]

It was a beautiful day in the Ice Kingdom. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the people were hustling and bustling outside.
Especially for a self-proclaimed starlet.
A young woman walked- no, strutted- through the halls of her high school. She had her posse around her as her eyes shifted from face to face, each one bowing with a hint of respect towards her.
"You're so pretty today, Ella," one of her friends said. "Yeah," commented another, "You, like, always look so pretty." Ella flipped her hair and said with arrogance, "Yeah, I know. It's all natural."
"Unlike your tits."

Ella froze, turning slowly around to face her opposition. A girl adorned in all-black, with red and green streaks through her dusty brown hair, crossed her arms and looked Ella dead in the eyes. The hallways went silent; the queen had some beheading to do.
"Um, excuse me?" she questioned, placing a hand on her hip and tossing her hot pink backpack to the nearest football player."I'm pretty sure the only fake thing here is your dye job."
"Oh really?" the girl fired back, "Your friends and your personality seem to have me beat in the fake department."
"I'm an actress. It's my job to be fake. What's your excuse?"
"You aren't an actress and you'll never be one!"
"Says who? Your little stoner friends?"
The crowd "ooh"-d and "ahh"-d at her remark.
Frustrated and caught off-guard, the girl backed down long enough for Ella to take a final shot. "Look, just go back to your little emo music, cut yourself some, and write about me in your satanic diary, okay? I don't have time for you."
Ella turned her back and snapped her fingers, her posse and the football player all following in her wake. She glanced around proudly and grinned; it was good to be the queen.
***
It was a beautiful day in the Ice Kingdom. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the people were hustling and bustling outside.
Not that Myelin could hear it.
Living in a world without sound isn't as scary as one would think. Myelin glanced around her humble home and smiled broadly; the feeling of wind on her cheeks was enough to suffice for her.
She went into her garage and spied her father. Sweat and oil covered his brow, and his goggles were all fogged up from intensely working. She walked silently over to him and tapped his shoulder, causing him to look up and grin. "Hello there, precious!" he said, taking off his eyewear. Myelin paid careful attention to the movements of his lips, decoding the words he spoke. She smiled and waved in response, tilting her head and biting her lip.
Myelin's father's eyes lit up, and he said, "Oh, honey! Would you mind running out and getting some bread? We ran out earlier today." Myelin hesitated before nodding, stepping back and rubbing her arm. "Thank you!" her father said, handing her five dollars from his pocket and sending her out.
As Myelin walked down the street, she looked around at everyone passing her by.
"Hey, girly!"
Myelin gave no reaction until the stranger tapped her shoulder and spun her around. He shoved her into an alley and held her against the wall of a building, staring into her eyes intently as his friends joined him. Myelin's ears pulled back with fear, and her legs tensed. She felt her heart pound faster as she saw the stranger mouth the words, "Gimmie the cash."
She bit her lip and closed her eyes, handing over the money her father had given her. "Only five today?" the stranger taunted. He let go of her and held the money above her head just out of her reach. Playing his shameful game, she reached up in a vain attempt to snatch it back. The stranger's friends laughed, and he said, "You know the rule! Say something, and get your cash back."
Her eyes welled with tears of embarrassment; she knew she would have to comply. If it had been any other errand than to fetch food, she would have refused, but she knew how rare it was that they had ready money for something like bread since recently every penny had gone towards the care of her father's shop.
She balled her hands into fists and closed her eyes tightly, her ears bending back as far as they could go. She took a breath and slurred, "P... Please... give it... back... t'me... "
The boys laughed hard, and the stranger tossed the money at her feet. They walked away with joyful tears in their eyes, and she ran with tears of shame in hers.
****
It was a beautiful day in the Ice Kingdom. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the people were hustling and bustling outside.

"Get up, a*****e!"
Wham!

