Chapter 2: Don't Trust Anything You See"
After an hour and a half(and much grumbling from Nigel) the others finally made it to Germany. They hovered over Berlin, unsure of what to do. Then they received a message from Crow to meet them in a secluded pasture a few miles away. They landed at the pasture and went outside, looking in the sky for a trace of Crow's ship.
"Can't believe he just usurped my authority like that," Nigel muttered for the thousandth time.
"Hey, look at that!" shouted Abby. She was pointing at a large black cruiser that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. "How the heck did that get here!"
"That's Crow's ship," realized Hoagie. "Whoa, it must have a cloaking device! Cool!"
The hatch of the ship opened, and Crow, Cree, and Chad stepped outside, waving at them. "C'mon inside!" called Cree. The teens looked uneasily at each other and then followed them inside. The craft took off after they entered, apparently on autopilot.
"Haven't been in here for a while," remarked Hoagie, glancing around the ship and the various gadgets and gizmos. The interior was entirely made of metal, and a little bland, but it was still pretty impressive. There were various 3-D display screens popping out of thin air, seemingly at random, some showing battle strategies, maps, and some showing nothing at all. The cockpit had the most advanced radar and controls Hoagie had ever seen, and he longed to pilot this beautiful ship.
"Welcome back to the Deadwind," said Crow. Crow was wearing a long black hooded robe(think Organization XIII from Kingdom Hearts)and had a long, black leather glove over his left arm, covering up the robotic arm that Father had bestowed upon him. Cree and Chad were wearing black trench coats, looking like they had popped straight out of the Matrix.
"So, what's this about, Crow?" demanded Nigel. "I hope we didn't travel half way around the world for nothing."
"Take it easy, Nigel. I'm sorry I had to force you to come here, but we need help for this mission, and you guys are the only people we trust," explained Crow. Nigel gawked. The only people he trusts? Embarrassed, he took off his sunglasses and started wiping them on his red shirt.
"Erm, continue, Crow," said Nigel, rubbing furiously.
"Where to begin? Well, for starters, Chad, Cree and myself are part of The Tears of Blood," said Crow.
"You're what!" shouted Abby, looking furiously at Cree. "But... but you guys have been all over the news! You're the ones who have been causing all this chaos all over the globe. You guys are terrorists! The president said so!"
"Yeah, well, the president likes to exaggerate things," dismissed Cree.
"But you guys are murderers!" Abby cried.
"No, we're not. What you hear on TV is a bunch of bull. The president is lying to cover his ass. He's the one that's been massacring people, not us," said Chad.
"We have the videos to prove it. We can show you exactly what's happened. Did you hear about the incident in Cairo?" asked Crow.
"Yeah, we heard about that. Fifty people were killed," shuddered Kuki.
"No, ten people were killed, and not by us." Crow snapped his fingers and a display appeared. "This is a recording of the attack in Cairo." The display began showing a video of American soldiers attacking the city. Tanks were charging through, blowing apart buildings. The citizens were screaming and trying to flee. Then three dark figures leapt into the fray. One began firing gatling guns at the treads of the tanks. Another launched into the soldiers, wielding a long double sided trident, swiftly dodging the oncoming bullets. The third figure leapt into the air, but instead of coming down, merely hovered there. Then he shot bursts of dark flame at the tanks, tearing them apart.
"Holy crud, that's you guys!" exclaimed Wally. "But then that means...America tried to seize Cairo?"
"Yep. Good thing we got there in time. You see, America's been trying to create an empire. They want hegemony over other countries, because certain military bastards believe the world is better off under American rule," explained Crow.
"But that means the president's been lying to us," whispered Nigel. "Everything he's said is a lie."
"Well, not everything. Just almost everything," assured Cree. "And America's not the only one trying to take over. China's been trying to conquer Asia for the last five years. It's all been a mess. And we're the ones that have to stop these psychos."
"The Tears of Blood aren't terrorists. They're peacekeepers. That's our duty," said Crow. "We were going to release these videos to the public, until this new problem came along."
"Which is?" queried Nigel.
"A madman somehow seized a bunch of nuclear warheads. Now he's threatening to launch them. If he does, he starts World War 3. He's currently hiding out in a mansion in Germany. This is why we need you. We can't tackle this guy alone," sighed Chad.
"But can't you guys just call in some of your Tears of Blood teammates? There must be thousands of you guys," pointed out Abby.
"Actually...there's just us three," said Cree, embarrassed.
"Just you three?" asked Nigel, incredulous. "You're telling me that all those times that you went out to stop America and China and god knows who else from taking over the world, it was just you three?"
"We do a lot of traveling," said Chad.
"But that's amazing!" exclaimed Kuki.
"Unfortunately, three people isn't enough to take this guy down. We need all the help we can get. Who knows what he has inside that mansion?" wondered Crow.
"Hey, this is starting to sound kind of fun!" said Wally. "Man, this is so bloody awesome. I wish I could do something this cool for a living."
"Really?" asked Cree.
"Well, yeah! I've always dreamed of doing something like this for a living! Crud, I don't want some boring desk job when I grow up."
"It would be good to do something useful when we grow up," mused Abby.
"And traveling all over the world! That must be amazing!" said Kuki.
"Wow, you know, I never thought anybody else would want to join the Tears of Blood," said Cree, strangely enthusiastic.
"And no one will, because membership is limited to three people," said Crow, killing the mood. "By the way, Chad, Cree, there's something I need to talk to you guys about. Alone," he added, seeing the looks on the teens faces. Cree and Chad followed him to the other side of the ship, and entered another room. Crow shut the door with a slam.
"Only three people? That's lame," said Hoagie. "It sounded so cool. So much for that idea."
