Here's another one folks. Hope you like it. I finally got time to do some writing after finishing my TEFL course. Whew, one more unit to go and then the certificate it mine. Ha ha ha.

Later Day, (Insert Disclaimer here.)

Two Days Later

"Alright Ron, let's go over this again." Kenu Rubbed his semi-bald head for another time this morning. Apparently, Ron was just not following what he had been explaining to the boy these past two days. "What's happening right now?"

"A War."

"Among whom?"

"Ummmm, the Runners?"

"Good, and who is behind all of this?" Kenu prompted Ron for a longer answer.

"Rawk, or Reig N. Roch, I think." Ron scratched his head as he lay sprawled on the bench seats of an empty subway car. Apparently, this one route was not used much on Sundays.

"You got it in one. Now, about the teams, how are they set up?"

"Ummmmmmmmm, he he he. Ya lost me there."

"Grrrrrnnnnnnnn, alright listen up. I'll say this one more time before we get there." Kenu settled on the opposite set of seats to begin explaining the team setup again. "There are different positions on each of the teams which generally consist of a Heavy, Slick, Goggles, Dash, Pointer, and Com. There can be more, but this is the basic setup."

"Six or more people, gotcha."

"Alright, each one of these positions has a job to do. The Heavy is the combatant of the group. They can take the most punishment, and in most cases deal it out too. They're useful for breaking through groups of enemies, protecting less robust Runners, or going for an ambush and taking out another Runner. Generally speaking, they're slower, but definitely not slow by any standards." Kenu shifted slightly, picking at his itching, but freshly healed, knuckles.

"Next there's the Slick. Any idea what they do?"

Ron paused for a moment in contemplation, and for a moment, just a moment, Kenu thought he would get it right, "Ummmm, they soak the other team in water so they catch a cold?"

…moment gone!

"Not even close…but creative though. A Slick is basically like a spy or thief. They can get into areas and tight spots that no normal Runner could pull off. They possess extreme levels of flexibility and agility, though little in the way of actual force. Some say they're useless in a team, but I beg to differ. I've used Slicks to get in, get the objective, and get out before the other team has a chance to react. Game over."

"Woah, cool!"

"Very cool, Ron. Next up we have the Goggles. Experts at mapping out the field in a single pass, a good Goggles can relay vital information to the team in order to make the best of a situation. Not only do they provide info on the terrain and battleground, but also on the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the team. They act as the tech support of the group, kinda like Wade is for you and Kim. They have to know all, see all, and be everywhere. Sometimes they work in tandem with the team's home base, or Com, who in our case would be Pence. She keeps everyone updated and connected with HUDs and the like."

"Ummmm, HUDs are what exactly?"

"Heads Up Displays, like in those video games. Guages and info on the screen while you're still playing."

"Ah, gotcha. Keep em coming Kenu."

"We then move to the Dash. As the name sounds, this is your speed demon of the team. They are unmatched at moving at high speeds, but sometimes lack the flashy movements available to other team members. If they get out in the open, there's pretty much nothing that can stop them. Unfortunately, most Runners who are designated as a Dash need to be reigned-in, as they tend to be a bit…eccentric. Basically, they can be hotheaded, confusing, arrogant, or pretty much any other extreme you can think of. Luckily, we should have access to one of the more stable ones."

"Next up, and finally, we have the Pointer. This is your Point man, or woman, as it is with some teams. They have an all-round skill set, with some area for specialization, and pretty much lead the teams. They've got the best feel for the field, the most experience in most cases, and the highest overall ability. They give the final calls for the team and make sure that everyone gets home safe. They can do all of the rolls pretty well, but not all of them to the level of the specialists. Do you think you've got all of that, Ron?"

"Um, yeah…Heavy, Slick, Glasses…"

"Goggles, Ron." Kenu blurted out.

"Goggles, right. He he he. Um, Flash…"

"Dash!"

"…Pointer, and Com."

"Well, you're close enough. That'll have to do. We don't really use those names, as everyone's seem to have a nickname of some sort these days. So, you've got the team members, or at least most of them. How about the support staff?"

"Ummmm, so aside from Pence, or the Com, there's the Medics, Gear-heads, and Rollers?"

