[LuckyStooge] ♪ Raze the Roof, Break the Floor, ♪

They say love is blind, but in the case of Max and Roxanne, love was also deaf, for the stampeding students did not even cause the couple to look up. Max had pulled Roxanne in, as the two looked lovelingly into each other's eyes. Neither did they notice the call for "Code Purple" as the duck boy ran past them. It was all just... perfect; nothing could ruin this moment, nothing at all.

"No, you let go first."
"No, you let go first."
"No, you..."
"No, you..."
"We should get ready for class."
"Yeah, we should."
"But I'm going to miss you..."
"Not as much as I will miss- Hi, Susie..."

Max froze; his face sank slightly as he looked at Roxanne.

"She's right behind me... isn't she?" He asked.
"Yeah." Replied Roxanne.
"Ok, how pissed off does she look?"
Roxanne peaked at Susie over her boyfriend's shoulder before dipping back down.
"For her, about a 7, an 8 tops."
"Great"

Max took a deep breath, praying silently to whatever divinity might feel inclined to answer before he turned around to face the purple lizard.

"Heeey, Susie." Said Max, forcing on a casual expression and watching from the corner of his eyes how a few desperate, straggling students climbed out the window to get out of the largely deserted corridor. The old Max might have wanted to join them, but that was before he faced Bigfoot, started training with his dad, and got a girlfriend. He was not keen on starting anything now, but he would not run for the hills like everyone else. Still, Max knew how to improvise. "Looking good, did you- do something new with your hair?"

"This is bad." That was what Max thought to himself, but he would not show it! No, sir, never, nada. As Susie slammed her fist into the locker, Max tensed up as if he had been ready for her to punch him instead of the locker; thankfully, she did not... beat him. It felt odd; normally, he would have never been able to keep calm like this, but something felt different. Sure, Susie was uncomfortably close, and Roxanne was right next to him... also uncomfortably close to the situation. If things went south, he had to get her out of the way more than anything.


"It does—add colour." He said, clearing his throat. He took a deep breath, steadying himself. Dad was right—of course. " And, my blood aside, now that we have your attention." He held a hand to the side, gesturing towards Roxanne... who quickly caught his meaning, pulled out a flier from her backpack, and handed it to him. Max held the flier in front of Susie. It was the flier for the school play meeting, with the organizers written as Roxanne and Noelle Holiday.

"Roxie and Noelle finally persuaded the school to let them put on a play this year, but... the interest has been... low," Max explained quickly to ensure he did not lose her attention. "I think Principal Mazur is working against them because he wants the idea to fail, just to make... some kind of point." Principal Mazur was a well-known stick-in-the-mud kind of person, and anything the students viewed as fun was annoying at best, if not outright illegal in his mind.

Still, Violet Tormentor was difficult to read; she was usually just angry, so Max did not know if she would even consider this or if she would go straight to throwing hands. Hopefully, she would not, but he was ready for the option, his priority being to get Roxanne out of the way. Maybe this was a stupid idea, and he mainly went with a gut feeling. Noelle had talked about speaking with Susie, which was more than could be said for most students there.

Max remained tense, waiting for her reaction, and watched as Susie lowered her fist. That had to be a good sign, even more so when she reverted from fury to her more neutral grumpy face, which... going by Susie, was generally a good thing. Max was very happy he paid attention when Roxanne and Noelle talked back when Susie first came to school, and even more if the natural force that was the Violet Tormentor would be directed at the moron of a Principal instead of him.

"We've not decided on the play yet," Roxanne said, carefully siding up next to Max. He could tell she was nervous from the way she grasped his arm. "That's what the first meeting is about. Since this is the first time they let us decide everything ourselves, we plan to make the most of it."

" And," said Max, squeezing Roxanne's shoulders and giving her an encouraging smile before looking at Susie again. "I know Noelle talked about wanting to do our take on a pirate adventure. It would have pirates, buried treasure, and cannons. There is nothing like some good action, maybe some explosions, sweet music, and duels. We could stick it to Mazur and maybe put a splash zone in the two first rows." Max paused, glancing to the side as a student was peeking in through the window. "If only we can... inspire people to join in."

Max had NOT expected Susie to take to this idea in such an excited manner. Not that he minded; if anyone could bring the heat to Mazur, it would be Susie... and she did not seem to mind, or care, about getting into trouble. He exchanged a look with Roxanne as Susie rushed over to grab the poor student who dared to peek into the corridor.

