Chapter Nine
Author's Note:
Shelby, Wing & Nancy are back! Yay! They heard your calls and have come back to all of us.
Thanks to JasperSaysRelaz 2010, AndAPartridgeInAPearTree and Reensie for reviewing since I last updated. You give me hope!
For some reason whenever I write H.I.V., it comes up as H.I.V.
Anybody have the same problem?
I dedicate this chapter to Blue Eminems. Check out her profile on tumblr!
Disclaimer: I don't own H.I.V.E. – Mark Walden does. I tried to invade by throwing THE CHEESE! But somehow it did not injure them…
;
H.I.V.E.
"Incoming transmission from H.I.V.E., sir."
Diabolus Darkdoom looked away from the screens in front of him with a perplexed frown.
"Put the uplink in my office, Munier." He walked quietly through the command centre of the Dreadnought to his office.
What could Max have to tell him now? Diabolus had told his old headmaster he was in the middle of a complex op involving the bankruptcy of several world banks and the crushing of an old friend's organisation.
He had vanished. The H.I.V.E. graduate's villa on Lake Garda was deserted. As well as the townhouse in Zurich, the penthouse in Rio de Janeiro and the castle near St. Petersburg. Diabolus had had him under surveillance around the clock after the last assassination attempt. Somehow he had slipped out from under the net…
But whatever had happened to Blondie would have to wait. He dismissed Saunders's equivalent on the Dreadnought and stared intently into the screen above his desk. The G.L.O.V.E. insignia slowly came into focus and was replaced by the face of Maximillian Nero.
Diabolus leaned back his chair and surveyed his mentor thoughtfully. Nero did likewise and there was silence for a moment.
Nero sighed, and looked much older than his barely-lined face should indicate.
"Max?"
Nero looked his old protégé in the eyes. "The old ruling council are angrier than we thought, Diabolus. They are also in a much better position to cripple the League than we thought possible."
A prickle of unease ran down Darkdoom's spine.
"The students participating in this year's Hunt has been ambushed. And captured by an enemy force."
Diabolus froze.
"Raven has found at least seven bodies and evidence that their companions have been taken. She also found a lapel torn from a black jumpsuit. The fingerprint came back to Otto Malpense. I'm afraid it seems Nigel and his friends have been taken."
"Seems?" said Diabolus slowly.
Nero shuffled through the sheets on his desk. He placed one on top and looked quickly at it to refresh his memory. "I know you're in the middle of an important operation but I need you to help Raven bring the others back to H.I.V.E. And confirm the deaths of others. The Dreadnought would be an excellent command centre. Colonel Francisco is leaving H.I.V.E. with an assault team now but it will take him a while. You're in St. Petersburg so you're closer than many other G.L.O.V.E. commanders."
Diabolus noted the silent afterthought.
You are one of the few that I can trust.
It took him just one moment to decide to shelve the entire mission. "Fine. Where is it taking place?"
"Lake Baikal. Siberia."
H.I.V.E.
Shelby collapsed onto the solid ground and threw up noisily. All she cared about was being out of the cold, cold water and being back on wonderful, blessed solid ground. In the corner of her eye, she could see two dark-haired heads break the surface of the water. Shelby crawled over as fast as she could and yanked Wing towards her. Unfortunately Nancy Russo was still with them so she came too and the three collapsed in a heap on the snow. Nancy curled into the foetal position and coughed violently. Wing lunged to the side to throw up.
The American held Wing's long-ish hair back from his face. She had never cared for long hair on boys but it somehow worked on him.
The three then lay back down, trying to control their breathing. Shelby tilted her head to look at her boyfriend. He had never been one to talk so they had created a complex system of movements and facial expressions to communicate silently. They just had to ensure Ottra never found out.
~~Are you ok?~~ she signed.
Wing nodded and tilted his head towards her. ~~I'm fine. But what about you? I was so afraid I'd lose you.~~
Shelby almost sighed. If only he actually talked as much in real life. ~~I'll live. We need to keep moving. There's a chance we might get hypothermia. What happened after I went under?~~
She was met with silence.
Finally,
~~I told the others to go on without us. They didn't want to leave but I made them go. I had just dragged the two of you out of the water when I heard someone coming.~~
Uh oh. Shelby thought. Here comes the guilt-trippin'.
~~In order to escape detection, I pulled you and Nancy back into the water. We hid behind an ice floe. A group of perhaps nine appeared. Their dogs then pulled them off in the direction of the others.~~
Wing looked away from her ~~They've probably found the others now…~
"If you two are done with your private conversations, maybe we should get moving." Wingelby looked up and almost recoiled from the glare Nancy was giving them. She stood up. "I think we might get hypothermia if we don't get shelter, change of clothes and heat soon."
