ACT 1: ASSEMBLE! HYPER RESCUE!
The characters in this story do not belong to me but to their respective creators.
Sora couldn't breath. His eyes were covered in smoke and he couldn't move. The fire was getting closer to him and there was nothing he could do. He doesn't wish to leave this world like that. Not like this.
All of a sudden, he could hear knocking. He thought that he was hearing things but it got louder and louder. But the smoke clouded his mind, making him weaker. Then a large hand held him and Sora saw a man in a yellow suit carrying him. The man wore a gas mask and with his last thought, Sora realized that he was rescued...
"Sora! Sora! Sora!!!"
Sora opened his eyes and looked at the blue sky in front of him.
"We're almost there!"
He turned and saw his friend, Nara Kentarou with an excited look.
"Kentarou...we are here?"
Sora adjusted his seating posture and looked at his surroundings. He was in an express train and the passengers are all around his age group. He looked at the city buildings that passed by and now realized where he is going.
"I can't wait to get there!" Sora replied.
"Yeah, we're finally going to HRC!" Kentarou answered back.
Hyper Rescue Command or HRC for short is the name of a special unit that responds to any major crime or disasters around the world. This was because an increase of major incidents for the last 10 years; and an international unit is needed to respond immediately to anywhere around the world.
Sora took out his letter and read the contents again. He was selected to join HRC about a month ago and was completely surprised. For a normal high school kid to enroll into the HRC was like a dream come true for him. Kentarou peaked at his letter and giggled a bit.
"You just can't wait, can you?"
"It's like a dream come true. I am going do my best and be a great HRC member!"
Sora's voice caught everyone's attention and some of them were laughing at him. A blonde man stood up and laughs at Sora.
"So you think, you are going to be an elite? Well, I was once a member of the Junior Fire Brigade stationed at Sakawa City. So I am the best!" The blonde replied.
"No, I am the strongest! Because I am a national weightlifter!" A tan skinned man wore sun glasses bragged at them.
"You guys are all muscles. These called for brains!" A clean-cut guy with glasses replied.
"Well, isn't it Hanai? I though you chicken out." An arrogant man with his hair all combed back snubbed at him.
"Tougou! Do you want to settle this!?" Hanai challenged him.
"Bring it on!" He answered.
Suddenly a chime was heard through the public announcement system.
"Attention all passengers. We are arriving in Gaia Island in 5 minutes. Please fasten your seat belts and wait for further instructions. Thank you."
"We'll settle this later, Hanai!"
"Fine with me!" The two men then went back to their seats.
Harima, Harry and Sora just looked at each other with dissatisfaction and went back to their seats too.
A twin-tailed blonde girl looked at the events through her sunglasses and mumbled a word.
"...Men..."
The train finally stopped at their destination. Gaia Island. An artificial island and the headquarters of HRC. The passengers started taking their luggage and headed straight to the exit.
Sora carried his luggage when suddenly he sensed danger over him.
"Watch out!" A female voice yelled at him.
He looked up and a bag landed on his head.
"Ouch!"
He rubbed his head and noticed a figure was standing next to him. He looked up and a fair looking girl with a concerned look.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"I'm fine."
"I'm sorry...I accidentally dropped my bag on you." She modestly replied.
"It's okay. Are you joining the team too?" Sora wondered.
"Yes. My sister and I are joining together."
"Oh, it's nice to have someone with you. My name is Sora. What's yours?"
"Yakumo."
Then another voice called to her.
"Yakumo! Come on!"
They saw a petty looking girl waving to her and they smiled at each other.
"That's my sister. I'll see you later." She quickly took her luggage and approached her sister.
"Yeah...sure! See you later!" Sora looked back and took his belongings.
"Sora! Come on! We're going to be late!" He heard Kentarou's yelling and rushed towards the exit.
The passengers walked towards a moving conveyer and admired the blue ocean from inside the huge cylinder. Finally, a large gate opened revealing a big parade square and a large base behind it.
Everyone was amazed by it's exterior design and stroll around the parade square. Three figures, two men and a woman were standing in front of the base watching them. One of them, a tanned skinned stout man took out a Megaphone and yelled at the top of his voice.
"ALL RIGHT, YOU MONKEYS! GET YOUR ASSES HERE RIGHT NOW!!!"
Everyone held their bags and quickly ran towards the three figures and lined up single-file.
