Author's Note: All right, I'm real sorry about the hold up I didnt mean for it to take this long. I've decided to break this chapter into 2 parts I figured it'd be easier that way. Once again I'm sorry for the wait and I hope you all enjoy this next chapter. Its going to be shorter than previous ones but I hope that's all right. I plan to update the next chapter as soon as possible thank you for your patience. Here's the 37th chapter of X High School. Enjoy.
Chapter 37
Back to Normal?
The next morning, everyone was dead asleep in thier tents, 10 o'clock in the morning and no one bothered to move, exhausted from the day before. The only thing they cared about was catching up on some much needed sleep. It was 2 in the afternoon before they started coming out of the tents. Richard stretched as he stood outside his tent and groggily made his way over to the picnic table. Victor stuck his head out of the tent and crawled out of it on hands and knees. Kori was the first one out of the girls tent followed by Raven. Tara was still snoring inside the tent, over in the guys section Gar was doing the same and Slade was trying to wake up, defeated he covered his eyes with his arm and tried to get some more sleep. By 5 in the evening everyone was wide awake and active as they were eating dinner around the campfire. Talking and laughing amongst themselves they enjoyed thier time together. An hour later, they hauled the Rumble Cart off the trailer that was attached to the SUV and took it for a wile ride through the woods.
The guys hollered as the Rumble Cart climbed over a hill with its front tires in the air, the engine roaring as they climbed over the peak of the tall hill. They raced down the hill and went deep into the woods as the girls watched on. The engine raged as they barreled towards a cliff, Vic guns it and the truck soars across the gap touching down safely on the other side, though just barely. They race through the forest, darting inbetween trees and climb up another steep embankment, going straight up at a right angle. Vic shifts the truck into low gear and climb the hill. Applying constant pressure to the gas the Geo slowly but surely makes its way up the embankment but as they reach the halfway point, the wheels begin to spin as Vic pushes it to make it up the hill, the engine gives out and the truck rears up and rolls down the embankment the guys hanging on for dear life as the truck tumbled helplessly down the hill, missing all the trees and coming to a rest on its right tires lodged in a ditch.
"Everyone ok?" Vic asked.
"Yeah." said Rich.
"I'm cool." said Gar.
"No harm, no foul." Slade added.
"All right. Let's see if she starts up." Vic said turning the key.
The engine struggled to turn over, Vic gave it several trys before giving up. Kori had to fly down and help pull the truck out of the ditch.
"Thanks Kori." Vic said.
"No problem, you guys might want to judge your distance and angle next time." she told them.
"We will." he said sounding annoyed.
A while later, the guys were down by the lake fishing when Richard got a bite. With adreneline pumping through his body he jumped up and started reeling it in as fast as he could when it finally came in, it was just a little fish. The guys started laughing.
"Congradulations you just caught a fish stick." said Gar.
Richard took it off the hook and tossed it back.
"I dont see you catching anything." he said to Gar.
At that moment Gar's fishing line went flying out almost catapulting him into the river, the guys grabbed onto him as he struggled to reel it in. Rich and Vic each grabbed a hold of the pole and helped him bring it in. They pulled and strained with all thier might as a big mouth bass splashed around on the surface as it fought to win the battle between man and beast. Eventually the four Titans managed to reel that sucker into shore, a 12 pound bass. The guys cheered as they brought it out of the water and let it dangle in mid-air. Rich and Vic high fived each other as Gar took it off the hook and held the fish triumphantly. But this badass bass wouldnt go down with out a fight, the fish slapped Gar across the face repeatedly with its tail and smacking Slade and Rich in the process, before it slipped out of his hands and swam out to open water. The guys looked on stunned, but none more so than Gar. His jaw hung open as the fish disappeared under the surface.
"I just got bitch slapped by a fish!" he cried.
The guys all burst out in laughter. Later in the evening, everyone had gathered around the campfire talking and roasting smores. Kori was resting her head on Rich's shoulder when suddenly a thought came to him.
