The Alliance
We're still better than you.
By Kawaii Li'l Lia and the Infamous Boss Reo
Episode Two
A lone monstrous black SUV cruised the highways of Japan, the roads definitely empty for this time of night. No sensible person, anyway, would be driving around at two fifteen AM. The inside was just as silent as the outside as three teenagers made their way across the country, their destination, Southwestern US of A, specifically a place called Gospel City.
"Hey Reo?" Matt questioned, watching the median strip from the passenger window. "Just how are we getting there?"
The Infamous One, who had been switching off driving duties with the blonde every couple of hours or so, glanced into the rearview mirror. "She's asleep back there, right?"
Matt glanced back at the dark-haired girl sprawled across the bench seat behind them. "Out cold. Why?"
Reo pulled something out and handed it to Matt. "Because it spoils the surprise for her."
"Cruise ship tickets?"
"I don't trust airplanes this day and age. Besides, the food's better and we'll have ourselves our very own see-ment pond."
Matt nodded, unbuckling and clamoring over the seats.
"What are you doing? You know you'll have to drive next time we stop."
"Yeah, so that's why I'm getting some sleep," Matt retorted, nudging his girlfriend. "Hey…"
"Mm, get your own seat, this one's mine," she whined groggily.
Reo chuckled. "Even in her sleep she tells you what to do."
Lia slid over, allowing her boyfriend to sidle up against her.
"This is the last night of sleeping in the car, I promise," he murmured, toying with a strand of her hair.
"It better be, I think the seatbelt buckle's digging into my side," the semiconscious author mumbled. Reo was quietly laughing in the front seat.
~*~
"Where are they now?"
"On their way out of the country, Lord Chingg, by cruise ship."
The assemblage of mercenaries and assassins buzzed with conversation around their metal conference table, each one of them cursing the Alliance and making death threats.
"Well?"
"Well what, Sir?" one of them asked.
"Well, what are you buffoons doing about it?" the overlord bellowed.
Sexx Kitten, the only female present, sighed, sharpening her claws with a metal nail file.
"Relax, we've already got our best operatives and a hoard of ninjas on board the ship. Those piddly little runts won't escape…then I can sink my claws into that little Angel whore."
"They'd better do their job, or you'll be the ones who pay."
"Yes, Boss," they murmured as one as the transmission flicked off.
~*~
"Blingg, I'm beginning to feel I made a mistake in hiring them," the crime lord sighed. He sat in a large, elegant bath while a young Chinese girl sat behind him, gently rubbing his back.
"Don't worry, Lord Chingg," she smiled. "I assure you that each one of them as a collective can be very powerful."
The man known as Chah Chingg, billionaire and CEO of the CTBW Corporation, closed his eyes and leaned back in his tub.
"I should also tell you that there has been progress made on the young Wallace boy," his assistant, Bling Blingg, said with a smile. Chingg groaned happily as her hands squeezed his shoulders.
"Finally, something useful has been done." Bling wrapped her arms around his finely toned chest.
"There's something else that can be useful for you," she whispered.
Chingg raised an eyebrow and gently held her hand.
"Such a young girl like you CAN be fruitful for a person my age…" he grinned. Bling smiled as well, only to gasp in pain as Chingg's hand quickly jerked hers downward, her wrist making a snapping noise.
"…But I have better things to do." Bling Blingg whimpered in pain as Chingg rose from the water. His other hand firmly wrapped around her neck.
"The first thing you are to know is that you are a mere secretary," he said. "…anything else, and I would have paid you for it by now. Is that clear?"
The young girl choked and nodded slowly.
"Good," Chingg said, and loosened his grip around her neck, making her fall forward into the bath water.
"Now clean this mess up," he said, as he fit on a robe and walked out of the large bathroom.
~*~
"Here it is!" Reo proclaimed proudly as the morning sun shone down on the three heroes. "Ain't it a beaut'?"
Lia and Matt just looked over their new surroundings; buffet tables, shuffleboards and all.
"Reo, if I weren't already dating Matt, I'd say I love you," Lia said.
"Me too." Matt added. The Infamous One just chuckled and picked up his bag, heading down the side of the ship.
"And check this out!" he said. "There's a vending machine right next to our room!" He whistled happily as he kicked open the door to said room, and both Matt and Lia quickly rushed in. Their faces suddenly dropped.
