Chapter 2 of Battle Cross: Endgame.
-Endgame+
Cameron's Bedroom – Bog Isle
Summer school sucks. Especially if it happens to be home-schooling with your mom. Cameron felt like a prisoner secluded from the outside world. No Battle Cross, no friends-even if they were ignoring her- and nothing other than her scholastics. After Team Elite forfeited from the championship race, Rebecca gathered everything and shipped them back to Bog Isle before any surprise deserter fee surfaced. Now six months later, the school year officially ending a couple of months prior, Cameron had yet to earn all the credits necessary to get into high school. Admittedly, Cameron had bended a few rules and halved her studying time with training for an upcoming race or flying to Berk, so that's probably why she was suffering now.
"If only I just beat Night Fury that one time at the racetrack.
"Choose your words carefully, Ms. Bateman. I'm in no mood for another foolish girl making plans to further ruin my life."
Two figures stood at her windowsill. A man with a hideously damaged armor on, the rubber neck of an armor's under plating, and a ripped black bandana tied around the lower half of the man's face. A mop of hair and piercing green eyes were the only features the lamp of Cameron's room could make out.
The second man was in civilian clothing. Obviously trying to hard to appear as normal as possible. Khakis and a red t-shirt. But the character still looked suspicious. Questions rose in Cameron's head. Why was the man's body horribly scarred? Most of the ugly marks were based in his shin region followed by the needle marks on his forearms and neck.
Before Cameron could say a word, the man in black jumped from his reclined position against the side of the window and smashed the only source of light in the bedroom. Cameron couldn't let out a small shriek due to someone suddenly covering her mouth. "Don't study me! I am not an experiment!" A man's whispers screamed in the blackened room. There was a mixture of anguish and apparent suffering in the man's tone. Cameron could only guess that the man had some bad experience prior to the invasion of her room. But with no lights or familiarity, Cameron didn't know who she had angered.
The person took their hand off when Cameron got tired of being gagged and decided to lick the person's palm to release her. "How mature." The person responded to her antics. Cameron felt the man back away slightly from her space. "You cannot decline, refuse, or alert the authorities after we inform you of what's going on and going to happen next. Do you understand?"
"What if I-" Mouth covered once again, Cameron simply nodded in the dark until the man uncovered her mouth.
"No questions either."
"Not until the end, at least." Finally, the second man voice sounded in the room. It sounded, unhinged, to Cameron which only made her more anxious of the whole situation. The moonlight sihloutted the second man's figure, depicting him as an unstable man. Squinting her eyes, Cameron could see that the second man near the window was… twitching? Hunched over and unable to stand still while the first man sat on the windowsill.
"A final addition to your current instructions…" The first man's voice spoke up. "Completely forget about any hopes of reuniting with Veronica Thompson and Ashley Hofferson. You mean nothing to them anymore."
"I-" How did they…? Cameron remembered her instructions just in time. With the state of mind the two men were in, she knew that another break of silence from her could mean being put under sleep and taken to who knows where. Or something violent. Geez, where was her mother with her random check-ins to see if Cameron was doing her homework or not?! A frightening thought came to mind. What if the Cameron was their second visit in the Bateman household? Cameron jumped slightly when the first man resumed talking.
"I know you were attacked by Hofferson moments before the final race of the championship. The main reason that wasn't made public was that your mother pulled your team because your injuries were too severe to continue the race. Then before the consequences and hefty fines surfaced, you were safely on the first flight to Bog Isle. I'm going to assume that everything I said was correct because I don't care otherwise.
"But I will now fill in the blanks of what you missed. The abridged version is this: Night Fury won the final race, Hofferson defeated Mercenary's captain in an overtime death-match but was fatally wounded, ending with Hofferson getting kidnapped from her hospital room. The blanks the media or even the authorities couldn't uncover was that Night Fury and Ms. Thompson aka Zippleback planned a rescue and flew to the island holding the individuals responsible for the kidnapping to get Hofferson back. What surprises both oppositions was that Hofferson had pulled a power-play and cut ties to both her new allies and enemies. Once returning to Berk, Hofferson set to work ousting Solomon Haddock from HRT and implementing her control of the tech company."
