Hi! Long chapter about stuff! As per usual. Nothing much to say about this other than pineapples so... yeah.
By the way... REVIEW OR THE BALLOONICORN DIES O_O (No pressure, I'm just being really blunt and bitcheh. Hopefully it will work XD)
"I'm sorry, Felix." Ben said, which caused the German to jump slightly, his head remaining hung, arms wrapping around his abdomen. Ben attempted to peer underneath, however his friend simply moved his head away, expression remaining secret. Ben gave up and shrugged as they both approached the doorway that lead to the courtyard, sunlight shining through and the sound of idle chatter coming from outside.
"Ben." Felix said, and the Bostonian looked at his friend.
"I know what you're gonna say, but I should be sorry-"
"Why? You d-didn't do a-anything," The German said shakily, his whole frame quivering as Ben put a bandaged hand on his shoulders.
"Felix, I know how you feel, and I didn't tell you before you went in there, so that's why I'm sorry. That respawn, man, it made me feel so terrified, I saw things I could only see in my nightmares, it felt… like I was gonna die. I'm sorry, Felix, I should've told ya." Ben said, near tears. He suddenly felt the German lean into him slightly as he began to cry silently, shaking more than ever. Ben pulled his friend into a comforting hug, a bandaged hand stroking Felix's messy black hair as he held his friend firmly.
Soon, Felix's crying stopped, but he remained shaky. Ben decided to release his grip, however the German still clung on, burying his head into the Bostonian's chest.
"T-thank you, Ben." He said before pulling away from the hug and slowly looking up at his friend.
"No worries, Felix. It's what friends are for. But still, I'm sorry that I didn't warn ya…" Ben trailed off, scratching the back of his head .
"A-and I'm s-sorry for getting y-your t-shirt w-wet." Felix said, pointing to the damp patch on the American's red t-shirt. Ben chuckled loudly, causing his friend to blush darkly in embarrassment, looking away whilst fiddling with his thumbs.
"Ha, that's OK Felix, I think I can forgive ya for that!" the Bostonian laughed out, knees buckling as he fell to the floor in a fit of laughter. Felix shifted his weight uncomfortably, backing away slightly from his hysterical friend. A sudden voice surprised them both.
"Oh, come on, monsieur, it wasn't even that funny." That distinct strong French accent made it clear that Patrice was amongst them. His slim figure slowly becoming solid again, he exhaled cigarette smoke as he bent over to look at Ben's now red, annoyed face.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, ya French pansy," Ben said, getting up and brushing himself off, "Just 'cos you got no sense of humour." The Frenchman simply waved a gloved hand at the Bostonians face in dismissal before walking back toward the doorway, hands behind his back.
"I have just come to tell you that you missed lunch and you are both expected on the battlefield promptly. Au revoir." He said smoothly before disappearing around a corner. Ben opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the taunting Frenchman as his head appeared around the corner once more.
"Oh, and by the way, your affection for each other never ceases to amuse me. Just saying." He taunted before making a swift exit as Ben raced off after the Frenchman, fists raised and yelling threats here, there and everywhere. Felix merely smiled in amusement before following them at jogging pace to the battlefield.
However, when he got there, he didn't expect the whole team to be lined up so quietly like they were, Joe saluting the Administrator as she looked annoyingly at Felix.
"Ah, Mr. Klauss, you finally decided to join us. Even the American got here before you." She scowled at him, causing him to shrink down and slowly walk over to the line.
"You German scum, you! How dare you be late for such an important mission!" Joe shouted angrily at Felix, however Ben moved in front of his friend defensively.
"Hey hey hey! Don't speak to Felix like that, knucklehead!" the Bostonian shouted, fists up as he sported a defensive stance in front of the German.
"Enough!" the woman in purple said sharply, silencing the quarrelling teens, "Now, it seems that you are all doing well individually when it comes to training, but now that we have everything sorted with the new addition," she glanced at Felix, " I think we should start training as a team. And the best way for you lot to familiarise with each other is for you to train in pairs."
The team looked between each other, slightly surprised at this sudden turn of events . Quickly, they looked back at the Administrator, keen to know who their partners were.
"I will read a name and the partner they are assigned to," the woman explained, getting out a long list and a pair of sleek glasses, which she placed delicately on the bridge of her bony nose, "Ben, you shall be assigned with Conner."
