Thomas hurried through his homework. "...aaaaaaannnd done." He says to himself. He puts it back in his bag. Thomas looked up for a second to the sound of people walking by. He immediately tries to play it cool as they pass by. In the group was Marley Walker. She stared at the ground as her friends were talking to her.

     She seemed... quieter today. Odd. Thomas wondered why. "If you want, we could forge you some hall passes or an excuse note so you can stay home.." Natalia said. Marley just shakes her head. "Uh... is there anything we can do to help...?" Albert asks. Marley shakes her head again.

    They hug her. The bell rings and they all head to their next classes. Luckily, Thomas sits next to Marley in Art. "...hey... uh..." he tries to start a conversation with her. "...why are you so upset today..?" Marley just death glared him. After a moment of silence, her expression softens. "My mother... was really sick.. and.. my uncle had enough to pay for the hospital bills.. but.. she still was too sick and it was too late...she left me this bandanna." Marley said. Her eyes were glistened with tears. 

    Her uncle had to pay for her sick mom....? That sounded familiar but he decided he should focus more on the conversation. "...I am so sorry." Thomas says. "Not your fault.." Marley stared at the floor. They because quiet. "..thanks for listening though.." She said, a faint smile peaking on her face. "Anytime.." Thomas replied.

     They each went back to their assignments. Marley gets a text. "Ugh.." she says. "Hm?" Thomas  wondered what that was about. "My friends want me to go to that stupid concert that's happening tonight. They think it'll make me feel better." Marley said. "Oh Wandering Fern..? They're so overrated." Thomas replies. "Glad we can agree on something, but I don't want to disappoint them. You wanna come with?" She asks. 

     Thomas felt his face flush. Maybe she was just trying to be nice. Was she? Or was she asking him out? Oh god- "Totally-" He says without thinking. "Alright. See ya at 7." She says as the bell rings. She puts her sketch in her backpack and walks away. "...oh god I'm she's so out of my league." He mutters. Someone laughs. "Yeah. You got that right." 

     Liling stood there. "Just confirming. She is very much out of your league." She shrugs and walks away. "At least I didn't trip on the stage of the school play earlier this year." Thomas shot back.  "I only tripped because you and Charlotte got in the way." Liling responded. The two burst out laughing. "Alright. Quinn's outside waiting for you." Thomas said. "Okay bye." Liling waves. 

     Thomas leaves the building, helps the drama club with prop design, and then heads home. "Hey. You're back early." His roommate, Alec, says. "Yeah.." He responds. "You look like you choked on one of Cupid's arrows. What happened?" He asks. "Uh..I sorta was asked to go to a concert." Thomas responded. "Oh. Cool. By who?" Alec inquired. "Marley." Thomas answers.

     Alec spits water out, then immediately cleans it up with a towel. "You're joking!" He says. "Okay. First of all, I cannot make this up if I wanted to, secondly, why does that surprise you?" Thomas asked. "Well.. not to be rude or anything, but it's surprising that you were asked her. Or anyone in general-" Alec says. "Wow." Thomas responds. "NONO- not like that. I'm just- yeah. It is like that. I'm done sugar coating it. But, guess what? Reality went beyond my expectations today." Alec tried to reassure Thomas.

    It's almost time to leave. Thomas keeps his pin with him. "Good luck." Alec says. "And if she breaks your heart, remember there's plenty more fish in the sea." Alec says, half-joking. Thomas rolls his eyes. "Yeah thanks." "Anytime."  

     Thomas arrives at the concert. The hallway was sort of crowded, but somehow, he bumped into the group. "Oh hey." Marley says. ""You made it." "Of course I did." Thomas replied. She just nods. "Let's go!" William smiles. The group goes inside to the concert, followed by the rest of the audience. It was a loud and energetic crowd. 

    "LAURENCEVILLE ARE YOU READY?" The main singer yells. The entire thing made Thomas's head hurt. The excited energy static, but there was an odd outlier. The guitarist and backup singer seemed different compared to the rest of her band mates. She looked into the crowd and her face read rage and despair. Nobody seemed to have noticed though. "...What the.." He murmurs, causing Marley to look over at him in confusion. 

     Time seemed to slow down. The song from the other members seemed to stop. The guitarist threw down her instrument. Tears filled her eyes. In an odd manor, her hair twisted into a long ponytail. Crystals spiked from her arms and legs. Her dress was short with radio wave designs across the waistband of it. She looked at the audience. Time proceeds back to normal. The second it did, the audience realized what was happening and started screaming in horror.

     "Is that....-" Marley says. Thomas grabs her hand and drags her out of the concert room. They remain in the hallway. "You have to get out of here." Thomas says. "So do you, you dumbass!" Marley said. "Hold on!" They run farther down the hall, unaware of what's happening. "Okay.. Marley. This is a lot to ask from you, okay..? I need you to close your eyes and count to 50. Please trust me."  Thomas says. "..I trust you. Don't die." Marley said, as if him dying were a major inconvenience to her. 

      He steps away as Marley counts, then pressed on his pin. It was in the shape of the tragedy and comedy masks. He feels his disguise change. He walked back into the room. Everyone in the audience was zombie-like. It was like the guitarist had turned them into mindless servants.

     "Uh. Who are you?!" He shouts. "I'm Dissonance!" The former guitarist said. The band members were also left mindless. "Well... what are you doing...? Usually villains explain their plan and stuff. You're kind of just idling in place." Thomas asked. "IM PLOTTING MY MOVE. GOD DAMN WHY DOES EVERYONE RUSH ME." She snaps. "Sorry jeez, touchy subject." Thomas said. "Anyway, ignoring you, I'm here to claim my prize." Dissonance said and picked up a blonde short haired girl from the audience. Thomas recognized her from school.

     "Jane..?" Thomas asked. "WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?! PLEASE PUT ME DOWN-" Jane begged Dissonance. Dissonance just smiled at the sobbing girl. "Put her down. Leave the civilian out of this." Thomas demanded. "Who says I have to? She's safe up here as long as she promises to love me, and only me." She cracked a wicked smile.

   "Okay, firstly she's literally asking you, and we may have to fight if you don't, secondly, that wouldn't be a pretty healthy relationship if that's how you think it'll go." Thomas said. "SHUT UP." Dissonance said.

((We interrupt this story to bring you my cat being adorable while sleeping. Anyway continuing on.))

     Dissonance makes this high pitched noise that, if taken down a few octaves, would have sounded like a choir. Suddenly, people from the audience and band start crawling and walking towards him. Thomas forced them back in the safest way he could. He got close enough to Dissonance to attack. He instead just stands there. "WHAT?!" She shrieks. He just laughs. Dissonance obviously seemed so frustrated, that she set Jane down. Thomas then has to continue fending off the brain dead minions while trying to enhance Dissonance's frustration. 

      "I can't keep doing this.." he says, nearly passing out. Just then, a figure walked onto the platform they were battling on. "Hm..? Who are you?!" Dissonance asked. The figure wore a cloak and took the hood off. "I am Tarot." The figure said. "And you.. are going to fear the wrath of me." 

((YO WHY TF WAS THIS SUCH A LONG CHAPTER-))