Year Two – Initiation

Rachel had managed to lose her cellphone when she accidentally slammed into the varsity football team. The group of older teens were so tall and monstrous she was was probably nothing more than a bug to them after the crash. She landed onto the floor from the impact and let out a defeated whine when her cell was unceremoniously crushed under an unwitting foot of one of the behemoths.

"There she is!" Jen shouted from far off. "I want her alive! I'm gonna skin this one so bad, her pretty mug's gonna be a memory!"

Rachel scrambled back up and continued to run, hoping to gain enough distance between herself and those punks until she could find Chad. She was pretty sure she couldn't use the hit-and-run trick a second time at any rate.

She wasn't even sure that he was located in the Junior Hall. He could be anywhere at this point. Or so help her…

But Rachel wasn't familiar with the floor plan of the school and eventually, what she thought was a way to the Junior Hall ended up having her cornered into a dead-end. She turned back only to find Jen and her group already rounding the corner. Backing up towards the wall, she knew she was a goner. There was nowhere to run.

And Jen knew it if her ferocious grin was any indication. "Seems like your luck's just ran out, freshmeat." Obviously savoring the moment, Jen slowly made her way towards Rachel with her boys following closely behind, delighting in the way Rachel began to shake.

"Hey… y'know, I was totally joking about the duck bit… " Rachel tried a more negotiable approach and nervously chuckled. "Y'know, freshmen jitters and all. Can't blame a new student, right?"

Jen pretended to consider this, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "You make a good point. Alright then. We'll knock you out a bit faster than intended, how's that, freshmeat?"

Rachel raised her palms up in defense. "I-I'd rather not be knocked out, really. Can't we start over? Maybe a handshake, or uh… fashion tips?" She eyed Jen's piercings with slight apprehension.

"You can't smooth talk your way out of this, freshmeat." Jen cracked her knuckles, her boys rallying themselves up for a fight. "An eye for an eye. A face," She snarled and pointed at her reddened forehead. "For a face."

"FACE THIS!" An unfamiliar voice shouted from behind. Jen and her group barely had time to turn before they were struck with something. When Jen keeled backwards Rachel saw an arrow smack dab right on the older girl's face. It was held straight by a small plunger so it didn't seem lethal to her.

Which was a relief. She didn't want to be framed for murder anytime soon.

It wasn't the plunger she was focusing on more than what looked like a stink bomb tied around the shaft. Before she could blink, the bomb ignited from the arrow and began to smoke something foul. The closed hallway began to become blinding from the fumes. Eyes watering, Rachel pulled her sweater over her nose until a shadow approached and grabbed her.

"Rachel McKenzie? Come with us if you want to live." The shadowy figure said. Unlike the one who yelled before, however, this voice was male and very controlled in his words. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, she immediately followed him. It was better than staying around for a tea party with Jen.

They emerged from the smoke and Rachel finally met the owner of those arrows. A red-headed girl around her age lowered her bow and looked her over with critical green eyes designed purely for marksmanship.

The boy mirrored the archer's facial expression. "So… 'face this' was the best you can do?"

"Shut up!" The girl glared at the boy. "S'not like ye did any better! 'Come with us if ye want ta live'? Ye watch too many action flicks!" Rachel's shoulders hitched up when she was addressed. The Irish girl's tone was mocking. "Aww, look at the wee lil' lamb. This 'er? Good. Looks like we got 'ere before them Punks tore 'er a new one, eh? Look like they were itchin' fer lamb chops…"

For goodness sakes. She wasn't a lamb!

"Who are you?" Rachel blurted out, being forcibly led down the corridor as they made a break back to the Freshman Hall.

"Yer saviors, what do ya think?!" The red-head snarled back, pulling another arrow from her book bag. How she managed to keep such weaponry in what looked to be a tiny purse was beyond Rachel's comprehension. The boy said nothing, though his gaze was much kinder when he finally looked at her when they started climbing down the steps.

There were so many questions she wanted to ask them. They had saved her, possibly fellow freshmen themselves, and they seemed at ease with what was going on. They were probably more knowledgeable with this than she was. Did they know about Initiation too? Where are the other freshmen? Why was an Irish girl carrying a bow and arrow around with her to school? Where were the teachers? What the heck was going on around here?