"I DON'T CARE WHO ARE YOU OR WHERE YOU'RE FROM. IN HRC, WE WANT YOU TO BE SOMETHING ELSE. WE WANT YOU TO BE THE ELITE OF ALL ELITES!"
The megaphone continued to drum in their ears and was starting to get really annoying.
"Kooriyama, I think you can stop now. They can hear already." A spec looking man was trying to calm down him.
"Yes. If you keep this up, we'll all deaf by tomorrow." A lady answered.
"That's right, Kooriyama. We can't afford to have that." Another female voice added.
The three adults turned around and saluted the two people. A beautiful lady in a smart uniform and an elder looking man with a left eye patch approached them.
The lady held a mike and spoke.
"Welcome, everyone to Hyper Rescue Command. I am Commander Osakabe Itoko. This is Vice Commander Nakamura. You are the pioneer batch to be selected. All of you were chosen because of your talents. For the next ten weeks, you'll be undergoing training on how to use our equipments and to work as a unit. This is an important period for all of you. Because once you are ready, HRC will be the immediate response to any major incidents around the world. We are dealing with real situations and lives are at stake. I wish all of you the best. Nakamura, take over."
"There are altogether 18 of you and you will be divided into 3 teams: Fire Squad, Guard Squad and Drill Squad. Now my trainers will hand over to you your Hyper Com."
The trainers began to pass them a compact device with several buttons and a LCD panel. Everyone started staring at it not knowing what to do next.
"Now all of you just say out your name through the speaker and the Hyper Com will acknowledge your voice print."
Sora looked at the speaker and said out his name.
"Aoki Sora."
Numbers and pictures started displaying on the LCD and a computer voice answered.
"Acknowledge. Aoki Sora. Fire Squad."
"Fire Squad?"
"Those who are in Fire Squad, assemble on my left. Guard Squad in the middle and Drill Squad on my right." Nakamura instructed them; and everyone started to gather in their own teams.
After 5 minutes, everyone knew which teams they belong to and looked at one other.
Sora and Kentarou were happy they are in the same team and he saw Yakumo was in the team too. A short hair blonde girl was talking to a small built girl and he wanted to approach them when a voice answered him.
"So you are Fire Squad too, huh?
Sora turned and realized it was that the blonde guy who bragged about his junior fire brigade earlier.
"You too?"
"Well, I should be the leader of this team, so you guys can take a hike. Leave the rescue to the professional."
"Why you!?" Kentarou was about to give him a piece of his mind when Sora stopped him.
"Look, I think we got into the wrong foot. Since we are together, why don't we just work as a team? My name is Sora. Aoki Sora." He presented his hand as a sign of sincerity.
The blonde guy totally ignored him.
"Harry Mackenzie. Remember that."
He then left and took his luggage.
"Okay! I want everyone to go to your living quarters now and get into your PT (Physical Training) gear in ten minutes! Move it!" Kooriyama yelled at them with the loudhailer.
Everyone took their luggage and headed straight to the smaller building beside them and a signboard stated, "Guys left, Girls Right."
It was a three-storey building and there were two beds in every room. Sora and Kentarou entered one of the rooms on the 2nd floor and it has a nice view of the sea and the parade square.
"Great view, Kentarou." Sora commented him as he placed his bags on the bed.
"You know what I think about that Harry guy? I think he's a jerk." He replied.
"Maybe he's nervous or something. You know, like being away from everything." Sora scrambled to find his PT gear.
"Okay, you are always the nice guy but I still say he is a jerk."
Sora giggled a bit as they prepared themselves for the training.
Minutes later, everyone was in their PT gear and Kooriyama spoke through the loudhailer.
"ALL RIGHT, YOU TURKEYS! TODAY ALL OF YOU ARE TO RUN THIS PARADE SQUARE FIFTY ROUNDS!"
"Fifty rounds!?" Everyone was stunned.
"Is he crazy?" Kentarou asked.
Suddenly Kooriyama took out a gun and shoot in the air!
"ANY QUESTIONS? MOVE!!!"
Everybody immediately ran as they could with Hanai and Tougou leading the way. Most of the others including Sora are in the middle while the weaker one like Yakumo and Kentarou are at the end.
"This is crazy!" Yakumo's sister Tenma screamed.
"I hope he get shot in his pants!" Harima replied.