"Hey guys, what's today's date?" he asked.
"Its the 10th." Vic answered.
"The 10th?...the 10th? AHHH!" he jumped up knocking Kori over sideways.
"Dude, what's the matter?" Vic asked.
"I got a race in Chicago in 2 days!!!" Rich exclaimed.
Everyone's eyes widened in suprise
"What?" said Tara.
"Are you serious?" said Gar.
"And you just remembered this now?" Raven asked.
"Hey give me a break, you try to remember anything after being in the future!" he said.
"Calm down Dick, there's no reason to yell. Although I imagine your dad's going to be pretty pissed." Slade said.
"Oh I'm really looking forward to that...did you just call me Dick?" he asked.
"Yeah." Slade said.
"Rich focus." Raven cut in.
He shook his head, bringing himself to his senses.
"Right, right. I'm sorry my mind's running like 200 miles a minutes here." he said twirling his finger round next to his head.
Kori managed to right herself, sitting back on the log.
"Sorry Kor." Rich said turning back.
"Its ok." she said dusting off her skirt.
Rich sighed and regained his composure.
"All right, let's get this over with." he said taking out his cell phone and began dialing.
Holding the phone up to his ear as it made the connection. Before he could get two words out, the phone exploded with an onslaught of garbled shouting Rich held the phone at arm length with Bruce screaming on the other end.
"Where were you?! I've been trying to contact you for..." the phone rattled in Rich's hand before he closed it.
"That went well." Gar commented.
The phone ringed again, Rich sighed and held it up to his ear once more. This time his dad sound more calm and reserved.
"So what happened?" Bruce asked.
"Its a long story. Listen, is everything ready for Chicago?" Rich asked.
"The crew's been working on the bike for the past several days. They've been busy making upgrades to get it ready in time for the Skycross. Everything's ready on this end, the only thing that's missing is you." Bruce told him.
"Tell the guys I said Thanks. So is there enough time for us to get to Chicago?" Rich asked.
"We can be there in a few hours. But your cutting it real close." Bruce said.
"All right, I'll be there as soon as I can.." Rich said ruffing his hair, he hung up and put the phone away before turning to his friends.
"I'm real sorry guys." He said.
"Its ok, you didnt know." Kori said.
"Yeah but...ugh! I should have known!" he agonized.
"Rich, we got sucked into an alternate timeline. There wasnt much any of us could do." said Slade.
Rich shook his head and grabbed his jacket.
"Yeah I know, I gotta go guys." Rich said.
"Come on, I'll drive you over." said Vic.
"Yeah we'll go with you." Gar said standing up.
"No, you guys stay here. You've been through enough. The flight's gonna be hectic enough." Rich said putting on his jacket.
"Richard's right. I dont think we'd be helping any piling into that plane with him." Raven said.
"Yeah." Slade said.
"We better get going." Vic told them.
"All right." Rich said, Kori came up and put her arms around him.
"I'll see you later." he said.
She kissed his cheek and hugged him tight, Rich hugged her back.
"Be careful." she said.
"I will." he told her before kissing her temple.
"I promise." he said.
"Kay." she said rubbing his arm.
"C'mon man." said Vic.
"See ya guys." Rich told them.
"We'll see you on TV." Raven smiled.
"Show em what ya got." Slade nodded.
"You got it." Rich nodded back.
"Good luck Rich." said Tara.
"Knock em dead." said Gar.
"Count on it." Rich said holding up his fist.
"Rich!" Vic said.
"Catch ya later guys." Rich told them.
The gang waved good bye as Vic and Rich climbed into the Surburban and drove off. They raced down the road at top speed across the many miles back to Wayne Manor on the other side of the city. 20 mins later the SUV pulled into the driveway and around the house. Rich raced up the stairs into the mansion. A few minutes later Vic looked up and saw a jet leaving the mansion.
"Kid's sure got style, give him that much." he said to himself as the jet flew overhead.