"You actually got that one right. I'm impressed." Kenu gave a little mocking clap, causing Ron to 'humph' and cross his arms, "But seriously, they are the other part of the support staff. Medics are self-explanatory. Gear-heads keep us with top-notch gear, and replace gear as needed. Rollers are long-range transports. They make sure we get from point A to point B. For my crew, Pence prefers we use Alex." Both Ron and Kenu shuddered at that thought. "Aside from that, there's really not much to do than meet our team and get you into some mock matches."

"Uh, huh. About that, where are we headed? I figured the ARC would be a good place to meet up?"

"You'd be right in thinking that, but we want you in matches ASAP, so we're meeting at one of our practice battlegrounds. We'll start you off as soon as we get you acquainted. Why else did I get you to dress in full kit, Ron?"

"Yeah, I was kinda wondering that." 'I'm regretting it now, though.'

"Just relax, sit back, and I'll let you know when we get there." Kenu settled back as he said this, pulling the lip of his beanie down to cover his eyes.

'Yeah, easier said than done there, Kenu.' Ron thought, as he tried to get comfortable for short nap.

"Ron, get up, time to get a move on there buddy." Kenu gave Ron's shin a light tap to get him moving. They had reached their destination

"Wha, wuzzat?" Ron pushed himself up from his semi-reclined position on the subway car's plastic seats. Staggering after Kenu, who was already moving out the sliding doors, Ron popped a few joints as he tried to wake up.

The two runners moved at a light pace across a few streets toward what Ron could only describe as some sort of abandoned lot, with a twist of course. The field was scattered with pieces of metal, concrete, and plastic slag, remnants of what Ron could pick out as various buildings, structures, vehicles, and even port-a-potties. Some structures were still somewhat standing, but actual windows were non-existent and of course most looked like they had undergone a failed demolition attempt. Ron even thought he could pick out the skeleton of a jungle gym and bits of scaffolding bolted to the side of one of the buildings. The landscape was mostly tarmac with some spots of greenery and dirt turning it into a Picasso-esque canvas of post-humanity at its finest. Strictly speaking, with the changes in elevation, mocked-up ramps, and the general scope of the landscape, it was pretty much a perfect landscape for practicing any type of trick, run, or team-based strategy conceivable.

"Perfect, isn't it?"

Ron started at Kenu's voice next to his ear, closing his gaping mouth in the process. He had been so caught up in taking in the new landscape that he had forgotten Kenu had stopped right next to him.

"Uh, yeah, it's definitely…something."

"Bah, no respect for good work. Ya know, we put this together years ago and now that we have some city trash guys on the Runner list, they keep us stockpiled with structurally sound pieces to work with. Sometimes they really come though, like with that over-sized seesaw on the Northeast corner or the scaffolding around the West side." Kenu vaulted over a piece of railing stuck to the roof of a car, landing on the other side in a light cloud of dust. Brushing off his pants, Kenu moved forward while Ron took a two-step approach to the eye-level vault, kicking off the open car window first.

"So Kenu, uh, when are the rest of team supposed to get…"

BLAM

Ron instinctively ducked at the sound, while Kenu actually jumped up onto a refrigerator to get a better look. To Ron, Kenu actually looked…estatic?

"Awwwwwwwww yeah. Come on Shockwave, send one over here ya big, blasted, sonofa….WUF!"

Kenu couldn't continue his insult as he was forcefully removed from his perch by what appeared to be some sort of cannonball to the gut. He landed in a cloud of dust and debris five meters back, rolled up into a ball around said projectile.

"Kenu, you !" Ron's concern for Kenu was soon diverted to his own hide as a shadow blocked his own, and continued to get larger. Luckily, all those years with Kim told him to do one thing with every fiber of his being…RLH, or Run Like Hell, for those of us not into Mon-Speak.

"Oh…this is so…not...cool!" Ron's vaulting, rolling, or somehow moving past obstacles on his way to some safer terrain punctuated each word set. After what Ron figured was a good fifty meters or so, Ron looked back, only to see a rather large figure in the distance turned black with shadow from the sun. Ron could still pick out that the big form was yelling something and pointing in his direction, but couldn't quite get the message. Out of the corner of Ron's eye, he could just pick out something foot-shaped moving at high speeds towards his most precious, though seldom-used noggin, which of course prompted the appropriate duck and roll reaction. Fortunately, this roll was more graceful after all that training with Kenu and Ron was able to keep running in the same direction after righting himself.