Cameron forgot all about the zero silence rule, "Why are you telling me this?" It was too much for Cameron to process. Ash usurped control of Battle Cross by killing off the competition? Ronnie teamed up with Night Fury for a rescue mission? All Cameron knew was racing on Team Elite and school and friends… How was she supposed to begin to understand the corporate dark side of Battle Cross.
"Because you're about to help on a mission and having you be clueless would only slow us down. The more you know, the better prepared you'll be for when we touch down and protect Berk." The fidgety man informed Cameron.
"Touch down- Mission- What are you talking about? I can't just up and leave when I want to anymore-" Cameron began stuttering a mile-long list of questions, excuses, and consequences of what was about to happen. She wasn't even sure she had a choice in the matter.
"You don't have a choice," The shadowy man answered Cameron's inner thoughts, "And you will do just that. Pack up your armor and other necessities because we leave in five minutes." The lights came back on and Cameron had to blink back the brightness to readjust. But once she did, her mouth gaped at the sight in front of her.
Prodigal sons of two of the most influential figures in Battle Cross were in her room. Son of Drake Maverick, Maverick Enterprises. And son of Solomon Haddock, Haddock Racing Tech. But what surprised Cameron the most was the burning question of why the two were in the most iconic armors of Battle Cross; Red Death and Night Fury, sworn enemies. Unless…
"Whoa." Talk about mind-blown.
-Endgame+
HRT Towers – Late Evening
Stepping onto the freezing bathroom floor, Ash winced at the chilling surface under her feet. Shaking off the feeling, she switched the lights and started getting ready for the day. Since her public debut as the new CEO and captain for Team HRT, it became irrevelent to hide her gender in the racing world. Proud female racer of Battle Cross, Ash grew her hair out and braided it unlike her usual spiked short pixie cut. With a bang over her left eye and the rest of her shoulder length hair tied into a braid, Ash felt free. Anyway, she retied her braid back and began brushing her teeth. A faint memory of her obsession over Hector surfaced as she glanced at her lips.
"Not even the perfect Ashley Hofferson can avoid morning breath it seems." Eric appeared out of thin air behind Ash. He moved to sink next to hers and started his own morning ritual. Well aware of Ash's eyes following his every move, Eric winked at her mirror reflection. "So when can I stop this 'I hate your guts' routine act for our other teammate?" The tank asked, applying water and cream to his chin.
Taking her eyes off him for the moment, she focused on applying coverage for her dark circles that surfaced and remained ever since that eventful day. "Don't pretend that you don't enjoy being rough with me on a daily basis."
"I'd like to be seen as who I really am, not some raging beast hell-bent on wreaking anything that moves."
"And who are you really, Eric?"
Eric posed in front of the mirror, stroking his chin. "A man with an Adonis physique and chiseled face- hey!" He massaged the spot Ash towel-whipped him. Immediately retaliating, Eric wetted his own towel with hot water and smacked Ash across her bottom. Eric chuckled at Ash's squeal of surprise. The two of them were as naked as the day they were born. So the body smacks stung a little more. But he got serious when she armed herself with a cold wet towel. Narrowly evading a shot at his family jewels, Eric yelped as he slipped in the process and landed in a heap on the cold tile floor. Nursing his head, Eric's face blanched as he witnessed Ash pounce onto him. Whips, smacks, and blows commenced between the two of them.
"Besides abusing each other, what are our plans for today?" Eric laughed as he slammed Ash's front against the bathroom door. He knew that Ash could take his rough-housing.
Turning her head over her shoulder to peer at Eric, Ash answered, "After dealing with the press regarding the incident yesterday at the racetrack, we'll probably have to deal with Berk's shining law enforcement and give them our statements, but not before telling Heather a bullshit cover story." Ash pushed against Eric and took advantage of Eric's ego to run up the door and flip backwards to land behind him. Shoving him towards the door, Ash turned the tables and wrapped a dripping towel around his neck. Wringing the tower, cold water trickled down Eric's torso.