A couple of hours later and 40,000 feet up the Wayne Jet flew across the state of Kansas in route to Chicago. Rich reclined in his seat listening to his iPod. When from outside his window Superman flies by, Rich looked and waved at him. The Mighty Blue Defender of Justice smiled and waved back at him before flying off.
While they headed toward Chicago, back home the guys decided to make a trip to town and make a stop at a local bar. While the guys are drinking Gar is up on stage singing.
I am an arms dealer
Fitting you with weapons in the form of words
And I dont really care, which side wins
As long as the room keeps singing
That's just the business I'm in
This aint a scene its a god damn arms race!
This aint a scene its a god damn arms race
This aint a scene its a god damn arms race
I'm not a shoulder to cry on but I digress
I'm a leading man
And the lies I weave are oh so intricate, oh so intricate
I'm a leading man
And the lies I weave are oh so intricate...
While Gar was singing Kori pulled up a seat next to Slade & Raven at the bar.
"Hey." she said.
"Hey Kor." he said lifting a bottle in acknowledglement.
"What's up?" Raven said leaning on Slade's shoulder looking like she had a few.
"You think Rich is going to do all right in the race?" Kori asked.
"Kori, if there's one thing I've learned its that Rich will do everything in his power to suceed at something. He'll never cheat but he'll do whatever it takes to be the best." Slade said guesturing with his bottle. Raven leaned heavily on him.
"Right, how many have you two had?" the redhead asked.
"Um..." Slade looked back at Raven.
"I dunno, I lost count. I think maybe 3." he said.
"I think I had about 2." Raven admitted.
Vic sat down in the pit in front of the karoke stage busy hitting on girls. Tara sat a couple tables away from him as she watched Gar perform. She appaluded him as he got off stage.
"That was great Gar!" she told him.
"Thanks." he said.
"Hey how did you kids get in here?" someone yelled.
The gang looked up and saw the bartender looking quite pissed.
"You better hope I dont call the cops!" he said.
The gang immediatly rushed out of the establishment and made a dash for the truck. Peeling out of the parking lot kicking up dust and dirt as they raced off. The bartender ran out to see them take off down the street. Gar and others laughed wildly as the flew down the street. Pulling up to a stop sign gave them a moment to rest. Each of them breathing a sigh of relief.
"Why dont you let me drive?" Kori asked Vic.
Thinking it over for a second, Vic got out of the truck and let Kori take over the driver's seat as he got in the back where she was sitting. Which was a good choice considering she's the only one that hasnt drank. As Richard's plane touched down in Chicago the gang pulled in to a local bowling alley. Time for some drunk bowling. The gang walked into the bowling alley and bought shoes. Sitting down in thier lane, Raven put one bowling shoe on but kept a regular one on also. Vic managed to put both of his bowling shoes on and so did the rest. Vic went to get his bowling ball, coming back he was the first one up. Gar typed thier names into the electronic scoreboard. Vic scooped up the ball in his hand, studying the pins he takes aim and fires.
BLAM!
He mowed the pins down in a powerful strike.
"All right!" he said pumping his fist.
"Yeah! Good job Vic!" Kori said.
"Nice one Vic." Tara said as she made her way up.
"Thanks dudes!" he said sitting down between Gar and Kori.
Tara picked up her ball and judged the pins, she swung her arm back and released the ball. The mulitcolored speckled ball rolled along the edge of the gutter and knicked one pin on the end taking it out. The bar dropped and reset the pins. Tara pouted as she waited for the ball to return taking it up she takes another shot with the same result. Only this time she knocked over 2 pins. Disappointed she took her seat next to Gar as Kori went up. On her first time up, she knocked down five pins and then on her second time missed completely with a gutterball. Gar's turn was up next. Meanwhile in Chicago Bruce and Rich settle into thier hotel room for the night. After Gar got gutterballs on both tries it was Vic's turn again as he stared down the pins, when he tossed the ball in the air and somehow landed two lanes away before crashing into some pins. The gang laughed uproarously as others looked on in shock and amusement. With some of them applauding at the outlandish achievement. Vic held up his arms in victory. Slade was up in his own lane along with Raven. When Slade went to throw the ball he slipped and landed on his back as the ball went into the gutter and barreled on down to the end. While he didnt score any bowling points he managed to score some sympathy points with his girlfriend and friends. She went over to help him off the floor still iniebriated from the earlier. As she and Vic helped him back to his chair she rubbed his forehead in concern.
