Sherbet Mayhem: Hey, guys, it's me! HIIIIYYYYAAAAAA! Well, first of all, I'd like to say a big huge ENORMOUS thank you to everybody. Last chapter I was really down and wasn't impressed with my material, but now you guys have spoken to me, I feel ready and willing to write, Write, WRITE! ! ! You got me back up from a bit of a slump, and so I guess I owe you a lot of thanks. Merci buckets, as I always say. For everyone who was honest and frank with me, and even to Oil Pastel, who called me a Dutch Hater (see Austin Powers in Goldmember [which, incidentally, I do not own] and yes, I know who she is. She's one of my bestest buddies! We're CRAZY together. Oh, if you like Pirates of the Caribbean, check out her story, called Jack's Treasure. I'm kinda helping her both write and advertise it, so enjoy!), I say a big ARIGATO – and that's about the extent of my Japanese. Although I can count to ten and say the words 'water', 'hello', 'good evening', 'yeah', 'deeper' 'nice catch', 'game over' and . . . er . . . 'Battle Royale'. I know gomen nasi (is that right?) . . . but *cough* I don't know what it means! Lol.
Honest Abe - I'm so pleased that you're doing a story – it's great that my own story is inspiring you! I can't wait to read it and be AMAZED (just thought I'd throw in the 'a' word . . . lol) Bonne chance! Oui, Oui! Also, are you a boy? It's just that I don't ever think I've spoken to a lad on this site! Your name kind of gives the impression that you may be un garcon (or un homme, if you're all grown up!) and I was just wondering. If you're une femme, then I am going to officially open a boy search. For a guy who writes on the Beyblade section of this site! I know, like, none!
Otherworlder – You know, I have no idea how long this fic will be. A good few chapters to go yet. Why? Getting bored of me already? :P
Janine - Your accent is terrible because you can't roll your 'r's, and hey, you might hate us Scousers and our icky accents, but guess what? LIVE WITH IT, you wannabe posh accent girlie! Just 'coz your "Higher" Beb accent is slightly more posh than ours doesn't mean you can boss me about, you man whore! HOME WRECKER!!! Urghh, don't make me get my water gun! (Bangor, remember? Lol!) Nah, I appreciate the proofs you do. "Ta chuck!" Hee, hee! Ring me when you read this you geg. We can geg all night, just geggin' in our rooms, geggin' away on the phones just like we gogged in Bangor! LMAO!!! (hun, I know you don't do computer language. That's 'laughing my ass off'. See, look how much I care!) Oh, and guess who's back in town?!? KAI'S BACK IN TOWN!!! Oh yeah, Kai, Kai, chicken bone! Oh, yeah, Kai in a kid's meal!! That jumper really was awful, but, in the boarding school's defence (how could they send Kai to a bloomin' boarding school?!?) that blazer made his bum look absolutely GORGEOUS!!! Mmm, it stuck out just a tad! And he SLEPT through his lessons! And he listened to his music, and broke a window with a poorly animated roundhouse kick, and he landed on a pile of crate boxy things, and LAUGHED THAT MANIC LAUGH WE LOVE SO MUCH!!! Mmm, I'm smiling as I type! KAI, KAI, KAI, KAI! Calming down now. That has to be the biggest note I ever wrote anybody!
Everyone else – I don't remember what your names are and I can't get on right now to check – just so you know I don't have internet access at home. I go to the nearby library to use it once every couple of days, so that's why I am sometimes slow to contact, update and so on. Apologies for my parent's fear of technology. Hmm – well, maybe 'The Mole' will be able to help me. She is entering this story soon, huh. I wonder which real life character I based her on?!?! Hmm, it's a tough one. o_0
Well, better stop jabbering on. The time, for all those who are counting how many hours I spend on this story (er, like any of you would!) is 23:54 pm. That's five to midnight. This should be FUN!!! :D
As for my meagre yet slowly amassing collection, I have, in order of when first possessed:
A dovetail saw, a piece of cheese (mouldy by now of course since I don't yet own a fridge – wanna donate one, anybody?), a purple plastic protractor which broke a bit 'cause I chewed on it, a tube of toothpaste (mintyfresh!), er, a strawberry yoghurt pot (which is also beginning to go a bit minging), a shoehorn – which was new until I chewed on it, and, finally . . . A TOASTY MAKER!!! Oh yeah, now I can toast my . . . er . . . I can make protractor and toothpaste sandwiches. Or I could write chapter six of War. You decide ;)
DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!!!!!!!! AND THANKS AGAIN!!!!!