"What is with these people? Can't I just have a normal day for one on this trip?" Ron kept glancing over his left shoulder slightly. He kept catching glimpses of a lithe form twisting and moving past obstacles he probably couldn't hope to match. All the while the form was managing to keep pace with Ron, who was running at full speed.

'Okay, definitely dangerous. Time to see if I can make my feet a-go go...go go Go Go GO GO GO GAH!'

Ron had decidedly more motivation to keep moving faster, as in front of him at that very moment a green streak flashed into sight, blocking his path. Ron briefly caught a glimpse of a smirking mouth and a shock of orange hair before the character in green was streaking hell-bent towards him. Ron, just grabbed whatever he could find, which turned out to be a car door. Surprisingly, it actually opened when he grabbed it, so Ron went sliding around in a wide arc, inadvertently taking the man in green for a ride on his shoulder in the process, and flinging him off as the momentum changed again. Ron slid around the rest of turn, released the handle, and took off running as fast as his legs would potentially allow. Jump, slide, turn, vault, dodge, spin, and kick over whatever Ron had to do to get around he pretty much did. Through his peripheral vision, Ron could see the three forms he had just encountered pinning him in from all sides, the one in green right on his heels. They were soon joined by three others as well, some drifting off to catch up later, but always just out of range and reach. Eventually, Ron came to a sheer wall of concrete, one of the few remaining and definitely not scalable. It looked like the shadowed group had herded him here.

'Dammit, another trap I fell into. Nice, Ron, real nice. Well, time to face the music…but that doesn't mean I can't do it in style.'

Finally Ron came to the end of the line, looking back he saw that only one character had actually kept moving at full speed with him, and that was the greenish shadow, and he was gaining fast, arm outstretched as if to grab Ron. Well, Ron was having none of this.

"Eat tarmac, Snot-rag!" With that, Ron had reached the wall and the fingertips of his green shadow had nearly touched his hoodie. Ron tried something he had seen Kenu do in one of their earlier Runs around town. He quickly kicked up with both feet, planted them both on the wall and pushed off and up with all of the power he had left. At first he didn't move, and it was as if time had stopped for Ron alone. He could feel his heart pumping in slow thumps, deep in his chest his breath came ragged and rasping, and his legs burned like they were on fire. With a Herculean effort of will, eyes clenched closed, teeth grating, Ron defied his own momentum and suddenly accelerated in the opposite direction, inches above the head of his presumable shocked green shadow. Unfortunately, Ron never tried this trick before, so his landing was in typical Ron fashion…head over heels, over head, over heels, over…until he brought up in an unfortunate trash can, butt first. Ron now looked like a hermit crab, a metallic one, but a hermit crab nonetheless.

"Ugh, ungh, awwww come on! First I'm chased by some shadowy weirdos across a field that looks like it was taken out of Zombie Mayhem Three and now my butt's stuck in a trashcan just like grade…well, every grade actually."

"Here, let me help you with that, my good man."

"Hey thanks bro-oh-HO-HO HO YAHHHHHHHH!" Ron was lifted off the ground to come face to face with the bruiser he had first been assaulted by. Unfortunately, Ron couldn't even kick or lash back as his hands and feet were now no more than a foot apart from each other. He did the only thing to do when at the mercy of a supposedly powerful being about to hurt him…close his eyes and try to protect his face and pray the hurt didn't come.

Fortunately, this time, it didn't. A loud ripping and tearing sound was heard, and the slack on Ron's body lessened until he dropped quite unceremoniously to the ground to land on his butt.

"Ah, terribly sorry about that dear boy, I seem to have caused you to soil your clothes once again." The great man picked Ron up in one hand, dusted off his clothes with the other, and then deposited him on his feet, quite gently as a matter of fact. Ron just stood there, kind of stunned, as he tried to take it all in.

"I believe he is in shock, Shockwave-kun. You seem to have that affect on most of the new crowd we encounter." The voice was decidedly female, with a slight twinge of Japanese, if Ron heard correctly.

"I tried to tell him what was happening, but he took off too fast. This young man can definitely Run when he needs to, by jove." British, and sounding much like Big Mike on a good day…as in one with an IQ over fifty.

