Crazy Sunshine

[Super Llama†]

{{Maria continued from Rock 'n Roll Star}}
{{Duncan continued from Summer in Paris, Light from the Sky}}

One phone call later, Maria had stopped by Duncan's house (this time it was Dream On by Aerosmith that she played on the doorbell,) grabbed him by the sleeve as he went to answer the door and dashed off with Duncan in tow, yelling goodbye to Duncan's mom as she went.

"Geez. Duncan, you're really out of shape."

"Well...not everyone can run for that long..." Duncan said, still trying to catch his breath as they went up the escalator to the second floor of the mall. Fortunately, the mall wasn't too far away, and Maria had quit running when it became clear that Duncan couldn't keep up "Do the world a favor and never take up caffeine, okay?"

"Okay, okay." Maria responded with a smile. "Now come on, we're here to have fun, so let's grab the fun monster by the scruff of the neck, give it a firm shake and...and..." Maria trailed off as she lost track of her metaphor. "Wait, can I start over?"

Duncan shook his head. She definitely hadn't changed one bit. Still the same wierdo from five years ago, all the way up to that last day, when he...

...

"So, what are we going to do here?"

[GregTheAnti-Viking†]

Tabitha Gweneth leaned on the railing overlooking the escalator jabbing a straw into her fresh pressed apple juice. Her skates and helmet were leaning against the wall inside a plastic bag. Skating from Baview to The Promenade always provided a good, if brief, amount of exercise and always got her prepared for a good day at the park. That is, if the guys showed up today.

She wiped a fresh layer of sweat off of her arm and bit the straw, sucking up the pulpy drink. Her skating buddies were not always the most reliable of people, taking to indulging a little too much in drugs and alcohol. It was because of that that she had a feeling that she might be skating alone today.

Still, hanging at the mall wasn't exactly a bad thing. She didn't necessarily need any change in her wardrobe, but it wouldn't hurt to look for something cute for her to wear during the Spring. Besides, it beat marinating in her own sweat waiting for them.

She stood up and grabbed hold of the plastic bag and casually slung it over her shoulder. Taking a quick sip or two as she walked through the busy mall.

[Super Llama†]

"What do you mean what are we going to do here?" Maria replied.

"Well, malls are for buying stuff." Duncan said. "And I don't have any money on me, so..."

"No it's not! There's also the whole social thing too!" Maria said loudly, putting on her smart face. "I mean, there's plenty of people who just hang around in the mall."

"Okay, do you actually KNOW any of them?"

"..."

Maria took a good look around her.

"Uh..."

"Maybe we should just go to a movie or something. If I go back home I can get some money to pay for my half of th-"

"Nonsense!" Maria responded, not wanting to look like an idiot (though some would say it was too late for that) for dragging Duncan all the way here with no plan as to what to do. "If we don't know anybody here, we can just find somebody and THEN get to know them."

Duncan shrugged. "Uh...okay." Come to think of it, Maria had always been good at talking up random strangers, whether they wanted to have a conversation or not. Suddenly, Duncan felt a tug on his sleeve as Maria walked off, leading Duncan for a ways before they came to a stop.

"There we are." Maria said, pointing at a girl leaning against the railing by the escalator. Before Duncan could respond, Maria let go of his sleeve, walking up to the girl. "Hey!" She said, "Nice day we're having, isn't it?"

[GregTheAnti-Viking†]

"Hey!"

Tabi turned her head around and saw a perky looking girl with bright blue stripes in her hair. Though she didn't know her name, she was sure that he had seen her at school before. As for the guy that was being pulled forewards she had never really seen before.

Still, she knew better than to just disregard them and gave them a big beeming smile.

"You bet it has been! I mean, it's perfect weather for blading today! Sun's shining, barely a cloud in the sky. Perfect day to catch some air you know?"

She was getting ahead of herself again. That was definitely a bad habit of hers. It was sometimes a little bit of a struggle for those around her to catch up with her rapid fire thoughts.

Tabi giggled slightly and stuck her arm out to the goth girl.

"The name's Tabi Gweneth! How are ya today?"

[Super Llama†]

"I'm Maria, and this is Duncan!" Maria responded, pulling Duncan closer as she spoke while reaching out with her other hand to shake Tabi's.

"Uh...hey." Duncan said as she was brought closer. "Could you let go now?"

