Disclaimer: all characters and locations unless featured in the Teen Titans
show or otherwise, are property of Mr. Bigg.
Sorry for the hiatus. Just finished my finals, and am in the process of salvaging my brain. Here's a longer one for you. I also apologize to any offended nerds.
Note to PixieGirl13: The cross over is a powerful transition that would change Batholry for ever, but I can't tell you the specifics. Sorry, but all things in good time. Thanks for the review.
LOCATION: Pacific Northwest, USA (P.I.A. Headquaters)
Explosions rocked the terrain, as quakes seemed to rip through the soil like waves in an ocean. Dust and rocks were flung into the air, blacking out the skies momentarily. Adila bit her lip, not moving a muscle.
"Nice job, warning me about the minefield. I mean, I could have lost my head!" she said into her comm link.
"Get off it! This tracking software's being a bitch, and besides, who knew he'd plant live ammunition!" Conary yelled from some thirty feet away. He quickly pulled out small, thin laptop, and began to type furiously on it.
"Hurry up! They're already at the wall!" Adila yelled at her partner. To her, teamwork was something that took a lot of getting used too. She craned her neck to see past the large dividing fence to check on the progress of the competition.
Hotei found himself standing before a large, barren wall. He waited calmly, slowing his breathing as he entered a state of inner calm. Suddenly, the ghostly form of Batholry phased through the faceless barricade. "We're almost there. You need to find some way over the wall. Are there any footholds?" She asked, frantically scanning the wall.
Hotei took in the sight of the wall in its entirety. Then, closing his eyes and slowing his breathing, he looked at the wall once more. Tendrils of thought brushed the surface of the wall, finding no structural weakness. They moved on and managed to find a small ledge, no wider than an inch. Soon, they found another and another...
He opened his eyes. Before he saw the same wall, yet he allowed himself a small smile. Though towering and barren it seemed he knew its secrets. He leapt into the air, seemingly towards nothing, and felt his bare feet press against the ledge. Hotei kept at it, jumping from ledge to ledge, finally reaching the top. He landed with feline grace on the other side.
By now, Adila and Conary had reached a similar wall. Cupping her hands, Adila catapulted Conary into the air. Conary hit the wall with a grunt, scrambled over the top, then fell to the earth with a yelp of pain, massaging his (now tender) posterior. "Tylenol's gonna be working overtime tonight..." He mumbled, staggering towards the final obstacle.
Adila's sharp eyes noted the minute shadows on the wall's face, betraying minuscule hand and foot holds. She quickly pulled herself to the top with her powerful arms, depositing herself on the other side. She grabbed Conary roughly by the collar, sprinting towards the goal.
All the while, two digital clocks counted towards oblivion. They were mounted on towering metal flagpoles, taunting all four competitors. Adila stared up at them, knowing she must find some way to climb the slim pole. She was pleased to note that the problem seemed to have stumped her opponents.
"Can you deactivate the device?" Hotei asked Batholry, starring at the top of the tower. He meandered around the pole in a rough circle, scanning the task.
Batholry shook her head. "I already tried disrupting it. That is usually enough for these machines..." She said.
Meanwhile, Adila was climbing the pole, arm over arm. She was running on pure adrenaline now. Conary took the free time to play a quick game of solitaire.
Hotei flicked the pole with his finger, listening intently to the hollow ring it produced. As Adila reached the top, Hotei unstrapped his naginata. With graceful precision, he cut an elegant arc in through the air, cutting through the pole with little difficulty. The pole fell with a resounding bang, crushing the clock under its metal bulk. At that same moment Adila pounded her clock, bringing it to a stop.
Rayfe strode onto the field, flanked by several clipboard-carrying officers. He came to a stop at the wreckage of the fallen pole, kicking the clock remains with slight distaste.
"Intelligence reports that both clocks were stopped simultaneously. Both times also beat the current course record," he said, emotionless. "But this was, by no means, a success. Adila, while your display was above your average, you moved independently. The goal was to accomplish the goal as a team, not try to compensate for Conary's weaknesses. Of which he has many," Rayfe said, gazing at a wheezing Conary.
"Hotei and Batholry, while your teamwork was satisfactory, you displayed a lack of initiative. And while your clock-stopping methods were... innovative, I'd appreciate it if you kept the training equipment in one piece. We don't want a repeat of the weight room incident," Rayfe continued, gesturing towards the compound. A small construction team was hastily rebuilding the outside wall of the base's weight room.
