Kaltanasio: Well, the uneven movies sucked compared to the even numbered ones :D
Other than that, enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.
"I hope this is over soon." Marcus groaned, sitting in the audience inside the large tent.
"How do you think I feel?" Bryan gave him a look.
"Shit, you're not just hearing the outside noise." Marcus realized.
"Luckily, outside noise is louder than inside noise." Bryan nodded and looked around. "But I think this time we'll get lucky."
"I hope so." Marcus said. "I've nothing against going to a carnival but having to do eight of those in as many weeks really is too much."
"Doesn't really help that they never advertise anything else than 'things you've never seen before'." Bryan quote the large boards and smaller posters that usually hang around town.
"And now, our main event for the evening!" the announcer shouted.
"Here we go." Bryan looked on as the announcer who was gushing over how amazing the event would be.
"Give a big round of applause to the Hercules twins!" the announcer screamed into his microphone and stepped out of the arena.
"I think we have found the right carnival trope." Marcus nodded as he watched a pair of twins entering the arena.
"For our first presentation, we require the cooperation of an audience member." the left twin shouted over the din, several hands going up.
"Please be quiet everyone." the other twin shouted and the din died down. "Before we begin, we want you to be sure that we're not cheating in any way."
"Sir, can you see anything through this blindfold?" the first twin came over to Bryan, putting a long piece of fabric against his eyes.
"No." Bryan smiled, playing along.
"And can you hear anything through these headphones?" the twin asked again, handing Bryan a pair.
"No." Bryan chuckled sadly after taking them off again, not really able to tell him that while he didn't hear any outside noises, the cacophony of all those people' thoughts had still assaulted his mind.
The act continued with the second twin putting on the blindfold and headphones before laying down on bench with a microphone in his hand. The first twin let several audience members hand him multiple items of their possessions, makeup mirrors, pens, coins and banknotes of varying denominations and the other twin, from thirty feet away, discerned all of it, down to the serial numbers of the notes.
"You know how they're doing that?" Marcus whispered, since everyone on the audience was quiet except for frequent oohs and aahs and applause.
"Yes." Bryan nodded. "They're communicating telepathically. This one simply tells the other what he has in his hands in their shared mind."
"Seriously?" Marcus gasped.
"Apparently, it's their power." Bryan smiled. "Comes in handy, especially if they can do that over long distances."
"Perfect spies." Marcus said. "One goes around the world, one stays behind and the one who's out can relay everything he reads or sees directly to the twin."
"But I guess they'd stand out a bit." Bryan chuckled.
"That they do." Marcus agreed, looking again at the bulging muscles of the pair who was finishing their mentalist act to raucous applause of the audience.
The announcer returned as the twins moved to different ends of the area, where several heavy-looking objects were located, even a small VW beetle and a large blacksmith's anvil. The announcer told them that the two would show their strength and the audience came unglued when the two began throwing the objects to each other, one throwing and the other catching and return.
"Jesus!" Marcus gasped. "An anvil of that type weighs approximately five hundred pounds!"
"And the car is even heavier." Bryan added when the first twin grabbed the beetle and threw it to his twin who stopped the ballistic curve with his hands and the vehicle fell to the ground.
The second twin then took up the car and twirled it over his head, even holding it up by one hand. Bryan could hear the thoughts of the audience, a swirl of denials or accusations that the car was made of plastic and cardboard, even with the sound of heavy crashing whenever it dropped back on the floor.
To prove their strength even more, they asked for more volunteers, people who could stand on small objects beneath them and two heavy-looking men raised their hands, both being waved to the arena floor by the twins. One of them knelt down, placing his hands into the holder of two flat plates and then placing them on the ground.
The two men stepped on one plate each and as soon as the second twin had explained that they were to stand as straight as possible, the first twin slowly stood up, keeping his arms straight and lifting both men into the air on the small platforms. More applause followed, even Marcus and Bryan joining in, given the feats of strength they were witnessing.
"So, I guess these are our guys?" Marcus chuckled.
"Highly likely." Bryan nodded, though they couldn't see their tattoos thanks to the long sleeves of their carnival uniforms.
"We should talk to them." Marcus said a few minutes later, when the twins had finished their routine and left the arena, followed by the announcer telling them that this was the end of the show and that the people should now enjoy the rest of what the carnival had to offer.
Bryan and Marcus excited the tent, the throng of people making it difficult and to their dismay, the twins were gone once they were out. They took the long route towards the back area, buying some cotton candy as cover and once they had finished that, they walked to the back area, only to be stopped by a tall, bald man, heavily tattooed who held out a hand.