"So blading, huh? You mean roller blading, right?" Maria said as she let go of Duncan's sleeve. "We tried that for a while in elementary school, right Duncan?"

"Yeah." Duncan said. "I...uh...couldn't really do it."

"He was always crashing. He could barely stay upright for more than a minute." Maria continued, laughing a bit. "Good thing your mom made you wear all that protective gear, right?"

"Uh...yeah." Duncan hung back and let Maria carry the brunt of the conversation. His mom always told him he needed to go out and talk to people more, but he just wasn't really used to it. Especially talking up complete strangers. It took a few encounters before he could really hold up a conversation.

"Oh yeah, Zack wants me to tell everyone I talk to." Maria lit up as she suddenly remembered Zack's little plan for her to spread the word about their gig. "Well, I guess first I should ask what kind of music you like. So, uh, what kind of music do you like?"

[GregTheAnti-Viking†]

Tabi was amused at how Maria was pulling around Duncan like a dog on a leash. Poor Duncan looked lost in the amount of energy she presented with herself. It looked like the girl was a lot of fun though.

"Hey man," she began, letting go of Maria's hand and turning to the poor tagalong, "It's alright, it takes a lot of practice to get it right. I mean look at this..."

She moved her right leg forward and presented a thin layer of rough pink skin running from just above her knee down to the left side of the leg.

"That little number is from a wicked dive jumping stairs, and this was after a year of experience, so it happens to everyone!"

She then turned back to Maria her eyes widening at the mention of music.

"Oh man! I absolutely L-O-V-E techno music! There's so much energy in just listening to the crazy number of beats and patterns! It really gets a girl's blood pumping you know! I mean I love any music with energy but techno...Oh man it's just such a rush! What about you? What do you like?"

[Super Llama†]

Maria bent down to get a better look at Tabi's scar. "Ooh..." Maria herself had a lot of various accidents before (such was the price of being an energetic girl willing to do stupid things now and then), but thus far she had been fortunate enough to get away without any real noticeable scars.

Techno music, huh? Techno music wasn't quite her thing, but it was still alright. "Oh, me? I listen to rock music. Mostly punk and some alternative, but I also listen to a lot of the classic stuff." Maria answered, and Duncan caught a familiar look on her face.

Uh, oh. Duncan thought to himself. She's gonna burst into song, isn't sh-

"~IT'S MORE THAN A FEEEEELIIIIIIIING!~" Maria blurted out, her voice carrying out through the floor, causing a number of people to turn their heads as they passed and wonder what the hell's wrong with that girl. She didn't have a bad singing voice, per se. It certainly wasn't a tone-deaf abomination, but as for passing an audition for American Idol...no, more than likely not. That's why she left the singing to Winston after all; that and it would be weird for the drummer to be a singer, too.

"~WHEN I HEAR THAT OLD SONG THEY USED TO PLAAAY
AND I BEGIN DREAMIIIIIIING
TIL I SEE MARIANNE WALK AW-"

"Hey!" Shouted a nearby security guard. "Keep the noise down, will you?"

Maria pouted a bit when her singing was referred to as "Noise". She offered a wave to the security guard anyway, though. "Sorry, Mr. Security Guard Person!"

"...uh, well, I listen to a bit of techno myself." Duncan said after a moment putting the conversation back on track after that little...distraction. "But I also listen to a bunch of other genres too."

"Oh, wait!" Maria cut in, suddenly remembering why she asked that question about music in the first place. "I forgot to mention we're having a concert tomorrow!"

"...but first you should probably mention that you're in a band, first." Duncan added.

"Oh, right! I'm the drummer in this band, Blank Nation. My boyfriend's in it too. He's plays guitar, and he's really good! Anyway, it's at this place called the White Stallion at 7. You should check it out if you've got the time."
Duncan listened to it a bit more than Maria, but then again, he listened to all different kinds of genres. He had a rather eclectic taste in music.

[R-S-Lee†]

(Wayne continued from Pénible))

Wayne was finally free of that godforsaken French class. He'd only signed up for it because he'd been watching a lot of Pepé Le Pew at the time, and he'd only stayed because he needed the credits.

But, now his day was done. Wayne was free. And, now was time for him to get some new games. So, he decided to go to the Promenade.

He'd gotten in his car. A dark blue Volkswagen Beetle. It was cheap, good on gas, and capable of making people punch each other. The perfect car.