"Starting tomorrow, we begin mission training. Along with boot camp, you will undergo individual training for your mission specifics. Now, hit the showers. That is all for the day," Rayfe said, walking off.
The group was quiet as they entered the compound. Hotei could sense feelings of embarrassment and unease flowing from Conary. And it didn't take a mental link to sense Adila's anger. He thought about both of them, purposely slowing his step to fall behind. Batholry noticed and pursued him.
"Anything in particular?" She asked him. "I know what you're thinking. You mortals are sometimes more transparent than me," Batholry added, noting Hotei's confused expression.
"I do not understand. How can they work together if they hide their thoughts from each other?" Hotei asked. Batholry could see the boy's innocence in his wide brown eyes.
"I know not. Humanity is fickle, if anything," Batholry said, floating away.
Conary sighed as the hot water poured from the showerhead. The steamy spray sent his sore pains packing as Conary fell into a relaxed stupor while an inconsistent babble assaulted his ears. Realizing Hotei was speaking to him, he snapped back to reality.
"Conary? Why must I bath all the way over here?" Hotei asked from thirty showerheads away. The communal shower room had privacy stalls installed for each shower, but Conary took no chances.
"Well, uh... it's just, you know, like, dudes don't bath real close. It's just a thing that all us dudes do. Ya got me?" Conary replied, yelling over the roar of the water.
"But the soldiers shower together. I was under the impression that they were 'dudes' as well," replied Hotei.
"Hotei?"
"Yes, Conary?"
"Don't ask questions," Conary said. The remainder of the time passed without conversation.
Soon enough, the pair arrived at their sleeping quarters. Conary ungracefully clambered up onto his bunk, disappearing from Hotei's sight. He slid into his bed, turning off the light as he did.
Minutes later, the door cracked open. "Kid? You ready?" a hoarse voice whispered.
"We're good to go. Wakey-wakey, Hotei," Conary said, jumping to the floor and shaking his friend awake. "Don't talk," He added, cutting off Hotei. "We're sneaking off base tonight. There's supposed to be a town a couple miles from here!"
Hotei nodded eagerly, accepting a bundle of street clothes from Conary. The pair followed the small, muscled soldier through the quiet base halls, out a service door and into the back of a van. The soldier tapped the driver on the shoulder, and the group sped of into the night.
"Here's the skinny: You guys get to schmooze around town 'til two, then meet us at the In and Out Burger. If you ain't there, tough shit," The small soldier said, with a peculiar nasally accent.
"That's a ten-four. What's in this town, anyways?" Conary asked, throwing on his street clothes.
"Well, there's a few good bars, a pond, and a brothel. No, wait; it was a Chuck E. Cheese's, not a brothel. My mistake," the soldier replied.
"WHAT?! I didn't pull all this crap just to visit Podunk, USA!" Conary replied, each word laced with indignity.
"There's a 24-hour Wal-mart," The driver mumbled.
"... That will suffice. Come, friend Hotei! We voyage to fabled Wal- mart by gilded coach!" Conary yelled, throwing an arm around Hotei's shoulder. Hotei was not quite sure what a Wal-mart was, but if Conary like it, it must be good...
The pair stepped jumped out of the van onto rain-slicked blacktop. As they entered the fluorescent bastion of society, a sallow moon rose into the night sky. Conary made a b-line for the games and anime, while Hotei marveled at the immeasurable heaps of things called 'refrigerators' and 'lounge chairs.'
Conary, meanwhile, tried to spark up a conversation with some fellow anime enthusiasts in the DVD section.
"So, you see the new Eva manga releases? I had to re-buy all eight so I could own the complete set," A portly girl said, taking a long drag on a Slurpee.
"Yea, I tried the whole 'reading anime' thing. I find it much more satisfying to download illegal copies on my laptop," Conary replied smugly, patting the satchel of his courier's bag.
"Really? Do you have any episodes from Furi Kuri on there?" A skinny boy asked, pointing at Conary's bag. Conary's eyes narrowed.
"Don't point, kid. 'Tis insolent of ye. And secondly, it's pronounced Fooly- Cooly, ya got me?" Conary said slowly.
"What the hell are you on? It's Furi Kuri, baka," the portly girl replied, polishing off the Slurpee.