"No visitors allowed back here." the man told them.
"We're special." Marcus smiled, showing his badge, as did Bryan.
"We need to talk to the twins." Bryan added. "Don't worry, they're not in any trouble."
"Walk a hundred feet straight, take a right, two hundred feet more and you will find them." the man made room.
Marcus and Bryan pocketed their badges once more and began walking, turning right at the specified point. Two hundred further, they found a clearing between the wagons of the carny folk, a large round space with a small fire pit in the middle where the twins were sitting, a large keg of beer next to each one and both drinking from tankards that they refilled from hoses coming from the bottom of the keg.
"Yes, you have visitors." Bryan suddenly said, Marcus looking confused at his colleague since the twins haven't said anything.
"We didn't say anything." the left twin said, voicing Marcus's thought.
"You didn't need to." Bryan smiled and showed them his badge. "I'm Agent Templeton, I work for the CIA, this is my colleague Agent Boyd. And no, you're not in trouble and there's no reason to flatten us to the ground."
"How are you doing this?" the second twin asked.
"We have to talk." Bryan said and showed them the tattoo on his wrist.
"I see." the left twin said and showed the 003 on his arm, followed by the other who showed the 004. "Take a seat."
"Thank you." Bryan nodded.
"Is he one too?" the first twin asked, pointing to Marcus.
"No, I'm not." Marcus shook his head.
"Well, I'm Tim, this is my brother Tom." the one with the three on his wrist said.
"So, Tim and Tom?" Marcus grinned.
"Save it." Tom said. "Still better than Tom and Jerry."
"That's true." Marcus nodded.
"You guys want a beer?" Tim asked.
"No, we're on duty." Bryan declined. "Are you two really drinking a whole keg of beer each?"
"Yeah, alcohol doesn't work on us." Tom shrugged. "At least not the same as other people."
"What does that mean?" Marcus was interested.
"When we finish these, the only consequences will be that we have to pee a lot." Tim chuckled.
"When we chug two bottles of vodka in a few swigs, it gives us a slightly warm feeling but that goes away again after a minute or two." Tom added.
"So, if alcohol doesn't work, why this?" Bryan pointed to the barrels.
"We like the taste." both said at the same time.
"So, why does the CIA wanna talk to us?" Tim wanted to know.
"We're going to need your help." Bryan told them.
"With what?" Tom looked at him expectantly.
"Before we continue, we need you to understand that what we're going to tell you is top secret and if you tell anyone about it, you'll be subject to treason charges." Marcus interjected.
"That'll be interesting." Tim grinned and took another swig.
"In a not so distant future, we're going to conduct a mission to Russia to destroy a secret Russian research project and, if he's still alive, rescue an American prisoner." Bryan explained. "I'm in the process to recruit more people like us to help with this mission."
"How would we get to Russia?" Tom asked. "Submarine?"
"If the first idea doesn't work." Bryan nodded.
"What's the first idea?"
"Interdimensional travel." Bryan told them, seeing the confused looks of the twins. "I'd explain it at the meeting before the mission starts. Lets just say, other dimensions exist and another person with a number tattoo on her wrist has opened and later closed a gate to that dimension but the Russians are also working with it and that can put the entire United States in danger."
"Alright, we're in." Tim said, Tom nodding.
"What, just like that?" Marcus wondered.
"We may be carnies but we are Americans." Tom nodded. "Sure, we wouldn't say no to a lifetime supply of beer, but..."
"I doubt, given your consumption rate, the CIA can afford a lifetime supply of beer for you two." Bryan chuckled. "But I think we can work something out."
"How do we reach you once we're ready for the meeting?" Marcus asked the two. "As carnies, I doubt you are reachable by telephone."
"Wait here." Tim said and got up, walking away from them into another trailer and returning later with a small stack of paper. "There you go."
"Your itinerary?" Bryan looked at the rows of dates and locations.
"Exactly." Tim nodded. "When you're ready to do that meeting of yours, come get us or send someone you trust to get us."
"Thank you." Bryan smiled gratefully and stood up, holding out his hand.
"Our pleasure, Bryan." Tom said as he shook his hand.
"Wait, you know me?"
"Of course." Tom smiled. "We may have been young children when we got into that lab and barely interacted with you, but your name fell a couple of times."
"Did you find others like us already or are we the first?" Tim asked.
"We found number six and got his cooperation already." Bryan told him. "We know where number eleven is and we're saving her for last but we have trouble finding number eight, since she can make herself disappear from curious eyes. But we know which city she's in."
"Well, then we await your men to pick us up, then." Tom said.
"Until then." Bryan nodded and the two agents left them alone.