Eric grunted at the cold before using his strength to push the both of them away from the door. With Ash downed on the floor, slightly dazed by the sudden force, Eric pinned her onto the tile. "Looks like I won- Ugh!" Boasting down at Ash's seemingly defeated form, Eric didn't see the knee to his groin coming. Writhing on the floor next to Ash, Eric managed to strike Ash's solar plexus and downed her before she could do her victory dance.
"Sonvua…!" Ash groaned out, swatting Eric's arm for even hitting her at the universal weak-spot.
"That's what you get for hitting me there…" Eric clutched himself in pain.
It wasn't until the third person in the room cleared her throat did the naked couple notice her presence. "It seems you two become a whole nother beast after dark…" Heather spoke coldly at the sight in front of her. Fully opening the shower curtains, Heather stepped out of the shower and sat on the tub wall.
"When and how did you get in here?" Ash carefully sat up, gave Eric another slap, and settled herself against the wall of the room.
"With the busted bathroom door," Heather pointed to said door swinging loosely from its hinges, "I came in thinking that someone was being assaulted so I investigated finding you two up to your usual shenanigans." She frowned when she noticed that neither of the two was going to move to cover their bodies anytime soon. Refraining to looking downwards, Heather continued. "So please," Heather rested her chin onto her fist, "Regale me with your bogus cover story. Oh, and I should've led with this but there's a retired cop and district attorney that's been banging on your bedroom door for a while now."
Ash palmed her face in irritation as Eric finally moved to begin searching her bedroom for his clothes.
Within a few more minutes of banging on the door, Archibald and Gordon were finally able to enter Ash's suite. They came to the sight of Ash, Eric, and Heather gathered around at the parlor room table going over some blueprints. "Hey, Dad. Anyway, after Night Fury landed at Fort Suoredrum…" Ash greeted her father, completely ignoring Gordon, before resuming the bullshit cover story to Heather and Eric.
"Ashley, what is this?" Archibald heard a snippet of their conversation. He remembered clearly that he told his daughter to be careful not to speak of certain events following the final race of the championship.
"Going over notes involving the two mysterious figures that fought my team last night."
"And how does what happened two years ago involve what happened yesterday?"
"Motive of outside forces. Drake couldn't be the only playing against HRT towers. I suspect that there's a third party."
"A third party? This theory of yours is the first time I've heard of it. Keeping certain truths from the case, Ashley?"
Ash knew the angle Gordon was playing at. But questioning her with her father's presence in the room wouldn't change her cooperation in the slightest. "If you didn't put so much of your resources into putting me behind bars for no absolute reason or evidence, you might have a better understanding of the bigger picture. There are outside forces at play here besides Fort Suoredrum and Bog Isle-" At the corner of her eye, Ash caught Heather signaling her for her attention. "What?-" Before Ash could ask what it was that was bothering Heather, she was roughly pulled away into the cover of someone's body. Eric's face was frantic as he closed up around Ash. "Eric, what are you doing-"
The thunderous sound of an explosion sounded as the tower shook. The flooring rocked back and forth, causing everyone in Ash's suite to lose their footing and balance. Archibald fell forward onto a couch, Gordon stumbled backward and the left side of his temple on the corner of a furniture piece, Heather's whole body lurched toward the window pane of the balcony and cracked it, while Eric kept Ash steady underneath him until he started rolling around. Coming to a stop from rolling around near the front window panes of the balcony, Ash managed to peek out from under Eric and saw three individuals rushing into the entrance of the tower. With that, Ash knew that the tower shaking wasn't a natural cause, but an attack. Frowning, Ash saw a glimpse of her attackers and grew angry.