A young boy sat up quickly, feeling the muscles in his back stretch and contract due to his awkward sleeping position. He'd been booted to the floor yet again, his sister getting the first crack at the rotting mattress within their shack-like fortress.
The young woman grabbed him by his shirt collar and shouted, "Timothy, I told you to ******** wake me up when the sun came up, and what did you do?! ******** sleep in, like a lazy b*****d! God, how could I ever be so stupid as to count on you for anything?!" Timothy gasped and said quickly, "Scarlet, I-I didn't, I mean, I-I-I, I was gonna-"
"'I-I-I didn't mean!'" Scarlet shouted as she mocked him, throwing Timothy down. He stood up and rushed to the corner of the room, as if it would provide him with some protection. Scarlet's eyes flared, but she took a sharp breath in and breathed out slowly. She looked at him more calmly, but a storm still brewing inside her. "Whatever," she muttered, turning towards the door, "Let's go steal some food. I'm starving."
She walked away, and Timothy took a few quick breaths to try to calm himself down; however, whenever he did this, it always seemed to make him feel worse. He felt dizzy and nauseous, and it took most of his strength to not fall over. He followed behind Scarlet, his feet like cinder blocks, and his heart like cement. He had a feeling that he wasn't going to eat today, regardless of whether or not they actually got their hands on any food.  

[Fadedepic]

((Due to complete incompetence and me generally dicking around, I've had to rewrite this 4 times.))

Seth stepped foot onto campus, already dreading the forthcoming day. He was dressed in his usual attire - a jet-black t-shirt with equally black jeans and sneakers, a pair of large headphones hanging around his neck and an old black denim coat that was fading. He groaned to himself, but not because of the morning - Seth liked these mornings. It was cold, grey, and very somber. Seth had always preferred the cold to heat. His philosophy was that people who were cold could bundle up, but people who were overheated couldn't cool themselves off if left to their own devices. He also just generally liked crisp cold air to hot and sticky air that put phlegm in his lungs and a constant miasma hung in the air. Many of his fellow highschhol students would groan and complain about the morning and how cold it was, but Seth found it refreshing, and was always enerjectic in the morning. It's in the afternoon when he would generally begin to wind down, although not my much. He walked along the hallways, avoiding everyone's hustle and bustle, even sidestepping Ella's little scene without paying much attention to it. He ignored most of what was going on and instead made his drone-like trek into his first period class.
He enjoyed his first period primarily because the teacher allowed him to sleep and draw all throughout class time. e enjoyed being left alone. He also managed to learn a lot better than a majority of his peers, to whom the concept of actually paying attention of half the lecture and having that stick in your brain was inconceivable. He always got that, "You sleep and draw all throughout class. How do you know these things?" He did despise a lot of his peers, though. The idiocy of his generation brooded contempt for everyone who embraced it to Seth. Especially Ella. Ella was, in so many words, a b***h in Seth's eyes, andhe only had a shallow parasitic relationship with her because she sat next to him; typically to copy s**t. He also had her in his fourth period which was right after lunch, and he didn't like that class at all... but that's for a later time.

Gareth had showered, shaved his 5o'clock shadow, dressed, and was ready to head out very quickly. He was unsure of what he would do today. Since the last list of shenanigans the city's gotten itself into, it turned into a dull and monotonous place. Rain's most recent profession offered him some excitement, though; not to mention the hijinx he and Sciz managed to stumble into. He took out his sidekick and texted Rain:

Do you have any contracts that need a wheelman? -G  

[Uncle Sciz]

Sciz stepped out of his house and into his lawn, looking around. The sky was a dull grey, a perfect reflection of the complete lack of activity within the kingdom. He wore nothing much besides a white shirt and jeans, not feeling up for putting more than minimal effort into getting dressed up. He stepped out of his fenced yard and started down the street, going for a quick meal.  

[The Jolly Victini]

"I don't even know where I'm going anymore..." mumbled a distraught looking boy to himself. He was a dog, bleach white fur and hair to match. He wore pure white clothing, though it looked slightly dirty. He otherwise looked fine. He looked around, the environment still foreign to him. He had nowhere to go and no one to go to. He was alone, and couldn't remember a single thing past last month.

