The next day Kaede sat atop the base, her feet dangling over the edge as she was once again left with her thoughts.
This DNA voice was still inside of her and had limited control over her thoughts and it had the goal of killing all humans. She could go back into her subconscious and fight her again, possibly kill her and free herself of her control but there were a few problems with that plan. First, she didn't know how to get back INTO her subconscious, and second, she wasn't certain she could beat DNA even if she did. She seemed more knowledgeable about her powers than she was.
With that in mind, she had to get stronger. Until she beat the DNA programming inside her, she was a danger to everyone.
Before she could think further, Grif pulled in in front of the base in the Warthog.
"Get in." Grif lazily said. Kaede smiled and hoped off the base, using her invisible hands to break her fall causing hand imprints into the ground. (Those were always satisfying to her). Then she cheerfully hoped into the vehicle. Grif drove off headed toward the Red base.
"So, whats going on?" Kaede asks.
"Oh, Sarge wants you there." Grif simply explains.
"For...?" Kaede trails off.
"I dunno. I didn't ask." Grif answers.
"Surprising no one." Kaede sighs. The two then arrived at the red base where Sarge and Simmons were outside waiting for them.
"Greetings Sir. Why did you want to see me?" Kaede asks.
"Well Kaede, there is a time a persons life where they enter the legal age in which they are aloud to take control of automobiles." Sarge says.
"We're giving you driving lesson." Simmons explains.
"What? What brought this on?" Kaede asks.
"Well you are sixteen, you were eligible to be taught a year ago." Simmons starts.
"Don't know how that slipped our minds. But Donut brought this matter to our attention." Sarge says. "With our help, you'll be so skilled of a driver you'll be part of a new Fast and Furious movie!"
"Yeah, you guys have fun with that." Grif says before walking into the base.
"So, you two will be teaching me then?" Kaede asks.
"Simmons will be starting you off." Sarge confirms. "We tried asking Donut but..."
Flashback
"Sounds good. Just let me get my music selection together. I'm gonna fill the canyon with some wonderful sounds while Kaede learns to be the best driver she can be. The volume on the warthog is still stuck on high, right?" Donut asks.
Present
"So after that we asked Lopez." Sarge continues. "But..."
Flashback
"Cómo puedo enseñarle algo a Kaede cuando ella no puede entender lo que estoy diciendo?" Lopez asks.
Present
"So we thought it best it'd be just us two that teach you." Sarge finishes.
"Okay. I'll do my best." Kaede nervously replies.
"Okay, get in the driver seat and we'll begin." Simmons says as he gets in the passenger side. Kaede nervously gets into the drivers seat. Simmons notices her body is trembling with fear. "Its alright to be scared the first few times."
"Okay." Is all Kaede can says as she puts on her seat belt and grasps the steering wheel.
"Okay. First, turn the key to start it up." Simmons says. Kaede sees Grif left the key in the starter, so she simply turned it until the engine came on. "Now but your foot on the brake and shift into reverse."
"Uh, which one is the brake?" Kaede asks.
"The one on the left." Simmons answers.
"Uh, Simmons... theres six pedals on this thing." Kaede brings up. Simmons looks over.
"Oh yeah. I forgot about that." Simmons muses. "Just try all of them. When you hit the brake, the shifter will unlock so thats when we'll know." Kaede tried all the petals until on the third one, the shifter unlocked, allowing her to shift into reverse. "Okay, imagine this is a driveway. We're gonna slowly back out and turn to the side. Left up on the break slowly." Kaede does as he says and the warthog slowly moves backwards. "Okay, now turn the wheel in the opposite direction of the direction you want to go." Kaede obeys. The warthog is then out of the "driveway" until they hear a large crunch.
"Huh?" Kaede says, stepping on the brakes.
"Mira por dónde vas! ¡Maldito estúpido!" They both here.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that you should always look behind yourself when reversing. Kind of obvious in hindsight." Simmons sighs.
"Sorry! So sorry!" Kaede nervously cries out.
After getting Kaede to successfully drive normally and instructing her of the rules of the road, drilling them into her until she memorized them, Simmons had her drive back to red base to meet up with Sarge.
"Things went better than expected sir." Simmons reports as they arrive. "Only after a few hiccups, she was able to pick up on everything. She should be ready to take her drivers test which I find impressive after the first ride." Kaede beams at the praise.
"Excellent work Simmons. And you too Kaede. We're lucky to have you." Sarge compliments.
"Thank you Sarge. I was so nervous at first." Kaede admits.
"I'll take it from here." Sarge tells Simmons.
"But sir, she already knows everything. I don't-" Simmons starts.
"Simmons..." Sarge prompts.
"Oh. Right sir. Sorry." Simmons apologizes. With that, Sarge gets in the passenger seat.
"Alright Kaede, its time for the second half of your drivers ed." Sarge says.
"Okay, but Simmons said I did good on everything, what else don't I know about?" Kaede curiously asks.
"Time for you to learn to drive during combat situations!" Sarge exclaims. "Forget all that safety stuff that was drilled into you mere minutes ago! We're gonna have you become unpredictable to the enemy!"
Two hours later
Caboose was outside the base when he spotted someone approaching the base.
"Halt! Who goes there?" He asks.
"Just me Caboose." Kaede says as she stumbles towards the blue base, her hair wild and wind tossed. Tucker came out to see the sorry state she was in.
"Kaede! What the hell happened!" He exclaimed.
"I finished drivers training..." Kaede simply stated.
"Drivers training?" Tucker questions. "Did the reds do that?"
"Yeah. Simmons was a surprisingly good teacher and I'm able to drive just fine." Kaede says.
"Then why are you... like that?" Tucker carefully asks.
"Because Sarge got involved and put me through combat drivers training." Kaede said. "He's insane. He had me driving at full speed while making all these sharp turns. I was afraid the warthog would tip over or I would run into something. All while he was screaming his orders to me. I can still feel my heart beating like crazy from the experience."
"Oh, sorry about that. I would go over and discuss limits with Sarge but we both know he's not going to listen." Tucker says.
"Yeah. I'll have to draw the line sometime myself. I understand why he did it, I just wish he hadn't. I don't plan to go i to battle anytime soon." Kaede says.
"I know right." Tucker responds.
"On the bright side I can drive now." Kaede offers a weak smile and a thumbs up.
"I guess so. Sometime, I should take you somewhere to get your license." Tucker says.
"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Kaede perks up. "I wanted to speak with you about something."
"What is it?" Tucker asks.
"I want to see Kouta again."