"That went better than I expected." Marcus said as they walked to their rental car.
"Yep." Bryan agreed. "So now we only need to find eight and then convince her and number eleven to join and we can do the meeting to see if we can actually go into the other dimension."
"If not, we really do need a submarine." Marcus sighed and started the car.
"And then, our job will become that much harder." Bryan agreed.
"I'm impressed." a voice startled him when Mike hung from the edge of the pool, breathing hard after yet another long stint swimming.
"Hey." Mike greeted the stranger. "The pool is closed already. Who are you and how did you get in here?"
"I'm Lance." the young man replied, Mike giving him a look. "Lance Brown? My dad owns this pool. I got a key."
"Wait, aren't you the captain of the football team?" Mike asked, remembering the face.
"That's me." Lance smiled.
"Okay, do you need something or are you just watching me swim?" Mike wanted to know, lifting himself out of the pool.
"I came here to work on my cardio and swimming is good idea when your knees don't allow for long, continuous runs." Lance told him. "But when I saw you I was surprised at your endurance, I mean, you were already swimming when I got here and that was ninety minutes ago."
"Yeah, I usually swim between two and three hours." Mike shrugged.
"Seriously, how do you do that?" Lance gasped. "I can barely do half an hour before I feel my arms falling off."
"I wasn't any better in the beginning." Mike said. "It comes with repetition."
"Do you count the laps?"
"Only when it starts hurting." Mike explained.
"I don't follow."
"I never try to do a certain amount of laps. I swim until I feel exhaustion kicking in and then I start counting laps and try to beat my number from the previous day."
"And that helps?"
"You're an athlete, you should know." Mike pointed out. "When you keep training, things that were hard before become easier because your muscles grow and your body gets used to it, right?"
"So, by swimming until you feel exhaustion kicking in and then pushing yourself over the limit, you managed to go three hours without breaks?"
"Exactly." Mike nodded. "But as I said, I don't look at the time, I just swim until I feel I can't go on anymore. Sometimes that's after three hours, sometimes after two and a half. Depends on the day I had."
"Wait, I've seen you around, you're a junior now, right?"
"I am." Mike nodded. "What, are you going to plan bully pranks against me now?"
"Nah." Lance waved him off. "I don't that crap. But you could do me a favor."
"Which would be?" Mike asked.
"Put in a good word for me with Lucy." Lance grinned broadly.
"Frankly, I doubt you could handle her." Mike chuckled, knowing that much about his lifeguard colleague.
"I should be, I am double her weight."
"Just more for her to throw to the ground when she gets pissed at you." Mike smiled. "But I can do that. No promises though."
"It's all a guy can ask." Lance nodded.
"Seriously though, you're the captain of the football team, shouldn't you have your pick of willing girls?"
"It's not that many and most of them are boring." Lance sighed. "They're not interested in me or in getting to know me, all they want is the weird acclaim of having fucked the captain of the football team."
"Quite frankly, that was pretty deep." Mike nodded impressed as he took his towel.
"Did you think I was some dumb jock?" Lance looked at him, eyes squinting.
"A bit, yeah." Mike chuckled. "One of your friends in particular certainly is."
"Yeah, Larry." Lance nodded. "He may be dumb as a rock but I've never seen a better linebacker."
"And women often flock to him." Mike pointed out.
"But they don't stay." Lance retorted. "I've seen you with your girlfriend, that's the kind of relationship that most people want."
"You too?"
"Yeah." Lance shrugged. "I mean, some people may be happy with fucking another girl every weekend but that just makes them man-sluts."
"Man-sluts?" Mike chuckled.
"Man-sluts." Lance repeated. "They may call themselves great lovers but a great lover is someone who's capable of seducing the same woman every night. Just because you can seduce a different woman every weekend, not that Larry is the one doing the seducing, you're just a slut."
"Because after the first seduction, a woman knows you." Mike nodded in understanding. "Very philosophical."
"Don't act as if you're surprised." Lance laughed.
"Well, I'd love to stay and chat but my girlfriend is waiting for my call." Mike smiled and got up.
"Sucks to be fifteen and not being able to just go to here, huh?" Lance smiled back, also getting up.
"Sucks even more that she moved to Chicago last summer." Mike sighed.
"Ouch." Lance gave him a sympathetic slap on the shoulders. "Say hi to her for me."
"I can do that, though she will probably ask who you are." Mike laughed this time.
"Whatever." Lance laughed back and took a dive into the pool to do his own swimming.