Oh, and I'm very sorry for the late update. I've just got back from Bangor University from a two day school trip – ooh, team building skills, YAY!!! Er, or not. Actually, it wasn't bad at all! All I have to say is that my friend saw a sheep and a cow 'getting jiggy' on one particular hillside, and we spent the majority of our hours wondering whether the baby would be a 'cheep' or a 'show', oh, and whether it would say 'mooooaaaaa!' Yes, entirely educational, I'll have you know. And we're sixteen! Honestly! So it's a late update – it may even be Saturday by now (it's Friday evening here), and I'll have the next chapter up very soon! Merci!
Enjoy!
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Chapter Six: Sui Generis
She never sat down. Kai saw very little of her, but what he did see allowed him to notice how active she was. Always on her feet, running up and down corridors, screaming the names of random computer files like a banshee and wailing that there wasn't enough brown sauce in the food storage cupboard.
The Mole had arrived.
*****************************************Flashback*************************************************************************
Tyson was in a bad mood. Dave and Max had just gotten angry with him for saying that the cheesecake didn't taste too good.
So what?" he had replied in his own defence, "It's awful!"
"Yeah, but it's all we have!" snapped Dave, "And the Chinese soldiers risked their butts for this stuff! So don't complain!"
Tyson folded his arms and pushed his plate away – before pulling it back to himself and eating some more. The cheesecake obviously wasn't so bad after all – when the other option was to go completely without.
"What time's it?" asked Max, with a mouthful of the stuff. Tyson glanced at his watch and then scratched his nose.
"Three-thirty. Why?"
Dave swallowed his final piece of hideous cheesecake and gulped down some water before answering, "The Mole should be here soon."
Tyson's eyebrows instantly
rose. "Can't believe it's a girl'."
"What's wrong with that?" asked Rei as he sat down with a tray of food – well, mostly cheesecake. In fact, entirely cheesecake. His men had raided a cheesecake factory. The boys were currently feasting in the canteen tent – basically a tent slightly bigger than the others in which food was served to about ten people at a time. A small table had been set up. It had been difficult to set up tents any bigger than this simply because the land on the mountaintop was so uneven and rocky. The camp consisted of a grouping of about fifteen tents. It was possible to set up rooms in some of the tents by placing walls up, but there was one building amongst the whole camp. They had stumbled upon an old hut, consisting of two corridors and about six rooms. It had instantly been converted into the medical ward – it made sense, as it was the warmest and cleanest place available.
"Oh, hey Rei," grinned Max as Rei watched Tyson poignantly.
"Well? What is wrong with The Mole being a girl, Tyson?" he prompted. He wasn't one for inequality.
"Well, nothing's wrong with it, Rei," stammered Tyson a little nervously, twiddling with his cap, "It's just a little unorthodox."
Rei laughed. "Unorthodox? Oh, just wait till you meet her. Then you'll know what unorthodox is!"
As Rei began to tuck in to his cheesecake (pulling a bit of a face but saying nothing), Lee poked his head through the zipper entrance to the tent.
"Hey Rei!" he yelled, waving a hand, "She's here!"
Rei chewed his mouthful of cheesecake and swallowed it down with a swift gulp, and then pushed the rest of the tray towards Tyson. "Enjoy, guys. I'm off to see The Mole. We have business to discuss!"
Rei stood, brushing a few crumbs off his uniform as he did so and straightening his hat. Tyson shook his head.
"Wait, we wanna come too!"
Max echoed this, surprisingly. Since they had arrived at the Chinese camp, Max had kept to himself a lot more than usual. He was still a bubbly person with a bright nature – but wasn't so willing to talk to people as before.
"Yeah, Rei, can we meet The Mole? She sounds scary!"
Rei shook his head. "No. You can wait until later. We have important things to discuss."
He looked over at Dave, who was pouring himself another glass of water. "However, Dave – you can come with me."
Dave looked up, obviously taken aback and startled, and he put down the water glass. "Okay."
He stood up, brushing himself neatly as Rei had done. Dave and Rei had gotten on immensely – which had been expected. They were a little alike – Dave probably being more humorous but Rei being more reliable – and the two had gotten on well from the moment they had been introduced.
"Why does he get to go?" growled Tyson, poking the cake Rei had pushed over with a fork. Max sighed.
"It's all right, Tyson. We'll meet The Mole later. Be cool."
With a nod, Tyson complied and calmed his temper – which had often gotten him into serious trouble in the past. Meanwhile, Rei and Dave made followed Lee out of the deep green tent into the mountainous air outside. The weather had not been at its best. An uncomfortable wind blew through all of the tents and through the medical ward. It had snowed a couple of nights recently, but nothing too much. Still, it wasn't nice to have to sleep with the shivers.
