Here's yet another outtake from Learning to Breathe. It's Bryan's sixteenth birthday, and how does Shadowatch celebrate? The same way they celebrate everything else!
Disclaimer: Is this all really necessary? I think we've gotten all the ownership established here.
Bryan's Birthday Blowout
Saturday dawned over the city of Chicago, Illinois as it would have for any other day. But this day was not any other day, as the inhabitants of the Chicago Dreadnoks' base knew all too well.
"How late is he going to be out?" Steve "Leathersuit" Garrett asked. He earned his codename from his alligator-based mutation. His long black hair, streaked with neon green, had been wrestled back into a ponytail, and he was taping up one end of a banner.
"Noon." Kristen Mortisson rolled her eyes. Choosing the codename Vampira, she fought alongside her teammates at Shadowatch with unswerving loyalty. Today, her pale blue eyes shimmered with barely-suppressed excitement. She hovered four feet above the ground, holding the other side of the banner. "At least it gives us time to prepare. How does the banner look, Neal?"
Neal Sharra, a Bangladesh native with the mutant ability to generate heated plasma and fly, looked over his shoulder at the large "Happy 16th Birthday!" banner the other two mutants were holding up. "Your end needs to come down a hair, Steve."
"Thanks." Steve grumbled, moving the corner of the sign accordingly.
"Hurry up, you guys!" Mitch Dukes exclaimed. "We still gotta meet Freddy at the airport!" Due to his ability to turn his skin into rock, the team addressed him as Golem on the battlefield.
"And cover up all the Cobra logos." Neal quipped. "Where is Andi?"
"She's picking up the cakes and ice cream." Kristen stated. "Regan took Monkeywrench with her to pick up plates and silverware, and Virus has locked himself in his room again."
"Probably staring at more pictures of Andi." Steve grunted. "Pervert!"
"Steven, is that a hint of anger I detect in your voice?" Kristen asked sweetly.
"I thought you didn't think of her as more than a friend?" Mitch blinked.
"I don't, but I also don't think that she should have some pervert trying to think of ways to force her to enact his twisted fantasies." The green-scaled teen growled. "Guys like him make me sick."
"You and us all." Neal stated.
"I don't think you should worry about Andi, though." Kristen said. "She can take care of herself."
"I'm not doubting that. I just think that she may need us to watch her back when it comes to Virus." The reptilian mutant replied.
"All this talk of Geekoid is making me depressed." Mitch said. "Is everything up an' ready?"
"Ready as it can be at this point." Kristen looked around. "Time to find good hiding places."
Around noon, the majority of Shadowatch and their handlers were hiding behind and under various items of furniture in the main living room awaiting Bryan and Zartan's return from wherever the two had run off too.
"Do ya think he'll be here on time?" Freddy, Bryan and Mitch's older brother who'd flown in for the party, asked. Regan shrugged.
"Dunno. The boss is fairly punctual." The blond replied as Neal rushed away from his position as window look-out.
"They're here!" He shouted, diving under the table. Everyone sat perfectly still as the door opened.
"I don't see why we had to drive all over town." Bryan said. "We don't got time to be drivin' when we're supposed to be looking for…"
"SURPRISE!!" Everyone shouted as Zartan turned on the lights. Bryan stared at the room in awe.
"Wha? All of this?" He asked.
"Duh!" Kristen exclaimed. "Who else would it be for?"
"And, we have a special guest." Andi said, moving out of Fred's way as he left his hiding place.
"Hey, little brother." The larger mutant grinned. Bryan remained speechless.
"Wha?How? When?" He sputtered.
"About fifteen minutes ago." Steve said. "Thought we'd surprise you."
"You succeeded." Neal quipped.
"So, shall we get to the cake?" Mitch asked.
"Predictable." Andi rolled her eyes.
"I agree." Bryan grinned. "Let's eat!"
Fifteen minutes later…
Kaboom!
"Wow! Cool!"
"I never knew you could take out a door that way."
"Uh oh." Burn-Out grumbled. He and the other adults were observing the teens from his office next to the garage. "I think they found that HISS tank we were fixing."
"What was wrong with it?" Zartan asked.
"RY! HIT THE BRAKE!!"
Crash! Clunk!
"Sorry 'bout the wall!"
"Brakes." Burn-Out groaned. "And from the sound of it, some body work too."
"Neal, get out of that jeep!" Andi shouted.
"Why?"
"There ain't an engine in it!" The girl shouted back. "It's getting overhauled."
"I don't know what else we have for them to tear up." Gnawgahyde stated. "They've already torn up a Thunder Machine and a tank. None of our vehicles are in that garage, so what else can they wreck?"
Kaboom!
"The base." Zartan grumbled. "That older Dukes boy may be slow, but he certainly knows how to take out walls."
"Must be a family thing." Monkeywrench shrugged. "Oh look, there goes Andi chasing Kristen with a wrench."
"Where did she get that stuffed animal?" Burn-Out asked. Kristen, clutching a blue stuffed bunny rabbit, flew around the garage in an attempt to evade her teammate.
"Give me my rabbit back, you nut!" Andi shouted, trying to climb the walls after Kristen.
"That must be that 'Kiko' character I've heard them teasing her about." Zartan mused. "I wonder when Kristen stole it in the first place?" Andi, who had now dragged her friend to the ground, proceeded to hit her over the head with one of the grease rags.
"Who cares?" Thrasher groaned as he walked in. "Tell me we don't have any more birthdays to deal with."
"Relax." Zartan stated. "The only ones with summer birthdays are Regan and Zanya. They'll be easy enough to please."
"Thank God!" Burn-Out exclaimed. "I don't think our base can survive another one of these shindigs."
FWOOSH!
"Yipe!" Regan ran away from the massive flame.
"Neal, turn the damn torch back off!" Andi yelled, distracted temporarily from her tug-of-war with Kristen.
"Sorry!"
"I'm not sure it'll last through this one." Monkeywrench watched the destruction.