Mike shook his head and headed to the showers, cleaning himself from the chlorine water he had swam in. After getting dressed, he exited the building, locking the door to avoid anyone getting in while Lance swam and he jumped on his bike, riding home under the darkening sky. He sighed, the fact that the days got longer another reminder that the woman he loved was in another city.
Much to both of their chagrin, Joyce had been right again. The absence became easier to bear, much like it had after their separation after New Year's. Both kept in contact via the SuperCom, every night for at least an hour or two before turning in, sometimes engaging in verbal sex with each other that left them both somewhat released after doing it to themselves with their hands.
El sighed deeply after one of those verbal sex sessions, feeling the absence of the man she loved. She filled her days with homework and training sessions, be it her own powers or track and field, where she had quickly established herself as the prevalent long distance runner, running faster than anyone else in her school, especially in the one mile, three thousand and five thousand meter distances with good results in the ten thousand meter distance as well.
Of course, as Mike had predicted, her success had brought the attention of people who stayed to gaze at her figure, accentuated by the admittedly tight shorts and equally tight tops. That attention from the male students caused some jealousy from some female students, especially the bitch squad El had already had a run-in with but so far, they had restricted their ire to whispered words behind her back.
Not that she cared. For some reason, it was already common knowledge in school that she had a boyfriend who she already had sex with, which wasn't that common at her age in her school. And while they could know the first part from someone seeing her with Mike when he visited, how they knew the sex part, she had no idea. But again, not that she cared. Allegations that she was a slut petered out quickly since she never went out in the evenings, never had an interest in parties or other gatherings outside of school and the only time she left the house was to go to the mall with Joyce or Will.
Time went by. April turned to May, May turned to June and the date of their finals came ever closer. While they still talked on the SuperCom, their talks got shorter in favor of studying for the final tests they had to write soon. For El and for Mike as well, the tests couldn't come quickly enough because a few days after the last one, she, Will and Jonathan would be on their way to Hawkins, Joyce following later when she had her vacation.
"I'm telling you, she did!" Axel argued.
"In your dreams." Dottie laughed, biting off a piece of her hotdog.
"She's totally into me!" Axel tried again.
"She's nice because you tip well." Kali pointed out, holding her own bag with the food she had ordered.
The group walked back to their hideout, an abandoned warehouse no different from the one they used before. When they reached it, Kali used her powers to hide them from prying eyes as Axel unlocked the door and went in, Kali last so she could close the door before she let go of the illusion of nobody going into the building.
They dispersed to their usual places upstairs, Funshine to his workbench where he began munching on his burger while the others sat down on at the large table to eat their food in peace. As was usual for them, they didn't bother with needless conversation, enjoying the peace and quiet, the hum of the light fixtures only disturbed by the sporadic noises from Funshine at his workbench. Suddenly, they heard the sound of cars stopping and doors opening and closing, followed by boots walking on hard ground.
"Shit!" Axel cursed after getting up to look and when he saw the vehicles outside. "Kali, we're busted!"
"Lets get out of here." Kali said, preparing to use her powers again to hide them.
"We can't." Dottie whispered. "They have put cars in front of every door, we can't open them."
"Quiet." Kali mentioned for them when they heard someone coming up the stairs, surprised when only one person entered the second floor.
"I know you're all here." the man said. "Kali, Axel, Dottie, Mick and Funshine. And I know Kali is currently hiding you from my eyes."
Fuck! Mick mouthed to Kali.
"My name is Bryan Templeton, I'm a CIA agent." the man continued, showing his badge to what was for him an empty room. "I'm here to make you an offer. If you accept, meet me outside. I'll wait in my car across the street for another hour. My men will leave, only one of my colleagues will stay with me."
With that, Bryan put down the envelope he had prepared and to top it off, he rolled up his sleeve and showed the tattoo on his forearm, showing Kali that he was one of them. Afterwards, he turned around and went back down the stairs and the gang watched as the agents outside got back into their cars and left.
"What the hell was that about?" Axel asked into the room, walking to the window to see if someone was still there. "Looks clear. The guy's car is across the street as he said."
"He had a tattoo like you." Dottie pointed out.
"I saw." Kali nodded and took the envelope, opening it.
"What does it say?" Funshine asked.
"It's a date and an address for a meeting." Kali said.
"Where?"
"Hawkins, Indiana." Kali told them. "Mick, get me a car."
"You're not actually planning on going there, are you?" Axel scoffed.
"He knows me." Kali said. "He knows all of us. He knew we were here, despite my powers. Yet he left. He could have simply waited until I was too tired to hide us all."
"Why Hawkins, Indiana, though?" Funshine wondered.
"Jane is from there." Kali mused. "Maybe it has something to do with her."