Shelby unwillingly straightened and stretched. "How do you know so much about it? You lived somewhere tropical."
Nancy opened her mouth to reply then froze.
Her hands patted her waist and hips, searching for something that wasn't there.
"Have either of you seen a small pouch, about yea big?" said Nancy casually.
Too casually.
"We were not allowed to bring anything," said Wing slowly.
Nancy let out a wail of despair.
"She's going to kill me!"
Shelby and Wing exchanged perplexed looks.
Suddenly Nancy ran towards the water, screaming and wailing. Shelby and Wing leapt after her and Shelby grabbed hold just before the water.
"I'm NOT going in there again!"
"You're making a mistake!"
"SHE'S GOING TO KILL ME!"
Nancy jumped in but Shelby managed to loop an arm around her neck. Wing stayed on the snow and tried to pull them back in. Nancy scratched Shelby's face in an attempt to get away. Shelby heard a yell from behind but she was too preoccupied to see who it was.
She felt a strong pull from behind and they all fell onto the snow again.
"Thank you," said Wing. Shelby turned, baffled.
Three students in white jumpsuits were talking quietly with her boyfriend. The boy had black hair and the tall girl could have been his twin. The smaller girl had a sling around her right arm and a painful looking wound on her shoulder.
The boy noticed her and smiled apologetically. "Tadhg Bracken O'Brien, SciTech. My sister, Aoibhín and her room-mate Rosie. We heard screams and we came to help."
Shelby nodded vaguely and leaned against Wing. She felt so tired. He instinctively wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
Nancy fumed silently and decided not to tell the others that something was watching them. She didn't know where, she didn't know why, but the shiver down her spine told her they were being watched. Now what am I supposed to do?
"We should get moving," said Wing. There was something off. Something he didn't trust.
Someone was hiding something.
He immediately ruled out Shelby. Ignoring the screaming mental voice of dissent, he considered the remaining students. He barely knew any of them.
Shelby shifted, agitated. Wing knew she disliked standing around but there was something he had to –
Shelby shrugged off Wing's arm and walked off. Nancy fell into step beside her. The SciTech students looked a bit offended that these students did adhere to the Alpha stereotype.
The tall girl stepped forward. "Wait–"
Three bears lunged out of the shadows and pinned the injured girl to the ground. The others screamed as the beast bit her neck. It pounced on the remaining SciTechs and Wing was ashamed to allow the others to drag him with them in their escape.
He stopped and reached for a knife at his waist and cursed when his hands found nothing.
A beast raised its bloody muzzle and growled at him, burgundy eyes sizing him up.
Bears are not meant to have red eyes….
Shelby and Nancy stepped behind Wing.
A spasm from a body at the bear's paws caught its attention and what was left of the Nerd Herd wheeled around and fled.
H.I.V.E.
Nigel slipped behind a tree and surveyed the forest before him.
Nothing.
He relaxed and heard a small sigh from behind him. Vivienne sat down on a snow-covered log and winced.
"How's your ankle?" asked Nigel calmly, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.
Vivienne made a face. "How do you think? If I hadn't had to practically pull you up that tree in order to hide from the you-know-who's, I wouldn't have fallen and twisted my ankle. Therefore, your fault."
Nigel turned to glare at her. "My fault? I wasn't the one who had the brilliant idea of throwing a beehive on top of them. I suppose it was your intention to let them realise we were right above them and had no way of escaping. I do enjoy being shot at."
"Ha, that last bullet came so close that it–"
"Yes, yes, if I had hair, blah de blah, bald patch, blah de blah de blah. I live in the proximity of three extremely annoying juvenile delinquents and have heard every single bald joke known to man and his monkey."
Vivienne was still chortling away when Nigel twisted his neck and popped his eye like a fish. She moved towards him and felt an arm twist around her neck and crush her windpipe. Black spots appeared in her vision and she flailed around, trying to escape the invisible grip of the assassin.
Vivienne collapsed to the ground. A resounding thud from behind indicated Nigel had also been released. She looked up and saw three figures appear from mid-air.
One of them stepped forward. "Third year Alpha students? League Agent B340. Your expedition has been uneventful?"
Through a mouthful of blood, Nigel murmured something that sounded suspiciously like "What do you think you ducking glassmole…"
"Names?" said the G.L.O.V.E. agent, blatantly ignoring the insult.
"Vivienne Beauregard and Nigel Darkdoom," said Vivienne when it was apparent Nigel was incapable of answering.
