A/N: There's no author's note this time! HA! Made you look! : P
Axel stood in the line up between Riley and Hunter, still trying to blink the sleepiness out of his eyes. He and the others had gotten back to camp at around two a.m. that morning and although those two hours they spent with the girls seemed insignificant, they really made a difference. "Hey Axel," Riley whispered. "Did you find out why Pretz's hair is blue last night. I wanted to ask her, but you know…" Axel smirked at his friend. "As a matter of fact I did. Some weird gene mutation or something."
"I will now give you maggots only two minutes to finish the obstacle course from yesterday. Despite what lazy shits you all are, that should still be enough time! Do I make myself clear?" Ancon shouted, smacking his palm with his riding crop.
"Sir yes sir!"
Here we go again… Axel sighed. Another day of harsh training ahead, starting with the same old challenge on new terms. Perhaps Ancon wanted to weed out Rodent from the group, but Rodent actually seemed confident. Ancon nearly broke his stopwatch in a death grip of frustration when Rodent finished with one second to spare. The whole time Axel couldn't stop thinking about Pretz. Even when it was his turn to run, he still thought about her. He felt something for her, not something out of love mind you, something out of friendship. It was much too soon after their first meeting for them to fall in love as well as to soon after Sarah's death. Yet, there was that doubt in his mind that warned him he might be falling for her. He heard Riley's mocking in the back of his mind as he finished second once again, but all thought was focussed on the nagging feeling in his brain.
He shook his head and concluded, She's just a friend. Besides, she's falling for Riley. A small grin appeared on his face. I'm just concerned things will get ugly between her and Riley. That's what must be bothering me. I don't want Riley to be hurt and I definitely don't want Pretz to get her heart broken. Sometimes girls can be very sensitive when it comes to love. Oddly, as suddenly as the thought had accured to him, the fog was lifted from his mind and a wave of relief spread through his body. He had everything figured out at the moment, he just hoped it would last for a decent amount of time.
Breakfast was the same as yesterday, weird egg concoction of some sort, but the ham was hot this time. Rodent was dining among them, of course, and they day didn't seem so bad. That is until Axel felt a presence behind him as he ate. He sighed, knowing perfectly well who it was. "I wouldn't try anything if I were you, Jones." Axel said without taking his eyes off his food. Jones folded his arms and laughed. "Ah, you're no fun," Jones mumbled in an amused manner as he walked off, his friends following him. Axel shook his head with an angry look in his eyes. "That guy is really starting to get on my nerves,"
"Who the hell does he think he is anyway?" Hunter asked. "He really needs to grow out of this bullying bullshit. What is he, twenty-four? Twenty-five?"
"His mannerisms suggest eight, but he looks to be about twenty-two I guess."
"To bad the mind doesn't grow with the body."
"Yeah, well if he keeps pissing me off, he's not gonna have any body left!"
"Calm down, Axel!" Riley said.
"I can't calm down! My patients is wearing thin and if he doesn't knock off the crap, I'm going to kill him!" At this time, every squirrel in ear length had heard Axel's declare of anger, and were all staring at him. Axel, who was already at the melting point, was not pleased to see that he had drawn so much attention. "What the hell are you looking at!?" he snapped in such a forceful manner all the recruits immediately returned to their meals, not daring to look back. Axel's eyes were narrow with rage as he turned back to his breakfast. Riley shook his head while everyone else just looked confused. All except Razor, who continued eating in silence as if nothing had happened.
After breakfast, the recruits were lead out to the shooting range for their first shooting practice. Ancon handed each of them a rifle and showed them how to assemble, load, fire and quickly reload their weapon. (A/N: I would go into detail about that here, but I have no idea how to assemble, load, or quickly reload a gun. Speaking of which, I have very little knowledge about guns. So if I get the name of a rifle or firearm of any kind wrong, sorry). Shots rang out across the range as the trainees tried their best to out do each other in terms of accuracy. Axel was surprised at how well his accuracy was, and he was quiet proud of it too. While some were doing pretty well for beginners, no one measured up to Axel. Amazing thing was that this was his first time ever handling a real gun.