"Aw, forget what he said. I bet we could convince him to let us join. I mean, he's seen us in battle, and he said it himself, we're the only one's he trusts," argued Wally.
"It does sound like something I've always wanted," admitted Nigel, contemplating the idea.
Meanwhile, a heated argument was going on between Crow and Cree.
"They're too young, Cree. Too innocent. They haven't had a demon tear at their soul, they haven't experienced pain like we have."
"Wally has. You know it."
"And Wally's the only one! The others don't have what it takes. They aren't strong enough to deal with the pain. They haven't shed tears of blood."
"Not yet, anyway," replied Cree darkly. "This mission might change that."
Crow rolled his eyes. "They aren't ready, Cree, and I doubt they ever will be. We've experienced such sorrow before that the trials we go through now barely even register. But they haven't. We can't put them through this until they're able to deal with it." He paused and turned to Chad. "Chad, you're a cofounder, what do you think?"
Chad had been leaning against the door, his head down and his eyes shut. He opened his eyes sighed. "I can tell that they're jumping with joy to join us, but that probably proves more than anything else that they're not ready." Cree made a small noise of protest, but Chad lifted a hand. "However, if I was going to recommend anyone to join us, it would be them. These kids are amazing, Crow. You know that."
"Of course I do. But you said it yourself, they're not ready. So until we can safely conclude that they are, we won't do anything. Agreed?" Chad nodded his approval, while Cree merely sighed.
"All right, then. We're about to reach the mansion. Let's get this done right," said Crow. He walked out of the room, avoiding Cree's glare. He strolled up to the cockpit and flipped a switch, turning on the cloaking device. "Okay, here's the plan, guys. We're invisible right now, and this thing can't be detected by radar, so we should be fine. We're going to cruise up to the mansion and see if we can find a way in. Stealth is the key here, we can't let him know we're here."
Silly boy, I already know you're here, someone chuckled. Crow and the others froze. None of them had spoken. And the voice they heard...it wasn't something spoken aloud. They heard it through their own minds. Crow immediately raised a finger to his lips, motioning them to be quiet.
Now, really, as if that's going to make any difference. Come now, Crow, I thought you were supposed to be bright, scolded the voice. Crow's eyes widened in shock.
"What the bloody hell is going on?" asked Wally.
Oh, please. Pitiful, simply pitiful, the voice admonished.
"The guy we're after...he must be a telepath," said Cree.
You know, that should have been quite obvious from the start tittered the voice. I'm really starting to worry about your intelligence. Don't you have schools in America?
"How did you know we're from Ameri–mph!" said Kuki, who's voice was now being muffled by Crow's gloved hand.
"Don't say anything!" he hissed. "Don't think anything! Leave your mind blank!"
You'll find that very hard to accomplish, Crow. I doubt any of you ever learned how to properly guard your minds against a telepath.
"Wait a minute, this guy has a British accent!" said Chad, ignoring Crow's orders.
"You're point being?" asked Nigel, a little offended.
"The guy we're chasing after is German!" he explained.
Ah, a no-prize for the young lad! Yes, I'm afraid dear Himmler was under my control all along. The fool actually thought he could use me. But the warheads are still here, and I'm planning on launching them very soon. Unless, of course, you play a little game with me. Then I might wait a little longer.
"What kind of game?" asked Crow.
Just come into my mansion. I'll be waiting.
Everyone stared at each other blankly. For a long time, no one spoke. Kuki broke the silence.
"Well, a game sounds kind of fun!" she piped. Crow turned to Cree and scowled. This is going to be part of the Tears of Blood? He moved to the cockpit and pressed a button, and the Deadwind began to land.
"I doubt it's going to be much fun, Kuki," informed Nigel.
"Maybe this guy is just lonely and depressed. He probably hijacked these warheads just to get some attention. Why else would he want us to play a game with him?" she asked
"Because he's probably a sadist who's going to toy with us before killing us off," Wally retorted. "But hey, give it a try, Kuki. Give him a Rainbow Monkey to play with. I'm sure he'll be all hugs and kisses then."
"Why is it that you always have to assume the worst in everyone!" snapped Kuki.
"Why is it that you always have to be a naive fool about everything?" he taunted.
"Enough!" shouted Crow. "Everyone, be quiet and keep your minds blank. Otherwise he might find out everything about you, your fears, your weaknesses, everything!" Everyone gulped a little at this. There were some secrets they definitely didn't want to be revealed.
"We can't form a battle plan that way!" countered Cree.
"Better to go in without a plan than to have him use it against us," Chad pointed out.
Cree didn't have anything to argue back with, so she remained silent. Crow opened a drawer filled with handguns, and motioned for everybody to take one. All of the teens were a little nervous about this, except for Wally, who had used a handgun before. The Deadwind finally landed, and they stepped outside, trying their hardest not to think about anything. Of course, they were failing miserably, but at least they were trying.
Don't think about Kuki. Don't think about Kuki, Wally chanted. Wait a minute, I'm already doing it! God damn it!
The mansion was old and decrepit, nothing like Father's glorious mansion. In fact, it looked more like a haunted house. A really huge haunted house. The paint had been peeled off long ago, and it was now just a miserable gray color. The windows were dusty and impossible to see through. And the grass around the mansion was brown and dead. A shudder went through Crow. Just when I think I've put the past behind me, it comes back to bite me in the ass. No! Stop thinking, Crow. Just relax.
The large double doors of the mansion opened all by themselves. No one moved. After a moment, Crow walked up the porch and stopped at the doors. "Remember," he said, turning back to look at them, "don't trust anything you see."
(A/N) I'm taking a risk with uploading this chapter; I'm still not sure how this story is going to go. Oh well, the universe favors the bold. Anyways, what do you guys think? I'd love to hear some input.