Unraveling, Ash took note that Eric had some injuries, nothing to serious, but it still made Ash worry. Obtaining resolve, Ash set Eric onto a couch and made sure he was secure. Turning away from him, she got to work situating everyone else in her suite. Leaving Gordon to help himself up whenever he woke up, Ash headed into her bedroom and accessed her closet. Fortunately, Ash stowed away some emergency gear in case someone were to invade her room. Nothing heavy like her armor that would raise alarms, but she did have a small armory of assorted weapons and gadgets. Taking stock of her gear, Ash counted 8 EMP grenades, 16 of her personal daggers, 2 pairs of rackets and batons, and some super-light class armor pieces including a helmet.
Ash armed herself with the limited armor and weapons when she felt someone grab her shoulder. A dagger already in hand, she twirled around and saw that it was only her teammates. "You two need to get out of my way. You were injured during the quake."
"Cuts and bruises. Nothing fatal." Heather stated. She started taking items from Ash's armory.
Eric took hold of Ash's chin and turned her face to check if she obtained any damage. Deeming her "alright", Eric collected some weapons after Heather. "From the looks of things, you figured out that this wasn't unintentional too. Somebody placed those charges at the base of the tower."
"How did you find out-"
"I had a fleeting caution since I saw that single van out front in the parking lot. But I didn't think it would turn out to be something like this…" Eric roughly slammed gauntlet pieces onto his forearms. "I should've done something!" Eric cursed at himself for not acting soon. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Ash giving him a calming stare. He read her lips, "Thank you", and calmed himself down.
"We have to find out who did this and reprimand them for the authorities." Heather announced, butting into their moment. "I estimate that the authorities will arrive in approximately 37 minutes while the operator will call in the full force of the SWAT team after learning of the use of a bomb at the crime scene."
Eric looked at Ash in bewilderment. Ash shook her head in response. All she knew was that Heather was an odd one. She showed up one day and asked to be a part of Team HRT the exact moment Ash put out a flyer for a third teammate. And Heather's odd quirks have been surfacing ever since.
"Anyway, let's find those responsible and hit them hard before they even know it." Ash commanded her team before opening her suite door. Once she fully opened the door, she came face to face with none other than the same Night Fury from last night. Before she could act in time, she was sharply kicked in the gut and sent flying. Crashing through the window pane, Ash began falling from the 32nd floor of HRT towers.
-Endgame+
Moment before the explosion at HRT Towers
"Scans confirm the following persons: District Attorney of Berk, Archibald Hofferson and former police commissioner of BPD, Gordon B. have been idle on the floor of CEO of HRT, Ashley Hofferson's suite. Two other persons that have yet to be confirmed are suspected of being the other two teammates of HRT's Battle Cross racing team." Night Fury relayed to Captain Grayson.
"Is it wise to begin the assault with so many big hitters in the building?" Red Death voiced a concern regarding the mission.
"Not my call, kid. Commence the activation of the models in HRT's armory. Upload the 03.26.10 virus into the targets as soon as they're online. Once the initial process starts, you two deploy. Synch up in 4, 3, 2…!"
An explosion from the base rocked HRT towers.
-Endgame+
Bog Isle Airport
"Are you three together?" The airport staff asked the group. Unfortunately for the group, this woman appeared to be a seasoned worker at the airport, immune to any antics and nonsense. Observing the group with her steely eyes, the stoic woman awaited their answer and she'd better be satisfied with it if she was going to sell tickets to a bunch a kids way past their bedtime.
"Yes, these two are my guardians…" Cameron squeaked under the intimidating woman's gaze. "My name is Cam- ow!" Cameron winced when she got a pinch on the small of her back from Hector.
"Don't use your real name." Hector whispered harshly like it was obvious for their current situation.
"My name is… Ronnie! Ronnie Thompson." Cameron grinned wide.
"His name is… Hec- Er, Torres Hardon. And the one to my right is Albright McPrick." Cameron answered before the two of her captors introduced themselves. Adopting an innocent expression in front of the woman, Cameron knew she'd get hell from the two once there were no witnesses around.
"Is that right?" The woman narrowed her eyes.