"Nice work, Private," Ancon commented, watching as Axel hit his target dead on, reloaded, and then shot another well aimed bullet at the bull's eye. "Looks like we've got ourselves a prodigy here. Keep it up, boy." Ancon's footsteps slowly got further away as he scanned the other recruits. Axel never took his sights off the target as he tried to out do himself with each shot. The only time he took his eyes off the target was to wipe a bit of sweat from his forehead. The sun was beating down on him, making it difficult to concentrate, but he still did a beautiful job of making the others jealous. The only one who came close to Axel's accuracy was Hunter. "Think you can hit a direct bull's eye?" he whispered. "Cause I know I can. Up for a bit of challenge?"
"You bet," Axel replied. He wanted to see how far his newly discovered gift could go, and nothing can push a guy to his limits like a bit of friendly competition.
Axel reloaded his weapon and steadied his position. He shifted his position in the dirt as he was lying down on his stomach, and took aim. He slowly moved his rifle until the little red dot on the target was right between his cross hairs. He licked his lips as he slowly put pressure on the trigger, being careful to hold his rifle steady.
A sudden pain shot through his body, causing him to yelp. His rifle went off, but far from where he intended to place the bullet. The target now had a new hole at the very top and Axel was enraged when he realized what had just happened. Someone had stomped on his tail. He looked left and right trying to find the culprit, but there was no one in sight. Not that it mattered, Axel knew exactly who had done it. Next time I see Jones, he dies!
Axel was still angry by the time lunch was served and his tail still hurt. He was scanning the cafeteria eagerly looking for Jones. He had had enough of this kindergarten crap! If Jones wasn't going to grow up on his own, Axel was just going to have to help him. "You were pretty good in the shooting range today, Axel." Rodent said, trying to bring his new friend out of his dark mood. "Wha? Uh, thanks Rodent." He said, still scanning the room.
"Axel, please, just let it go this time." Riley said. "Although he doesn't act like it at all, Jones is an adult, and so are you. If you fight him you'll just be bringing yourself down to his level."
"I don't care about that. He's pushed me too far! Obviously no one has ever shown that guy proper disepline. Don't you think it's about time for that?"
"Absolutely, so why don't we just let the Drill Instructors take care of him?"
"I am not going to be pushed around, dammit! Someone has to put him in his place."
"Whatever you say,"
Axel stuffed a spoon full of his lunch into his mouth as he continued scanning the room. But eventually, he decided to stop. It was giving him a headache and he was sure that Jones would come around eventually. There would be plenty of time for headaches later. "Anyway……how 'bout those Mets?" San said eagerly trying to break the silence. Hunter and San slowly started up a conversation and Riley was quick to jump in. Rodent, Axel, and Razor continued to eat their meals in silence, each thinking his own thoughts. Riley tried in vain to get Axel in on the conversation and away from his dark mood. Nothing seemed to work on the guy. "Just leave me alone, Riley," he said finally. Riley did and Axel returned to his meal.
Axel's anger finally began to slip away as he ate, but that proved to be short lived. He felt a presence behind him and his anger began to slowly rise once again. His heart beat faster as it pumped massive amounts of adrenaline into his blood stream as it usually did right before a fight. He sat there and pretended not to notice as Jones inched ever closer. He waited for that moment for him to get within striking range, or for him to do something to piss him off even more. Either or would do, he just wanted to plant his fist right into Jones's ugly face. By this time Hunter and San, who were sitting across from Axel, noticed Jones. Axel tried to silently signal to them to stop being so obvious when he felt a hand on the back of his head.
There was an abrupt splattering sound as Axel found his face in his lunch. Jones let out a huge laugh just as he had the day before when he slammed Rodent's face into his tray. Once again, every recruit was staring at Jones and his latest 'victim'. Uh, oh. Here it comes… Riley thought as he began to inch away from Axel. The fuse had been lit, and he was just seconds away from exploding. Axel slowly lifted his head from the tray. He then took his right paw and wiped the food from his face. In one swift movement, he wiped down the center of his face, revealing his angry eyes from underneath. They had such fire and rage inside them that in made Hunter and San jump. Rodent gulped and copied Riley's movements as he scooted farther from Axel.