The boy looked around, seeing that he was passing a large building with multiple floors and courtyards. He noticed the sign in front of the entrance that read: "Ice Kingdom High School." It didn't take long for the boy's curiosity of the sign to overtake the fact that someone was shouting at him. He realized his presence when he was grabbed by the arm and was being pulled towards the building against his will.

"You damn kids always trying to sneak out! Not while I'm on the clock! You're going right back to class and I expect to see you after school for detention, you little hoodlum! It's no wonder why this kingdom's future is doomed! It'll be in the hands you kids like you!" The man ranted on and on until he was eventually let free in the hallways of the school. The period had just ended, and people were passing through the hallways. Nobody seemed to pay much mind to the boy, instead, the attention was focused on a two girls who seemed to be insulting each other back and fourth, eventually ending in the blonde girl walking off looking victorious. The boy was curious, yes, but decided that while he was here, he could at least look around.

****

"Crap... crap... crap! Come on, brake! No, not go! Stop! Why am I going backwards?!"

CRASH

"Shoot! I hope they don't need that mailbox..."

SCREECH

"No no no no no no!!!"

SMASH!

That's how the day of Dex Macafee began. His morning consisted of putting, "final touches" on his latest machine and then taking it for a... "drive." A drive that mostly consisted of swears and property damage, finally ending with a bent streetlight and a recently arrived hunk of scrap metal. The hedgehog in question stumbled out from the death trap, coughing. He walked over to the front of the vehicle and opened up the hood, ranting on the way.
"This is just perfect... quantum converter? Easy! Nuclear reactor? Piece of cake! Weather machine? Child's play! But a car?! To say that this is an art beyond my grasp would be an understatement!!" Dex yelled to himself. He took a look inside, smoke bellowing from the "car." The pillar of black would catch anyone's attention that would happen to walk by.

****

"Let's see... 1% milk for Donna... peanut butter, jelly, and bread for Dex... and hot sauce for Swift. That along with the rest of the groceries should be everything!"
Silverlight smiled as she began her trek back home from the shopping district. She always loved shopping for groceries. She was a bit of an extreme couponer. You might not have believed that she paid for her groceries with the 89 cents she found collectively from Swift's laundry had she not told you herself.

She turned into the park, a shortcut she always took when walking to and from home. She noticed all the people playing with their kids or their pets. It was always nice in the park. She swore she saw to children emerge from the woods bordering the park, but she pushed it from her mind.  

[WritingWithLove]

"Can you believe that b***h?" Ella asked her cohorts as they fixed their faces in the restroom- not that they needed to, of course, since they were perfectly plastic anyway.
"Yeah," said one, messing with her fishtail braid, "I sooo don't think she knew who she was up against."
"Toats," said another as she pinched her cheeks to make them rosy, "I think she was, like, mentally retarded or something."
"I don't care," Ella replied with a coy smile, "All I know is that she better keep her mouth shut. I know that she works at the bait shop downtown with her daddy, and it'd be a shame if the football team decided to take a few bottles of spray paint to it."
Riiiiing!

As the late bell rang, Ella grabbed one of her posse's cup of coffee and said authoritatively, "I need a drink. This is mine now. See ya, girls!"
She walked out of the restroom and down the hall, arriving late to class in the most high-class and fashionable way Daddy could buy. She took a swig of her drink and froze, swallowing as if she'd realized she'd been poisoned. She sat next to Seth and slid him the coffee. "She knows I only drink my lattes with skim milk. Here, kid. Take this. God, now I'm gonna have to work out after school."
***
Myelin, needing some time to herself, decided to take a walk. She couldn't go back empty-handed and risk disappointing her father, so she decided to make a U-turn and head back towards the bakery, hoping that her tormentors had gotten bored and gone to pester someone else.
She was suddenly overpowered with the scent of smoke and oil. Her heart beat faster as she coughed loudly; her lungs were too weak to take this much stress.
She turned to run away from the intoxicating fumes, but she spied a shadow about half a mile away beside a broken car. Her instinct was to leave, but her good-natured soul was far too kind and trusting. She made her way over to the figure, despite the cough, hoping that whatever was broken could be fixed quickly.
***
"M-maybe, w-we could, u-um, j-just, a-a-ask someone for... um..." Timothy stuttered. Scarlet glared at him; he wasn't worth the breath it took to scream and tell him to shut up- but she did it anyway.
"God, you're ******** retarded!" she snapped, "Why don't we what? Ask someone for s**t? Like anyone in their right ******** minds would give some cheese to street rats like you and me." Timothy cast his eyes down and nodded; she had a point. Then again, he thought, maybe they just hadn't been asking the right people.
He noticed a young woman a few yards away. She was carrying groceries and smiling as she stepped. He wondered what she was thinking about.
Probably her kids...
Should I...?
No, I couldn't...
Rrrrrrrrrr!