"I'll get us a ride." Mick nodded and left the hideout.
"You don't have to come with me on this one." Kali said.
"We're family." Mick shrugged and that was it for her.
Kali walked downstairs and out of the warehouse, seeing the car with the two agents inside. To show that they had noticed her, one of them turned the ceiling light on, showing their faces and Kali walked over to them, the driver's side window rolling down as she neared. She saw the faces of the man that had entered the warehouse and another person.
"We'll be there." Kali told them. "All of us."
"Just you." the other man, the one she didn't know, said.
"It's either all of us or not at all." Kali stated.
"Alright." the man who had introduced himself as Bryan nodded and Kali left them alone again.
"That went better than I expected." Bryan remarked after Kali had reentered the building.
"But now there's four more people we'll have to clue in." Marcus argued.
"They know a lot already anyway, about her powers. And I doubt they wanna die once we told them the background information." Bryan shrugged.
"What do you think they'll demand for their help?" Marcus asked.
"I think, an offer of preemptive pardons for their crimes will be enough." Bryan smiled.
"You think they committed crimes?"
"Most certainly." Bryan nodded. "Everything from petty theft to murder."
"Wait, murder?" Marcus gasped.
"In my search for them, I found reports of eight people that were connected to the lab getting killed. Police never found the culprits, witnesses reports never saw them, which leads me to believe that she used her powers to hide them." Bryan explained.
"Can we trust them?"
"I doubt it." Bryan chuckled. "But I guess pardons will give them a reason not to break it."
"What next?"
"Now we get in contact with Jane Ives. Project Eleven." Bryan said and started the car.
He drove the way across town and into the suburbs where they knew the Byers family had taken residence in. Driving up the road, they found the house, stopping half a mile away and walking to another house, knocking on the door and being let in by the two people that were using the house as a base.
"Any news?" Bryan asked.
"None, Agent Templeton." the first man said. "The subject and her family are in the house and have been since nine. They were doing a barbecue before, we think to celebrate the end of the school finals."
"Alright, we're going to talk to them. Afterwards, I think we can end this observation after another week, as soon as the family leaves for Hawkins, Indiana."
Bryan and Marcus left the house again and got back into their car, driving it the remaining distance to the Byers house. They walked over to the entrance and knocked loudly, waiting twenty seconds for the walking feet coming closer and the locks opening before the opening door revealed the mother of the family.
"Misses Byers?" Bryan spoke up.
"Yes?" Joyce looked apprehensively at the two men.
"My name is Bryan Templeton, this is my colleague Marcus Boyd, we're with the CIA." Bryan introduced them, both showing their badges. "We need to speak to you, and especially, your daughter Jane."
"Uh..." Joyce hesitated.
"Don't worry, she's not in any trouble." Bryan calmed her. "We simply need to speak to her."
"Okay, come on in." Joyce stepped aside, letting the two men in. "Can I offer you something to drink?"
"Thank you, but no." Bryan shook his head and saw two young men sitting on the couch in the living room, who looked as apprehensive at them as Joyce had. "Could you please get Miss Ives?"
"Jane!" Joyce called out. "Can you come down here?"
"On my way!" El shouted back and left her room, coming down the stairs and for the first time meeting the man she had met in the voice three times face to face.
"Hello Jane." Bryan smiled at the girl. "Or can I call you El?"
"It's you!" El gasped.
"Yes, and there's no reason to shove me into a wall." Bryan stopped her, hearing the shouts coming out of her mind and her plans to do just that if he just so much as breathed the wrong way.
"Who are you?" Will asked from the couch.
"My name is Bryan Templeton. I'm a CIA agent and I have met young Miss Ives three times in a place where usually nobody goes." Bryan told him and rolled up his sleeve, showing his tattoo. "And we need to talk."
"About what?" Joyce asked.
"A secret mission to Russia to prevent the Russians to do what they have tried last year under the Starcourt Mall in Hawkins, Indiana." Bryan produced another envelope. "We can't say anything more right now, but if you're willing to help, we have prepared a meeting in your former hometown. Your sister is going to be there too, as well as some others like us. Lets just say, the success of the mission may depend on you and your powers."
El held the envelope, wondering if she should even open it as the two men left.
"Do you believe them?" Joyce asked, watching El opening the envelope and reading it.
"Yes." she nodded. "The meeting is in three days."
"Alright, everyone pack your bags." Joyce clapped her hands, dialing the number of her boss to start her vacation earlier, citing a family emergency.
I do admit that I have no idea when the state of Illinois had their summer school break in 1989, since the dates appear to be different not only by state but also by school district...
Review please :)