And when she did ask these questions, this time to the kind looking boy because the archer looked ready to pummel the blond if she asked, she only got a quirk of his eyebrow and an stern grin.

"You're new to this area, aren't you?"

From now on, he should just cut out the middleman and bug her instead of her phone. She only had it for a couple of months and now it was trashed. Chad had paced carefully down the hallway until he found her cell on the floor, smashed completely and lying there forgotten. It looked like an elephant just rampaged over it.

Most likely the varsity football team. He glared at the broken pieces and gripped his phone hard. Forcing himself to take breath and counted to three, he needed to remain calm before he started cracking the screen. Unlike Rachel, obtaining a new phone was a real sink in his pocket.

This was supposed to be an easy transition, not a freaking mess! His cell blared to life again, but this time it from Cavallero, who decided he'd like to piss him off even further with whatever mission he was botching up. He didn't bother answering it, clicked it silent and went back to work. Ever since the whole debacle with letting Uno into one of the teen bases, Cavallero had treated him like dirt after he tossed the kid at him during that treaty fiasco. Unwarranted, but Chad's loyalty wasn't to someone he pretended to be best buds with.

It was the KND. It was always the KND.

He had sent Patton and Fanny ahead from the last location his phone tracked Rachel to and hopefully she didn't get far. At least far enough that the two decommissioned operatives couldn't catch up to. Rachel was always quick on her feet, a habit burned into her muscle memory from her days in Intelligence. No… she's always had that ability. Being a KND operative simply honed that talent to perfection. Chad at least hoped she would put quick reflexes to good use when the Hazing came along.

It was supposed to be on his terms though. Not Jen's.

Another call. This time from Sapphire. Rachel was going to give him a hard time about that. 'Jade? Sapphire? Is the next one Amber?' He could envision her saying that, her tone dripped heavily in sarcasm. Rolling his eyes, he had no time to start daydreaming. He ignored Sapphire's call alongside Cavellero's second call and kept on Rachel's last trail, finding people coughing heavily in one hallway, a noxious smell wafting through.

"Disgusting." Chad frowned, waving away the smoke dancing in his direction. No doubt Fulbright's doing. She did threaten him once with such similar ammo, but he didn't actually think she had them at the time. He and a few other curious students watched as Jen and her lackeys finally managed to escape the smoke. She nearly barreled into him in a blind stumble. Chad took a step back from her and glared. "You pathetic bunch of morons. Couldn't deal with a single freshman, could you?"

Without realizing who was talking to her, Jen waved away the smoke and coughed, growing angry by the older student's insult. "It wasn't just one, your Lordship." She practically spat out his title with venom. "Another one had gadgets."

Chad chuckled, feigning compassion until he grabbed a handful of Jen's mohawk and forced her hard to her feet. "One little stink-bomb and you and your boys are out for the count?" He asked dangerously. Jen began to whine and shrink at the pain. "I think you're getting too old for this game. You're out of practice, out of shape, and outmatched."

"We'll get them!" Jen hissed, fingers clenching around his wrist to stop him from pulling harder. Her boys simply watched and cowered like the scum they were. "Just luck, m'lord! Just plain beginner's luck, I swear!"

He was relentless holding her hair up and, ignoring her cries, snapped his attention to the rest of the Punks, who shrunk back at their superior. He dropped her with a disgusting snort. "Get them." Chad snarled. "Do your jobs and haze the little twerps. If you fail again, you're out. Your territory, your rights, everything. Gone. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-yes, m'lord!" They didn't hesitate to leave once he generously pointed them in the right direction to where they went, taking the bait like sheep. He flipped open his cell and walked off in the opposite direction.

"They're on your tail." Chad said into the receiver. "You have your orders."

"Yes sir." Patton hung up his cell, nodding once to Fanny. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed Rachel and they headed toward the cafeteria.

"This doesn't look like home room." Rachel muttered, walking into the large room filled with tables and the food racks catered with breakfast items.

Fanny snorted. "Very perceptive, McKenzie. How do you tie your shoes in the morning?"

"Simple. I'm wearing boots." That had been amusing for the fiery red head. She failed to fight off the small smirk on her features. Even her grip on Rachel loosened as they maneuvered around the tables.