"You think we overdid it?" Max whispered to his girlfriend, worried he might have done something wrong. But Roxanne just smiled weakly and shook her head.

"No, I think this might be just what we need, Maxie." She replied, giving him an encouraging smile. "Let's just go with it..."

Max returned his attention to Susie. That was a good question. How many would they need? He looked to Roxanne, who replied with a shrug—not helpful. It was both scary and encouraging that Susie was on board. If anything, none of the usual "bullies" would dare talk badly about the play.

"Well, we'll need actors and people working on things like clothes, props, and such. Bobby and P.J. have already agreed to help with lighting, music, and special effects." Max paused, folding his arms as he thought. "If you could get about seven people, that should be enough." It would look bad if every single person in the play were there under duress.

Max and Roxanne watched Susie in stunned silence as she began her mission to harass the student body into joining the play.

"Oh, crap!" Exclaimed Max, looking at the time, "We'll have to run to class."

He grasped Roxanne's hand, and the two quickly descended the corridor, passing Susie as she looked into a classroom. It did not seem like she needed their help... and would most likely get in her way, something Max did not feel like dealing with. Not when she was in one of her rare "good moods." He still had the days classes to get through and would rather get to them in one piece if he could.

"Oh, not decided yet," replied Roxanne to Susie's question, holding onto her bag in one arm and Max with the other. "That's also why we're meeting after classes. Noelle will be so happy you're coming, so we'll see you there. It'll be in the school assembly hall! We're going to offer snacks."

"Catch ya later, Susie!" Said Max with a wave.

---

Later, in the School Assembly Hall

As the end of the school day came around, most students took the opportunity to escape the confined of the building, except a few who instead made their way to the Assembly Hall

The school did not have much in terms of a great assembly hall, but it did the job, filled a function... if barely. The stage had seen better days, and the seats were, in a few words... uncomfortable. Max thought that the school intentionally made them uncomfortable to cause the students more suffering. But who could say for sure?

Still, it had working lights and sounds.

Now, some students were spread out among the seats at the front, lazily watching as Roxanne set up a table with snacks in front of the stage, with Noelle trying to get the microphone to work. With the assistance of the art teacher, a peafowl called Mr Fowler, one of the few adults at the school who was universally viewed as "cool" because of his love of rock music and horror movies, his chill and slightly, old-styled clothing... stoner personality... and a great dislike of Principal Mazur and societal norms. He had promised Noelle and Roxanne to keep the Principal out of any decisions made, and in some way, he had gotten the board behind him... Some students suspected bribery was involved.



Still, Mr Fowler was only there in an advisory function.

Max was sitting in the front row, fidgeting with a notebook and pencil, just in case he needed to take notes. There were still a few minutes left so that more people might arrive.

The doors to the assembly hall flew open and in walked Susie in her usual debonair, avant-garde, devil-may-care...trudge. She gazed upon the gathering with narrowed eyes. So, how many of those good-for-nothing nerds actually showed up? She was ready to start remembering faces because those that didn't show up were getting them bitten off! Why was she trying this hard for this kinda thing? To stick it to Mazur. Hell yeah. That guy was the worst. Was that really the reason? Yeah, he wanted to smash that little hope of that...Noelle's. A cool as hell play with pirates. Freakin' pirates, dude! If she had a shot to aim a cannon at him, it'd be AWESOME! YES! She felt...something. She wasn't quite sure what it was. Maybe it was today's lunch coming up to say hello. Nah. This one actually felt...kinda nice for once.

She saw Noelle at the mic and smirked. Cool. She was here. Now she could get her to make alla that fun piratey stuff she wanted. Heh. Cool. But there was someone else she saw as her eyes looked around. That head of hair she laid eyes on could only be one person. the only human in Starlight Sanctum and in this whole school. The one that pretty much proved the existence of other worlds out there. And an easy mark to boot. Good ol' Kris. She grinned wide. She trudged down the aisle and acknowledged Noelle's presence with a head bob as well as that colorful dude who liked music. He was alright for an adult.

She then stomped into the row of chairs behind Kris. She slammed herself into a seat and kicked up her feet onto the head of the seat nearest Kris as she reclined to make the uncomfortable seat a bit more bearable. " 'Sup, nerd?"