"Weeel, he shore got teh best of ol' Stickers there. That boy's not gunna wake up fer shore fer at least five minutes. Even mah grannie's feet couldn't git his hide off the tarmac now." Texan, or deep south of some sort. His accent was thicker than Kim's first attempt at cutard. Ron still didn't know how Tank Patch got mixed into the flour bag, but he suspected Barkin had something to do with it.

"Aye lads, he's definitely got some real talent there. I think he might be the best addition you've had for a long while there Wingnut." Irish, guaranteed.

"Oh, stuff it Lassie. How was I supposed to know that last girl was a bit of a psycho?" Kenu's voice? But wasn't he knocked out earlier?

"I believe removing her from a mental institution did not increase your odds of acquiring a sane individiual, Runn-san." The Japanese lady spoke again.

"You too, Kat? Great, now I've got two ladies on my ass..."

"And one verrryyy angry Rrrussssian."

"Rad tebya videt to you too, Kasper."

"Niet, your Russian is still crap, Runn. If that boy keeps running like thet, we will heve to re-fit him quite a bit, da?"

"Da, I agree Kasper, but right now let's get Stickers peeled off the ground and get everyone re-acquainted so that Ron here doesn't twist his head right off his shoulders from looking around too much. Team, over by the wall if you please."

All the forms moved at different paces towards the concrete wall Ron had just jettisoned himself off. Now that they were out of the light, Ron's eyes started picking out more and more details. Kenu walked up beside him and clapped him on the shoulder, looking no worse for wear other than being a bit dirtier than when Ron saw him last.

"Ron, this is the team you'll be working with, other than Pence of course. Time for introductions. You guys know the drill, so sound off!" The crew went from left to right as they were lounging around the wall.

"The name's Dog. Ah'll be yer fixer-upper after this bunch gits ya in trouble. Medic extrodin…dina…aw, hell, I'm real good, kay?" The man looked a little older, probably around his mid forties, but definitely as fit as anyone here. He was slim, almost skeletal, and short, topping five foot three at best. He had salt and pepper hair and a thin goatee to round off the features. The man was packed down with pouches and belts and two messenger over-the-shoulder satchels that looked ready to burst. Even his cargo pants were full to the brim. Clearly, this Dog was ready for anything.

"I guess I am next in order. I am Katakana, but you may call me Kat for short. I am the 'Slick' of this team, Ron-san." She was slim, more like a gymnast though, and currently performing the spits at an obtuse angle perched on two upturned oil drums. She wore close-fitting clothing all over, and what appeared to be a spandex suit only on her lower body. There were only one or two pockets and those were on the torso, around the stomach area. If it wasn't for the name and different tone of voice and slimness, Ron was sure she could have been Yori's twin sister, but of course Ron got his Asian's mixed up fairly frequently. She was also taller than Ron by a few inches, which was surprising given her heritage.

"Dimitri Kasparov, or 'Kasper'. I em the gear expert. You break it, you come to me, da?"

"Da!" Ron answered without thinking. Never mess with a scary looking Russian holding a bottle of Vodka in one hand and what looked to be a wrench in the other. Broad-shouldered, standing ram-rod straight, and dressed in mostly old Red Army fatigues, Kasper was definitely a sight to behold. The dark clothing only set off his super-pale skin.

"Then I suppose it is my turn. I, good sir, am Shockwave. I do hope I did not scare you too much earlier. You ran away from me before I could get a word in edge-wise. Well, I guess you can tell, I am the 'Heavy' of this group of ruffians." The British was here to stay, and it was big, but not as big as Ron thought first.

"Uh, weren't you bigger before?" The African-Britain was mostly lean and lithe muscle now, notably the tallest of the group, but not as wide as he had first been led to believe.

"Ah, yes, that would be those lovely things over there, Ronald." Shockwave pointed to a pile of round objects, not much larger than a cantaloupe melon. "They are attached to my body so I can use them when it comes to fisticuffs. They do make me look rather chunky I suppose, but such is the nature of being the combatant of the group, eh? Ha ha ha ha ha."

"Ah, yeah, right…" Ron didn't want to know how much those things weighed, but they definitely took Kenu for a spin regardless.

'Note to self, don't piss him off.'

"Aye, well, ye've already heard of me Ronnie. I be Chase Dune, so affectionately called Lassie by this group, and of course I'm the 'Goggles', since Wingnut over there couldn't get not a one thing done without my info." Chase was freckles, Irish, dressed in blue, and had long red hair. What more do you kneed to know?