On the lookout with the prestige befitting of a bodyguard, (Chad should get some pointers from him, was Rachel's fleeting thoughts), Patton took the rear, waiting for Jen and the Punks to come crashing in soon.

They had made their way towards the empty lunch area when Jen's group caused a commotion with their entrance. Many of the students stumbled out of their way as they searched the area. Once they spotted them, Jen's expression twisted into rage.

"C'MERE, FRESHMEAT!"

Patton cracked his knuckles, stepping forward without fear. "Fulbright, you take the rear."

It was unreal. Rachel watched in curiosity and horror as both of her new companions were preparing themselves for battle, like they were made to do this particular dance.

Like she was made to run and escape.

"Aye, just dun fall behind." Fanny said devilishly and drew her bow. Instead of plungers, she had two actual arrows set in, wearing firecracker tips.

And then it began. Rachel couldn't really fathom how out-of-place all of this was. Moving as natural as day, Patton went charging at the big burly mook that Rachel had head butted before, meeting the older student in mid-run and uppercutting him in the jaw. The big oaf fell backwards again, this time knocked out cold. That seemed to surprise the other combatants enough to stall which was a mistake on their part. Fanny quickly took advantage of their pause to launch two firecracker arrows at them. They howled and jumped up in alarm as bright lights cracked and popped angrily at their feet.

But the distance didn't last long. Soon, Fanny joined the fray in close quarters, smacking people left and right with her bow, but was unable to gauge Jen's swiftness. She dodged the battle entirely and charged after her real target. "FRESHMEAT!"

Rachel yelped and jumped around the zigzag railings of the lunch line, trying to keep up some kind of distance between them. Jen looked like she was ready to kill her. And she probably would too. When Jen hopped over two rails at once, Rachel squeaked and detoured towards the kitchen entrance, holding her bag up like a shield when she was cornered. "Ever heard of a truce?! What if I said I was sorry for hitting you like a pinata?" Oh gosh, she was starting to sound like Chad.

But Jen wasn't in the mood for jokes. She lunged, landing hard on the linoleum floor when Rachel jumped away, but she couldn't jump far enough. Jen grabbed her leg and caused her to fall along with her in a painful crash. Her bag her only protection, Rachel started swinging it in Jen's direction, and managed to hit her multiple times on the head.

"OW! STOP! THAT! Ow! Ow!"

While this commotion continued, it began attracting a lot of attention, especially from older students, who found the struggle of Hazing to be something only for their amusement. Among these spectators, was the High Queen Alana herself, who watched with amusement alongside her Ladies-In-Gossip.

"Check out the ginger with the arrows." Alana's best friend chirped lazily, popping her gum and pointing. "She's totally like, kicking Jen's men without breaking a sweat."

"The freshmen are getting too clever," Another of her friends, the opinionated Cree Lincoln, said with a frown. "The Executioners are getting too lazy." Especially with that big oaf lying there all knocked out. How embarrassing.

Out of the freshmen fighting, it was the blond one who seemed the most amateurish to the Queen, swinging her backpack around like some overgrown ape to try to get the Head Executioner off of her. That was more amusing to Alana than seeing their best Executioners get their butts handed to them by two lowly freshmen, so she watched that, deciding that Jen's gone sloppy this year. Looks like someone didn't deserve the perks of being an Executioner anymore.

"Such a pity, Jennifer." She regally folded her arms. "You've lost your touch."

Rachel continued swinging desperately, feeling Jen's sharp nails dig painfully into her jeans. "GET OFF OF ME!" She howled, now extremely angry. This was absolutely ridiculous!

Without realizing it, her bag had hit the on button of a giant vat of brown gravy situated above her, the mechanism letting out a loud whir and a whistle.

Almost in slow motion, everybody looked up, watching the vat as tall as the ceiling began to slowly tilt forward. Tilt right in their direction. Fanny was the only one to utter a single sentence.

"Oh crud."

A large wave of brown gravy began cascading down, engulfing Rachel and Jen first before it started to take over the rest of the cafeteria. People began to scream and run but to no avail. Everyone and everything in the gravy's path swept everyone under. The cafeteria workers watched as a sea of people and gravy smashed around the closed cafeteria until the force of the wave smacked open the doors, causing the entire cafeteria to finally empty itself out, leaving a wake of students moaning and covered in gravy.