"What? That ain't fair!" Ben protested but with a sharp glare from the Administrator's eyes he was swiftly at Conners drunk side, the black Scot chuckling to himself, looking more drunk than sober.
"Ivan, you will be with George, Keith you will be with Patrice, George with Kevin and Felix with Joseph."
Felix flinched at the name of his partner as he heard the sound of heavy combat boots trudging across the dry ground toward him. He looked up nervously to see the boy with the oversized helmet gaze down at him with distaste.
"Well I guess I'm with you, maggot!" he scowled, eyes lingering on the cowering frame of the German boy. The American patriot then proceeded to walk over to the number of benches, Felix quickly following behind, afraid of getting yelled at again. There was a single weapon in each of the benches, and Joe picked up a small pistol from the bench marked 'Soldier'. A dangerous shadow seemed to be cast over Felix as Joe turned and stared at him, annoyed.
"What are you doing standing around like the German idiot you are?," he then proceeded to point to the bench marked 'Medic', "Get you weapon!"
Felix, not wanting to be shouted at any more, made it to his bench in one quick leap, eyes avoiding the threatening gaze of the American. Peering onto the bench, he saw… nothing. Not even a simple gun was waiting there. He turned, head held low, ready for some more insults, however his shaking hands were greeted with a small handgun.
"You thought your dock wouldn't have anything," Joe said, "Ah, it was funny to see your little pathetic face!" he chuckled, poking the German in the chest with a thick calloused finger.
"Now come on, cupcake, let's go line up and await for instructions. Ten hut!" he yelled and marched toward the Administrator, where the whole team was gathered around her holding a wide range of weapons. Felix identified Ben through the aluminium baseball bat and stood next to him, the Bostonian giving an excited smile back.
"Now, this is a co-operative match. You will work with your partner in a capture the flag exercise, in which you will have to bring the flag to me in order to pass and win. Both of you must bring me the flag, otherwise it does not count. The weapons that you hold only fire electrical shock waves to the person they are aimed at, so you will not have such a hard time. Now, everyone stand in a line behind me and await the signal."
Everyone lined up as ordered, and at once seemed to spot the blue checker flag on the roof of the building opposite.
"Piece of cake." Joe whispered to Felix, who audibly swallowed, the gun clasped loosely in his shaking hands. The Administrator raised a megaphone to her purple lips and held her remaining arm up in the air. The air got tense and remained like that for a while, every team member staring straight ahead at the target.
"Get going!" the woman in purple finally shouted, pointing her arm forward as the teens exploded in a burst of speed, however it was quite obvious that Ben was overtaking them all. But as soon as Felix saw Ben's sprinting form leap confidently forward, the Bostonian came crashing back down, rolling on the floor as Ivan fired his handgun at the cocky teen.
Felix heard a "Oi, what the bloody hell do ya thing you're doin'?!" from Conner before they seemed to be out of earshot as sounds of gunfire could be heard everywhere. A hand grabbed the German 's arm roughly as Joe dragged Felix away from oncoming gunfire, a bolt of electricity mere inches from the nervous teen's face.
"Watch where you are going, maggot, or we'll fail the mission!" Joe yelled as he fired his gun a couple of times before dragging the other along as they neared the flag. However Joe was soon bought to his knees by a bolt of electricity as Ivan rushed past, George covering him from behind.
"Shoot! Shoot!" Joe shouted hoarsely to Felix, who quickly bought the gun to his eye line, his finger lingering for too long on the trigger.
"I said shoot dammit!" the bellowing voice of the American almost deafened Felix as squinted his eyes and shot. He heard a small yell and he looked up and saw George collapsed on the ground, clasping his leg. Felix felt a tug and ran along with Joe when another shot was heard. This time, Felix felt the sudden shot of pain go up his spine as Patrice saluted him casually, running past with Keith behind. Felix was dragged violently to his feet by Joe, who fired his gun at the two, causing Keith to collapse. Whilst Joe ran ahead, Felix decided to try and cover him, looking back and occasionally firing his weapon at the opposing teams, not taking time to notice whether they had hit their target. When he did turn around, though, he saw Joe shoot past him, determined, blue flag in his left hand.