Axel slowly turned his head around and looked over his shoulder. There was Jones, laughing at him. He didn't seem phased at all by his hateful eyes and continued to laugh. Axel gritted his teeth and slowly stood up. He turned to face Jones, his 'striking right' clenched at his side and waited for the cue to fire. Jones took a break from laughing and looked at the smaller squirrel before him with amusement. "Hey, I think you got a little something on your face,"
But before Jones could fall into another fit of laughter, he felt pain rush through his face. The very second that Axel's fist connected with Jones's cheek the other recruits were on their feet. Shouts of "Kick his ass!" and "Don't let that little pussy push you around!" filled the air as a crowd quickly formed around the two fighters. Axel now had both his fists in the air and took a stance similar to that of a boxer. Just as Jones recovered from the first punch, Axel swung at him with his left then sailed in with his right. Riley sighed and sweatdropped. He had seen this many times before and whatever hopes he had of his friend outgrowing his tendency for violence had vanished. Oh well, Riley thought with a sigh if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. "Kick his ass, Axel!"
Axel allowed Jones to recover from the punches this time. There was no fun in pounding someone into a bloody pulp if they didn't get a chance to fight back. Jones was stunned by all that had just happened, but that didn't stop him from pulling his fist back. He swung at Axel with all his power, but his accuracy left something to be desired. In other words, he missed. Axel swooped in and socked him right on his right cheek, then hit him with an upper cut with his left. As Jones stumbled back, he quickly tried to shake it off. Axel approached him slowly which gave him enough time to recover. Jones pulled back his fist and shot it forward once again. This time, however, it landed on it's mark. Jones's fist connected violently with Axel's face. However Axel, who had been in plenty of fistfights in his short life, recovered quickly and blocked the second fist that flew at him.
Jones grew angry with Axel's superior fighting skills and launched his foot into the air. The toe of his combat boot struck Axel's stomach hard, causing the other squirrel to gasp. Jones grinned and pulled his foot back to give Axel another good kick in the gut. What he hadn't anticipated was that as Axel keeled forward from the blow, he wrapped his arms around his leg tightly and was not about to let go. Jones tried in vain to free his foot from Axel's grip. In a flash, Axel kicked Jones's other leg out from underneath him. With nothing more to support his weight, Jones fell flat on his back. Axel was on top of him in a heartbeat. He unleashed punch after punch on his rival's face. Jones was rendered completely helpless as Axel continued beating his face in without mercy.
"All right! What the hell is going on here!?" shouted a large voice from behind the crowd. A voice belonging to the one Sergeant Rico.
A/N: There you have it folks. That large grey Sergeant squirrel from the game is going to be known as Sergeant Rico in this fic. I know the name doesn't really seem to fit him very well, but oh well. I couldn't think of anything else to name him. Arigato to everyone who gave me name suggestions at gamefaqs!
Axel was oblivious to the shouts of the Serg until his felt a large hand grip the back of his uniform collar. He was violently pulled off of Jones and onto his feet. Still under the control of his rage, Axel tried once again to rush Jones but was instead choked by his own shirt collar. Rico kept a tight grip on Axel and pulled his arm back suddenly, sending Axel to the floor. It was then that Axel finally realized what was going on. Fuck. I'm in deep shit this time….
He wasn't alone, however. While Rico had gotten a hold of Axel, Jones tried to land one good punch on him while he could, even with the Serg standing right in front of him. He had been humiliated and he figured he was in trouble as it was. That's when Ancon stepped in and held Jones back. Now both fighters were bond by their superiors and, obviously, were in a lot more trouble than anyone needed at the moment. "What the hell is going on here?" Rico repeated.
"I saw that little dipshit slug this big dipshit in the face." Ancon replied, obviously referring to the two bond recruits. "What do you have to say for yourself now, Slugger?"
Axel stared at the wall to his left, his eyes still harboring anger. Jones had a bit of a grin on his face. He had figured that he wasn't in as much trouble as Axel, but he was in trouble none the less. It took Ancon to remind him of that. "What the hell are you smiling at?! You think this is funny?!" Jones suddenly straightened out his expression and stood as straight as he could under Ancon's grip. "What do you want me to do with them?"
"Put them on a half hour punishment," Rico said. "Then send them to my office. I want to deal with them personally."
With that said, Sergeant Rico shoved Axel forward, causing him to land on his face on the hard tile floor. Just as he started to get up he was pulled to his feet. "All right! Move it, Slugger!" Ancon said as he pushed Axel and Jones through the cafeteria and out to the training field. The other recruits slowly began to file back to their tables and finish their meals, discussions of the fight filled the air as they did so. Riley shook his head, "Tried to warn him."