"Um…Reo?" Lia asked. "What is this?"
"Our room," the author replied.
Lia just shook her head slowly. "Noooooo… this isn't our room," she said.
Reo looked back at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Why not?" he asked. Lia twitched.
"Why not?" she asked. "Why not??" she repeated. "BECAUSE THERE'S ONLY ONE BED!!! THAT'S WHY NOT!!!"
Reo just blinked, then looked at the lone bed that sat in their room. "I don't see what your point is," he said.
"Reo, me and Lia wanted to have our own bed, you know!" Matt said, folding his arms. Reo grinned.
"For what?" he asked coyly.
Both Lia and Matt gulped, then blushed. "Well… you see…"
At that moment, a small container fell out of Reo's pocket. Lia looked down at the small bottle and widened her eyes as she recognized the K.Y. brand name.
Reo whistled to himself and quickly picked up the bottle with his foot. (I've got flexible toes! ^__^) Lia frowned at him and folded her arms like Matt.
"Reo…" she growled.
The Infamous One smiled innocently and threw his bag in the closet.
"Force of habit," he chuckled nervously. "Besides, it was the only thing I could afford."
Lia sighed and leaned against the doorframe, while Matt went to work putting their things away.
~*~
After probably half an hour of unpacking and claiming dresser drawers and closet space, Lia coughed and pointed to the door. Her roommates glanced up from the television, raising eyebrows in question.
"Go find something to do elsewhere," she stated sternly, motioning towards the door again.
"Why? It's our room too," Reo protested, flicking to another movie channel.
Lia sighed, tapping her foot impatiently. "I'd like to take a shower and I want to do it without you two perving at me."
Matt's eyes widened in feigned innocence. "You really think I would do that to you?"
Lia rolled her eyes. "Given the chance you'd come in with me. Now get the hell out, both of you."
Reo and Matt trudged out into the hallway, listening for the final click as Lia locked the door behind them.
"Now what?" Matt sighed, stealing a longing glance at the door behind him.
Grinning, Reo held up one of the room keys. "We take a little stroll, make her think we've gone off to the casinos or something, then sneak right back in. If we play our cards right, we can get in there right as she's toweling off."
Matt's eyes lit up. "I like the way you think."
"Yeah, well that's why I'm the brains of this operation."
~*~
The agents of the Professionals were milling about as inconspicuously as they could, trying their best not to seem as though they were spying on the two young heroes as they sidestepped the geezers playing shuffleboard. A few, sporting surveillance equipment, listened in on their conversation.
"How can you own a mansion and your own private jet and not afford to get two luxury suites?"
"Would you shut up about the bed already?"
Matt paused, fumbling around with something in his pockets. "We are letting her take it, right?"
Reo sighed in annoyance. "For the last time, we'll rotate! She gets it tonight."
The blonde nodded complacently. "So…what's our game plan for when we get there?"
Reo shrugged. "Find a nice little bungalow to settle down in, air out our spandex, give our powers a brisk workout, then hunt down the bastards that took my Wallace and tear them to shreds."
"Works for me."
The spies grinned, jotting down all they'd heard and sending it to the overseer of their operation. They had identified two of the Alliance members, and the third, the female, was somewhere in the vicinity.
"It'll be like shooting fish in a barrel," one of them snickered.
"Why would anyone want to do that?" another questioned. The first smacked the second in the head.
"Moron! It's an expression!"
"Ohhhhh, I see."
"It's not a very good one," a third stated.
"Couldn't you use something easier, like 'it'll be like taking candy from a baby?' Like that, man?" another one piped up.
"Lord Chingg will kill you all for your incompetence someday, you'll see," the first mole grumbled.
~*~
Yamato gave a bored yawn. "Don't you think we should try and get into the room now?"
"HAH! That's twenty more points! Pay up, Gramps!" Reo laughed triumphantly at an old man wearing dark visor-glasses. (Then again, don't they all?) Matt just groaned, dropping his shuffleboard stick and heading down the halls.
"Where you goin'?" the scythe-wielding hero asked as the old man gave him his dentures.
"…To get a drink or something," Matt answered.