"Shut it Lassie."

"Sit and swivel, Wingnut!" The appropriate rude hand gesture was in place.

"Alright, alright. Anyways, that green dude on the ground there, that's Marcus, or Stickers, as we like to call him. He's the Dash of the group, as you could probably tell when he almost caught you there. Nice work with that move, by the way. Didn't you only see me do that once?"

"Uh, yeah. Had to try it…first thing that entered my mind."

"Hey, great job there. Couldn't have done better myself…except I might not have gotten caught in the trash can."

Alright folks, you know the drills. Shockwave, Katakana, this is full simulation, so try and keep Ronald here up to speed and out of firing range until he's ready. It shouldn't take too long, he's been catching on fast."

"Not to worry Rook. You'll be giving us the old 'one two' in no time."

"Hai!"

"Alright, Lassie, you up for a quick start?"

"Ah, heh heh, yeah, um…."

"Aye, sounds like a bonnie idea to me. Stickers'll be around before long." Chase adjusted her gloves, flexing her hands in the process.

"Uh, what the hell?" Ron just couldn't have looked more confused.

"Just follow shockwave and Kat over there and they'll explain as we go." Kenu was re-tying his shoes at the moment. "Everyone, head out. Round starts in three minutes. Top score wins."

The whole group moved off at once, save for Dog who was monitoring Stickers with some hand-held equipment. While Kenu and Chase went off in one direction, Ron chased Shockwave and Kat in another. He had to scrabble to catch up for the first few seconds, as the big English man and the slight Japanese lady moved with surprising speed and grace. Catching up after letting loose a few choice vaults over some rubble, Ron found that Kat had pulled her hair back with a blood red bandana, matching her suit quite well with all the black accents and red base color. She looked even more lithe now that her shoulder-length hair was out of the way. Shockwave was also smaller, but he had not put his projectiles back on his body.

Upon closer inspection, the big man had shin guards, gauntlets, shoulder pads, knee pads, and even a back protector. It was all very slim, and looked built in to his clothing via stitching. Literally, the man was a human tank. He was rummaging around in a breast pocket for something when Ron grunted to catch his attention.

"Uh, yeah, so what is this all about?"

"Ah, sorry Rook. Put on your HUD and we'll get you synced up to us. I believe it should be in one of your chest pockets." Sure enough Ron found it on his second try, a pair of sunglasses with an earpiece and microphone. It looked like Pence had taken his previous headset and integrated it into a really sweet pair of yellow-framed shades.

"Duuuudddeeee. This is sweet!" Ron exclaimed as he slid them onto his face.

"Indeed, Rook-san. Each of us has their own custom style of display depending on our needs. Mine is very similar to yours, where Shockwave-kun has a single screen to place over one eye." She motioned for Ron to look in Shockwave's direction, and sure enough the big man had a military style headset with only one eye covered by a square screen. Kat's was a very slim set of glasses that wrapped as close to her face as they could possibly get.

"Just turn them on and let Pence do the rest." Each of the trio pressed the respective 'on' buttons and the lenses flashed to life. Data started flashing across the screen, and Ron almost lost his footing twice before he got used to looking past the data. Finally, the data cleared, and Penney's voice came over the line."

Blip "Hey guys, how's it going?" Pence's voice came over the line loud and clear in Ron's ear.

"Jolly good Pence, how about you?" Shockwave's voice came over the headset.

Blip "Damn skippy since I have a new co-pilot here today. Say hello to Naked Man."

Blip "Hnk, hi!"

"Rufus, buddy!"

"Uh, Pence-san, why do you have a naked man with you that is not Alex-san." Kat's voice was notably sounding confused.

Blip "That was one time, okay! And Alex was clothed…sort of…" silence reigned over the three headsets, "Alright, so he was naked. But this is Rufus, Ron's pet naked mole rat. He'll be taking care of displaying the right information over your displays and pointing out objects of note."

"Roger that, Pence. Pleasure to meet your acquaintance Naked Man. I do say, we must have the oddest nicknames in the business, eh Rook?"

"Ha ha ha ha, yeah, definitely. But whatever works, right?" Ron couldn't help but chuckle.

