It was a quiet evening in the Lane stadium, where Waqas was rebuilding Robo Hokie as the sun began to set. He wiped the sweat off his brow and decided to take a break. He sat on top of his creation and looked out over Virginia Tech's campus. He saw the lights in its buildings steadily turn on one by one, but his eyes were on the ones in Slusher tower.
"Heh, it's been a nice few years working here, hasn't it Waqas, old boy?" He asked himself before taking a swig from a water bottle. "Yep, this seems to be the place that keeps on giving." He tapped on his watch a few times, making it blink purple. "Hey Sean, I'm on break, mind giving me a lift back to the campus?" he spoke into the watch. A few seconds later, Sean popped up next to Waqas through a portal.
"Never fear, best defender is here!" Sean gloated. Waqas rolled his eyes with a smile and jumped into Sean's portal. On the other side, they ended up right outside Slusher tower. Sean and Waqas both showed their IDs to the card swiper. One Defender and one Mechanic. The doors opened for them and they soon found themselves in the clubroom. Waqas threw himself onto a beanbag chair. The sudden noise jolted Hang, who was somehow sleeping in the corner, awake.
"WHA- WHASSGOINON-'' Hang blurted out. "Oh, it's just you, Waqas. Geez, you scared me."
"Sorry 'bout that," Waqas chuckled. He looked at the gathering of defenders in the room. Some were familiar faces that he had known his whole career at Virginia Tech, while others were ones he was still getting used to seeing wandering around the campus grounds.
"Y'know Hang," Waqas said, "It's about time we've had some new blood in here. Sometimes, in my time here, it feels like people just keep on leaving."
"What do you mean?" Hang asked.
"Ah nevermind, maybe I'll tell you one day. But you've got promise to be the next big shot here, don't ever forget that, alright?" Waqas stood back up and stretched himself out. "I'm going for a walk. Sean, you know the drill."
"Yeah, yeah," Sean said, looking at his phone while tightening his own watch. Waqas left the clubroom and began to walk around campus, lost in his thoughts. As he looked out on the sunset, he couldn't help but feel uneasy, like the final days of the Defenders were upon them. He passed by a few workers installing what looked like mirrors in the ground. He wondered what they were for before passing them by. Waqas took out his own phone and selected a picture of himself and the rest of the original fifteen, taken years ago.
"Heh. I still remember that day…"
That day, all that time ago, Waqas was in the halls of Slush Tower, working on his very first turret for the Defenders without even knowing it. Sean and Kirby watched him tighten a few bolts on a crude turret with wheels that was made of what appeared to be trash and leftover parts.
"Man, this is gonna be AWESOME!" Sean yelled. "We're gonna be shooting out sodas to everyone before we know it, Kirby!"
"I know, isn't it exciting?" Kirby squealed, "I've always dreamt of something like this ever since I was a kid! It'll be ready after this, right?" He asked.
"Don't get your hopes up, kids, I'm gonna need at least a few more days to recalculate and adjust the firing power," Waqas explained.
"Aw, gyp!" Sean complained, "Isn't it fine as it is?"
To answer his question, Waqas pointed the turret at a wall and fired it. The soda can ammunition exploded from the barrel and broke right through the wall.
"...Oh." Sean muttered. "...Use the indoor soccer excuse again?"
"Use the indoor soccer excuse," Waqas agreed.
"I just wanted to say, thank you so much for doing this! You're so cool, Waqas!" Kirby gushed.
"Hey, no problem. Building stuff's what I live for," Waqas chuckled.
"Geez, Kirby, calm down, you're gonna give Waqas cavities if you keep that up!" Sean joked.
"Besides, I knew what I was getting into when I signed up for this job," Waqas told them. Suddenly, an alarm blared through the building while red emergency lights went off. Shots rang out and people screamed.
"...Or maybe I didn't." Then a voice came over the loudspeaker.
"This is announcer James! This is not a drill, I repeat, not a drill! We are being invaded by armed intruders! Seek an immediate escape route or find cover!"
"Uh oh! Kirby, c'mon, let's finally put these powers to good use!" He grabbed Kirby's arm and ran off.
"Wait a minute, powers?" Waqas asked in confusion. His answer came in the form of Sean making a portal in the ground and pulling Kirby and himself through it. Waqas stared in awe, but the sound of gunfire brought him back to his senses. He ran over to look at the action and saw a clan of lime green women with shotguns fighting a handful of the students he had already seen. Sean and Brian were teleporting around the place, fighting off the limes with their bare fists and legs while Addison, JK, and Omar gunned them down and sliced them up with their respective weapons. Even Ben ran in with a wooden bat. Still, many of them got shot and before they knew it, the small coalition was surrounded by the Limes.