Reo shrugged and tossed his stick away as well. "He's right. I guess it's time I worked on my sun-basking anyway."
~*~
Steam filled the small room as Lia showered. Outside the bathroom, a shadowed figure crept towards the door…
"So I sez… ya don't think it'd be coming out that way… never see's it coming, so I was like… BAM! BOOM BABY! YEAH!!" the figure rambled to himself in an inane way. He chuckled evilly and silently opened the door to the shower room. A dark blush crept across his darkened face as his evil eyes peeked in, stealing a look on the one known as Fallen Angel as she had her back to him.
"Oh yeah, baby…" he thought, then without a word, pulled out a small round object, attaching it to the wall.
"I's gots ta get me sum later," he chuckled to himself again. "Nice n' juicy…"
He pressed a button on the small device, which caused a set of numbers to appear on its lens. He then slunk out of the bathroom, once again creeping back into the shadows,
"Nice eyein' ya, sweetsie." He grinned. (Of course, considering his mouth was covered, you couldn't see it.)
~*~
"…On the rocks, please," Matt said, leaning against the bar. The middle-aged bartender nodded and walked away from him, retrieving his drink. Yamato just nodded back in thanks and proceeded to drink, occasionally rubbing his forehead.
"Why the hell did I come?" he thought, then took another drink. Gentle piano music played behind him, while a lounge singer charmed the small audience who gathered around him and the pianist behind him. Matt scoffed to himself, shaking his head as he turned back to the bar.
"It seems like only yesterday I was at that summer camp…" he thought, then set his glass on the counter.
"Refill?" the bartender asked.
Matt just nodded. "And I'll take a Bloody Mary, too," he added.
The bartender shrugged and refilled his empty glass, then once again walked away.
Matt sighed and rested his head on the counter.
"I'm getting a headache," he thought. At that moment, the bartender returned. However, instead of placing his order for a Bloody Mary, he set down instead a different drink.
"Huh?" Matt blinked and looked up. "Um… I think I ordered a different drink."
"The young man down the bar ordered it for you," the older man said, motioning towards the end of the bar. Matt raised an eyebrow and looked, seeing a young boy, about his age with brown hair that almost hung over his eyes. Yamato blushed as he smiled and gave a small wave to him.
"Oh boy…"
~*~
The Infamous One, of course, was enjoying his 'me-time'. He lay comfortably on in a sun-chair, wearing nothing but a pair of Speedos. A pair of dark glasses covered his eyes, and he lay motionless.
"Ladies," he said politely as a pair of young girls walked past him, heading towards the pool. One of them giggled, winking at him. A smile crept upon Reo's face, and he continued lying in the sun.
"So is there a piece of driftwood in those Speedos? Or are you just enjoying the sights?" a female voice said.
Reo raised an eyebrow and took off his glasses. There in front of him stood a girl about his age, wearing a purple one-piece and with rather pale skin and long dark hair, which flowed almost to her ankles.
"Would it be of any difference if I said it was a piece of driftwood?" he smiled.
The girl just smirked. "Yer real cute," she remarked, "almost like a little Baby Jesus."
"Well I've never really thought of naming it THAT, but…"
"Ease up, Sparky," the girl said, folding her arms. "You could at least start by ordering me a drink."
Reo smiled. "You started it," he said. "You could at least start by giving me your name."
"In that case, it's Shiloh," the gothic looking young lady said.
"The pleasure's all mine," Reo said. "I go by the name of…"
"I already know your name, Reo," Shiloh said.
The Infamous One blinked, "How did you…?"
The girl smirked and sat down in the chair next to him. "Call it woman's intuition," she said.
"…For the time being."
Reo said, "So what's up?"
"You mean besides you, from the look of it?" Shiloh asked. Reo just gave her a coy look.
"There's nothing wrong with that," he said.
Shiloh yawned and lay back in her chair. "Oh please," she said. "Yer about as good at it as Emerich was…"
"How did you know about Emerich?" Reo cut in, asking sternly.
Shiloh passed him a look with her dark eyes. "Don't be so tense, 'Boss'," she said. "I used to go to The School."
Reo narrowed his eyes and looked at her. "You actually made it through that?" he asked.
The girl nodded. "With flying colors," she said, resting a pair of sunglasses on her eyes. Reo just continued staring at her, then shrugged and lay back down.