Rei and Dave tracked Lee to the medical ward. The Mole would probably be getting checked over even if she hadn't been injured at all. That was the way things worked. Lee held open the door politely and Rei went through, followed by a hesitant Dave, into the first corridor of the medical ward. It was pale lemon, a nice, relaxing colour, and Dave relaxed as he followed Rei, who seemed enthusiastic.
"Hey Rei?"
A voice came from one of the rooms that led off from the lemon corridor, and Rei stopped and stepped backwards a few paces to see Kai sitting up in bed, his hand wrapped around his Beyblade Dranzer, which had been rescued by the Chinese army in the raid on Boris' Labour Camp.
"What's going on?"
Rei smiled. "Hey buddy. The Mole's finally arrived, so I'm off to speak with her. How'd your op go?"
Kai nodded – that morning he had undergone multiple operations to repair broken bones – twelve in all – and to close any open wounds he had – seventeen in all. Finally his injured knee (the one with the bullet wound) had been tended to. He was in plaster from the waist down, but this couldn't be seen due to the bed covers. Kai was just glad he hadn't been awake this time around. He had been in surgery for six hours, and was still feeling a little tired from it all. He had been told that the Chinese doctors had used specific positions when placing the splints in his legs to hold his bones in the correct place, and healing would not take as long. In fact, he had been told that he would be able to walk in about a month and a half. The bones in his waist would take a little longer to heal, as his pelvis had taken serious damage, but there was no enduring impairment.
"Fine. Where is she?"
He was interested in this Mole person. She must be smart to be able to go undercover like that and avoid detection – not to mention that Rei had told him that she was a computer whiz. Looked promising. Kai could just imagine this serious, stolid woman, with a monocle like Mr Dickinson wore and her hair knotted back in a flat bun. He smiled and looked out of his open door, awaiting Rei's reply.
"She's around here somewhere," said Rei, glancing down the corridor and then back at Kai. Dave popped his head through the opening.
"Hey Kai! Feeling okay?"
"Yeah, good, Dave."
Dave smiled and nodded, and then looked back at Rei. He was about to suggest that they get going when he saw, looking past Rei, a figure running down the hallway. He blinked and Rei saw him hesitate, and they both spun around.
The Mole skidded to a halt in front of Rei.
"All righ', Rei?" she cried, her face lighting up. Dave stared. She was nothing like he – nor anybody else – had imagined her to be. She was very short – about five foot two – with short arms and legs and a solid, curvy build. Her feet stuck out rather comically, like those of penguins. Her wide, hazel eyes were hidden behind very thick, rectangular spectacles, and she wore a lot of black eye make-up. She had a small, pointed nose and a cheeky mouth, which revealed a set of straight, sharp teeth. She kept her dark brown hair very short – just past her chin – which gave her a rather studious look. Wearing her khaki combat suit, however, dispelled the academic appearance and left one wondering what had hit them. Dave also noticed that the fairly pale skin on her hands and neck was scarred with dozens of red marks, as though she had been in a fire or something. He chose not to stare at those and smiled. Rei seemed ecstatic.
"Hey, you're back! It's good to see you!"
Then Rei did something completely unexpected – and picked the girl – who could have been no older than sixteen herself – up and spun her around in a bear hug. Dave listened as she laughed – it was jolty but a pleasant sound in itself – and then listened further as she spoke again.
"Rei, pu' me down, ye' big goon!"
Dave gasped and felt his eyebrows rising in surprise. She spoke so quickly it was difficult to understand what she was saying, and her accent was so strange to him! She pronounced the word 'you' as a kind of 'ye' (for example, the same sound as the 'ye' at the beginning of the word 'yellow'). It was also in English – which Dave could speak fluently. In fact, most people tended to speak English in this camp, as it was simpler that way. Kai and Rei always spoke in English though it was not their native language; Kai spoke Japanese (his native), Russian, and a little Latin as well as English, and Rei spoke Chinese (his native) and English. Dave furrowed his brow as he made out what she was saying and Rei placed her back down. He seemed to understand her perfectly. He then spun around to Dave.
"Dave, this is Jenny, our Mole. Jenny, this is Dave, of the Japanese army."
Dave offered his hand, and Jenny took it with her own scarred ones, not looking in the least put out by his failure to speak. He was baffled!
"Nice te' mee' ye', Dave. 'Owcome yer up 'ere wiv d'Chinese army?"
Dave blinked. This was impossible. At the rate she spoke, and the heavy accent she talked with, Dave couldn't understand a word! Rei laughed, seeing Dave's confusion.
"Jenny's from Liverpool, in England, Dave. She had a Liverpudlian accent. She's a . . . what do you call it, Jen?"
"'Scousa'?"
"Yeah!" cried Rei, his eyes gleaming, "A Scouser!"
