Hollywood paused, staring at his keyboard. It seemed a simple task, it really did, but that just made it all the more insulting. He just needed to write a short story for an English assignment, but had to contain it to 300 or less words.

He checked his current number.

453.

A heated exhale left his lungs as his fists clenched. It had been three days with no progress. Shaving the story further would reduce it to a pile of garbage, but if he turned it in now, it wouldn’t even be accepted.

Shutting his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose to try to calm himself.

He failed.

And then read it again.

And again.

And again.

A curse exploded throughout his apartment as his laptop slammed shut violently.

That was it, he was done, and he was sure to go insane if he sat around any longer.

Absolutely seething, he threw on his gladiator gear and went for a jog, hoping it wasn’t going to be the only way he’d blow off some steam.

Gladstone doesn’t usually have a hard time waking up. He doesn’t like waking up with sudden noises. The responsibility for the lives of four other people and the notion that his true objective can be discovered at any time make him incredibly reactive to sudden noises. And when that noise ends up being nothing, let’s say he doesn’t find it particularly pleasant.

Such as one morning when he woke up to the sound of of metal crashing.

The moment he heard it, Gladstone jumped out of bed, dashed out of his room, not bothering to change out of his pajamas.
Kitchen utensils. That’s all it was.

Torvin and Sabine were picking them up when Sebastian arrived, only noticed when they heard his poorly contained sigh.

- Sorry, did we wake you up? - Asked the Iwa - We were going to make breakfast when Torvin opened up one of the cabinets and...crash.

Looking back with a tired gaze, he replied sarcastically:

- Of course you were… - Sleepily scratching his head, he still asked - What time is it anyway?

Sabine noticed his tone:

- Don’t get snippy! We didn’t mean to wake you, someone just stacked these wrong.

Raising an eyebrow, Gladstone replied:

- Surely. And who might have done that?

Defiant, Sabine smiled before replying:

- Maybe the same person who is overreacting about a bunch of fallen kitchenware right now.

Something just boils in him whenever he’s told he’s overreacting.He wanted to tell her to shut up; to go screw herself, but he knew she didn’t know the real reason he had been worried, so he just grabbed the bridge of his nose, gritted his teeth and just replied with an angry sigh:

- Not in the mood. I'm gonna take a walk. Alone.

Sabine yanked up her hood and headed back out into the streets of SP city. She’d been called in for a re-evaluation, to ensure she was up to par and or improving on her skills.

Basically they made her go through several early morning simulations tearing up sections of her arms legs and giving her a lovely scrape along her cheekbone, and an overall soreness.

“I need coffee...and chocolate….Please let Seb be out.” She hurried through a few alleys hoping to get home quickly, but her musings were halted by a stranger with a black hand tattoo.

She took off, only to be clotheslined by his friends behind him. A pipe and two knives flashed at her. She managed to get one on the ground and taken the knife away from the other. That one took off leaving her alone with the pipe-man. Then some Unies pop in hearing the struggle, knife against pipe? Of course tackle the one with the knife and grind her face into the pavement while cuffing her.

Pipe-man took them out and shoved her to a wall, knife at her side. Some struggling and she’d torn one hand free of the cuffs and gave him a new piercing. She darted back towards the arena where her ‘protection’ officers were currently “unavailable’.

She was forcefully escorted out into the rain, leaving her unable to head home as her ‘new friends’ had discovered her short cuts. She headed to the sister cafe she would be working in once construction was done. She unlocked it flipped on the lights and the heater and proceeded to crush her good luck charms, causing embers to flare up on her exposed areas along with some horns. “Shut up.” She groaned, curling up in one of the back booths.



Bad day: Achievement Unlocked

“Alice, I need to let off some steam.” The android told his fiancé over his shoulder. He thundered towards the hatch that led upwards and downwards, either out into the world or deeper into the compound respectively - usually used for parcels but large enough for him to fit with the wings wide open.

“You have a pending battle?” The woman asked as she stood from her chair. She began her approach.

“No. I will have to find one myself.” Bl.An.C. stated bluntly. “The system records unofficial and official battles anyway. Official ones have the privilege of an audience and a controlled environment. Unofficial ones are simply told by the winner and confirmed by the loser through testing.”

“You’ll just be wandering and looking to pick a fight?” Alice said confused. “But-“

“Sometimes, I need to let off steam for the heck of it, Alice. All the battles I’ve faced, they felt like jobs. Like things I had to do for the sake of the mission.” He said exasperated and faced Alice. He gripped her by the shoulders and sighed. “Now I just feel like punching someone for stress relief.”

“The drones would be a viable punching bag.” She suggested. Her smile never ceased to calm his nerves sadly; they were too tense to have been mellowed.

“I’ve grown accustomed to fighting gladiators. The drones won’t deny the tension in me.” He said once again. “If I go haywire again, shut me down and send the drones to get me.”

Without much of a farewell, he stormed towards the hatch, flung it open and, with a flash of light and expansion of lightweight wings, he blasted off upwards and outwards into the world, leaving Alice to wonder what was wrong.

Sorry Alice. The illusion of control is getting to me.

“Cigs, cigs, where’s my goddamn cigs!” Bust growled, patting his jean pockets. With a groan he entered a convenience store and took a box of Marlboros. He slammed them on the register and popped his wallet open, all he had was 12 dollars which he pulled and threw at the man’s face.

“Ummmm sorry, but are you 18?” The man asked, “I’m going to need to see a form of identification.”

“You must be kidding me. I’m 18.” L.L Bust huffed

“Form of identification please.” The man repeated. L.L handed over his bounty hunter license then took the box. He turned to leave then the man piped in, “It’s $13.20 for the box of cigarettes.” L.L turned his head, “Tax.”

“Well I don’t have enough to pay for tax so how about I just give you $12.” L.L glared.

“I’m sorry but you have to pay the tax.”

“Hey!” Bust roared, “I’m trying to be real friendly here. If you care so much about the tax how about you pay it, before I shove Blunderbuss here up your a** and pump your damn body full of lead, got IT!” He took the box and walked out, grabbing a backpack on the way.

“The backpack costs 20 dollars.” Bust flipped the man the bird and walked out to the sound of jingly bells that didn’t match the mood at all. Once out of the store, he ripped open the bag’s seal and pulled out a pack, the rest he shoved into the backpack. He pat his pockets, “Jesus f***ing Christ are you serious?” He couldn’t find his lighter or his matches… now he was pissed.

Getting out of bed, Lucario was pissed. Was it because the two souls had a fierce argument? Well, they do fight a lot, but none had a lasting impact. Did he eat something wrong? He had just gotten up, for Arceus' sake. It was something else... It was the fact that he left the bed on the wrong side. That, and he hadn't had a battle in a while. He could feel his body figuratively rusting like a robot, so the moment he left his room, a worthy opponent would be what he needed. That, and he slipped on his bag and fell on his face, leaving an indent from his goggles. That may be the reason.

Sleeping under his favorite bridge was Sonicus-Burpacus, or Larry as he likes to be called. He was having a good dream when a truck drove by over head and hit a bump which caused a container to bounce out and fall over the side of the bridge where it landed next to Larry with a loud bang. He woke with a start and swore loudly.
" Can't a guy get no Fucking sleep no more," he said loudly as he went to look at what was inside the box.
Inside was a bunch of soap and he ran away from the container as fast as he could only to slip on a stray bar of soap and land in the river.
" Oh Come On!!!" he yelled as he floated in the river.
Larry then swam to the other side where he decided to take a quick swig of his beer only to find that he forgot his beer bottle on the other side of the river. Now this pissed him off to no end. Today someone was going to die.