Among the victims was the Queen and her entourage, freaking out over their ruined outfits.

Queen Alana's lip quivered, her once perfectly sculpted hair dripping in brown gravy. As all her Ladies-In-Gossip began to scream in horror at being covered in gunk, her eyes darkened, and room turned blazing hot. That was enough incentive for Fanny and Patton to cut their losses and run off with Rachel in tow. But the High Queen remembered what the perpetrators looked like, forever burned into her mind for embarrassing her and her court in such a way.

Alana's angered scream shook the entire school.

"Why me? Just why?! You're the only person on this entire planet that's capable of doing this!" Chad wasn't happy, not at all. "First day of school, McKenzie! First day! You go and make an enemy with not just Jen's group, but half of the royal court! One of them the Queen! That's unpossible!"

Rachel sheepishly trailed behind him, covered in gravy, she continued to whine. "In my defense, I didn't know she was the Queen." And it wasn't like she did it on purpose. She was getting hazed. It was only in her nature to fight or flight. She chose flight… right in the presence of the Queen's court and into a vat of gravy. Suddenly curious, she swiped a bit of the stuff from her sweater and tasted it, making a disgusted face. "Ew."

"I say she's a hero," Fanny snickered, dodging the glare Chad was giving her. Despite 3/4ths of the current group being covered in gravy, she was downright chipper over the exciting battle. "Without the gravy, all the freshmen would 'ave gotten stuck with the meatloaf fer lunch. Good on 'er!" Patton contributed nothing to the conversation, keeping an ever watchful eye on Fanny in case she tried to run and escape probation.

Fanny's encouragement made Rachel smile. "Well, at least I did something right." But Chad's expression seemed border on suffering in both a hilarious and yet serious way. "Can't I just find her and apologize?" She pouted, deciding to catch up to Chad and appeal to… something. The day since they first met, it always seemed like she was burdening him. More than what was expected from her. Now she felt horrible because he looked like he was trying to keep himself from snapping and not from anger.

He was on the brink of a mental meltdown.

"Chad, look at me." She said seriously and, surprisingly enough, he turned warily to her. "I'm seriously sorry. I didn't know. And I didn't want to cause trouble. Not for anyone. And especially not for you."

That seemed to placate him. His stiff shoulders sank a bit and he let out a very controlled sigh. "I know you didn't mean it. Trouble just seem to keep following us." And trouble seemed very fond of Rachel McKenzie. If he wasn't so paranoid already, he might have thought sabotage by now. The way he was juggling his priorities these days, anything was possible.

The plan had been simple. Perfect. It shouldn't have gone wrong.

All he had to do was have Jen lured into the cafeteria so Queen Alana would find her incompetent and disbar her from her Executioner duties. By simple process of elimination, he wouldn't have to get his hands dirty making sure Rachel didn't come home beaten from the daily hazing. But now it was worse. Jen was had now completely declared open season on Rachel by the day's end. It may or may not have to do with Rachel practically socking her in the face with a heavy book bag and getting away with it.

His flawless strategy had been suddenly checkmated thanks to the now infamous gravy incident. Whether Rachel understood this or not, his girl was getting a lot of attention that he'd rather not have so quickly, especially now that the Queen was actively involved in this. If she took Rachel's blunder today as an idea of rebellion, they were in a lot more trouble than he anticipated.

He had to pause in his thoughts. No, she wasn't his girl. She was his girl in a sense that he was in charge of her well-being. To take care of. A real pain in the butt, but she was his to protect. This setback was a true test to his ability to manipulate the field to his advantage, a feat that hadn't been explored in a very long time. Locking gazes with her, he came to the conclusion that she had become a natural juggernaut to the grand scheme of things. The question was whether he could use this effectively to his advantage or get steamrolled in the process.

"Okay. What can I do to make things easier on you?" She emphasized carefully, taking a more thoughtful approach to a solution. Because Chad was quiet again and that meant he was thinking. Thinking and scheming and going ten steps ahead of her as usual.