Another blink from Dave, and then he snapped to.
"So that's it!" he thought triumphantly. At the same time, her question finally registered, and he answered in his own accented English.
"My troop was destroyed, Miss. I'm one of four remaining soldiers left alive from the Japanese army. Rei and his troop rescued me and my three friends from a labour camp near Tokyo a few days ago."
Jenny nodded, her bright eyes scanning him up and down. She seemed energetic enough.
"Righ',"
Dave noticed that she didn't pronounce the letter 't' very much. He smiled again, politely, taking a strange liking to the girl – who peered into Kai's room curiously.
"Oo's 'e?"
Taking it that the girl meant 'who's he?' Dave began to explain.
"That's Captain Kai Hiwatari. He was head of the troop I was in."
The girl nodded, as if absorbing the information like a sponge. She certainly was a strange piece of work. She moved into the room and looked Kai up and down. Rei and Dave merely followed, Rei laughing at Dave's expression. He almost looked scared!
"'Dis d'one ther'after'in Russia?" she asked. Rei nodded.
"Kai is one of my best friends, Jen. We bladed on the same team, and Kai has a history with Boris."
Jenny looked back at the bed, whilst Kai met her gaze. He had been listening from his room as she had spoken in the hallway, and was fortunately able to understand a little more than Dave. Still, it was difficult. He looked up at her, and before she could speak again, he asked a question of his own.
"I hear you're pretty good on computers."
Jenny cocked her head at him, her eyes flashing. She was tired – she had jet lag and was not really in the best mood for a grilling. Still, these boys seemed nice.
"Dat Dave one's a righ' laugh, an' 'e's quite fit, not to mention that Kai one! Plus Rei's as lovely as ever! An' tha' uvver feller . . . Lee, tha's it, 'e's still got 'is lovely chest! " she thought as she stared back into Kai's hard eyes. She spoke quickly, flicking her hair out of her eyes."Ye', well. I 'ear yer pre''y good at leadin' yer troops te' vict'ry in Tokyo."
Kai's eyes brightened. She had already proven she knew more about him than he had originally thought.
"So you heard about that?" he said, shifting a little. His waist was hurting him. Jenny watched.
"All righ' there? Whar'appened te' ye'?"
Kai translated, watching Rei behind the girl laughing quietly, and then answered. "It's a long story. I'll tell you another time. I think you and Rei have to sort a lot of stuff out first."
Jenny smiled. "Yep, I'm off. Rei, 'av ye' go' a room where we can talk? I know a lo', but they migh' 'av spies."
Rei stepped forward. "No, Jen, we'll talk here. I want Kai to hear this too. And Dave. Not to mention Lee," he beckoned Lee in from the hallway. Lee closed the door behind him.
Jenny sighed, rolling her eyes, and then pulled up a chair. She moved a little clumsily. "Ye' sure ye' can trust 'm Rei mate? 'Ow well d'ye' know these lads?"
Rei pulled up a chair of his own, whilst Dave and Lee leaned against the wall. "Well enough, Jen. I take it you've made a report of all this."
Jenny nodded, and Dave smiled, not sure why.
"Yer I 'av. I've sent one copy te' th' Gen'rels in 'Ong Kong an' England, an' I gave anuvver te' Lieutenan' Hing. 'Ey-yar."
Presuming that the last two words meant 'Here you are', Rei leant forward and took the blue folder Jenny handed to him, which she had removed from her duffel bag. He then relaxed and glanced at Kai.
"Take this in, Kai. You need to know this."
Kai shrugged, and Jenny took off.
"'Remember tha' lake ye' told me abou', Rei? Th' one in Russia?"
Rei nodded. "Lake Bikau?"
"Ye', tha's it. Go east from th' centre fer abou' free miles, and ye' get te' a turnoff in th' road. Go norf-east. Carry on fer abou' 'alf a mile, an' you'll see a fence to ye' left. Follo' th' fence until ye' get to a black steel gate – it's a bi' rusted an' all. Hop th' gate an' you'll be in a field o' like corn or sumfin'. Look te' th' righ' o' th' field, past th' fick trees an' all tha', an' you'll just see th' tip o' th' HQ buildin' poppin' over th' tops o' th' trees. It's a dark grey buildin'."
Dave shook his head. He hadn't gotten any of that. However, Rei seemed to be managing just fine, and Kai either understood enough to follow, or masked his confusion really well. Rei was writing this down on a notepad he had seemed to acquire from thin air, but, on the plus side, Lee looked just as confused as Dave himself did.
"How heavily guarded is it?" asked Kai, stealing the words from Rei's mouth.
"Damn it," thought Dave, "Kai's understanding! How? It's like she's speaking Swahili!"