"We're in America, dammit! The word is idiot, NOT baka, and it's Fooly Cooly!" Conary retorted. He had gone over this argument a thousand times in his mind. Nine hundred and ninety-eight of them ended with him soaring into the wild blue yonder on a flying nimbus, in pursuit of several orange pearl-like objects...
"But it's Japanese! And the Japanese say it Furi Kuri!" The skinny boy yelled back. A small crowd of otakus and gamers clustered around the three, murmuring there own thoughts on the issue.
"We're not in Japan! And you're not Japanese, dammit! Stop pretending you are!" That was Conary's trump card. The gaggle of off-beats seemed stunned, as if Conary had committed a terrible sin.
"Ok pal. You just made things nasty!" The portly girl said, chucking her empty cup at him. The rest of the kids closed in, smiling with angry, fiendish, nerdy delight. Things looked dark for Conary, but he figured he wouldn't live to see the final Final Fantasy anyways.
Suddenly Hotei burst through the crowd, arms filled with several boxes. "Conary!" He yelled happily, "You must tell me everything you know about these marvelous, 'Hostess' Twinkies with new banana-strawberry cream filling'!" He tore open a package, stuffing the sponge cake into his mouth.
"Hotei, you're just on time! Feel free to open a can-a whoop ass on these minions of insanity!" Conary yelled.
Hotei was too preoccupied scanning the shelves both he and his friends were backed up against. He plucked a random DVD off the display, asking, "Conary, what is 'Pokémon'?"
The mob hissed with rage. This was the final injustice. The swooped in, using there combined mass to pin the pair into the wall with vice-like force. The force proved too much, however, and the display hit the ground with a resounding bang.
Everyone froze. Panic swept through the lot of them, with murmurs of "Holy crap,", "We're screwed!" and "My mom said she'd take my modem if this happened again." With security guards approaching the scene, the crowd dispersed. Kids bobbed and weaved, some getting caught in the meaty grips of the guards, while others escaped into the salvation of the parking lot.
Conary felt a strong hand clamp his shoulder. He looked up, expecting to see the angry face of a security officer, then looked away. The face was not angry, only bearing the look of severe focus. Conary wished it was the angry face, rather than the one he had seen. He wished it more than soaring into the wild blue yonder on a flying nimbus, in pursuit of several orange pearl-like objects.
He wished it because the face belonged to a man named Rayfe.
Sorry for the hiatus. Just finished my finals, and am in the process of salvaging my brain. Here's a longer one for you. I also apologize to any offended nerds.
Note to PixieGirl13: The cross over is a powerful transition that would change Batholry for ever, but I can't tell you the specifics. Sorry, but all things in good time. Thanks for the review.
LOCATION: Pacific Northwest, USA (P.I.A. Headquaters)
Explosions rocked the terrain, as quakes seemed to rip through the soil like waves in an ocean. Dust and rocks were flung into the air, blacking out the skies momentarily. Adila bit her lip, not moving a muscle.
"Nice job, warning me about the minefield. I mean, I could have lost my head!" she said into her comm link.
"Get off it! This tracking software's being a bitch, and besides, who knew he'd plant live ammunition!" Conary yelled from some thirty feet away. He quickly pulled out small, thin laptop, and began to type furiously on it.
"Hurry up! They're already at the wall!" Adila yelled at her partner. To her, teamwork was something that took a lot of getting used too. She craned her neck to see past the large dividing fence to check on the progress of the competition.
Hotei found himself standing before a large, barren wall. He waited calmly, slowing his breathing as he entered a state of inner calm. Suddenly, the ghostly form of Batholry phased through the faceless barricade. "We're almost there. You need to find some way over the wall. Are there any footholds?" She asked, frantically scanning the wall.
Hotei took in the sight of the wall in its entirety. Then, closing his eyes and slowing his breathing, he looked at the wall once more. Tendrils of thought brushed the surface of the wall, finding no structural weakness. They moved on and managed to find a small ledge, no wider than an inch. Soon, they found another and another...
He opened his eyes. Before he saw the same wall, yet he allowed himself a small smile. Though towering and barren it seemed he knew its secrets. He leapt into the air, seemingly towards nothing, and felt his bare feet press against the ledge. Hotei kept at it, jumping from ledge to ledge, finally reaching the top. He landed with feline grace on the other side.
By now, Adila and Conary had reached a similar wall. Cupping her hands, Adila catapulted Conary into the air. Conary hit the wall with a grunt, scrambled over the top, then fell to the earth with a yelp of pain, massaging his (now tender) posterior. "Tylenol's gonna be working overtime tonight..." He mumbled, staggering towards the final obstacle.