Sora saw Yakumo and Kentarou were struggling behind. He slowed down and paced with them.
"You guys all right?"
"Do I look all right to you?" Kentarou answered with sarcasm.
"I'll try." Yakumo told Sora.
"Don't worry, we'll get through this!" He assured her, not realizing he bumped into someone in front.
"Hey!" It was a twin tailed blonde girl and she wasn't happy about it.
"I'm sorry." Sora was stunned by her looks but she was giving an unfriendly aura.
"HEY YOU TWO!" Kooriyama yelled at them.
"See what you've done." The blonde girl's unfriendly reply gave Sora a second thought about her. She ran ahead of him and he was clueless about what had just happened.
"What is her problem?"
Soon the sun has started to set and everyone were laying flat on the parade square, panting and sweating all over.
"That is good! You have all survived fifty rounds! We will start the real training tomorrow! Dismiss!" Kooriyama then left them and they got up slowly.
"That was some run!" Sora spoke.
"You say it." Kentarou replied.
"This is nothing." They looked at Harry as he is also sweating and panting too. Soon everyone was on their feet and slowly walking back to their quarters.
After a good shower, Sora and Kentarou walked into the mess hall, which was two buildings away. They saw most of the HRC in the mess hall having their dinner.
The chief chef is an elder lady named Maki and she placed the food into Sora's meal tray.
"Please have some more! You are going to need your strength for tomorrow!" Maki gave a parental smile to the two young men who gladly accepted the food.
"Sora! Over here!"
Yakumo waved to them and they approached her. They saw Tenma and a shorthaired blonde girl were also on the same table.
"Can we sit here?" Kentarou asked.
"Sure." The shorthaired blonde replied.
The two guys sat down and the girls smiled at them.
"Sora. This is my elder sister, Tenma and this is Sara Adeimus."
"Hi, nice to meet you. Tenma, you are in..." Sora was trying to recall which team Tenma is in.
"Drill Squad!" Tenma answered cheerfully.
"Please take care of my baby sister, she's still a naive girl." She hinted to Sora and Yakumo rebutted back.
"Sis!" She blushed in embarrassment and everyone laughed.
"So Sara, you are in Fire Squad too." Kentarou asked.
"Yes. I hope we can get along. I saw how Harry was behaving but he's not really like that."
"You know Harry?" Sora wondered.
"Well, not personally. But he is in the same school with me and he is actually a nice guy. His father is a fireman and he is a member of the Junior Fire Brigade back home."
"Wow. No wonder he wants to lead the team. I mean he does have experience." Sora was surprised by Harry's background.
Then a chime could be heard followed by an announcement.
"ATTENTION! ALL HRC PERSONALS ARE TO REPORT TO THE BRIEFING ROOM AT 2100HOURS FOR A SPECIAL BRIEFING! THANK YOU!"
"What do you think that briefing is for?"
"Maybe Oni Yama is trying to show how big his mouth is after talking so much in that loudhailer." Kentarou joked.
"Oni Yama?" Sora asked him.
"It's Kooriyama's new nickname. He is just like those devil coaches who train people to death."
They laughed and soon everyone in the mess hall knew Kooriyama's new nickname...
Sora and the others arrived at the briefing room at the main building's third floor. Everyone was there just minding their own business or talking around.
They sat down and waited for about three minutes and then, Itoko and Nakamura entered the room.
"Attention!" Nakamura gave the order and everyone sit still.
"Good evening, everyone. How was the dinner?" Itoko asked them.
"It was nice, Commander." Tenma bluntly replied.
"That's good. The reason why I am here is because I want to get to know all of you better. Some of you I am meeting you for the first time." Itoko walked closer to them and her smart uniform was sparking tightly.
"So who wants to start the ball rolling?" She throws the question to the floor and Hanai and Tougou both responded.
"Me first!"
"You first, Hanai." Itoko hinted to him.
"Thank you, Commander. I am Hanai Haruki and I belong to Guard Squad. My father is the police chief at Yagami City and I hope to be like him!"
"I still beat you at today's run." Tougou snarls.
"That didn't count!" Hanai rebutted back.
"Anyway, Commander, I am Tougou Masakazu, Drill Squad. I am Hanai's biggest rival and we compete in everything. I am also well versed in Boxing and hope to be representing Japan in Boxing.