Jenny nodded. "Th' fron' is. If ye' go behind th' buildin' in abou' a 'alf-mile radius, you'll avoid detection an' you'll be able te' move in closer. Th' back o' th' buildin' is overgrown wiv like, loads'a' plants an' bushes an' stuff. You'll 'av no problem creepin' up. From wha' I've seen there's two guards a' th' back o' th' buildin'."
Rei held up a hand. "We'll talk about that later, Jen. Talk about the structure of the inside."
Jenny took another breath, looking a little tired. "Righ'. Th' buildin's made up o' free levels. Ground, one, two, an' free. Ground is like a reception floor. I'll tell yer abou' cameras an' stuff later. Th' first floor is like a storage floor. It's where de' keep all their weapons, uniforms, artillery – you name it, it's there. Second floor is a computin' floor. Dey've go' th' entire system on tha' floor, which is dangerous. 'Cause people like me can sneak in an' access everyfin' I'm no' supposed te'. Tha's probably our main floor. Th' fird floor is where the offices are. I never saw Voltaire's office, bur'I know it's up there. I saw Boris' office, an' a few uvvas."
She paused, and Rei caught up with her on his note pad, where he was frantically scribbling in messy Chinese.
"Security?"
"Immense. S'like a bloomin' camera shop in there. Both lifts are guarded-"
"Lifts?" broke in Kai, pausing the girl. Dave was also confused. Rei saved Jenny the bother of explaining.
"She means elevators. Carry on, Jenny."
"Sorry, elevators. Anyway, they're guarded a lot, an' th' second an' fird floor 'av both got two guards on each 'allway. Guards are loaded wiv one hand-pistol each. Dey can call fer back-up anytime."
She finished for the moment and leaned back into her chair. The room was silent but for the scribbling of Rei's pen on the notepad as he hurriedly jotted everything down. When he had gotten all he needed, he looked up, flicking his inky-black hair out of his eyes with a shake of his head.
"Sounds good, huh Kai?"
Kai nodded as he lay himself down in the white sheets of his bed, feeling the cold a little. "I'm guessing there'll be even heavier security outside Voltaire's room?"
"Four guards loaded wiv machine guns," replied Jenny a little monotonously.
Rei sighed and ran a hand through his jet black mop, feeling a little outclassed. BIOVOLT certainly seemed to have all of the bases covered. It looked like infiltrating their lair would be a complete impossibility . . .
********************End Flashback! ****************************************************************************************
Kai smiled to himself, amused. Almost a week had gone by since Jenny had gotten back to camp, and she had caused mayhem quite literally. The first day, she had been trying to squeeze brown sauce out of the sauce pot and had managed got squirt it all over one of the computers, causing it to crash – not to mention creating sparks that flew from the keyboard! She had already confessed to having an addiction to brown sauce.
"She's so strange," thought Kai as he looked out of the window, still bound to his bed and feeling rather useless. At that moment Jenny, running past his room like a headless turkey, screaming at the top of her lungs "It's double hash eight," snapped him out of his thoughts. "Th' password's DOUBLE HASH EIGHT!!!"
"I hope BIOVOLT don't have their own Mole here, or they'll know exactly what we're doing at every minute of the day!"
She ran past again, and Kai chuckled. She was a source of amusement for him in the times when Tyson or Rei couldn't take him for a spin in the wheelchair – the only one in the ward – but still he couldn't help feeling restless.
At that moment, the Chinese forces were directly in the middle of decoding the files needed to hack anonymously into BIOVOLT's mainframe. Jenny and her crew of . . . er . . . two . . . were entirely confident that they could take down the system within three weeks. They were working on it day and night, and were moving along at a good pace. If things continued the way they were, the files would be decoded and "Operation Cheesecake" (as Tyson had so blithely named it) would be able to completely mess up the majority of computers in the BIOVOLT HQ. That would allow the Storm Troopers to enter.
Rei had been carefully compiling a list of possible members of the Storm Trooper Squad. Dave had been chosen immediately – Rei had recognised the same qualities in Dave that Kai had spotted so long ago – inside Dave was a spark. It lay still, but could be set off in a devastating manner if triggered in the correct way. He carried with him determination, grit, and a sense of humour – which would probably be very necessary on this operation. He had also chosen Max, as Max had not yet used the power of his bit-beast Draciel and it could help them if they got into a tight spot – plus Max had grown a lot and could (and probably would) be devastating in a battle. Rei himself would be going, as well as Tyson (no-body was sure just why Rei chose Tyson. Perhaps he thought the lad might rise to the occasion, just as he had in previous battles and operations). He was considering Lee, but Lee hadn't the heart for all of this gore and violence. Rei had been surprised to see how much Lee hated this. He had expected his former teammate to rise magnificently to the occasion, but Lee had shown an immense disliking to the whole business. That left a spot open, and it was a difficult choice for Rei to make. Lee, or perhaps Lieutenant Hing, or one of the English fighters, or maybe . . . even . . . ?