The other two agents pulled the Alphas to their feet. One allowed Vivienne to lean on her. "Our apologies. Seems we're not the only ones in the woods tonight. Direct orders from Nero said to check since a duo of what seemed to be students slaughtered an entire team of G.L.O.V.E. operatives. We've set up camp in a cave uphill. You need to get that ankle seen to."
The group carefully made their way through the forest and the two wearied Alphas gratefully collapsed into a small cave. An agent checked on Vivienne's ankle while another questioned Nigel on what had happened.
"Here," said B340. "You need to contact Nero." He handed Nigel a Blackbox and the agents filed out of the cavern.
Nigel powered up the Blackbox while Vivienne shifted through the bag left behind by the G.L.O.V.E. agents.
"Find anything interesting?" he called out.
"Two helmets, bandages, two rolled-up sleeping bags, etc." Vivienne looked out of the cave and froze. Two figures in black jumpsuits were creeping up behind the G.L.O.V.E. search squad.
"Make the call. Now."
Nigel glared irritably at the screen until Nero's face faded into view. "Nigel? Is that you?" he said, looking uncharacteristically worried.
"Yes, sir. Is there word on any of the others, sir?"
The look on Nero's face confirmed Nigel's darkest fears.
"...wenty-three dead, the rest missing. We don't know if they have been killed or captured by an enemy force. As for the different streams, it seems anyone was targete…"
Nigel felt unsteady and fell to his feet. Were any of the twenty-three dead students he knew? He glanced up at Vivienne to see her stare out of the cave with pure shock.
"…..Mr. Darkdoom? Did you hear what I just said?"
A loud snap and a high-pitched scream echoed throughout the forest.
"Doctor Nero, we need to leave. We need to leave now."
"At least tell me what happened to the others, Mr. Darkdoom!"
Vivienne quickly stuffed things into the small haversack.
"Wing, Shelby and Nancy Russo fell into a river. Franz and Laura were swept away by an avalanche. Otto and the others were captured by some group. Not G.L.O.V.E."
Nero frowned, even more worried. "G.L.O.V.E. teams are on their way. Your father will be coming in the Dreadnought as well."
Silence reigned outside the cave.
There was a crunch of snow.
And another.
Followed by the click of a gun, ready to be used.
Despite Nero's shouts of dismay, Nigel slammed down the Blackbox and hid it between a rock and a hard place.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Blood stained the formerly perfect snow outside. The bodies of the G.L.O.V.E. operatives lay discarded in a heap, stripped of anything of use. The two boys in black jumpsuits crunched lightly on the snow and made their way to the cave.
In their hands they both held knives.
The taller one was Hispanic, his features fierce and unforgiving. His companion was a red-head, who kept on stopping to scratch him-self.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Scratch.
Fierce spun around and glared at him. "What is wrong with you? We'll be heard!"
He whisper/shouted.
Scratchy looked at him dolefully and rubbed his chest. "It's this stupid jumpsuit. How do these twats survive wearing them day in/day out?"
Fierce threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. WHY did I have to be paired with Conchúr? I could have been paired with Blondie or even herself and we wouldn't be left with them in a cave!
They took a final few steps towards the move of the cave.
And for their troubles, were whacked off their feet by two figures rocketing down the hill on an improvised sled of some type.
Fierce reached for his belt but it was too late.
Ah sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t *t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t *t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t…..
H.I.V.E.
Nero stared in disbelief at the screen that Nigel Darkdoom had so abruptly turned off.
Hmmmm….rather rude.
But that wasn't what was worrying him.
"...had all met up with students from other streams and we were told to do all different things. But just as we were walking away, I looked back and saw what seemed to be someone using a Blackbox…."
"...someone using a Blackbox…."
"….using a Blackbox…."
Nigel had refused point-blank to bring the Blackbox with him. "We could be tracked." He said. "That would explain a lot." He said.
Someone had gone rogue and betrayed G.L.O.V.E.
Or maybe, just maybe, they had never been loyal at all….
End of Chapter Nine.
Author's Note:
The three juvenile delinquents mentioned by Nigel in Scene Three are, of course, Otto, Shelby & Franz. Laura would be far too busy laughing to contribute and Wing would look down on that sort of thing (but be giggling hysterically inside).
The "CHEESE" reference was from the asdf movies on youtube.
Mad Scientist: They never said I could teach a lama to drive!
Lama: MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Mad Scientist: No lama! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
*Lama drives off cliff…*
*Explosion. BIG explosion.*
Watch them. They're hilarious.
I promise to update soon! Halfway through Chapter Eleven : )
Please Review if you have the time!
Cairdiuil Paiste