"Yesss…." The man is black hissed through clenched teeth. The man is red was spittin' mad but he didn't voice it.
"Hmm." The woman stamped the three tickets and handed them to Cameron. "I've heard stranger names."
And like that, the trio bought their way for a one-way flight to Berk. Their next stop, 3rd Street of Berk.
-Endgame+
3rd Street - Berk - Nighttime
"And why are we in a place like this?" Cameron inched further away from the sleazy patrons trying to flirt with her. Unfortunately, Cameron couldn't find shelter in her companions due to their still being irritated by her at the airport. Swatting at the mens' smooching faces, Cameron finally ducked between the two for refuge.
The shady place stunk of booze, smoke, and greasy foods. To the right of the entrance where they stood, a condom vending machine was running like crazy. Scantily-dressed women and men were seated and walking about the dim-lit building. Three stages and two mini-platforms were placed in the back center to either side of the place. Dancers entertained and wooed the patrons to come closer with wallets open for tips.
A man, most likely the boss of the joint judging by the expensive clothing and jewelry he was wearing, exited the back room and heading right for the group trio. "My friend, it has been such a long time!" The boss strolled up to Hector and closed in to shake hands with a friendly hug. "Might I interest you in some of my rarest imports, huh? I have various little girlies that each has a skill to make you briefly visit heaven, ha ha ha!" The boss laughed whole-heartedly as he nudged his Hector. He laughed even harder when the Alvin joined him.
"Johann, it has been awhile. But tonight, I'm here for business."
"Hector, you must relax once in a while. Ease the tension else you end up like your father."
"Yeah, lighten up. HRT isn't going anywhere." Alvin eyed a certain entertainer that caught his attention. Nodding at Johann for permission, a smile broke out on his face as he waved the woman over.
"I'd like to be anywhere but here." Cameron muttered.
Ignoring Cameron. "Cut it, Alvin. We need to make the first move before those goons your father sent wreak havoc on my tower." Hector made it clear that it wasn't up for discussion.
Lowering his shoulders in defeat, Johann relented and signaled the three to follow him into the back room. Closing the door of his office behind them, Johann sat himself down and opened a folder from a drawer in his desk. "Here's all the information your mole has recorded for you while you were on 'vacation'." Skimming through the pages, Johann let out a low whistle. "I must say, Hector, your ex sure didn't hold any punches in the divorce settlement. Got the tower, company, and the toys that were in it."
"Hofferson is not my ex, Johann. Barely an acquaintance." Hector looked away from the group. "Thieving little…" The original Night Fury muttered under his breath.
A woman, possibly Johann's assistant that'd be allowed to walk into the room that was not to be disturbed, came into the room and approached Johann with a tablet. "There has been an interesting development in district 20, sir."
Johann quirked his eyebrows and stare at the presenting device. The news must've surprised Johann because he lost his composure and snatched the tablet from his assistant. His beady eyes frantically scanned the news feed along the bottom of the screen. "HRT towers is under attack, Hector…"
Hector started in his seat and lunged for the tablet. Barely glancing at the rest of an eye witness' statement, Hector dropped the device on the desk and briskly left the backroom to the front door without informing his company of his next move.
"Hector, wait!" Johann reached after his friend but was too late. Noticing Alvin and Cameron still in their seats, Johann frantically begged them to stop Hector before it was too late. "I fear Hector will be targeted by law enforcement."
"What, why?" Alvin was confused. He didn't know of any events after the death-match. Could Hector have committed a crime while Alvin was being transported to Fort Suoredrum by his father's business partners?
Applying commands on his tablet, Johann tapped it once more and turned the electronic screen to the two.
"Hector captained two teams in his whole career of Battle Cross. Those two bastards were on his first team…" Alvin frantically ruffled his head trying to remember the names of the two elder Team HRT members. "Besides Hector and I, the other two were… Draco! And, uh… Oh shit! She's back?!" Memories of the past suddenly came to Alvin as he lurched from his chair and fell to the carpeted floor. "No, no, no, no…." Alvin looked to be having a breakdown after he realized the fourth member's identity. "We have to stop Hector before he sees her- Come on!" Roughly dragging Cameron out of the backroom, the two didn't even heed Johann's fleeting caution.