Jenny would also be going with them, and her technician, Mark, a skinny, bright lad with a naughty grin and a freckly, impish face. They would be working on the computer meltdown from the inside. That left one spot.
Kai frowned, trying to think whom it could be. Perhaps Rei knew people from his own squadron, or maybe he had someone from England in mind. Whoever it was would have a huge task to take on.
Kai blinked as his door opened, and Jenny stepped in, panting and obviously out of breath. He smiled at her as she shut the door behind herself.
"Hey, Jenny. How are things going?"
Jenny waved a nonchalant hand. "Grea'. Blumin' wonderful. Mark just los' the decodin' files yet again! E's such a wazzock. Bu' yeah, fings aren't so bad. We're doin' better than we planned. 'Owever, I didn't' come 'ere ter talk abou' me, no matter how temptin' tha' sounds. I've come te' talk abou' you."
Kai raised his eyebrows, now adapted to Jenny's chirpy, bright voice and strange words. Ignoring the question of 'What's a wazzock?' he asked a different question.
"Why's that?"
Jenny pulled up a chair. "Rei sent me in earlier, bur'I'was dead busy and I 'ad te' keep goin' on a certain file. Now it's done an' all, I can come an' talk te' yer. Righ' . . . er . . . oh yeah. Rei asked how yer doin'. He wanted me te' come an' ask how yer doin'. Seems a bit fick if yer ask me – why not just ask yer 'imself?"
Kai was also puzzled. What was Rei up to now? He had grown so shrewd that Kai could barely follow where Rei's mind was taking him sometimes. He sighed.
"Well, whatever. I'm feeling okay. Is that it?"
Jenny rolled her eyes. "No! I fink 'e wants a bi' more detail, if yer know wha' I mean."
Another sigh from Kai. He felt like he was being played with. "Well, the only thing really giving me trouble is my pelvis. My legs seem to be healing fine. Just my pelvis occasionally hurts – I mean, it goes away quickly and all. It just aches now and then."
Jenny watched him carefully as he spoke, her round hazel eyes taking in every feature of the boy. She took a breath.
"I 'erd tha' you'll be up an' abou' in free weeks or so now. Bet yer lookin' forward te' tha'."
"Uh huh."
Jenny was silent for a moment, before speaking a little more quickly than usual.
"Rei wants yer te' lead th' squad."
There was an uneasy silence, before Kai glanced at Jenny, who seemed to be awaiting his answer, and smiled.
"Be serious. Why are you here, Jenny?"
Jenny blinked rapidly; taken aback that Kai had thought that she had been joking.
"Er . . . no, Kai, I'm serious. 'E said 'e wants you leadin'. 'Onest, I swear on me own life tha' I'm no' try'na trick yer!"
Kai looked head on at the girl, who seemed to be telling the truth. "Jenny?"
"Yer?"
"Has Rei lost his mind?"
Jenny stood up angrily. "I dunno wha' ye' bein' so sarcastic for! It's an honour te' even be asked te' do sumfin like this, an' you don't even bovva believin' it! I'll get Rei in me-self if ye' tha' incredulous!"
"Okay, scary angry English girl on me here," thought Kai as Jenny flailed her hands in the air dramatically. "Better say something,"
"Okay, I believe you. But why'd Rei ask me?" Kai asked, his smooth, low voice calming the irate girl down. She took her seat. "It's not like I can even walk or anything!"
Jenny ran a hand through her messy hair – she had been so busy that she hadn't had time to tie her hair up when she rose that morning. She'd run a comb through it and left it at that – despite the fact that it looked like a mop. A wet mop. A wet brown mop.
"I dunno, Kai, this is jus' wha' 'e told me ter ask ye'. Personally, I fink you're gonna be up an' abou' sooner than ye' fink. In fact . . . I'm no' s'pposed ter even tell ye' this . . . "
She lowered her voice to a whisper, and Kai leaned forwards, knowing she would be practically impossible to understand.
"You'll be walkin' in two weeks, say th' medics," she hushed, looking about anxiously in case somebody heard her. Kai had to laugh at that one.
"Okay, now I know this is a joke. What type of medic would say that? A blind one?"
He shook his head, while Jenny looked more and more annoyed.
"Righ', jibb this, I'm off. S'no point sittin' round wiv you if yer not even gonna believe a word I say!"