He really couldn't usher up the courage to tease her. Not after such an exhausting day. "Lay low." He muttered. "Don't provoke. Hide. Don't start anything stupid. Stick with Drilovsky and Fulbright."

"Is that it?" Rachel frowned. That was hardly a difficult task. She expected something a bit more daunting, like piloting a rocket ship. This she could work with. While Fanny was a bit difficult at times, she seemed to be getting along with her quite well. Well, not as well as with Patton, but the guy was naturally friendly. Fanny was kinda sour like Chad. "Yeah… I can do this."

Chad wasn't so sure. "With your track record so far? That's a damning task to fulfill." He just had a sinking feeling she was going to turn his world upside down in the years ahead. Even long after he graduated if he wanted to be really optimistic.

But optimism was never a good strategy to use in his field of work.

Rachel supposed he had a point. It's not everyday that you piss off both Executioner Squads AND the Queen and her entourage at the same time. But Numbuh 362 wasn't exactly some other KND operative that just bled easily through the woodwork. These days Chad didn't expect Rachel McKenzie to do the same, decommissioned or no. His disbelieving stare drove the point home well enough.

"Alright, alright. I'll lay low!" Rachel huffed.

Rachel hardly kept her promise if she could help it. A month had passed and the hazing continued, subjecting freshmen of every kind of humiliating prank from a series of swirlies and wedgies to being trashed and strung up in high places to the amusement of the upperclassmen. It was a circus and it came to the point where something finally clicked into place within her. This was an injustice that just couldn't be overlooked.

There were moments where she wanted to stand up for her fellow classmates, even at the cost of being targeted. Fanny and Patton, who were strictly ordered to keep Rachel on a leash when she tried to start up something, were reaching the own end of their tolerance with the Hazing.

It reached the point that, should Rachel wish to fight back, they were willing to bypass Chad's orders to stand by her instead of keeping her quiet. She was a ticking time bomb waiting to ignite.

And when Fanny or Patton weren't doing their jobs discouraging Rachel's misguided sense to rebel, Chad had to personally try to quiet her down at the end of each day. Despite her flow chart of reasons about what was wrong with McClintock High, he personally didn't care about tradition or the hierarchy even when she thought otherwise. The only chain of command he loyally followed was the GKND's and it was even that he making exceptions to thanks to the little blond spitfire named Rachel McKenzie.

Rebellion wasn't glamorous and sometimes not even fulfilling. It was dirty and difficult; it meant taking a side and eventually, she would have him choose between voiding his hard-earned status with the teens or renege on the promise he made to Numbuh 1.

Maybe the justification would teach her that she wasn't invincible, even with Fanny and Patton at the helm. Eventually Jen and the Punks would finally catch her and subject her all kinds of embarrassing and even painful tortures without him knowing, even with his extensive networking. And they did.

Rachel was his juggernaut, he supposed.

By the end of the day when he eventually found and cut her down after an entire period tied up on one of the tether-ball poles, his tolerance for Jen had reached a final breaking point.

"This needs to end," Rachel murmured into his arms, her teeth chattering from the mega swirly she was subjected to. "This needs to stop."

"You continue to fight back, you'll be in even bigger trouble." There was a gentleness to his warnings and he let her curl into the warmth of his dry shirt even with the danger of someone seeing. Her sweater was completely soaked through. "Mark my words, McKenzie. You can't turn an entire school around alone. Just lay low. Seriously."

But he agreed. He didn't say it aloud, but he needn't had to. Just don't let it be her. Let someone else lead what looks to be another rebellion. Because those who had tried in the past had failed miserably, ending up in a worse state than before.

And he didn't want to pick sides. She would not like which side he would have to choose.

Injustice be damned. Because she wanted to fight. She wanted to fight so badly, it scared her. The feeling brought fire to her blood; a fire that was becoming difficult to deny any longer.

It was a dance he was familiar of, even reveled in when back when he was an operative. More so when he was titled Supreme Leader. But life wasn't black and white for him anymore. Rachel was too young to understand the concept of consequence until she had a taste of it first hand.

He practically prayed that it didn't happen under his watch, that she wouldn't wish to learn it at such a crucial moment in her social life.

