Well here it is. The last chapter of the Introduction arc. The next few chapters is when the story really starts getting exciting. Sorry that this chapter is a bit shorter than usual.
Training storyline: Introduction arc
Just Another Day chapter 4: Aftermath
Eddward Devlin's house: 10:34 AM
Todd woke up with his head feeling like it was crushed by a trash compactor. He opened his eyes and was greeted by blackness. Was it night? No he felt the sun shining on him. Yet his eyes were open. No! He had gone blind! Todd panicked at his newfound blindness and groped his face to...oh wait he had his jacket on his forehead covering his eyes. He moved it off of him and squinted in the bright light that shown from the sun. All around him was carnage from the night before.
He was currently floating in Edd's pool. He was on a raft constructed from two beer kegs, duct tape, and a lawn chair. Scattered in the pool was numerous beer cans and clothes. Around the pool were other passed out partiers. The guys night turned into an all out house party. From what Todd heard this was the norm for an average guys night. There was still music lightly playing from the stereos scattered throughout the house.
Todd's 'Raft' was in the middle of the large pool in Edd's back yard. Edd's house was the most unique he had ever seen. The house was three stories, but only one of those was above ground. The other two were below ground but the west side was set into the cliff face that overlooked the ocean. The side that was in the cliff had the wall made of glass creating two very long windows that ran along the entire side of the house. Along with that there were two balconies over the ocean on each floor. The inside was best described as a bachelor pad.
Knowing he had no other choice Todd flipped over into the water to begin to swim out of the pool. Momentarily disoriented while underwater he caught sight of the trunk full of people's car keys at the bottom of the pool. Also there was a submerged and crashed golf cart with a pole taped to the side. Surfacing he made his way over to the pool steps and got out of the pool. Now soaked he made his way over the past out partiers and into the house entering through the sliding glass door. He found more victims of last night's event inside the house.
The first thing he saw was the grand entrance with two staircases leading down on each side of an elevator. Not feeling like walking down two flights of stairs to get to the living room he headed straight to the elevator passing numerous coworkers who had come last night. He could not remember any of their names on account of his pounding head and intoxication. He pressed the down arrow and waited several moments for the elevator to come up as Carry On by Fun played in the background.
The silver doors opened and he got in. He pressed the 1 and faced forward. Slumped on the floor next to him was Bill Murray dressed in an Iron Man suit with a sombrero. Todd still wasn't sure when exactly they had picked up Mr. Murray or how he knew about the Institute. Todd thought that he was a clone but the guys promised that he was the actual Bill Murray. As he was pondering that though he was hit with a wave of nausea. Just as he was about to tip over he attempted to steady himself by leaning on the elevator doors. Unfortunately for him that is the exact moment they decided to open.
He ended up tumbling out the elevator and fell on one of his fallen comrades. When he stumbled to his feet he saw that it was, in fact, the Saurian hitchhiker they picked up last night. FYI Saurians are from the planet Sauria which is about 78 light years from Earth. It had a smooth face with no nose but slits instead. The head is in the traditional grey alien shape but was a vibrant red. Unlike the traditional grey alien though he was the same height and build as an average human male. He wore a black one piece space suit with a Silver, trench coat like, garment over it. The space suit was skintight and made of some Rubber or latex like material.
Todd stumbled onto his feet. He found himself in the large living room that belonged to his new mentor. There was the large full length window directly across from the elevator. Before that were several curved red couches in a horseshoe shape that faced the elevator. They faced a 200 inch plasma screen television that could be retracted into the floor. Along each side wall were very large aquarium like fish tanks with various fish, some terrestrial others alien. On each side of the elevator was the two staircases leading up. On the left and right corners of the room were doors leading to other rooms on the story. The bar was on the left side of the back wall.
He shakily swayed over to the bar located to the left of the elevator. Seated there was Edd who looked like he partied hard. He had no shirt on and was wearing the bottoms of a scuba suit flippers included. He was drinking an orange liquid out of a glass and eating some toast with scrambled eggs. Todd sat down and looked ahead at the bartender. He was a robot of course. Jeffery was his name and he was one of two robots that Edd had. Jeffery was the cook/ bartender. Wadsworth was the butler/ security guard.