She kicked her chair away hard, causing it to scrape along the floor in an undesirable fashion, and then stormed out of the room. Kai stared after her for a second, the smile on his face dropping slowly, and he ran his own hand through his hair, wondering what he had done to deserve this. Was she lying? Was Rei lying? How about the doctors? Would he be out of bed soon?
Kai's heart leapt at that last one. He longed to be up again. He despised lying in bed, useless, whilst the others had to work to keep the camp alive. He felt so guilty. But part of him didn't feel he was meant to be doing this mission anyway. He felt wrong. Almost like he shouldn't. What the group was going to do would cause the deaths of millions of BIOVOLT soldiers. Kai felt in his heart that he wasn't cracked up for this. He was no leader.
As Kai lay back to ponder Jenny's words of 'wisdom', the door creaked open again, and in stepped Rei. Kai raised his eyebrows and didn't bother to sit up.
"Okay, Rei, was that a wind up? She seemed pretty intense, so-"
Rei laughed, raising his hands, his face crinkling in merriment and his ochre eyes glinting warmly, attractively.
"Woah, calm it down! Jeez!"
He pulled over the chair that Jenny had kicked in her rage. "You should have believed her."
"Is that 'cause she was telling the truth or because now I'm on the wrong side of her and she's one dangerous lady?" asked Kai, his voice wet with sticky sarcasm and irritation. He'd had enough of this.
"All right," said Rei, smiling, "Relax. She was telling the truth. I want you to lead the squad. Lee isn't quite fit for the job, and I don't want Hing there to boss us all around and then lose his head when he sees something gross. You're the man for the job, buddy."
"But what abou-"
"Wait! Patience, virtue, remember? What you don't know is that your legs and waist have been set in a particular way by our medics – the modus operandi* that encourages the quickest healing. Not to mention the fact that you always were a quick healer . . . basically the doctors are saying you'll be up within two weeks."
Rei held up his hands in defence as Kai was about to speak again. "Now, I don't know how much truth there is in that! We'll have to wait and see. But there's no harm in hoping, is there?"
"What if I'm not fit for the mission by the time you leave?"
Rei smiled. "You will be. And you'll be bringing Dranzer. She could be useful too."
He stood up. "Well, I need to go help the Banshee. She hasn't stopped yelling or screaming today. I think she's working too hard. And the worst part is, we're out of brown sauce."
Kai sat up. "What? Oh man! Waah, Rei," he continued in a quite impressive Liverpudlian accent, "She's gonna eat yer alive! Waah, I'd leg it now if I was you!"
Rei chuckled. "Don't. She isn't that bad!"
Kai nodded. "Yeah, she's cool. Dave seems to like her a lot."
The two nodded together solemnly, both feeling that if Dave ever got involved in a relationship with Jenny, he would be digging his own grave within a month's time. Then they smiled and laughed, both imagining Dave digging his grave and Jenny shouting orders for him to speed up and saying that she didn't have all day.
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A harsh wind blew through the air, forcing itself through the trees and creating a cruel sounding crackle as it hissed. A light snow had fallen and made the ground a little slippery, and it was difficult to walk in the regulation army boots. The air whispered about them, and the trees rubbed together eerily.
The fence was brown; with bits of rust here and there where the metal nails had been ravaged by nature. It lay behind now, and ahead, looking over the green and white treetops, was the destination.
HQ.
Tyson, crouching behind a small jade shrub, turned around, his face marked with camouflage of olive and tan paint. His grey blue eyes stood out rather startlingly. His hair poked from underneath a green helmet, branded with a golden star, which glistened in the evening's light, however dim that was.
"What now?"
The team could not be seen to the naked eye, but Tyson knew where they were hiding. There was Max, crouching behind another bramble bush close to Tyson, and Dave's face could be caught peering from behind the bark of a tree. Further back, Rei's ponytail could occasionally be seen as he moved stealthily like a shadow or a spirit, at home in the forest. Jenny and Mark were to Tyson's right, crouching down and fiddling very quietly with a tiny laptop and whispering almost silently to each other in hushed tones.
Tyson waited for an answer, and there was a rustling above to his left. He glanced over in the direction of the noise just in time to see his Captain drop down easily from the tree branches above and land nimbly on the floor, bending his knees in the landing process carefully.
Kai stood up, stretching to his full height, and put the pair of binoculars he had been using away in one of his many pockets. As impressive as ever, with his strip of khaki material returned to being tied just underneath his hairline and his Uzi's at his waist again, Kai Hiwatari stepped forwards, not showing an instant's hesitation in moving his legs, nor a second of insecurity or doubt about where he was meant to be now.
"We move. No time like the present."
Operation "Sui Generis" had begun.
In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade,
And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out,
In his anger and his shame: "I am leaving, I am leaving!"