Timothy's stomach howled, and he hunched over with pain as his insides turned and flipped. He bit his tongue to keep himself from screaming, but he still felt the earthquake within him destroy every hint of his willpower. He would've lay down, but his bones felt like they would push through his skin if he made a single move.
Scarlet rolled her eyes and pulled him up. "Overdramatic a*****e," she hissed. Timothy looked into her eyes and begged, "A-ask... ask her... for... food..." He nodded his head towards the woman, and Scarlet's eyes followed. "That b***h?" she asked to clarify. He nodded, and she scoffed. There was no way just asking was gonna work.
Rrrr...

Scarlet groaned slightly, feeling her stomach pinch. "F-fine," she agreed, leaving Timothy behind, "but I get first crack at whatever she gives us."
She fast-walked towards the woman before being at her shoulder. "Hey lady," she said, "I need to ask you somethin'."  

[The Jolly Victini]

The strange boy wandered through the halls for only a while longer before the rush of students ended up pushing him into a random classroom. He was now more out of place than he already was. He was almost forcibly knocked over into a desk, sitting awkwardly as he knew no one, let alone where he was anymore.

He looked around now that he was in a stationary position. He was sat in the middle of the room, pretty much dead center, though, a little bit to the back. Behind him were the row of students who don't pay attention, and in front, those who do. To either side of him were students of varying categories. He noticed that beside him was the "victorious" girl he saw cross insulting the other girl. He looked away, feeling like maybe he shouldn't talk to her. For now, he just sat in this new world, a little nervous, but mostly secluded.

****

Dex coughed heavily and began to back away from the destroyed vehicle. He hadn't noticed that someone had walked up behind him, for when he finally cleared the cloud of black, he accidentally bumped into them. He turned and quickly scrambled to help the person up. "Oh, gosh! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!" He said. He finally got a closer look, noticing that it was a girl that he had bumped into. "Are you alright?" he asked.

****

Silverlight looked down to see a girl requesting to ask a question. She didn't exactly look polite, or healthy for that matter, but she decided to respond in her cheery tone. "Yes? What is it?" she asked.  

[WritingWithLove]

Ella took notice of the stranger who had come in. She looked him up and down. He was very cute, she thought, but his abstract attire seemed to convey that he was with the alternative and hipster crowd.
It's a shame. If he fixed himself up a bit, he could be one of the cute band boys.
She'd find out his name, she figured, and then maybe bum a few homework assignments off of him in the future.
***
The smoke was thick, which made it hard to see. Myelin could barely make out the movements of the stranger's lips as he spoke. She managed to understand him and nodded, hoping that he wouldn't speak too quickly.
He seems familiar... What is he doing here?

She gestured to the car, hoping he'd explain what happened to it.
***
The sound of the woman's evident happiness in her voice was like nails on a chalkboard to Scarlet. If she didn't need this food so badly, she would've ripped out the woman's tongue just to hear what she sounded like when she wasn't thinking about butterflies and flowers and other preppy things.
"Yeah, my brother and I..." Scarlet started before pausing. She'd rather die than admit to being as wild and impoverished as they were, so she made up a lie on the spot. She took a breath and smiled, a glint of joyful misery in her eyes.
"We live a few blocks down that way, " she explained slickly, "and he's got some kind of illness that makes him nearly pass out all the time. Point is, I'm worried about my dear, sweet brother, and I don't think I can get him home and feed him before it's too late. Can I have somethin', anythin', outta your bag there?"
She frowned with plastic sincerity, figuring this was going to go one of two ways: the chick was going to hand over the bag, or Scarlet was going to take it. Either way, they'd have food, and that's all that mattered.
That, and the possibility of making this peppy woman scream like a two-year old.  