The robotic voice asked Todd, "What will it be sonny?"
Groggily Todd answered, "I would like a glass of Sunny D, toast, a sliced orange, a waffle and some sausage." The robot quickly poured the glass and set it in front of Todd. As Jeffery was turning to cook Todd added, "And some Tylenol."
Edd chuckled and turned to Todd, "I'm guessing your head hurts as much as mine does. Tylenol won't help much."
With that he reached on the side of his glass and picked up a silver metal case. It looked like an was the size and shape of and altoid tin. It was a smooth metal with several lights that blinked along the side. There was HET-P13 stamped on the top of the case in green lettering. Edd pressed a button on the side and the top opened with a mechanical hiss. There was a thick mist on the inside like that produced by dry ice. Edd reached inside and pulled out a glowing green gel capsule.
"Here Todd try this. A couple of the pharmacy guys cooked this up recently."
"Um...What does it do?" Todd asked nervously.
Smiling Edd simply said, "Don't worry, it is a hangover cure. It is supposed to get rid of the headache and nausea."
"Does it work?"
"Not sure yet. This is the first batch they made and is untested on humans. I took three so far. Although my right leg just went numb so I would start with just one."
Signing Todd took the pill and swallowed it thinking of last night's events.
Edd's car: 1:22 AM
The group had just left Metropolis Live Karaoke bar and was heading down a dark highway. From what Todd could tell there was only fields in every direction. Edd had told him that they were going to his house where he was having a party. Todd wasn't quite sure if his boss had programmed the autopilot of his car quite right in his drunken stupor but trusted him. At the moment Eddy was taking the time to describe to Todd his personal sidearm.
Holding it in his hands and showing Todd each part he spoke, "This is a 9mm SIG Sauer P226. It is chrome plated with custom wooden grips. It has an extended beavertail grip to prevent hammer bite. It also has a threaded barrel to attach a silencer."
Todd waited for a moment as Eddy looked at him expectantly before he said, "So what do you say, impressive?"
"Um sure it's pretty cool." Todd said not sure how much he was supposed to care.
"Cool is an understatement, especially since I have two of them, " Eddy told Todd as he pulled a twin handgun from god knows where.
In the front seat next to Eddy Mr. Devlin replied, "Eddy I thought we agreed that you wouldn't bring guns on guys nights since the Bangkok incident."
Sighing Eddy relayed, "Look Doctor D it is okay. It isn't even loaded. Look there are no..." Eddy was saying as he popped out a magazine before seeing that it was, in fact, loaded, "...never mind."
Quietly Eddy put the gun into Edd's glove compartment for safekeeping. 'Wow' Todd though. This guy was the weapons expert at the Institute. He hoped that it was just his inebriation. As he thought this Ed spoke up from the seat next to him.
"Hey Eddward there is a hitchhiker on the left of the road. I think his ride broke down, we better stop and help them." Ed told Edd.
"I think you are right. Charles pull over to that guy on the side of the road."
"Are you sure Doctor D?"
"Don't worry Todd this guy looks trustworthy."
Confounded by how ridiculous it sounded and not believing his ears Todd looked out of the window to see this so called trustworthy hitchhiker. He was expecting to see a hockey mask wearing psychopath with a chainsaw but was even more surprised. He saw a green spaceship that was very hard to describe that appeared to had made a slight crash landing. It looked like a stealth plane combined with a rocket. Standing in front of it was an alien which turned out to be a Saurian trader.
All four of the men stepped out of the car and walked over to the alien. He waved to them as they approached.
"What seems to be the problem buddy?" Edd asked the alien.
'Wow' Todd thought as Mr. Devlin spoke. He is really trying to speak English to someone who probably never even been to Earth befo... and the alien speaks fluent English with no accent.
"Thanks for stopping. I am from Sauria which is 78 light years away and I ran out of fuel. I knew I should have put more than 18 Earth dollars worth of dilithium in the tank but I was in a hurry."
Ed stepped in with the next question, "Well what is your name alien traveler from the outer realms?"
The alien looked at Ed confused by his odd description of there the alien hailed from but answered, "Zardar."