"Sir?" The assistant inquired why he was so reluctant for the three youths to rush to HRT towers. "Do you know the group responsible for the attack?"
"Those attacking HRT towers are none other than Red Death and Night Fury- Yes, I know." Johann interrupted her before she could ask whom were they just talking to. "I haven't figured that part out just yet. But I can buy Hector some time before the news and police choppers lift off to scan the town." Grabbing hold of his tablet, Johann opened a command screen and began redirecting passageways and gateways.
"How are you able to pull up the street and air traffic over Berk so quickly, sir?"
Johann smirked as he worked his magic. "Trader's secret."
-Endgame+
Red Light District - Berk
Sprinting like a bat out of hell, Hector navigated downtown on foot due to his 520 being confiscated on Fort Suoredrum and impossible to take onto a public airplane, his bank accounts frozen, and all favors extinguished. So he was forced to go on foot. But transportation was the last thing racing on his mind. Was Ash planning to destroy his tower? Why, she had already betrayed and abandoned him on Fort Suoredrum. Then was she being attacked? By who- Hector's thoughts were put on pause when he heard the wail of sirens racing past him. At least a dozen police cruisers were speeding parallel to the sidewalk he was on. Good, the police and SWAT has been called to intercept the situation at HRT towers.
But as Hector felt at ease, he wasn't aware of the cruisers and SWAT vans squealing to a stop and pulling a 180 to approach his being on the sidewalk. "Night Fury!" Hector was stunned by the bright lights and megaphone. "Don't move an inch or else we'll use deadly force!" The commander of the SWAT forces announced. Ordering his full team of 48 men with highly upgraded military arms to surround the ebony-armored man on the empty streets of downtown, the commander told the police to move on ahead to control the situation at HRT towers. Turning his attention back to Night Fury, he choked on his on coffee at the sight in front of him. Night Fury, along with at least half of his SWAT forced were in hand to hand combat and his forces were losing, badly. Before he could even relay another order, two more adversaries came onto the scene.
Timberjack spun into a deadly dance, twirling and rotating gracefully as she deployed her multiple blades and cleanly cut into the remaining forces' guns. Jumping into the air she bounded from SWAT van to the next rendering the turrets' barrel from the rest of the turret.
While Timberjack was dancing, Red Death and Night Fury were back to back, taking on the soldiers that threw down their guns and entered hand to hand combat with their batons and/or fighting stances. Twin Bolas and Eskrima made quick work of their enemies as the commander stood, stunned at how fast his team of elites were tilting to the losing side. When he saw that Red Death and Night Fury were making a break for it, he fumbled for his sidearm and took aim to take down at least one of them.
CHINK!
The barrel of the commander's gun fell to the ground just as Timberjack passed him with a fake salute over her shoulder. Immediately calling in back-up, the commander was corrected of the real situation. "What do you mean, Night Fury and Red Death are at HRT towers?! My men just engaged them and an unknown ally!" The commander listened to the operator's next statement and his radio dropped to the ground.
"Reporting to Commander Roslin, the assault is already in progress. Awaiting your team and command now…" The radio spoke from the pavement. "Commander Roslin?"
-Endgame+
(A/N) Torres Hardon = Hector Haddock, Albright McPrick = Alvin Maverick. Just in case someone needed captain obvious to understand what it meant.
So HRT Towers has been attacked while police forces are foolishly chasing the wrong culprits. Ash and her team are stripped of their armors and armors as Captain Grayson leads the assault with the still mysterious Titan Wing-class individuals. Will Ash seek the help of her old teammates or will she stubbornly risk the lives of her new team? Will Hector and company make it back in time before the tower is destroyed? What is the reason behind the attack?! Tune in next time to finally know the identities of Drake's business partners and the 3 hours that Alvin was unconscious following the death-match of the final race.