[Uncle Sciz]

Sciz continued his walk around the city. The smell of smoke filled his nose as he looked up and saw the wreckage of another failed drive from Dex. He paid no mind to help, as there was already someone there, and decided to take a different turn. Haven't gone fishing in a while, might see about getting some bait while I'm out, He thought to himself. The kingdom wouldn't be in much other activity for now, so he figured he could try his hand at something he didn't do often.  

[The Jolly Victini]

The strange boy continued looking around curiously. He noticed that there was an older man standing in the front of the class, writing things on a chalkboard. It was a lot of letters and numbers, which trying to figure out what they could mean hurt his brain. He was rather calm until the teacher had asked a question and then immediately called him out by pointing a ruler at him.

"You!" he said abruptly. "You're new, aren't you? You're not on my attendance sheet." he glanced over it once more but then brushed it off thinking that he'd be added by tomorrow. "Do you know the answer to this equation?"

The boy looked at the cryptic language with dread. He didn't know what this code was, let alone answer what it meant. His ears drooped and he shrunk down a little, giving a gentle nod in fear. The teacher giggled slightly along with the rest of the class. He turned his attention to Ella and said with a knowing smirk, "What about you, beauty queen?"

****

Dex looked over to where the girl was pointing, only to realize that she was curious about the wreckage. Before he answered, Dex took the girl by the hand and led her out of the cloud of smoke. When they could finally breathe right again, he explained. "Th-That... is the remains of the vehicle I attempted to build." He said with an embarrassed blush. "I can build nearly any kind of scientific device under the sun, but for some reason the workings of a motorized vehicle completely escape me!" He gave a heavy sigh and smiled. "My name's Dex. What's yours?"

****

Silverlight couldn't help but crack a little smile. Her smile grew a little wider until she fell victim to a fit of the giggles. When she finally calmed down, she cleared her throat. "Sweetie, momma didn't raise no fool. I can see you lying through your teeth." She said knowingly. "However, I DO see that you two don't seem to have eaten anything decent in quite some time." Silverlight walked over to the young boy and knelt down to him, licking her thumb and gently rubbing the poor boy's dirty cheek. "And you look filthy, poor baby." she said with genuine care. "Tell you what, why don't you come home with me and I'll treat you two to lunch? My son should be cooking when we get there."  

[WritingWithLove]

The class giggled at the teacher's pet name for Ella, but Ella only responded with a smile, knowing that all attention was good attention.
"Uh, like, some negative number, right?" she replied.
***
Myelin's ears dropped; not because she didn't know what Dex had said, but because she couldn't reply without him laughing at her.
She hesitated a moment before glancing over to the engine of the car. She moved to it and worked quickly, reattatchhing wires and cleaning the oil and dirt off of the equipment with her jacket sleeve.
***
"I-I-I... I'd l-like that," Timothy answered with a whisper. His stomach was still doing flips, and he was about to have a breakdown if he didn't get something into his system.
Scarlet gasped. How dare this woman pity them! They didn't need any charity. Without a word, Scarlet smacked the woman and knocked her down, snatched the bag, and took off running.
Something in Timothy's mind snapped, and he grabbed Scarlet's ankle and watched as she fell flat on her face. Scarlet's face turned blood red with rage as she slowly turned to face him. The anger was accumulating inside her heart, and she was ready to explode. Timothy braced himself for the worst.  

[The Jolly Victini]

The teacher scoffed with a smile and turned, writing the answer down. "Nope, it's, like, 2.57 squared or something." he said playfully mocking her. The boy still sat there, wondering if he should say something, anything.