"Well what do you do Zardar, the incredible?" Ed asked.
"I would prefer to just be called Zardar. To answer your question I am a space trader. I move commodities and was supposed to bring a shipment of Saurian brandy to a space outpost. If you guys could help me I am a bit lost. The outpost was a manmade base called Lunar 1."
Eddy replied this time, "You just missed it. Lunar 1 is a base on the moon right up there, "he said pointing up at the moon.
Zardar hit himself in the head as he said, "Oh man, I thought that it was on this planet's other moon. I mean I passed right by that thing."
Todd felt he should mentions something to the alien, "Um Zardar... This planet has only one moon."
"You are kidding right?"
"I am sorry but no."
Sighing the alien sat on the ground and asked the group, "Can you guys help me out. Do you have any fuel for my ship or one I can borrow to send up my shipment of alcohol."
Edd answered Zardar obviously knowledgeable, "Humans don't have access to dilithium crystals to refine into dilithium fuel. Fortunately we do have a substitute that we can synthesize. Unfortunately it will take about eighteen hours to created enough for you trip back to your planet. "
"I can't thank you guys enough, " Zardar said after he got up and began shaking everyone's hand.
"Tell you what Zardar, how about we call in a crew to tow your ship to our facility while we make your fuel. While that happens you are welcome to join us at a party."
Edd's house: 1:53 AM
Todd was now at Edd's cliff side house which was much larger than he had ever imagined. He was in the living room of the mansion sitting at the horseshoe. On the TV they had Raiders of the Lost Ark playing. The music was a blaring techno beat in the background. In front of Todd was a coffee table full of various liquors. One particular alcohol was the bottles of Saurian brandy that was brought by the alien trader Zardar.
Todd was in a drinking contest with Ed, Rolf, Zardar, and Bill Murray who was somehow not freaking out over the whole alien thing. They were alternating shots of alcohol. They had just taken a shot of Vodka and were moving onto Saurian brandy.
"So Teddy, you now work at the Asylum right?" a very drunk Bill Murray asked.
"Once again it is Todd and yes I am working at the Institute."
"Good, good. And you Zoidberg you are a space gardener?"
Zardar paused from pouring the curved bottle of alien brandy into shot glasses to comment and answer Bill, "Its Zardar and no. I am a space faring merchant and trader who also dabbles in bounty hunting."
"Really!" Ed asked.
Chuckling Zardar answered, "No just kidding...or am I. The shots are ready," the alien oddly replied.
With that Todd took his shot and gulped it down.
Edd's back yard: 2:44 AM
Well Todd dropped out of the drinking contest before he could see the winner. In fact it was still going on. At some point Bill Murray had dressed up in and Iron Man Costume and found a sombrero. Todd still wasn't sure how or why he did that at a house party but he had learned not to question these things. Speaking of Bill he was the only one left to drink against Zardar, or Zoidberg as he had been calling him all night. They were the last two left.
At the moment Edd was having the key dunking ceremony. Since the last guest had arrived and given up their keys Edd was about to start. He placed all of the keys in a weighted trunk and threw them into the pool watching it sink to the bottom.
Looking around he saw that they had a pair of supped up golf carts. He walked over to them and recognized Nicolai. He saw they had several very long wooden poles on the ground. Nicolai was duct taping one of the aforementioned poles onto the left side of the Golf cart with a alien spray painted onto the hood. Todd walked up intrigued.
"Nicolai what's happening?"
"Oh Todd good you are here. I was just about to go looking for someone to come golf cart jousting. You can take that one over there with the flaming bunny."
Five minutes later
Nicolai was racing towards Todd at the highest speed that the golf cart would allow trying to align his pole to hit Todd while not getting hit. Fifty feet in front of him Todd was doing the exact same thing. They raced closer and closer until...BLAM! Both Todd and Nicolai were hit and went careening out of control.
Todd spun around and around until the crushed hood of his cart went over the edge of the pool and the whole thing fell in. He was surprised by the rush of water and sudden disorientation of the cart flipping onto its roof on the way down. Todd got out from his seat and swam to the top of the pool. Breaking the surface he saw that Nicolai had also had a crash of his own. His golf cart was flipped on its side and was on fire. Nicolai was making his way over to Todd with a smile on his face.
