A/N: I am going to try to squeeze in one more chapter before the 20th. Mainly it is move in day and I officially leave for college. You probably don't care but I felt like you guys should be informed anyways. After that it'll take a while to adjust, and when I do I'll start writing and updating again. I'm sorry because I meant to have this finished before the summer was over. A lot of good that did me. Well enjoy this chapter and don't forget to review after you read.
Chapter 21: Thinking Ahead!
A few minutes had passed since Thomas and Shuhei defeated Molly and her guardian Entei. She patiently waited there for them to get back into their bodies instead of using the brief period of time to flee and escape. Something anyone else would have done.
"There is something about the Member's Card you really need to know," she kindly informed them. There was a hint of mockery in her tone of voice.
"There's always a catch," Thomas let out a frustrated sigh. Dealing with these Crusaders have been a real pain in the ass.
"What exactly do we need to know?" Shuhei inquired.
"The card will only allow one person to enter," Molly let out a hateful laugh.
"How do you plan to rectify that," an annoyed shaggy hair teen wondered.
"Oh! Well what you can do is have one person enter the secret base and completely close the door. Wait for the light on the handle on the inside to turn green and then open it allowing all your friends enter," she quickly explained as she was receiving death glares from both teen boys.
"Oh! That sounds simple enough," Shuhei responded. He must have been expecting some long complicated process or something.
"Almost too simple," Thomas thought, "is there anything else we need to know while your generously handing out information? You know, like traps, ambushes, random battles, and the like?"
"Just be prepared and expected the unexpected," she giggle, confusing the boys a little."Also expect the expected." The teens let out a frustrated sigh. "Entei, my Pegasus please!"
"If that is what you wish," her guardian let out a disappointed sigh. In an instant the towering male was engulfed in flames and swallowed by a crystal cocoon. When he broke free, he had taken on a completely different form. (I would hope so, otherwise those special effects were for nothing.) Sure, in theory he looked like any other winged horse, but what made his stand out was his color. The guardian Entei was a deep, almost black, crimson color, with fire spouting from his hooves, the edges of his wings, and even his mane was made of fire. Molly giggled as she excitedly hoped on his back. The two of them flew off into the distance to never be seen again.
"That's one bitchin' bird," the spiky hair teen complimented.
"Horse," the shaggy hair teen corrected.
"I'm pretty sure its more bird than horse," Shuhei argued.
"I'm pretty sure its the other way around," Thomas defended. Shuhei shrugged. He didn't want to get into an argument, especially one on a topic such as this, so he picked up the red rubber ball of death and pegged Thomas as hard as he could in his chest. "I think you cracked a..." Thomas started to complain before he face palmed himself, "school is still going on!" Shuhei gasped and the two teens made a mad dash towards the school.
It took the teens a few minutes to escape the forest and head back towards the field. However, when they arrived, the class was already heading back into the building, signaling that it is almost the end of the day.
"Ronnie!" Thomas called out to a girl wearing a green hoodie, "where are Red and Orange?"
"Oh! The new kids," it took her a moment to recall, "they got sent to the office not too long ago."
"Fighting," Thomas and Shuhei both sighed.
"I can't believe you two got sent to the office for fighting!" Thomas scolded the two hot headed teens as they walked home from school. "Actually I can believe it, I was just hoping you guys would have more respect for me and actually..." He stopped mid sentence not knowing exactly what he hoped to accomplish.
"Sorry," the two trouble makers said without any remorse what so ever, "but he started it!" The two of them were pointing to each other.
"I don't care!" Thomas told them, "I'm ending it!" The two of them were going to protest, but the death glare they had gotten from their host told them otherwise.
"Hey guys!" a familiar female voice called out to them. Everyone turned to look and saw that a girl was waving and running up to the group. Her long blue black hair flowed behind her as she ran. There was a braided pony tail in the back but it look like it didn't affect the hair style what so ever. Her black slack-like pants, danced as she moved, just like her black arm warmers that began just below the shoulder and ended at the wrist. She also had a tube top like shirt with a red plaid-like pattern, but it was just a variation of small red stripes going in different directions, that was only being held up by her average size breast.
"Whoa," Ichigo muttered, "who is that?" The girl mus have been running up to him in slow motion. You know, like that cheesy effect used in...like in Baywatch. (Easiest one to reference.)
"That's Courtney, remember Ichi? We were with her just yesterday," Thomas told him.
"It's no use, he's long gone," Renji commented on Ichigo's status. She caught up to them with in a few seconds, but when she did, she had to catch her breath.