"You ok?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. My legs took off without me." he stated. Vic laughed.
"You crack me up dude." he said patting Slade's back.
"I think he cracked the floor too." Raven said looking at where he fell.
Fortuntanly the floor survived, Slade on the other hand.
"I'm gonna kick that floor's ass." Slade said. Everyone laughed at his remark.
While Slade comtemplated going to war with the floor Raven took over for him and finished up his turn. Too drunk to do a regular bowl, she squats down and does a granny roll. The ball travels down the center of the lane slowly and made a strike. Raven jumped in the air triumphantly and made her way back to Slade and the others.
"Nice shot kid." he said.
Vic pats Slade's shoulder to get his attention.
"Come on, we're going to Denny's." he said.
A while later after changing out of thier shoes they all pile into the SUV, Kori drives. Before they leave one of them realized that Raven was still wearing her one bowling shoe. Taking off the shoe Kori jumps out of the truck and runs back inside retrieving Raven's other shoe. Journeying down the road, they pull into a local Denny's and unleash the terror of drunk teenagers on a 24 hour diner. The guys rush inside and race to the seating area and taking several of the tables as adults begin to leave not wanting to put up with thier antics. The waitresses sigh having to put up with this all the time. One of them approached the group and asked them what they want. They all ordered their meals some of the biggest they could get and the waitress walked off. After she walked off, Gar started throwing straws at Slade from another table as he retailiated and Vic joined in throwing other stuff. The girls went to the other side. They take thier battle to the center of the aisle where Vic tackles Gar to the ground and pretends to beat him up. Slade pushed him off of Gar, Vic retaliates by putting Slade in a headlock and dragging him up the aisle with Gar jumping on Vic's back as they fell to the floor with all three of them yelling and laughing. Tara sat on Kori's lap as they watched the guys antics.
"Ow! Let go of my foot!" yelled Gar.
"Well stop choking me!" yelled Vic.
"Get the hell off me Vic!" Slade yelled.
"Ow!" went Gar.
The girls laughed as the waitress came back with thier plates.
"You guys can stop killing each other now, our plates are here." said Raven.
Vic threw Gar off and pushed down on Slade's head getting up. Slade and Gar got up and made thier way back to thier tables. It was about that time Raven's cell phone went off.
"Hello?"
"Hey Raven."
"Oh hey Rich. Where are you?" she asked.
"We're in Chicago. How are the guys doing?" he asked.
"Oh thier doing all right, we're sitting at Denny's right now." she said.
"So you guys do anything tonight?" he asked.
Raven just smiled. "Nah, nothing too special. I'll tell you about it later."
"That's cool, I'm about to go back to bed. Tell the guys I said 'hi' and I'll see them when I get back." Rich said.
"I'll be sure to tell them. Good luck Rich. We'll be rootin for you." she said.
"Thanks. I'll talk to you later." he said.
"All right, bye."
"Bye." he told her before hanging up.
"Who was that?" asked Gar.
"It was Rich, he was just wondering what we were doing." Raven said.
"Did you tell him?" asked Vic.
Raven shook his head. "No."
"Sure hope he does all right tomorrow." Kori said.
"He's gonna need all the help he can get." said Slade.
Author's Note: All right as I mentioned earlier, the race will take place in the next chapter. I know this probably isnt what you expect for a follow-up. I'm sorry if this didnt seem to good, I hope everyone liked it. I just wanted to get this out of the way so I can get on with the race. Let me know what you think.
Please Review.