"Why are you doing this?!" Addison barked.
"Ain't it obvious?" A Lime replied, "One of y'all has somethin' of ours, an' we want it back! So fork it over before we blow this whole damn place sky high and find it ourselves!"
"Doing that will accomplish nothing; none of us even know what you are talking about," Brian calmly explained.
"A likely story. Say yer prayers, boys!" The Lime yelled as she pumped the barrel of her shotgun. Just then, one of the other Limes rammed their gun into the back of the speaking Lime's head and then ducked. The other Limes began to shoot each other in their confusion. Waqas then had an idea and ran off. When he came back, the other Limes had cornered the traitor in their group and trapped them with the other Defenders. Waqas busted through the doors with his turret.
"Hey, freaks!" He yelled, "Anyone thirsty?"
The turret fired rapidly, launching sodas like bullets at the Limes, knocking over and injuring many of them. The less injured Defenders got back on their feet and took the opportunity to clear out the rest of the Limes in the area. By the end, the only one that remained was the traitor, who Waqas pointed his turret at.
"Wait! Don't shoot!" She begged as her face and voice turned morphed back into Kirby's. "It's just me! And thank you so so much!" He said and hugged Waqas. Waqas gave him a few awkward pats in return.
"Say, nice improvising there, mechanic! Didn't know you had a fighting spirit in ya," Addison praised Waqas, tipping his cap.
"Well, I can't just stand by when kids are getting shot at, can I?"
"Heh, good point! Now, Kirby, you tend to the injured. The rest of us will go help clear the rest of the building along with anyone else who's helping," Addison commanded. And like that, they were off, Waqas and his turret included.
Thanks to the efforts of many other brave people in the building, especially a very angry junior and a mysterious orange-caped warrior, the Limes were eventually repelled from the place. The fifteen of them were later awarded medals for their heroism and met up afterwards.
"WHEW! Wait until my parents hear about this!" Sean said, admiring his own reflection in his medal, "They're gonna be so proud of me!"
"Haha, yeah…" Kirby said with a thousand-yard stare. Andrew stood up and cleared his throat.
"Guys, quiet, I think Andrew's gonna say something," JK spoke up. Everyone stopped talking.
"Everyone, what happened today was nothing short of a miracle, and each one of you made it possible. Your abilities, your teamwork, and your courage in the face of disaster. But, I have a bad feeling this wasn't a one-time thing. If those Lime people had a reason to attack us, there's no telling who else might have their eye on this college. That's why I believe the fifteen of us should not part ways again after tonight. I say we should take on a cause greater than ourselves! We shall become defenders of Slusher Tower! If this campus is in danger, then we'll make sure none of its students are harmed! We won't let any ambush take us by surprise ever again! Who's with me?"
The room roared to life with cheering and clapping from most of its occupants. Waqas stayed seated and watched them while Omar picked at his bandages and Jorge nodded silently with his arms folded in a corner.
"Hey hey," Addison spoke up over the uproar, "If we're including all fifteen of us, that means the mechanic gets to come with, right?"
"Ideally, yes, but he also has a full-time job and I assume a personal life of his own," Andrew replied. "But, still, if he wants to join, that would be very much appreciated," he said, now facing Waqas as if to address him directly. Soon, all eyes were on him. Waqas stood up and cricked his back.
"Eh, why not? Count me in, guys!"
The cheering and clapping started again. Addison and Andrew came up to Waqas and patted their new member on the back.
"The original fifteen…" Waqas reminisced back in the present. Just then, he tripped over a bench. He picked himself up, grumbling. "Guess that's what I get for staring at my phone, lost in my own memories…" He overheard the sound of a TV through a nearby wall.
"And in other news, the search for the missing circus freak 'Big Boy' continues…" The newscaster spoke.
"Hope they find him," Waqas thought to himself, "Actually, that reminds me…" He sat down on the bench he just tripped over and thought to himself again, casting his mind back in time.
Pedro and Sean returned to the clubroom where the rest of the Defenders were waiting.
"Alright guys, what's the verdict?" James asked.
"We looked through the entire building. Jorge's straight-up gone!" Sean explained.
"Yeah… what he said!" Pedro panted, out of breath.
"Well, looks like that's that, guys," James told the others.
"But Jorge can't be gone! I just got here!" Thomas whined. "I haven't gotten to impress him yet!"
"Will you shut up?" Kirby interrupted, "We just lost one of our best fighters and you're sad because you didn't get to 'impress' him?"
"Give me a break, you've been on my case since I got here!"
"That's only because you keep picking on me!"