****

Dex was a little surprised when the girl moved over to the car and began working on it. He was going to stop her, but then he noticed that the smoke began to clear up ever so slightly, until it eventually was thin enough to see through. She had... repaired his car.

Dex moved closer and inspected it, still lost to it's workings. "H-How did you...? Who are you, miss?" he asked.

****

It took all but one second for Silverlight to get back to her feet, with an almost completely different air. She looked angry and authoritative, and this was only reinforced as she walked up behind Scarlet as she was about to hit her brother. The presence of her changed aura was enough to send a chill down anyone's spine. She quickly grabbed hold of Scarlet's wrist and lifted her from the ground. She turned her around and stared her dead in the face, her eyes having become powerful and threatening.

"I don't know where you get off stealing from people, but, honey, Silverlight K Sword does NOT let children like you go unpunished. But I'll give you the benefit of a doubt and say that you'll shape up before I have to do something. But, prove me wrong, and I'll whoop your a** so hard you'll have trouble sitting down for a few weeks." Silverlight explained in a threatening, stern, but still motherly tone. Albeit, a motherly tone in the context of punishment. She leaned in a little closer and whispered. "Understand?"

Her face did a complete 180 as she went back to her happy and cheerful attitude, setting Scarlet down and taking Timothy's hand. She grabbed Scarlet's ear, making sure she wouldn't do anything unless she wanted to be Van Gogh's #1 fan, and began walking. They would be at her house very soon.  

[WritingWithLove]

Now, Ella was a bit pissed. She didn't appreciate disrespect, especially from a teacher. She thought something wicked and smiled coyly as she said, "Oh, you're right. I'm so sorry. Maybe you and I need to have anoter tutoring session, like we did last month? It was so wonderful. I might even tell the principal just how good you are with... handling student's needs." She glared at him with mischief; he'd be on his toes now.
***
Gosh, this boy was cute. And he seemed genuinely interested in Myelin, too. Still, she bit her tongue, afraid to speak and risk being laughed down the street.
She desperately wanted to tell him her name, but she couldn't bring herself to swallow her cowardice. Instead, she opened the car door and turned the keys.
VrrrrrrrOOOOM!

The engine purred happily as it came back to life, and Myelin stepped back and waited for the boy to re-enter the car.
***
This was just plain disgraceful. Scarlet could feel the tempest inside swell, and she lashed out and scratched Silverlight across the face, praying for crimson to arrive on the woman's cheek.  

[The Jolly Victini]

The teacher sighed and continued writing. "You know principal Thomas had your number missy, he won't believe a word you say." he said nonchalantly. The strange boy looked back and fourth from Ella and the teacher. He wasn't sure if he should do anything, so he slumped down some more, trying to hide himself.

****

Dex's eyes widened in astonishment. "What did-- How did-- HOW IS THIS WORKING NOW?!" he shouted with surprise. He quickly rushed over to the girl and hugged her tight, thanking her over and over before letting go and looking at her with a desperate smile. "Y-You HAVE to tell me how you did that! Please!"

****

Silverlight had had the last of this girl. She gently handed the bag of groceries to Timothy and smiled, patting him on the head. "Have a banana if you like, sweetie, just hold onto these for me, okay?" and that was the end of her nice side, as what she did next could be considered extreme parenting procedures. She simply grabbed Scarlet and hoisted her over her head, holding onto her from the back of her shirt so that she was facing the sky flailing around uselessly like a turtle. "I hope you don't like sitting." she said angrily as she continued walking.  

[WritingWithLove]

Ella rolled her eyes, giving up this battle, but not the war. She glanced over to the new kid and smiled at him, winking. He seemed like fun to practice flirting on.
***
Myelin gestured to a few wires, hoping that Dex would get the message. She really wanted to say something to him, but she refused to speak.
***
"W-wait!" Timothy cried. He hesitated and bit his lip. A part of him wanted to see Scarlet get hurt, but the other part knew that she'd kill this kind woman, and he might be next.
Sighing, he set the bag of food down and said, "I-I-I won't e-eat if you h-hurt her!"