"Well then I guess you and I have something in common," he said. "And it's just 'Reo' from now on. I gave up being called Boss."
Shiloh just grinned. "Whatever you say, 'Boss'," she said.
~*~
After downing his drink and bolting from the bar, in hopes to hide from his would-be admirer, Matt made his way back to the room. He checked his pockets, pulling out the spare room key and fitting it in the lock.
"Just ignore that kid in the bar, you've got a girlfriend, a lovely girlfriend," he reassured himself, sliding into the room and flopping down onto the bed with the remote.
"Matt hanging out with Reo, no good can come from that," Lia muttered, struggling to comb the tangles out of her long near-black hair. "I hope they're gone for the rest of the afternoon."
She sighed, rewrapping her towel tighter, and heading out into the room…only to find Matt lounging on the bed, remote in his hand.
"What the hell are you doing back here?" she shrieked, wrapping her arms protectively around herself.
"Watching 'Titanic,'" he replied without looking up. "Terrible movie to have on during a cruise."
"How…how did you get back?"
"Room key."
Lia glared at him darkly, the ends of her hair dripping on the carpet. "So what do you want, hmm? To perv at me in my towel? And where's Reo?"
Matt hit the mute button, getting up from the bed and walking over to her, placing cold hands on her shoulders.
"Reo's off amusing himself…I'm pretty sure he won't be back for a while."
Lia's glance met his. "Oh…is that so?"
"And as for what I want…I think I'd like one rather wet, heavily blushing angelic superhero in a towel, if that can be arranged."
The dark-haired girl smiled coyly at him. "Well, I suppose we might be able to arrange that."
~*~
Chah Chingg sat at his desk, his fingers gripping the arms of his chair as he waited for his transmission to connect.
"Goddamn modem," he hissed, tapping his foot impatiently.
"Sir, yes Sir?" came the militant query of the head ninja aboard the cruise ship.
"Where is that goddamn Professional, you festering wad of horse s***?"
The villain in question appeared on the screen after shoving the little underling aside.
"What chu need, Boss?" he drawled.
"Is everything going according to plan?" Chah Chingg asked tensely, feeling the vein in his forehead swell.
"Sure is. I's put that bomb in them's room…it should be goin' off in fourteen minutes, thirty five…thirty four…thirty three…thirty two…"
"I get the picture. And are all three in the room?"
"Well, uh, I knows the girl is…oh yeah, I definitely knows the girl is…"
"Imbecile! You can't blow up just one of them! They all must die!"
The rather incompetent villain, known as Boom-Boom, nodded. "Yessir. They's gonna all be squashed under my thumb…but can we take the girly-girl for our own? She's a piece of work!"
Chah Chingg contemplated the thought for a moment. "Kill the Kaiser and DarkScythe…we'll see about the Fallen Angel."
"Yessir." The transmission flicked off, leaving Chah Chingg alone to mull over his thoughts.
~*~
The gentle ocean sun shone down on the pool where Reo lay, alongside the mysterious girl known only as Shiloh.
"So what's the deal, creamy?" the Infamous One asked, getting a rather unamused look from the girl due to his pet name.
"Emerich's school isn't exactly open to the public, so you either got a real good reason for taking it, or he's showing a bigger fancy to the female population, dig?"
"Dig this, 'Boss'…" Shiloh said, suddenly clamping her hand around Reo's Speedos. The holder of the Lemon Scythe nearly went numb as she dug her fingernails in.
"If I wanted to give you my life story, I'd have written a book for you. So if you think you can get by with the little cute names and such, yer way off track."
Reo groaned in near-unconsciousness. "Does that mean yer gonna let go of my nuts now?" he asked weakly.
Shiloh smirked and released her hand, while Reo hunched forward, groaning in pain.
The pale girl lay on her back, going back to reading her fantasy book.
Reo fit his shades back on and relaxed once again, lifting his head towards the sky and letting the sun gleam off his glasses. This, of course, managed to get into Shiloh's eyes.
"I take it you weren't too cute with Emerich, either?" The Infamous One grinned.
~*~
"Oh Matt…" Lia moaned softly. The young blonde bishounen kissed down her neck, while he gently held her hand. The young girl giggled, and was certainly surprised at the sudden change in her boyfriend's mood towards her.
