Hello, people. I'm, kindda, sortta new to this fandom, but I have some experience in this site, so... I came up with idea a week ago, it's going to be a full story, not a one-shot, so reviews will help. Anyways, I'm rambli around so let's just get to it:
Torrington Academy, located in Sherbrook, Quebec, was unusually peaceful. Anyone would have thought that there was something wrong, maybe an alien or monster attack, but the truth was far simpler: it was Christmas. Or it was a couple of days until Christmas, to be precise. While everyone was away enjoying their holidays with family, a certain blonde teen and his step-sister were stranded inside the academy, cursing their luck that they had, once again, been forced to spend Christmas away from their parents.
"I'm dying of BOREDOM!" the blond boy nearly yelled, the sound echoing in the empty cafeteria. He slammed his face on the table, yelping quietly at the slight pain he felt when he struck the hard surface. A soft giggle came from across the table, momentarily breaking the peace.
"Yeah, laugh all you want Di, but it doesn't change the fact that we are stuck in the worst place possible, and in Christmas, just to make it worse!"
A long sigh answered him, and this time Diana Lombard had to admit her annoying step-brother was actually right. Their time at Torrington was an ordeal that she never expected to be suffering, much less when she was forced to go through it with someone she really wasn't very fond off.
"I never thought I would say this, but you are right, Martin. I used to love the idea of spending a holiday at Torrington, but now that I'm here…" she trailed off, sinking her head in her hands. They could listen the happy humming coming from Java as he prepared the day's lunch. They both mulled over the unnecessary effort he put into it, since they were practically the only living souls around, and none of them ate too much.
"At least Java is enjoying all this, even if I do not share his enthusiasm"
"Yeah, I guess so. But you know what ticks me off even more? That M.O.M. didn't even invited us to spend Christmas at The Center. After all, last year wasn't so bad." Martin said, minimizing the near-catastrophic event that happened almost one year ago.
"Not so bad?! Your carelessness nearly turned us into freaks, Martin! I think that qualifies as 'bad'! No wonder M.O.M. decided to keep us away, she doesn't want to be forced to sing every time she tries to say anything." Diana snapped, slightly irritated.
"Come on! I saved us, and I even promised I wouldn't do any last-minute Christmas shopping! What else do I have to do to get some credibility around here?" Martin huffed, annoyed by the fact that his sister couldn't just forget what had happened last Christmas.
"You could start by not destroying my office every time you step on it, agent Mystery". Both brothers and the caveman turned to see a very familiar person standing in the entrance to the cafeteria.
"M.O.M.!" they all exclaimed excitedly. She hadn't forgotten about them, after all.
"You didn't really think I was going to leave you here on your own, did you, agents?" the head of The Center smirked, her arms crossed in front of her.
"Well, considering what happened last year…" Diana started, full-intent on annoying Martin. The blond teen simply fumed and glared harshly at her. M.O.M. shook her head sideways, smiling at the childish display in front of her. Exactly how did they become our top agents?
"Regardless of what happened a year ago," she interrupted, glaring at Martin herself, "I'm not a heartless person. Besides, we've taken measures to make sure that it won't happen again"
"Like?" Diana asked, heavily perplexed. M.O.M. casually showed the group a small wallet, with a decent amount of currency, and very familiar to Martin.
"Hey… that's my wallet! M.O.M.!"
"Like I said, measures, agent Mystery. Now come on, the rest of the personnel is helping put u the decorations, with a few extra hands we'll be ready for tomorrow"
"Java makes lunch, what do with it?"
"Why don't you bring it to The Center, I'm sure the agents working in the decorations are hungry, right, M.O.M.?" Martin suggested, already eager to eat whatever Java had been cooking for the past half-an-hour. His mouth was watering already at the thought of food.
"Indeed, they could use lunch, Java, and I understand that you have quite a talent for food preparation"
"Java good cook, he thinks"
"Yes, yes, yes, come on, let's go, I can't stand being here a minute more!" Diana finally snapped, the loneliness of Torrington finally getting to her. Everyone looked at her with raised eyebrows, which caused her to rub the back of her head while giving an awkward smile, "Sorry… I guess being trapped in here doesn't do me much good".
"You think?" Martin finally rebukes, crossing through the portal that M.O.M. had just opened behind her. The rest of the group followed suit, the manager being last, and then the Academy was truly deserted, with not a single soul inside.
M.O.M. hadn't been kidding when she said that all agents where busy hanging up decorations. It seemed like The Center had closed up shop for the next days and dedicated itself to the sole purpose of celebrating the holidays. As the platform advanced and the three agents were cleared, a familiar mechanical humming made its way closer to them, and a little green alien on a hovering small craft made himself known, cheering at the group.
"Hey guys! I see you are spending the holidays with us again, this is going to be great… Uhm, Martin, no gifts from you this time, right?" Billy asked, trying to hide some nervousness. Martin simply glared at him with a raised eyebrow and his arms crossed. You too Billy?