Axel shifted uncomfortably in the wooden chair. Although punishment had only been a half-hour long, Ancon really pushed both him and Jones to their limits. His muscles burned and his sides were aching. He barley had enough time to catch his breath before he was rushed into the Serg's office. He slouched in his seat as he looked around. Jones was sitting next to him, mumbling to himself. Occasionally Axel could make out what he was saying. Something about how life wasn't fair and he spoke as if someone was listening and actually cared. It was sad, really.
The door creaked open as Sergeant Rico made his entrance. Axel suddenly became rather nervous. He had gotten in plenty of trouble for fighting in school, but nothing like this. He didn't know what they were going to do, but it was obvious to anyone that he was in for it. "I apologize for the wait, gentlemen," Rico said calmly as he took his seat. "Before we begin," Rico paused and reached into his desk drawer. He pulled out two portfolios and dropped them on his desk. "I have quite a record on the both of you. Apparently, you've had a bit of a problem in school, Slugger." At this point, he shot Axel a stern looked, making the young recruit slouch even more. "Sit up, boy! Now, apparently you had an uncontrollable tendency to get into fights at school. While you, Bugger, have had yer own tendency to pick on the other kids. Am I right boys?"
"Yes sir," Jones and Axel replied in unison.
"Right," Rico looked over the both of them. "Well, with that said, I can pretty much guess what happened, but I'm going to allow you to tell me what just happened back there. Well, Slugger, how 'bout you start us off? What happened?"
"Sir, that phsyco little bitch over there just…" Jones began on a sort of rampage, when Rico interrupted.
"I don't remember asking you a God damn thing!" He turned back to Axel. "Slugger, speak up son! What happened?"
"Well sir, I saw him picking on Private Rodent the other day and well, I sorta stepped in. Since then he's been intentionally pissing me off."
"Right, and you felt the need to punch him?"
"Sir, he slammed my face into my food and earlier today during shooting practice he stomped on my tail."
Rico slowly turned his gaze towards Jones. "Is this true, boy?"
"Yes sir," Jones replied, almost inaudibly.
"You know something, boys? You both sound like children. It's pathetic! You are men now! Behavior like this at your age is unacceptable, especially in the military! For the next week you two will be on punishment both during your regular training as well as extra duties. If you are to become true men and soldiers, you will need to be strictly disciplined. Do I make myself clear?"
"Sir yes sir!"
"Glad to hear it. Dismissed!"
"This is all your fault you know," Jones said for the millionth time. Axel grumbled to himself and tried to keep himself from beating Jones with the mop. The two of them were ordered to mop each bathroom, but not before scrubbing each toilet and urinal until they shined. "If you could've just learned to control your temper,"
"Cram it will ya!" Axel snapped.
"See? There you go again!"
"Will you just shut the hell up! You brought this all upon yourself! If you had just left Rodent alone none of this would've happened! What was your problem with him anyway? He never did anything to you."
"What do you mean? Just look at the guy. He's an eyesore."
"That doesn't mean you have to pick on him! What's wrong with you anyway? I could expect that kind of behavior from elementary kids."
Jones grew silent and continued mopping. Axel was pissed at the way he was acting. His better judgement was the only thing keeping him from attacking him again. "No witty retort? Not surprised, I doubt someone with your intelligence level could muster one."
"Now who's being immature?!" Jones snapped. "Name calling…honestly."
"I get it," Axel said, smirking. "You're just pissed because I kicked your ass in front of the whole world. You had it coming."
Jones's mop suddenly collided with the floor. He tossed it away in anger and headed over to the corner of the bathroom. He picked up a bucket of dirty water and walked back to his previous location. "What the hell are you doing?!" He suddenly said. Axel gave him a weird look. "Have you lost your mind? What's gotten into you?" Jones glared at him with an evil grin on his face, then he tossed the bucket into the air. But he didn't toss it at Axel, as anyone would've expected. Instead, he tossed it at himself.