Wayne arrived at the Promenade in very little time. He exited the car and headed inside. He didn't really bother to lock it. After all, he trusted that his tiny little car would not be singled out for a robbery with all the (far more valuable) cars surrounding it.

Upon entering, Wayne found himself craving one of the mall's fresh pretzels. So he headed to the second floor and purchased one from one of the many stands that littered the area. As he took a bite, Wayne heard an off-pitch rendition of "More Than a Feeling".

The source of the disturbance came from two people that he recognized and one whom he didn't. Animal, and Tabi. Despite being friendly enough with them to use their nicknames, Wayne wasn't especially close with Animal or Tabi.

There was also some other boy. He seemed to be new in town. The kid looked nice enough, so Wayne figured that he'd may as well introduce himself.

So Wayne decided to go over and join the trio. He took a bite and strolled over to them with a smile. Wayne stepped next to Tabi, on the far end of the group.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" Wayne asked with a wave, taking a bite out of his pretzel.

[GregTheAnti-Viking†]

As soon as Maria burst out into song. A wave of giggles erupted into Tabi which soon erupted into a loud stream of laughter. It wasn't that Maria was a terrible singer, it was just the fact that she belted it out without any provocation. It sounded like something she would do, if techno songs had a more definite set of lyrics.

When the guard crashed their party she almost felt the urge to say something to him, but she let it slide. The guy was doing his job after all, even if it was killing all the fun in the room.

The humor of the situation was too much and she burst back into laughter.

"That was great Maria," she said taking a couple deep breaths before letting out a big exaggerated sigh, "Did you see that guy's face, it was like a balloon!"

She then turned to Duncan and smiled, "Well yeah Techno isn't the be-all and end-all of the music world, it's just my favorite!"

Her eyes perked up back to Maria, "A concert? That sounds great! I'd love to go! What's the genre?"

She turned her head when she heard another voice coming from behind her. The slightly pudgy Wayne West was coming up to them.

She smiled and waved back to him, "Heya Wayne! How's it going?"

[Super Llama†]

"Oh, we're pretty much a punk band." Maria responded. "We get a lot of ideas fro-"

"Hey, guys. What's up?"

Maria recognized that voice, at least in passing, and there was only one way to respond.

"'eyyyyyy!" Maria said spinning around and offering the classic thumbs up to Pondzie. Except...it's not Pondzie? No, it wasn't Pondzie, it was Wayne; why would she think it was Pondzie? Probably because Wayne and Pondzie shared the same handler. Yeah, that was it.

...

Wait, handler, what?

Maria shook her head as her train of thought took a dive off a metaphorical bridge and crashed against the jagged rocks below (there were no survivors.) Wayne wasn't somebody she was too familiar with. Sure, they'd passed by a few times in the halls, but she couldn't remember any meaningful encounters with him. "Oh, nothing." Maria said, throwing an arm around Duncan and ignoring the odd non sequiter she had thrown out there a moment ago. "I'm just showing an old friend around town. He just moved here, you know?"

"Whoa! Uh, hey." Duncan was taken by surprise by the arm around the shoulder, and as usual wasn't much for conversation.

"So, Tabi, will we see you there?" Maria asked towards the skater girl.

[R-S-Lee†]

"'eyyyyyy!"

In Wayne's experience, there was only one way to reply to a dated 70's catchphrase. With another dated 70's catchphrase.

"Di. No. Mite?" Wayne replied with a nervous laugh. He took another bite of his pretzel as Maria shook off her odd little comment.

"Heya Wayne! How's it going?"

"Oh, I`m great. I got a hold of some cash and decided to spend it." Wayne responded, using his free hand to pat the pocket that contained his wallet.

Maria soon spoke again. This time her reply seemed to be a bit more grounded in reality

"Oh, nothing. I'm just showing an old friend around town. He just moved here, you know?"

"Okay. Cool." Wayne nodded. He looked at the new boy with a friendly wave, figuring that he may as well introduce himself. "The name's West. Wayne West. It's nice to meet you."

[Yossarian†]

"Good Morning! Has the-"

"Package came? You're coming here every day since last Tuesday with the same question. You sure are impatient."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that... So-"

"Yes, it just came. Power In Black, Overkill's first demo. Real Old School stuff of a Thrash Metal legend. Getting this thing was really troublesome. I hope, you're happy now."

"You bet!"