"Hey, what's up?" Thomas greeted.
"Word on the street is you guys have obtained valuable information about the Crusaders," she responded. Normally when some one asks her 'what's up?' she replies with 'nothing much, you?'.
"That just happened," the shaggy hair teen stated in a surprised manner.
"Exactly what street do you live on?" Shuhei questioned, wondering where she had heard this from.
"Yes, we did obtain info," the orange hair teen told her, pushing both raven-haired boys out of the way. "Actually it was me who got it."
"Really," Courtney gasped, "that makes you my hero." Thomas smirked, her knew her sarcasm when he heard it. Renji and Shuhei, on the other hand, looked confused.
"Well we did agree to help you," he stammered, not knowing exactly what he was staying at this point.
"So, what did you find?" she wondered.
"Well," he stuttered, "I got nothing."
"So you're a phony?"
"What? No! We did get information, but it just wasn't me who got it."
"So, you're a liar?"
"No, I was just..." Ichigo turned a bright red.
"Relax kid, I'm just messing with you," she smiled and Ichigo turned a bright red and turned away.
"Hey, text everyone and tell them we have a meeting tonight at my house," Thomas requested of his friend, "and make sure to tell them, those who don't show up can't kick any Crusader ass."
"Why can't you do it yourself?" Courtney wondered as she pulled out her phone and started to text her teammates. They continued to walk towards the group leader's house.
It took a while for everyone to convene at Thomas' house. While they were waiting for the remaining teammates, Rachel, Manikha, Rukia, and Corey, the teens just lounged around listening to music and playing video games. Courtney was kicking ass at Brawl, mainly because Shuhei was onlying defending while he learned how to use the controls, while Ichigo and Renji just kept attacking each other, in the game and out. [A/N: While everyone is at their meeting, I am just going to use people's names instead of descriptive of them since there are a lot of people and it'll be easier to keep track of.] Soon everyone arrived and moved into the dining room where the big table was, since it'll be easier for all of them to sit comfortably.
"WHAT?" everyone minus Thomas and Shuhei gasped. They were surprised by what Thomas told them. It was the first time any of them encountered a Crusader at school. What sent them over the top though was the member card. Thomas tossed it on the table and they all started in disbelief. A Key Item such as that was the miracle they were hoping for.
"This can't be real," Corey stated acting like a jerk. Why was he even on the team to begin with? (B/N: Good question. Look into it.)
"Oh trust me, it is real," Thomas told him.
"I hate to do this," Rachel sighed, "but I agree with Corey. No way would they just hand over something as important as this."
"Objection!" Manikha shouted pointing at Rachel, "From their story, they won it fair and square."
"There has to be some way we can test this," Renji thought, "did that woman tell you how to activate it?"
"Yes," Shuhei recalled as he grabbed the card, "you just charge it up with spirit energy." He created a sphere of energy around his hand where the card was being held. He then placed the card on the table and it emitted a holographic map.
"We are here," Thomas pointed, "even though it would help if we had an arrow pointing to it."
"Like they have on the maps at the malls?" Ichigo asked.
"Exactly!" Thomas traced his finger to a star that was next to a river and out in an open field. "We want to go here. Judging by the map, it doesn't seem like that great of a distance. It is even far away from the city so we can fight as wildly as we want and not destroy the city."
"I swear, you blow up half the town once, and on accident, and you never live it down," Courtney sighed.
"Actually I think he was referring to those two," Rukia mentioned while pointed out Renji and Ichigo, "I told him that they are pretty wild when they fight."
"Anyways," Ichigo said, trying to ignore the direct attack, "what exactly do you have planned to deal with those punks?"
"To put it simply, we're going to raid that house," Thomas answered with a smirk.
"What? Do you expect us to just knock on the door and ambush them when someone opens it?" Corey questioned.
"No, this is a raid. We just break in, kind of like how the S.W.A.T. Team does it," Thomas tried to explain.
"Wow that would be pretty sweet," Renji, Ichigo, Courtney, and Manikha all fantasized.
"I'm pretty sure we are not going to do that though," Shuhei chimed in.
"Shh," Thomas told him, "let them dream."
"So, exactly what time is all of this going down?" Rachel wondered.
"Well it'll be stupid to do it in broad daylight," Thomas mumbled, "We going to do it at night." Everyone looked at him. "I recommend taking a nap now because we're going to leave as soon as the moon is high in the sky."
Preview for chapter 22: Member's Only!
The gang leaves for the midnight raid only to meet a sort of unexpected obstacle. Will they be able to over come it?