"It's official, he's a dumbass." Axel mumbled as Jones crawled around the floor, covered in the filthy water. He suddenly shuffled to the corner of the bathroom. "Calm down! I didn't mean it!" he yelled at a very confused Axel. Axel in turn just shook his head and sweatdropped. Must've knocked him senseless during the fight or something. "All right! What's going on now?!" Ancon said as he barged in. "He lost it and threw a bucket at me!" Jones shouted from his corner, pointing an accusing finger at Axel. "Slugger! What the hell is wrong with you boy!" Ancon yelled. Axel just shook his head and stuttered in shock. He couldn't piece any words together. "Shut up Slugger! You clean up this mess this instant then get yer ass out to the training field!" He turned to Jones. "You're dismissed, boy. Get the hell outta here!"
Jones walked past Ancon, who was staring sternly at Axel. "Just a little trick I picked up from 'Fight Club'." He mouthed silently as he grinned. Axel felt like his rage was going to kill him right there. He was pissed all over again, but this time he couldn't do anything about it and as it was, he was already facing at least another week of punishment. "Get to work dammit!" Ancon yelled, practically scaring Axel out of his fur. He sighed silently as he began cleaning up the mess Jones had so graciously made for him. I'm going to kill him. One of these days, when he least expects it, I am going to kill him.
Axel slowly stumbled into the cafeteria. After cleaning up the mess, he had to under go extensive training. Dinner had started ten minutes ago and he was very tired and very hungry. His feet were sore and nearly bleeding and his leg muscles ached beyond normal comprehension. Yet he somehow managed to grab the last tray of food and make it to his table. Along the way, he tried not to draw too much attention. However, that proved to be impossible as his stomach complained loudly do to the lack of nourishment. Riley and Rodent scooted over to make room for him as he wearily placed his tray down and sat.
"You okay?" Riley asked. "Looks like they really took it outta you." Axel looked at him as he stuffed a spoon full of gravy soaked whatever it was in his mouth. "Nothing I can't handle. I'll be fine."
"What'd they do to you anyway?" San asked.
"Originally Jones and I were both put on punishment for a week. However, curtiousy of that dickhead, I got an additional week as well as extra duties."
"What did he do?"
"Have you ever seen Fight Club?"
That night, the recruits slowly headed back to their bunks. Axel sat on his bed and slipped his boots off. "Holy shit my feet are killing me," he moaned as he tried to massage the pain out of his right foot. "I'm too tired to move."
"I guess that means you're not coming with us tonight?" San said as he began changing.
"No, I'll come. I really need to get outta here."
"Right,"
With a loud crash, the door was flung open and Ancon stepped in, his trademark riding crop in hand. "All right, boys. Lights out. Tomorrow we will be continuing our shooting practice as well as our normal routine. And Slugger, I've got my eye on you. Don't try anything stupid tomorrow. Got that boy?"
"Sir yes sir!" Axel replied.
"Right. Night maggots."
The walls of the bunk shook a bit as Ancon made his exit. It seemed that the doors were getting worse and worse treatment each day. "He's going to break something one day." Hunter commented as he slid into bed. Axel sighed as he began unbuttoning his shirt. He hardly mustered up the will to change that night. He was much to fatigued to really want to do so, but he feared he'd be in even more troubled if the uppers caught him sleeping in his uniform. After wearily changing he climbed into bed. His pillow felt especially soft that night as he closed his eyes. Sleep claimed him almost immediately.
Through the depth of Axel's restful and dreamless world was a very distinct, yet very quite sound. Something that one usually wouldn't hear when asleep, but for some reason, he could. His ear twitched as he unconsciously tried to pick up the sound. He was sleeping on his stomach with his face buried in his pillow as if he were trying to escape the noise, but his right ear had better vantage from their and was picking up whatever it was clearly. Finally, his subconscious was concerned enough with the sound that it decided it was time for investigation.
A/N: I heard somewhere that when we're asleep, we hear everything that goes on, but we only wake up if our subconscious decides that the noise is important enough. I don't know if this is fact, I've slept through fire engine's before. I mean, you'd think my subconscious would decide that the sound of fire truck alarms right in the street were important enough, but then again my house wasn't the one of fire, so maybe it decided to just let me sleep. I hope that's the case or else what would happen if my house ever did catch on fire?