"Hey Nicolai. What does this mean, who won?" Todd asked confused.
"Well...we both win. I think this calls for shots." Isaacs told him making his way over to the house.
Edd's Living room: 4:16 AM
Bill and Zardar were beginning to run out of steam. They had slowed down and were both having trouble taking any more shots. Bill tried to swallow the bourbon but ended up holding the glass at his lips unable to drink it. He looked forward and saw that his alien opponent was in the same boat.
Putting down the glass on the table he said through a thick tongue, "Zoidberg, both You and I are at our limitators. We can't shot any more drinks. I think to pass out we about are. How about we have a race to the elevator. Tom you go and press the button and the first one inside wins, "He said motioning to Todd.
Todd complied and went over to the elevator. He pressed the button and the race began. Zardar had an early lead because Bill Murray had tripped getting off of the couch. When he did get up he walked in an extremely zigzagging serpentine pattern. He was lucky though because Zardar was on the same playing field. When the race was neck and neck and both were side by side Zardar fell only feet from the elevator and passed out. At that moment the elevator door began to close and Bill used the last of his strength to jump over the Saurian and land in the elevator.
Before Todd could say anything Bill announced drunkenly, "Still number one!" and fell asleep.
The rest of the ride up was in silence as Bill snored. The doors opened and Todd saw that Kevin and Rolf were making something with two beer kegs and a lawn chair. He went over to see what it was and maybe test it out.
"What do you have there?" Todd asked the two men.
"Me and Rolfy boy here are making a raft." Kevin said as he was taping the keg to the metal leg of the lawn chair.
"Cool can I try it out?"
Edd's living room: 11:09 AM
Todd was eating his breakfast and starting to feel better. He and Doctor D had been joined by Eddy, Nicolai, and Ed.
"Really guys. You destroyed my Golf carts?" Edd said as he finished his food.
"Yes my friend. I am sorry about that but it was not total loss. I have cell phone videotape of whole jousting contest." Nicolai relayed to Edd.
"Oh well then I guess it is Okay."
"Man I wish I could have seen..." Eddy began but was cut off by his phone buzzing. He looked at it and sighed, "I wish I could just sleep but duty calls."
Slightly intrigued Nicolai asked "What is it this time?"
"Looks like I have to take out a group of terrorists in Central America. I will be gone for the next day or so." Getting up he began to walk off but turned back to ask, "Buy the way Eddward can you open your car so I can get my 9mm's."
"Sorry but my keys are at the bottom of the pool."
Thinking for a moment Eddy asked, "Is Bill still passed out in the elevator?"
"Yes why?"
"Is his Iron Man suit made out of real metal?"
"Yes..."
"I am going to steal one of his metal gloves to break your car window to get my guns."
"Okay sounds good." Edd replied too hung over to care.
Todd's apartment: Saturday 5:00pm
Todd was currently in bed with a pounding headache. The glowing pill he took helped some but the migraine had come back in full force. Once again his phone buzzed on the night stand next to him. He looked over and saw that it was Gina from the night before. He had forgotten about her. For a second he had thought that he only imagined her in his drunkenness.
They had exchanged information at the Karaoke place and then parted ways when Todd left for the party. He really didn't feel like talking but he knew that it was the right thing to do. Throwing the covers off of him Todd got out of his bed and sat up.
Todd pressed answer and put his phone up to his ear, "Hello?"
"Oh good you are safe. I was worried when you and your friends said that you were driving to a party last night with how drunk you guys were."
"Don't worry we had a designated driver."
"Good well I guess goodbye then. Just wanted to check on you." she said hanging up.
Todd put the phone back and stood up off the bed. He walked over to the couch and sat down turning on the TV. The screen lit up and he was greeted by The Looney Toons Show. As Bugs and Daffy discussed Daffy's online shopping addiction Todd thought about the events that conspired in the past 24 hours. He had the time of his life and even met a girl for good measure. He just hoped that he was as smooth sober as he was drunk.
"The future looks bright, "Todd muttered to himself. "If I can ever get rid of this mind splitting headache.