"That's good. Keep working to that goal." Itoko then pointed to the dark glasses man.
"Me? I am Harima Kenji and I am also in Drill Squad. I am a national body builder and I hope that we can get along. If you have any health issues, you can come to me!" Harima gave the thumbs up and some of the members giggled.
Itoko asked the lady next to Harima.
"I am Suon Mikoto from Guard Squad. I am well versed in Karate and my family owns a dojo. Nice to meet you all!"
A guy with fuzzy hair stared at Mikoto with a thought.
"What are you looking at?" She asked.
"D." He replied.
"D?"
"Excuse me, but are you a D-Cup?"
Mikoto was embarrassed and furious at once!
"What are you talking about? You Pervert!?"
"Oh, sorry but my name is Imadori Kyosuke from Guard Squad too. I don't know why I am here but there are a lot of pretty ladies and that includes you, Commander." He tried to suck up to Itoko and Itoko coolly replied.
"Well, thanks. You got to try harder if you want to suck up to me. Next."
"I am Sara Ademius from Fire Squad. I work as a medical officer in Sakawa General Hospital and I know a lot about medicine. Pleased to meet you all."
"Asou Hiroyoshi from Drill Squad. I am a Junior Mountain Ranger and I hope we can work together." Some of the girls were giggling about how cool Asou was.
"Suga Ryuuhei, also from Drill Squad. I am also a Junior Mountain Ranger.
"Takano Akira, Guard Squad. Former SDF member and well versed in rural and urban tactics." Her short hair and cool eyes make her an enigma to some of the members.
"Ichijo Karen. Fire Squad. Nice to meet you all." She shyly replied in her seat.
"Tsukamoto Tenma! Drill Squad. I want to be a great rescuer like my father!" Tenma proudly replied.
"Tsukamoto Yakumo, Fire Squad. I too want to be like a rescuer like our father." She added.
"Fuyuki Takeichi, Guard Squad. I am only good with a camera but if you need a photographer, call me! Commander, you get a special discount!"
"Thank, Fuyuki. I will consider it."
"Tawaraya Satsuki, Drill Squad. I am only good with my legs as I can run very fast." The rest of the members also realized that Satsuki was the first one to complete the fifty rounds this afternoon.
"Harry Mackenzie, Fire Squad. I am a member of the Junior Fire Brigade and I hope that the rest of my team could cooperate with me in our mission."
Sora and Kentarou were annoyed but kept cool in front of everyone. The next was the twin tailed blonde girl.
"Sawachika Eri, Guard Squad. I am here to prove that I am as good as anyone here in the team, especially the guys!"
Sora makes a mental note of her name and it was Kentarou's turn.
"I am Nara Kentarou, Fire Squad. I am good at one thing and that is telling jokes. But I will work hard to be a member of the team."
"I am Aoki Sora, Fire Squad. I joined HRC so that I can help people in times of crisis."
"That's good, Sora. Yes, HRC was formed for that purpose and I hope that all of you will work hard to be the best. That will be all, Good night and have a good rest." Itoko then took her leave as Nakamura gave the order to stand attention.
"All of you are to fall in tomorrow morning at 0600 hours for physical training! That's all!" Kooriyama then left and everyone started to leave and head back to their rooms...
As Sora and Kentarou got ready for bed, Sora wondered how his grandfather is coping back home when Kentarou interrupted his thoughts.
"Sora!"
"Yeah?"
"What time do you think we need to wake up?"
"I think 5 a.m. will be all right. I mean everyone have to take turns in the bathroom."
"Good thinking." Kentarou then set the alarm and placed on the table.
"Good night, Sora."
"Good night, Kentarou." He then switched off the lights and lay on bed and slowly closed his eyes. The night was still young. However tomorrow the real training will begin for all of them...
To be continued…
Author's notes: Well, I am back! This idea of the SR cast as a rescue team was inspired by a show called Machine Robo Rescue and a toy series called Tomica Rescue. As you can see some of the cast's characters are a bit mess up but this is an alternative universe so anything can happen! Any yes, I put my own character, Sora to join the cast again.I hope you enjoy it and reviews and comments please. No flames please. Thanks.
P.S My other SR work will be put on hold until I figure some ideas for Ichijo Karen's story but if you can't wait, drop me an email on suggestion on how to continue her story. Thanks.