The next month had barely ended when Chad heard a loud commotion down by the Freshman Hall. And he wasn't the only one. He stood along a crowd of other students when it seemed that some kind of rally was happening down there.

Except he couldn't take another step forward to find out because of a group of 9th graders holding everyone else at bay with weapons that seemed hastily produced. Hastily, but dangerously effective. It screamed Drilovsky in practical design and probably had an exploding kick courtesy of Fulbright. Of course.

"Back off, m'lord," The boy spat his title in disgust and shook the weapon once at him. "You're not going to get your Executioners to give us any more wedgies! Not anymore!"

At the helm of the rally was a familiar shock of blond hair, flanked by both Fanny and Patton. It was eerily an extreme case of déjà vu for him. In that moment it was Numbuh 362 rallying her kids for battle.

"Fellow 9th graders! I stand before you as a comrade, an ally. For too long have our kind endured this kind of abuse and degradation since King William the Torturer first made Hazing a traditional sport for the upperclassmen!" She said loudly, standing on top of a desk in the middle of Freshman Hall. "Look around you! Because we're younger, the royal class treats us like dirt! Like we're not even human! They subject us to Hazing, a year-long Initiation hoping to break our spirits and our gym shorts. But I say NAY. I've had enough, we've had enough. I refuse to stand and let them harm others for their own enjoyment! I am not their plaything… WE are not their plaything, and so help me, things need to change!"

The crowd around her began to rally at her words, raising their rulers and whatever items they scrounged on hand to pump into the air.

"We demand equal rights! We demand the right to go to Homecoming and partake in fun activities too! We are all McClintock High's students and we should be treated as such!" Rachel continued angrily. "The Crown thinks us as weak. But we are strong. We are many. The 9th grade class makes up the highest number of students in all the three years combined! We are the majority! We are the voice! And we will not be silenced!"

Chad was forcibly turned aside when the freshmen erupted in loud cheer before the Knights of the Cool Table arrived to allow the King and Queen of McClintock High to partake in the spectacle.

"It's that girl again," Queen Alana narrowed her eyes. "She has obviously allied herself against the Crown. I want these rebellions squashed down at once! Like now!"

Her King, the John, too cool to care about politics, kicked back and relaxed on his mobile throne. "Is this a pep rally? Cool dude."

Queen Alana whistled for the Knights, who stood in attention. "Squash all opposition! And I want that McKenzie girl drawn up on the flagpole! Make an example that the Crown does not take rebellions lightly!"

"Yes, your majesty!"

"Oh, she's in for it now," A sultry voice purred into Chad's ear. He didn't bother addressing Cree, his mind too busy processing multiple scenarios he could potentially use to defuse the situation. Cree continued to hang from him regardless, critically watching the Knights begin to push the 9th graders back. "Gonna do something about your girl, Dickson?"

There was only one option he had left. He retreated back into the shadows. "Let her rebel." There was no peaceful way of getting through this without sacrificing his social cred in the process. He was almost disappointed in Rachel. Almost. She had a real charismatic way of rallying up a crowd to fight against injustice. Despite her making things more difficult for him, he'd be blind not to admire this trait.

He didn't hang around long, even as the Knights swarmed and had overtaken the rally. There was subordinates to take care of and three critical missions on his plate that couldn't be ignored forever. Soon, the unorganized group of 9th graders couldn't hold back the bigger, stronger opposition for long. He couldn't do anything, wouldn't do anything. She needed to learn of consequence. That for things to change, sacrifices had to be made. That the best things were the hardest to fight for.

And sometimes, you could lose that fight just as easily.

"You're just gonna let them string her up?" Maurice followed after Chad, watching over his shoulder with a disapproving eye as Rachel's two comrades put up a good fight, but a futile one. One of the Knights managed to grab a hold of Rachel in the midst of chaos and drag her outside with her followers. Her passion yet to be distinguished, she continued to yell, screaming justice in the face of certain punishment. The 9th graders continued to shriek in defiance at her words until eventually they too were silenced with the threat of a massive wedgie. To their credit, it took far too long for them to disperse, and the air was still ignited with tension and anger.

The sound of her ringing voice was still loud in his ears even long after she disappeared. "She needs to learn about consequence. I warned her." Chad muttered, turning back to class.

He had to be cruel to be kind.