-----------------------------------------------------------

Maxwell Crowe was going down the escalator with an extremely good humor. Finally after long pursuit, he got the last remaining Overkill release. His fingers were touching the cover, he could feel the little itch on them, as his mind was telling him 'Open it up NOW! Why wait?!' Too bad it was a vinyl, so Maxwell couldn't listen to it right away.

Because of his big excitement, Max didn't notice at first his school friend, Maria. But as the seconds passed, Max has found her in a small group with... Uh... A guy and a girl from his school... And some other guy, he saw for the first time ever. Knowing Maria, Maxwell assumed, that she probably assaulted them with some random chit-chat, or... Maybe her band was finally doing some concert, and she's inviting them! After a quick thought, he decided to join the group as well. Overkill can wait... Not for too long, anyway.

"Hey Maria! Look, what I just bought! Shiny, new erm... Old piece of oldschool. Extreme rarity." Maxwell showed her the cover. "So, what's up? Any news about the concert?"

Max looked around at the others. Damn who were they?

"Oh, hi there... everyone! I'm Max!"

[Super Llama†]

"Hey, Max!" Maria offered an energetic wave in Max's direction as he approached them, holding a vinyl record sleeve in his hands as if it were precious gold. "Ooh, rarity. Sounds awesome." She said as she studied the cover intently. "Oh, the concert's tomorrow. We just finished our last practice for it today. We're gonna see you there, right?"

"Oh!" Maria pushed Duncan to the forefront as Max introduced himself. "Remember when I told you about that guy I knew before I moved here? This is him!"

"Hi..." Duncan said, offering a wave as he was dragged into spotlight once again.

"So, do you want to get something to eat?"

"We don't have any money." Duncan reminded Maria.

"Except we don't have any money." Maria parroted. "...wait, why did we come here if we didn't have any money?"

Duncan couldn't help but smirk to himself, shaking his head. Same old Maria, with her head stuck so far in the clouds it was hard to see the ground below sometimes. That was one of the reasons why he had stuck around her for so long, though. One never knew what she was going to do next. Turning back to her, only to find her staring widely at Max. She had a good reason, though.

"Max, don't move." Maria said quietly. She didn't know what one of those yellow bastards was doing in here, but it was currently perched on Max's shoulder and they were all in imminent danger.

Bees. My God.

[GregTheAnti-Viking†]

"Oh yeah!" Tabi said, nodding eagerly, "I'd be stoked to go to the concert! When is it? And where is it going to be?"

It had been a while since she had been to any sort of concert. Still, local talent was always fun to check out and if they made it big, then Tabi could claim to be one of their first fans! Which, in Tabi's mind, was a pretty good distinction when she thought about it.

She turned and faced Wayne, a grin popping onto her face. That guy always seemed to have a love for anything and everything printed, sung and acted. He was definitely someone to talk to if there was some sort of new thing on the rise to at least check out.

"Again? Man where do you find all that cash! I can barely scrape anything off of an allowance!"

She shook her head and laughed, "Oh well. What do ya plan on getting?"

He quickly turned her head as a blond haired man dressed in black came in flashing a vinyl record.

"Wow!" She said staring straight at the faded album cover, "I haven't heard vinyl in like....oh man I can't remember! Oh wait, uh my apologies...I'm Tabi, Tabi Gweneth."

She brought out her hand and smiled.

[R-S-Lee†]

Wayne smiled back at Tabi as she asked him how he could afford his hobbies. In all honesty, it was because Wayne's parents happened to be rather generous to their oldest son.

"Well, I was thinking that I'd grab a DVD or two. Nothing specific. Just whatever appeals to me." Wayne replied with a simple shrug.

Soon enough, some other kid joined up with the group. He wasn't really somebody that Wayne actually knew. The kid introduced himself as Max.

Anyway, the thing that caught Wayne's eye about him was the vinyl record in his hands. The boy described it as rare and old-school, and from a quick glance, Wayne noticed that he wasn't kidding.

Overkill's Power in Black. They were a fine band, just not really one that Wayne listened to religiously. Still, any band that would title one of their albums "Fuck You!!! And Then Some" had more than earned Wayne's respect.

"And I'm Wayne West." Wayne piped in, figuring that he may as well introduce himself. Again.

He took yet another bite of his pretzel and glanced at the bee which had perched itself on Max's shoulder and absorbed Animal's attention. Wayne didn't really like bees either. So, he found himself just kind of hoping that it'd fly the hell away.