Adila's sharp eyes noted the minute shadows on the wall's face, betraying minuscule hand and foot holds. She quickly pulled herself to the top with her powerful arms, depositing herself on the other side. She grabbed Conary roughly by the collar, sprinting towards the goal.
All the while, two digital clocks counted towards oblivion. They were mounted on towering metal flagpoles, taunting all four competitors. Adila stared up at them, knowing she must find some way to climb the slim pole. She was pleased to note that the problem seemed to have stumped her opponents.
"Can you deactivate the device?" Hotei asked Batholry, starring at the top of the tower. He meandered around the pole in a rough circle, scanning the task.
Batholry shook her head. "I already tried disrupting it. That is usually enough for these machines..." She said.
Meanwhile, Adila was climbing the pole, arm over arm. She was running on pure adrenaline now. Conary took the free time to play a quick game of solitaire.
Hotei flicked the pole with his finger, listening intently to the hollow ring it produced. As Adila reached the top, Hotei unstrapped his naginata. With graceful precision, he cut an elegant arc in through the air, cutting through the pole with little difficulty. The pole fell with a resounding bang, crushing the clock under its metal bulk. At that same moment Adila pounded her clock, bringing it to a stop.
Rayfe strode onto the field, flanked by several clipboard-carrying officers. He came to a stop at the wreckage of the fallen pole, kicking the clock remains with slight distaste.
"Intelligence reports that both clocks were stopped simultaneously. Both times also beat the current course record," he said, emotionless. "But this was, by no means, a success. Adila, while your display was above your average, you moved independently. The goal was to accomplish the goal as a team, not try to compensate for Conary's weaknesses. Of which he has many," Rayfe said, gazing at a wheezing Conary.
"Hotei and Batholry, while your teamwork was satisfactory, you displayed a lack of initiative. And while your clock-stopping methods were... innovative, I'd appreciate it if you kept the training equipment in one piece. We don't want a repeat of the weight room incident," Rayfe continued, gesturing towards the compound. A small construction team was hastily rebuilding the outside wall of the base's weight room.
"Starting tomorrow, we begin mission training. Along with boot camp, you will undergo individual training for your mission specifics. Now, hit the showers. That is all for the day," Rayfe said, walking off.
The group was quiet as they entered the compound. Hotei could sense feelings of embarrassment and unease flowing from Conary. And it didn't take a mental link to sense Adila's anger. He thought about both of them, purposely slowing his step to fall behind. Batholry noticed and pursued him.
"Anything in particular?" She asked him. "I know what you're thinking. You mortals are sometimes more transparent than me," Batholry added, noting Hotei's confused expression.
"I do not understand. How can they work together if they hide their thoughts from each other?" Hotei asked. Batholry could see the boy's innocence in his wide brown eyes.
"I know not. Humanity is fickle, if anything," Batholry said, floating away.
Conary sighed as the hot water poured from the showerhead. The steamy spray sent his sore pains packing as Conary fell into a relaxed stupor while an inconsistent babble assaulted his ears. Realizing Hotei was speaking to him, he snapped back to reality.
"Conary? Why must I bath all the way over here?" Hotei asked from thirty showerheads away. The communal shower room had privacy stalls installed for each shower, but Conary took no chances.
"Well, uh... it's just, you know, like, dudes don't bath real close. It's just a thing that all us dudes do. Ya got me?" Conary replied, yelling over the roar of the water.
"But the soldiers shower together. I was under the impression that they were 'dudes' as well," replied Hotei.
"Hotei?"
"Yes, Conary?"
"Don't ask questions," Conary said. The remainder of the time passed without conversation.
Soon enough, the pair arrived at their sleeping quarters. Conary ungracefully clambered up onto his bunk, disappearing from Hotei's sight. He slid into his bed, turning off the light as he did.
Minutes later, the door cracked open. "Kid? You ready?" a hoarse voice whispered.
"We're good to go. Wakey-wakey, Hotei," Conary said, jumping to the floor and shaking his friend awake. "Don't talk," He added, cutting off Hotei. "We're sneaking off base tonight. There's supposed to be a town a couple miles from here!"
Hotei nodded eagerly, accepting a bundle of street clothes from Conary. The pair followed the small, muscled soldier through the quiet base halls, out a service door and into the back of a van. The soldier tapped the driver on the shoulder, and the group sped of into the night.