The German sprinted after him, however skidded to a halt as Joe was brought down by Conner as he rugby-tackled him to the ground. Others soon joined, and it became apparent that none of them noticed that the flag had rolled off, stopping ten feet away from the pile of fighting teens. Felix took his chance and made a grab for it, however pain shot through his pale face, causing him to plummet to the ground. The world was a temporary blur until the Bostonian's face was in view, hands clasped firmly on the flag.
"H-hey, g-give it b-back!" Felix cried feebly, but to no avail. Ben simply turned, and the German scrambled after him, desperate not to let his teammate down. Jumping, he grabbed onto the American's legs, causing him to topple over, the flag landing a few feet away.
"What do ya think you're doin'?" he cried, annoyed, his fist flying toward the German's stomach. Felix, however, dodged it and made another grab at the flag. He sprinted toward the Adminstrator, Ben hot on his heels, yelling and cursing. Felix, eyes wide and panting madly, focusing on the woman in purple, closed his eyes and pumped his arms faster, his speed outmatching Ben. Covering the distance considerably quickly, he skidded to a halt, and offered the flag to the Adminstrator, a hopeful smile on his face.
"I said you must return with your partner, and as far as I can tell, he's still over there with everyone else." She scowled, and Felix stood there speechless before suddenly realising that not everyone was over there. Ben tackled him to the ground, the flag flying out of the German's hand and the Bostonian punched the nervous teen in the face.
"You do not ever steal my flag!" He shouted fiercely before also realizing where his partner was.
"Oi! Conner, ya knucklehead! Get over here will ya!" he called and Conner seemed to fly out of the brawl before looking up, pointing a wobbly finger at his teammate and announcing to the whole battlefield, "Hey! Felix and Ben are fightin' over that flag there!"
All heads of the former fighting teens turned to the pair, Joe's voice sounding over Conner's now slurry singing.
"Go and get that flag, soldier, I'll be right there!" he commanded and Felix got shakily to his feet, but was knocked down again by Ben, who then grabbed the German's shirt.
"Oh no ya don't!" he said and half-threw Felix across the ground, a dust plume forming as the nervous teen collapsed. However, he got back up and headed for the flag again, avoiding Ben's onslaught of punches and kicks as he grabbed the flag, running toward the Administrator, who had her hand held out, Joe behind her, making the loser sign at Ben. Felix smiled with relief, but his eyes grew wide as he saw a slim figure appear out of nowhere.
Before he knew it, the knife had been plunged deep into the German's chest, the foul stench of cigarette smoke filling Felix's nostrils as Patrice smirked, his sharp features showing in the sunlight as he smirked, snatching the flag away. Felix, determined not to disappoint Joe, reached out to grab the flag before his arm was grasped firmly and twisted behind his back. He whimpered in pain as Patrice's smooth, quiet breathing could be heard in his ear.
"Don't even think about it, monsieur." The Frenchman whispered darkly and twisted the German's arm back even more, making his knees buckle. Patrice released his grip and casually walked over and handed the flag over to the Administrator, Keith cheering and dancing around in circles as they won.
"Gentlemen, we have a winner!" The Administrator announced loudly as Keith and Patrice stood next to each other, looking at the annoyed face smugly.
"You little idiot!" Joe suddenly yelled and stormed toward the shaking Felix, who remained on his knees, "Is this all you Germans were made for? To lose!" Joe spat in Felix's face and he shrunk in on himself in shame.
"Hey, knucklehead!" Ben shouted, standing protectively in front of Felix, "It's not his fault and in case that stupid helmet is obscuring your vision, he is bleeding! If ya want to blame anyone blame that French poof over there for waiting in the shadows like the coward he is!"
"I don't need to blame anyone but him, that German piece of scum!"
"Stop doin' that!"
"Doing what?"
"Offending him like that! You do know that German's have feelings as well!"
"I'll have you know that from what my father told me they are all-"
"Enough!" The Administrator ordered sharply and the two boys stopped, "It's not Felix's fault that you lost, in fact I think that you were too preoccupied with fighting to even care about the exercise-"
"No!" Felix shouted as Joe whipped his gun up to Ben's temple. The German jumped up and shoved his friend onto the ground, feeling the cold metal on his sweaty forehead and the click of the trigger before everything transitioned to black.