Axel blinked open his eyes and looked around the dark bunk from his current position. He wanted to avoid moving at all costs as he might not get back to sleep as easily. He heard the noise clearly, it was a rather loud and high pitched squeaking noise. He pushed himself into a sitting position and scanned the area with his eyes. With the moonlight aiding him as it poured through the window behind him, he identified the location of the sound. It was coming from Hunter's bed. Each time he moved the bedsprings would squeak loudly, indicating they were badly in need of attention. Wonder what happened, they weren't like that last night. Whatever the reason, the noise and cause had been identified and he could go back to sleep.
He layed his head back down on his pillow and drew his blanket up to his chest, resting his right hand on his stomach. He closed his eyes and sighed. Sleep wasn't coming as easily as it had been just a few hours before, but he could still feel it in the back of his mind. All he had to do was wait.
Hey Axel,
Axel opened his eyes.
How's it goin' man? You really slugged that asshole at lunch today!
He sat up and put on a slightly annoyed expression. "What do you want, Harry?"
No need to be rude! Just thought I'd pop in and say 'hi'. We haven't talked in like a week. Why are you being so hostile?
"No offense, but I don't really like you all that much, incase you haven't noticed."
Why Axel, I'm hurt. We've been together for what? Nineteen years?
"Nineteen years too many if you ask me,"
Well I didn't! You're just mad 'cos your temper got you in trouble again, aren't you?
"Shut up."
Cheerful as usual, I see. Now come on! It's not that bad. Think of how much trouble you'd have gotten into if anyone ever found out about that one time. You know, back when you were eleven and you accidenlty…
"Shut up Harry! I don't need you to remind me of that!"
Well, if I don't remind you, then who will?
"I don't want to be reminded of it at all!"
Well, it's not like you can just toss it aside and forget about it. It's part of your past and you can't change that. I wonder, what would happen if your mother ever found out about it?
"Shut up, Harry!"
What would've happened if Sarah ever found out?
"Dammit! Shut the fuck up!"
Now now, no need to swear.
"Go to hell you bastard!"
"Axel! What the hell are you yelling for?"
Axel nearly clasped his hands over his mouth when he realized he had been shouting. Now everyone was awake and staring at him, waiting for an explanation behind his yells. "Well, what's wrong? Why were you yelling?" San repeated, obviously annoyed about being woken up. Axel stammered for a logical reply. He couldn't just tell them about Harry, but they were all waiting and the longer it took him to come up with a response, the less likely they were going to believe it. Axel slowly mumbled out a few words, hoping that his brain would come up with something to finish his broken sentences. "Um…I.."
Had a nightmare…
"Had a nightmare…"
about the Tediz attacking my home town…
"about the Tediz attacking my home town…"
and ripping babies apart with their bare hands.
"and ripping babies apart with their bare hands."
And spilling their baby guts everywhere!
"That will be sufficient, thank you very much." Axel whispered to his invisible border.
"Nightmare huh?" San replied. "That does sound pretty awful. What makes it even more terrifying is that that's something those Tedi bastards would do." San rubbed his eyes then looked at his digital watch he left on the nightstand. "Well, your timing couldn't be better. It's 11:56, might as well get up anyway."
San and Hunter began getting dressed while Razor went back to sleep. It took Axel a few seconds before he could move again. The stress of training had made him forget about Harry, but now he was back. A weird feeling filled him as he began getting dressed himself. The next few days were not going to be easy, that was for sure.
Hey, you owe me one, Axel.
"Ah, shove it! I wouldn't have needed your help in the first place if it weren't for you," he whispered so that San and Hunter couldn't hear.
Well, that's gratitude for ya. Talk to you later.
Axel could almost feel Harry retreating back into the depths of his mind. It made him shudder. Fucking Harry always has to make my life miserable. He finished dressing and sat on his trunk. He couldn't think normally after Harry made his random visits. He was always afraid that he'd hear what he was thinking and then use his thoughts against him, but Harry always knew what he was thinking anyway. But at least after a few days he could think comfortably. "Hey guys, Riley and Blaine are here," San whispered to the others. Axel stood up and slowly walked towards the door. Maybe talking with Pretz would get his mind off of his current predicaments.
To Be Continued….
Oh no! The main character hears voices in his head! Dun dun dun!!! This chapter wasn't all the great, was it? I didn't do a very good job of transitioning between scenes, but it'll do for now. Maybe I'll revise this chapter (probably not), but until then there's always room for improvement.
Please review!!! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease!!!