Blip "You got it Rook. So, Kat, what can I set you guys up with today?"

"If you please, Pence-san, I believe the game today is Dodgeball, full simulation. The teams are Rook, Shockwave, and myself, against Wingnut, Lassie, and Stickers. Stickers is currently out of commission, but Dog believes he will be able to join in the next round."

Blip "Sound good. Full spec list too?"

"If you would be so kind." Shockwave requested.

Blip "You got it, Shockwave. I'll be your eyes in the sky. Pence, out…Oh, and Rook?"

"Yo, Pence?"

Blip "Good luck out there. Naked Man will take care of you from here, and Shockwave and Kat will keep you in the game. Later!"

"Thanks, Pence. Naked Man, I'll catch you later on, buddy."

Blip "Hnk, uh huh. Kick butt!"

"Booyah buddy, Booyah!"

Ron's heads-up display came to life again, this time displaying most of the information around the edges of his vision. There was a compass along the bottom of his glasses showing which direction he was facing at the time, as well as the relative direction his two teammates were in. There was also a small scoreboard showing red and blue in the upper left corner. His glasses also tinted blue, so Ron guessed he was on the blue team this time. The right hand corner of his display showed his speed and heart rate. The monitors Kenu made his wear were attached on several places on Ron's body. They looked like the electrodes doctors hook patients up to in the hospital, but these were wireless and could measure the Runner's physical condition, just in case someone got hurt and couldn't call for help. Shockwave's voice coming through the earpiece interrupted Ron's revelry.

"Hey Rook, look over my way."

Turning his head to look in the direction the indicators were pointing, Ron couldn't see Shockwave, but he could see a rough human-shaped outline in yellow behind a stack of scrap.

"Dude! I can see you…but I can't see you…woah!"

"Pretty nifty, eh? This way, we can see our own teammate's positions even when they're behind objects and out of site. It only works up to twenty feet though, then we turn into dots."

"Indeed, Shockwave-kun is indeed correct." Ron looked the other way to find Kat was now a yellow dot. "Unfortunately, we can only know how far our teammates are away once they are under the twenty foot range. After that, it is all a guessing game."

"Ah, alright, I think I get it." Ron said while adjusting his pant ties, "So, would you guys be able to fill me in before…"

BEEEEEEEP!

The sound came over the intercom loud enough to make Ron wince. Keying down the volume slightly, Shockwave cut in.

"Alright Rook, here's the way it goes. It's basically like regular Dodgeball you played in school. The only differences are the points. We're playing full simulation today so it's zero points for catching with your hands or feet. Anywhere from just above the knees to just before your elbows is one point, and the head is two points. If you ricochet the ball off an object for a clean hit on the back of a person's head, that's three points. Forearms, hands, elbows, shins, knees, and feet can be used to block, kick, hit, and throw the balls at the opponents. The round stops when the timer is up. Since this is practice, it'll probably as long as Pence wants it to go on. She'll monitor our fatigue levels and go with that to judge. Got it all?"

"Yeah, pretty much. So basically, don't get hit and hit them," Ron pointed towards where he figured Kenu and Chase were located, "as much as possible. Those sound right?"

Katakana's voice came over the line, "Indeed, Rook. That is the proverbial 'gist of things."

"The next series of beeps you hear is a countdown from five to one, signaling the start of the match. Good luck Rook, we'll try to keep you out of harm's way until you catch on to the HUD and all that."

BEEP!

Ron looked to his left, seeing the bulk of Shockwave standing at the top of a pile of rubble, a statue on the field of battle.

BEEP!

Ron sought out Kat's lithe physique. She was higher up than even Shockwave, having perched herself like a bird of prey on top of a lamppost, eyes focused on the hunt to come.

BEEP!

Ron cracked his neck to the right…

BEEP!

Then to the left…

BEEP!

Finally, he crouched into a running stance he had learned from years of doing missions with Kim.

'GAME ON' An electronic voice sounded over the intercom system, and it sent shivers down Ron's spine as he heard a loud thump. Two round projectiles, headed in two different angles, were jettisoned from some sort of cannon. His teammates hurtled themselves after the apparent closest, intent on getting there first. And Ron, well, all Ron could do was follow and mutter a quiet…

"A-Booyah!"

This was going to be fun…he hoped.

Another one done, comment if you will be so kind.