But the fighter still remains.
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Sherbet Mayhem: Well, I'm finally done! YAY! How did you like it? Oh, I need to explain Rei's Latin. I starred it with an asterix * so I could explain it . . . modus operandi means 'method of operating'. It's a medical term, me thinks. And the name of the Operation, Sui Generis means 'In a class of its own', as in, something like this has never been and never will be attempted. It also translates as unique, but I prefer the translation 'once-in-a-lifetime' or "Never again". Never again is probably the nicest, coz it implies that this operation isn't only the last of its kind, but that it will put an end to ever needing operations like this again, because war will be 'never again'.
How did you like Jenny? I decided this story needed a bit of comic relief, so I threw her in. Don't worry, it's not gonna turn into a romance between Dave and Jenny or anything. This is about WAR and will remain so. But I'll probably throw hints of flirting in now and again for all of the romantics out there.
Sorry I took so long to update. Every time I put my computer on, my friend called (we talk for like two hours every night!) on the phone, or I felt the urge to go and work more on my song writing – yes, I write music. Well, I've written tonnes of lyrics and now I'm putting them to music. I have only one song completed and it took ages! Plus the whole Bangor University thing.
The lyrics at the end of this chapter were from 'The Boxer' by Simon and Garfunkel. Yes, I love Simon and Garfunkel. Go on, laugh. I'm used to it – lol. I chose them because they relate to Kai – how he wanted to give up and didn't believe he would be able to take part in sui generis, even though he should have been. The lyrics make the poignant remark that if something is part of us, if something is deep down, inbred into our souls, it won't go away, even if it's hurting us to keep it. Kai didn't want to take part in sui generis, because he thought it involved too much death and destruction – plus he never thought he'd be fit enough or good enough. However, it is in Kai's blood to lead people, to be a true leader with initiative and so on, and his body fought to get back to health, to fulfil that need to be the leader of the pack. The lyrics kind of reflected that by saying the Boxer, no matter how ashamed he was, no matter how down and out he was, he was a Boxer, and there was no getting around that. I mean, I thought they applied, anyhow. When Simon and Garfunkel performed it live one time, they changed the lyrics, and in the last line (I am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains) they sang "Through changes upon changes, we are more or less the same" and I also think that is very true of this chapter and the characters.
I'll stop now. I'm too tired. It's 03: 47am, and I HAVE COLLEGE (last two years of high school for those of the readers in the good ol' USA) TOMORROW! My bus leaves at eight o clock, so in time to shower, make-up, perfume, choose outfit, choose shoes, eat breakfast and pack school bag I am gonna have to get up at six am! Lol! I'll be happy tomorrow! Or not.
Anyways, you know the drill by now! REVIEW PLEASIES!!! Tell me if it sucked, and expect a ton of action in the next chapter! Oh, and the British will be making their debut in the next chappie too. The All Stars aren't gonna appear, 'cause frankly I despise Emily so much, and Michael thinks he's perfect, and Steve is really ugly with icky helmet hair (is that natural?) and Eddy is just a wannabe Kai, try'na be all cool as a bloomin' cucumber! Ew. What a rip off.
Oh, before I go, if you guys need a translation on any of the 'Liverpudlian' phrases or sentences, just email me. It'll be confusing, I know! It was actually really difficult to write my own accent in! I never realised I missed the letter 't' off the end of so many words! Lol! It sounds so normal to me, you see. If you can't understand I'll edit the chapter and change it into normal English if it's too hard – which is suspect it might be, as I know that if I wasn't from Liverpool and I read that then I'd be utterly boggled!
See ya soon, and be happy!
Jen x x x x x x x x x
REVIEW!!!
Oh, I think I'll throw in a little taster! Just to whet your little appetites . . . you're gonna hate me for this . . . hee, hee . . .
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Next chapter . . .
"What do you mean they haven't arrived?" asked Kai, rubbing his waist, which was beginning to get more than a little sore, "That's impossible!"
"It's no joke," muttered Rei, his face looking suddenly tired, "The Chinese are going to have to stand alone."
Tyson, listening in to the boys' not so private conversation, gasped and leaned against the nearby wall, overwhelmed by the magnitude of Rei's last statement. Rei and Kai noticed but didn't mind that he had listened in – everybody would have to know sooner or later anyway. Rei glanced back at Kai with worry written across his deep amber irises, glowing in the dark.
"We're done for."
With his heart sinking deeper into his chest and thudding rapidly, Kai could only agree.
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Sherbet Mayhem: Ooo, it's getting rough for the boys (and girl – yay, go me!!!) in the next edition of WAR, coming soon to a fanfiction site near you! Read it or beat it! ;p