"Why so frisky all of a sudden?" she smiled, leaning her head back and sitting down on the bed. Matt just smiled and knelt down in front of her, meeting their lips again.
"Let's just say I want to reassure myself," he whispered, before pulling her towel down her shoulders. The two of them embraced and lay back on the soft bed, while Yamato quickly worked to remove his shirt and pants.
"Easy there, Tiger," the angelic hero giggled. Matt blushed and chuckled as he tossed his pants off the side of the bed. Lia smiled as he made a growl, then kissed her again, this time more passionately.
~*~
"So what are you doing on this ship, Boss?" Shiloh questioned, not even glancing up from her book. Reo was unsure if he should answer with what he was thinking, still reeling from her last blow.
"It's really none of your business," he retorted, getting up.
She glanced up at him, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "And where are you headed?"
"Again, none of your concern. But if you must know, probably to raid the vending machines, play a few rounds of roulette in the casino, and check in on my roommates. I don't trust them alone for more than three minutes."
Reo walked off…well; more like limped off, thinking bitterly to himself, "Wallace had better be appreciative of this. The things I go through…"
Little did he know that as he was leaving the pool area, Boom-Boom was arriving. He checked his watch, groaned at the fact that the bomb still had some time left before detonation, and laid down on a chaise lounge, trying to find the sweetest piece of eye candy available. The little underling spies scurried around, coming in and out to report things, and he paid little attention to their hurried whispers.
"Stupid runts. I's coulda done this mission without thems."
~*~
Meanwhile, in a large corporate building somewhere in the Southwestern US, the little Chinese secretary known as Bling Blingg was making her way down a flight of stairs with a little Styrofoam container. She paused outside a tightly secured door, hit the entrance code, and stepped inside.
A young boy was sprawled on the slab of a bed, using his shirt as a pillow. He was a prisoner of her employer, kept in a stark white room, completely empty except for the bed and a surveillance camera mounted in the corner. Wallace stirred now, glancing up at the secretary with eyes bloodshot from continued nights of sobbing. He was alone, frightened, and his D-terminal's batteries had given up the ghost two nights previously, so he had no way of contacting the outside world. The billionaire crime lord continually slipped narcotics in with the boy's meager meals, keeping him in drugged submission.
"Here, kid. Lord Chingg doesn't want you collapsing before…what's that look for?"
Wallace's face screwed up, fresh tears welling in his eyes. "I wanna go home! I didn't do anything to you, so why am I being kept here?"
Bling sighed; it was the same sob story he told everyone. "It's not what you did, it's what your boyfriend and his cronies did."
Wallace blinked childishly. "But what did Reo, Matt and Lia do that made you guys kidnap me? They're the nicest people in the world, and if you do anything to hurt them I'll…"
"Little boy, you are in no position to be making threats. I suggest you eat your bread and keep quiet before you wind up in an uncompromising situation."
~*~
"…He doesn't deserve to be treated this way," the young boy said, gazing at Wallace through the window. Vase, as he was called, pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"I know how he feels, you know," he sighed; behind him stood Shadder. The near giant of a man stood silently, his arms folded and his hair covering his eyes. "What Chah Chingg orders happens," he said simply. Vase sighed and pressed his hand against the glass.
Shadder looked down at the boy, resting a hand on his shoulder as he held his head down.
"There is nothing we can do," he said quietly.
There was no response from the boy though. The older boy looked down in confusion.
"Vase?" He nudged him a little, and the boy began to shudder suddenly.
"…Don't touch me," he growled; a dark tone overcame his voice.
Shadder observed him, removing his hand.
"I apologize," he said, "I only meant to…"
"I NEVER SAID YOU COULD TOUCH ME!!!" Vase turned around quickly, surprising Shadder as he threw him against the wall. The young man shook his head to clear his vision, looking up to find Vase standing before him, his skin deathly pale and his eyes slit almost in a reptilian way.
"Vase, calm down…" Shadder said softly. Vase growled and dug his fingers into his arm, almost making him cry out in pain.
"The next time you even lay one of yer filthy little paws on me, Meat-bag…" Vase warned him, a long tongue slithering from his mouth and drooling a sort of green liquid.