"QUIET!" Andrew shouted. The two stopped bickering immediately. "We don't know where Jorge went or if he's ever coming back, so the best we can do is make do with the members we still have. Got that?"
"Y-yes, Andrew," Thomas stammered. Both he and Kirby backed away. Andrew sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Waqas cleared his throat and stood up.
"If I may, I know this is a big loss to the team, but we've still got more members here than ever before, so let's keep our chins up, alright?" He tried smiling to get the mood up. "Now, anyone want a soda?" Thomas sheepishly raised his hand. Waqas pressed a button on a remote and a soda can landed safely in Thomas's hand seconds later.
"Man, still, that's the first of the original members to go. I guess I just don't want this to be the start of a bunch of people leaving," James confessed.
"That's just the anxiety getting to you," Waqas said, patting James on the head. "We still got plenty of fine members that aren't leaving anytime soon, right guys?"
"Right!" Matt said, giving a thumbs up. Wes raised his SMG in agreement, but accidentally fired a few shots into the ceiling doing so. He quickly hid it behind his back.
"Things are gonna be fine, James," Waqas told him, "Just you watch."
Waqas scrolled through the photos on his phone, watching the team gain and lose members, slowly getting smaller and smaller…
Addison lifted his bag over his shoulder when he heard a voice come from behind him.
"So that's it, huh? You're really leaving?" Waqas asked.
"Yep. My mind's made up. It's time I made something more of myself. To protect not just the students here, but the people of this country," Addison told him with confidence.
"The light blue guy's gonna miss you, you know."
"I know. I'm gonna give him something before I go. Y'know, to remember me by. What about you? Are you gonna stay in this dump?"
"It's got a steady pay, good job security, and I get to tinker to my heart's content. I don't see a reason not to."
"Alright Waqas, it's time I be real with you while I still can." Addison put his arms on Waqas's shoulders and sighed. "You're a smart guy, a great mechanic, and an even better engineer. But dude, as long as you stay in this place, you're never gonna go anywhere."
"Maybe I like it here."
"Maybe you do now. But one day, you're gonna itch for more, and then you're gonna see things how I do. And I'm sure there's someone out there ready to fill whatever hole you leave behind." Addison told him and took his hands away. He then turned around.
"Now if you'll excuse me, there's someone I need to talk to," Addison said.
Waqas finished scrolling through his pictures. At the end was just a picture of a stray dog. The one before that was a photo of the team when it had Stewart, Dan, and Bri in it. In a way, he was almost glad he didn't have a picture of the current team.
"You know what? Break time's over."
He stood up, cricked his back, and began walking back to the Lane stadium under the starry sky. When he got there, he climbed back down into Robo Hokie's storage compartment and got back to work. A few minutes passed when he noticed something blinking red. He looked at Robo Hokie, but didn't find anything out of the ordinary. Then he heard the faint scream of a klaxon. He realized what was happening. He looked at his watch. Sure enough, it was blinking red. He tapped on it frantically.
"Hello, Sean? Pick me up right now! Sean? Are you there?!" No answer. He cursed internally. "I didn't want to have to ever use this…" he mumbled to himself. He pressed a button on the wall and a large rocket emerged from the ground. It heated up, preparing to launch. Waqas clinged to the side and held on for dear life as it rose into the air. Then, it tilted itself sideways, heading straight for Slusher Tower. Waqas climbed up and rode it like a surfboard. He could just barely make out a bunch of people swarming in from all sides.
Moments later, he crashed into the first floor's wall. Immediately, he saw a legion of dark blue people all running amok inside the building. He then noticed Andrew, paralyzed and staring horrified at all the blue people running in through the building's front doors.
"ANDREW!" Waqas shouted. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?" Andrew turned to look, but before he could do anything, one of the blue invaders grabbed Waqas and another elbowed him in the back of the head, knocking him out.
"WAQAS! Andrew shouted and reached out as Waqas was dragged away. He tried to run after them, but the blue invaders formed a wall between Waqas's unconscious body and Andrew, trapping him inside. "MOVE!" he yelled, "I'LL MAKE YOU IF YOU DON'T!"
"Oh, how very threatening," he heard an unfamiliar voice say. Andrew turned around and saw a man with an evilly smug grin on his face casually walking into the building and towards Andrew among all the chaos like it was the most natural thing in the world. He was blue like the others, but a lighter shade.
"You must be Andrew, right? Oh, I've heard so much about you!" The intruder said. Andrew got into a fighting stance. "What? You're not going to ask me MY name now?"
"Who the hell are you?" Andrew growled.
"Me?" He chuckled and bowed, looking Andrew right in the eye the whole time.
"You may call me Big Blue.
The End.