"Here's the skinny: You guys get to schmooze around town 'til two, then meet us at the In and Out Burger. If you ain't there, tough shit," The small soldier said, with a peculiar nasally accent.
"That's a ten-four. What's in this town, anyways?" Conary asked, throwing on his street clothes.
"Well, there's a few good bars, a pond, and a brothel. No, wait; it was a Chuck E. Cheese's, not a brothel. My mistake," the soldier replied.
"WHAT?! I didn't pull all this crap just to visit Podunk, USA!" Conary replied, each word laced with indignity.
"There's a 24-hour Wal-mart," The driver mumbled.
"... That will suffice. Come, friend Hotei! We voyage to fabled Wal- mart by gilded coach!" Conary yelled, throwing an arm around Hotei's shoulder. Hotei was not quite sure what a Wal-mart was, but if Conary like it, it must be good...
The pair stepped jumped out of the van onto rain-slicked blacktop. As they entered the fluorescent bastion of society, a sallow moon rose into the night sky. Conary made a b-line for the games and anime, while Hotei marveled at the immeasurable heaps of things called 'refrigerators' and 'lounge chairs.'
Conary, meanwhile, tried to spark up a conversation with some fellow anime enthusiasts in the DVD section.
"So, you see the new Eva manga releases? I had to re-buy all eight so I could own the complete set," A portly girl said, taking a long drag on a Slurpee.
"Yea, I tried the whole 'reading anime' thing. I find it much more satisfying to download illegal copies on my laptop," Conary replied smugly, patting the satchel of his courier's bag.
"Really? Do you have any episodes from Furi Kuri on there?" A skinny boy asked, pointing at Conary's bag. Conary's eyes narrowed.
"Don't point, kid. 'Tis insolent of ye. And secondly, it's pronounced Fooly- Cooly, ya got me?" Conary said slowly.
"What the hell are you on? It's Furi Kuri, baka," the portly girl replied, polishing off the Slurpee.
"We're in America, dammit! The word is idiot, NOT baka, and it's Fooly Cooly!" Conary retorted. He had gone over this argument a thousand times in his mind. Nine hundred and ninety-eight of them ended with him soaring into the wild blue yonder on a flying nimbus, in pursuit of several orange pearl-like objects...
"But it's Japanese! And the Japanese say it Furi Kuri!" The skinny boy yelled back. A small crowd of otakus and gamers clustered around the three, murmuring there own thoughts on the issue.
"We're not in Japan! And you're not Japanese, dammit! Stop pretending you are!" That was Conary's trump card. The gaggle of off-beats seemed stunned, as if Conary had committed a terrible sin.
"Ok pal. You just made things nasty!" The portly girl said, chucking her empty cup at him. The rest of the kids closed in, smiling with angry, fiendish, nerdy delight. Things looked dark for Conary, but he figured he wouldn't live to see the final Final Fantasy anyways.
Suddenly Hotei burst through the crowd, arms filled with several boxes. "Conary!" He yelled happily, "You must tell me everything you know about these marvelous, 'Hostess' Twinkies with new banana-strawberry cream filling'!" He tore open a package, stuffing the sponge cake into his mouth.
"Hotei, you're just on time! Feel free to open a can-a whoop ass on these minions of insanity!" Conary yelled.
Hotei was too preoccupied scanning the shelves both he and his friends were backed up against. He plucked a random DVD off the display, asking, "Conary, what is 'Pokémon'?"
The mob hissed with rage. This was the final injustice. The swooped in, using there combined mass to pin the pair into the wall with vice-like force. The force proved too much, however, and the display hit the ground with a resounding bang.
Everyone froze. Panic swept through the lot of them, with murmurs of "Holy crap,", "We're screwed!" and "My mom said she'd take my modem if this happened again." With security guards approaching the scene, the crowd dispersed. Kids bobbed and weaved, some getting caught in the meaty grips of the guards, while others escaped into the salvation of the parking lot.
Conary felt a strong hand clamp his shoulder. He looked up, expecting to see the angry face of a security officer, then looked away. The face was not angry, only bearing the look of severe focus. Conary wished it was the angry face, rather than the one he had seen. He wished it more than soaring into the wild blue yonder on a flying nimbus, in pursuit of several orange pearl-like objects.
He wished it because the face belonged to a man named Rayfe.