"I'm gonna yank off yer sack like a paper towel and eat it." He chuckled evilly as an arm formed of energy began to lift Shadder into the air. Vase suddenly went limp, and what appeared to be a snake-like spirit rose from his twitching body.
"You don't know how crowded it is in there," he hissed. "And I can't stand being cramped!!!"
"Bulgrim, get back in here!" another voice sounded from Vase's throat, this time sounding more low toned and mature. "If you leave the boy's body, you'll flake away! We don't need that at this point!"
The essence, which seemed to be called Bulgrim snorted and glanced back at Shadder.
"Let this be a warning, Meat-sack," he hissed, and dropped Shadder, returning to Vase's young body. The young boy collapsed to the floor, while Shadder looked at him with an emotionless statement. Dusting himself off and inspecting his arms, he picked up the fragile young boy in his arms.
"Your soul will rest some day, Vase." He whispered as he carried him down the hallway, "And this torture will finally end."
~*~
Reo breezed through the casino, deciding that playing against the honeymooning couples and the old folks wearing cataract glasses weren't worth his time, or his money for that matter. The girl Shiloh, who had left a neat little row of red crescents from her fingernails on his aching flesh, was nowhere in the vicinity, which was probably a good thing. He sighed deeply, leaving the hustle, bustle and one-armed bandits. The scythe-toting hero leaned against the railing, staring off into the horizon.
"Wallace…" he murmured, feeling his throat tighten.
"You sound as though you lost a friend," someone said from behind him.
Reo whirled on his heel, finding a young boy standing behind him. Not an overly bad-looking kid, with brown hair that flopped into his eyes.
"My name's…uh, just call me Marky," he said with an all-too chipper tone.
"Reo," was the muttered reply.
"Hey, you wouldn't happen to…nah, you couldn't. Too big of a cruise ship."
Growing annoyed, Reo snapped at the boy, "What?"
Marky blushed. "You don't happen to know a guy I saw in the bar today, do you? Um, he's about your age, probably about five-ten, really thin, longish blonde hair, bright blue eyes, kinda depressed-looking?"
"Yeah, he's rooming with me, but…"
"Do you think he'd want to go to dinner with me? I mean, I don't even know him, but he's just so…incredible that
I…could you maybe ask him?"
"Well I…"
"You're the best, thanks!" the Marky kid rambled, hurrying off probably to dress for dinner.
Reo blinked. "I wonder what'll happen when this kid finds out Matt's got a girlfriend…"
~*~
Wallace sat on his bed, staring glumly at the lifeless D-terminal in his hands. He couldn't stand the isolation, his only companions being his captors. One of them would come in at night and lean over his bed as he drifted off into a drug-laced sleep, whispering horrible things to him, trying to break his spirit.
"They're trying to save you, pathetic fools, coming here by ship. We've filled it with some of our best operatives, and do you know what they'll do?" the rogue would ask, before launching into a gore-filled soliloquy full of torture.
"Oh, they won't kill your friends right out, no, that's too easy. Beat 'em black and blue, cut 'em, gouge their eyeballs out, rape, doing a Lorena Bobbit to the gents', break bones and spirits alike, leave them all bleeding and raw both inside and out, when they're begging for death, and then they'll die. And it'll be all your fault, kiddo."
Lia's Note: Lorena Bobbit is/was this lady who caught her husband having an affair and cut his *ahem* off in a fit of rage.
"I have to warn them," Wallace muttered, trying to think of something he could use to reenergize his piece of electronic equipment. "That won't happen, that won't!"
He glanced around the room, lighting upon the video camera perched high in the corner of the room.
"Bingo." Now he had the answer, but there was still another question that remained…getting the camera down without breaking it.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Cha Chingg was monitoring Wallace's every move, watching as the boy tried to use his shirt to lasso the apparatus.
"The little bastard's getting too smart," he grumbled, issuing a string of curses under his breath before hitting an intercom. "Bling?"
"Yes, Sir?"
"Send somebody down to 57E with a hypo of narcs, the little spitfire needs to be smothered."
"Right away, Sir."
Cha Chingg narrowed his eyes, a devious grin spreading across his face.
"You will fall, Alliance, and your little Wallace friend will be the key to your undoing."
~*~
To be continued…