"No, I won't be giving any gifts this Christmas Billy, M.O.M. took care of that" he answered dead-pan. The green alien smiled and then held up his hand, after which both of them performed their famous "handshake". The platform gave way to an elevator, and after riding it to the top they found themselves in the spotless-clean office of the Manager.
"Alright, since all the staff is already engaged in the other parts of the place, you are going to help Billy and me with the office…"
"Ha! Piece of cake! We'll be done before sundown!" the blond agent exclaimed… right before M.O.M. opened the storage closet, burying him on a mountain of decorations, "Or maybe not..."
Everyone made themselves busy, Martin and Java helping with the uncommonly big Nativity Scene (in which some characters were changed into monster-alien form), while Billy and M.O.M. hung around the wall decorations. Diana was on Christmas tree duty, in charge of decorating the huge glowing fungi-like tree. While everyone was very much in the spirit of the occasion, Billy noticed that a certain brunette was in an awfully quiet and pensive mood.
"Diana?" the girl didn't reacted, deep in thought about whatever was going through her mind, "Diana!"
Diana jumped up slightly, startled by the alien's call, "Billy! Don't do that! You almost scared me to death…"
"Sorry, Diana, but you seemed a little spaced out. Are you Ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine Billy, I was just thinking for a moment"
"I can see that. Are you sure you are Ok? You know you can trust me with anything, right?"
"I know, Billy, it's just…" she stopped to think about it. Is it a good idea to talk about this with Billy? He is rather… talkative after all. But that doesn't mean he is not thrust-worthy. She bit her lip while pondering, finally making up her mind, "Look, can we talk somewhere a bit more… private?"
'Somewhere a bit more private' turned out to be the detention block's guard post. The girl and the small alien were alone and thus Diana felt more confident about talking freely.
"So, what was it you were thinking about, Diana?" the usual ear-to-ear smile in Billy's face was almost not there, proving how worried he was about her.
"Well… see, you know that I'm a 16 year-old girl, a teenager by definition. It's the age when girls like me like to go out with their friends and… well… explore the world, and themselves, so to speak. But I never really cared about this myself, with so much schoolwork and things to do…"
"Yes, I suppose you are kind of an over-achiever…"
That particular comment earned him a harsh glare. Billy simply gave a nervous laugh and decided to not say anything else.
"I guess you are kindda right. I've struggled for academic near-perfection so much that I've… neglected other aspects of life. I don't usually think much of it, with school and what-not, but it's always on holidays that I wished… you now…"
While Billy was sure that she was talking about something important, he really couldn't make the connection about what she was talking about. It was one of the aspects of human behavior which he hadn't grasped quite well yet, and it made him want to ask details about it. Diana could sense this in his clueless facial expression, just staring at her, begging for an answer.
"Be with someone Billy. Someone… who cares"
Oh! It's about that.
"So why don't you try, Di? You know, like Martin, he's always on the try, even if he's not as smooth as he wished he was…" the girl giggled softly, agreeing with him, "It shouldn't be too hard for a pretty girl like you."
Diana just couldn't avoid blushing at that particular comment. Nobody had come close to call her 'pretty', and thus, she was slightly surprised to hear it.
"You really think so, Billy?"
"Of course I do, Diana. A boy would have to be stupid to not like you. Or a primal simian. A lot of those going around at your age, you know?"
"Yeah, tell me about it, he'd probably be the king of the primal simians, what with his clumsiness and stupidity…" it took Diana full three seconds to realize that she had given up way too much information, "Uh, I mean…"
"You already like someone, don't you Diana?" Billy teased, a smirk in his face while he chuckled. Diana went from blush to bright red, with a nervous smile and rubbing the back of her head.
"Don't be silly, Billy, I, uh… I haven't had time to… be on the lookout for boys… hehe"
"Ri-ight… so you don't mind if I introduce you to some of our other top agents? You know, the full-time guys, who go after the mean and bad-ass aliens with plasma blasters and heavy armor… at least most of the time. The rest of the time they hang around the water-cooler in battle uniform and war paint."
"Now you are just trying to be funny, Billy"
"About the water-cooler part? Yeah, but I mean the bad-ass aliens part. Besides, they are usually single and very smart. You know, your kind of guy."
"Alright, Billy, I get it. You win, introduce me to one of your great, bad-ass alien catching agents."
"Well, since you don't want to tell me who the guy you like is, we have a deal. Now let's go before M.O.M. realizes that we are fooling around the detention block. If a creature escapes she'll turn us into monster food"
Both of them returned to the Manager's office, oblivious to the blond eavesdropper that had overheard every single word they said.
"Diana dating a full-time Center agent? Now that's something I want to see" he simply muttered to himself, snickering at the thought of her sister trying to date a guy who lived to fight the supernatural, rather than being an apathic skeptical like her. And yet, he would also admit that he was slightly worried about it After all, he really did care about her. Martin resolved to keep an eye on her, and the lucky guy that got to be chosen by her.
Lucky? Why did I think that?
So... there's that. I would love to commit myself to updating this story every weekend, but that's something that I'm not sure I can do, so I'll just update whenever possible. Remember to review, please, and see you next update.
